COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES IN A MEDICAL OFFICE

• US 20030097277A1
• Filed: 01/08/1999
• Published: 05/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Millermed Software, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Millermed Software, Inc.
• Inventors: MILLER, GEOFFREY MARC
• Granted Patent: US 6,973,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof

Abstract

A computer-based system for automating administrative procedures in a medical office is described. The system includes a control module in communication with an administrator module and a tape management module, as well as a database accessible by the administrator module and the tape management module. The tape management module can advantageously be configured, for example, to manage outsourcing of tape transcription.

Claims

1. A computer-based system for automating administrative procedures in a medical office, said system comprising:

a control module;

an administrator module in communication with said control module;

a tape management module in communication with said control module; and

a database accessible by said administrator module and said tape management module, said database including patient information and provider information.

2. The computer-based system of claim 1, wherein said administrator module includes instructions for providing access to one or more reports selected from a group consisting of:

departmental management reports;

data availability reports;

provider workload reports;

transcription tape status reports;

medical record review status reports; and

chart location reports.

3. The computer-based system of claim 1, further comprising a provider module.

4. The computer-based system of claim 3, wherein said provider module includes instructions for performing one or more tasks selected from a group consisting of:

providing access to a list of outstanding reports;

prioritizing outstanding reports based on workload age;

transferring files containing reports to portable storage media; and

distributing incoming reports to providers.

5. The computer-based system of claim 1, further comprising a management module.

6. The computer-based system of claim 5, wherein said management module includes instructions for providing access to one or more reports selected from a group consisting of:

departmental chart distribution;

appointment listings;

identification of charts requiring action;

identification of no-show patients;

database maintenance statistics; and

system backup statistics.

7. The computer-based system of claim 1, further comprising a database management module.

8. The computer-based system of claim 7, wherein said database management module includes instructions for performing one or more tasks selected from a group consisting of:

archiving aged records;

purging outdated records;

transmitting notifications of required actions;

managing flow of files into and out of the medical office;

maintaining one or more tables containing employee information, provider information, and report types;

processing data entry input; and

populating tables with data entry input.

9. The computer-based system of claim 1, further comprising a report management module.

10. The computer-based system of claim 9, wherein said report management module includes instructions for performing one or more tasks selected from a group consisting of:

populating report forms with patient information;

generating headings and standard text entries customized by provider;

generating letterhead and signature lines customized by provider;

generating boilerplate language required for particular types of reports;

distributing reports;

printing reports; and

generating and distributing forms in batch mode.

11. The computer-based system of claim 1, wherein said tape management module includes instructions for performing one or more tasks selected from a group consisting of:

tracking location of transcription tapes;

assigning tapes to transcriptionists;

tracking transcribed reports;

assigning medical records to reviewers; and

tracking documents associated with transcription tapes.

12. The computer-based system of claim 1, further comprising a communications interface, said tape management module being configured to electronically receive files containing transcribed reports using said communications interface.

13. A computer-implemented method for automating administrative procedures in a medical office, said method comprising the steps of:

maintaining an office automation system including a database containing provider information and patient information;

generating reports from the office automation system, automatically populating fields in the reports with information from the database where appropriate; and

supporting performance of one or more administrative tasks by an off-site service provider, including managing an electronic information exchange between the off-site service provider and the office automation system.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein said step of supporting performance of one or more administrative tasks by an off-site service provider comprises supporting off-site tape transcription.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising the step of maintaining information relating to a current workload for each of a plurality of off-site transcriptionists.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising the step of assigning a transcription tape to an off-site transcriptionist based upon the current workload information.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising the step of receiving an electronic transmission of a transcribed report from an off-site transcriptionist.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein said method is provided as a subscription service.

19. A storage medium containing a set of instructions for execution by a computer, the set of instructions serving to automate administrative tasks in a medical office, said set of instructions comprising instructions for:

maintaining an office automation system including a database containing provider information and patient information;

generating reports from the office automation system, automatically populating fields in the reports with information from the database where appropriate; and

supporting performance of one or more administrative tasks by an off-site service provider, including managing an electronic information exchange between the off-site service provider and the office automation system.

20. The storage medium of claim 19, wherein said storage medium comprises a portable storage device.

21. The storage medium of claim 19, wherein said storage medium comprises a memory of the computer.

22. A computer-implemented subscription service for automating administrative procedures in a medical office, said subscription service comprising:

maintaining a database at a subscriber service center, said database containing information relating to a plurality of subscribers;

providing each of said subscribers with a computer-based office automation system configured to exchange data electronically with said subscriber service center;

receiving at said subscriber service center a request for performance of an office administration task;

performing the requested office administration task at said subscriber service center; and

electronically transmitting information relating to performance of the office administration task back to said computer-based office automation system.

23. The computer-implemented subscription service of claim 22, wherein the requested office administration task comprises transcription of a dictation tape.

24. The computer-implemented subscription service of claim 23, wherein the information relating to performance of the office administration task comprises a computer file containing a transcription of the dictation tape.

25. The computer-implemented subscription service of claim 22, wherein the information relating to performance of the office administration task comprises status information.

26. The computer-implemented subscription service of claim 22, further comprising the step of generating a report from the computer-based office automation system using the information relating to performance of the office administration task.

27. The computer-implemented subscription service of claim 22, wherein the requested office administration task comprises chart preparation.

28. The computer-implemented subscription service of claim 22, wherein the requested office administration task comprises report generation.

29. The computer-implemented subscription service of claim 22, wherein the requested office administration task comprises forms generation.