Method and system for point of need continuing education delivery

• US 20030180694A1
• Filed: 03/20/2002
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Iowa Research Foundation
• Original Assignee: University of Iowa Research Foundation
• Inventors: Kienzle, Michael G., Ainger, Dawn R.
• Granted Patent: US 6,997,717 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/118
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F

Abstract

The present invention discloses methods and systems for providing education at a point of need. The invention includes creating granules of educational material, associating educational credits with the granules of educational material, receiving a request for at least one of the granules of educational material from the point of need, responding to the request by electronically delivering at least one of the granules of educational material to the point of need, and recording educational credits based on at least one of the granules of educational material delivered to the point of

Claims

1. A new method for providing education at a point of need for purposes of earning educational credits, the method, comprising:

creating granules of educational material;

associating educational credits with the granules of educational material;

receiving a request for at least one of the granules of educational material from the point of need;

responding to the request by electronically delivering at least one of the granules of educational material to the point of need; and

recording educational credits based on the at least one granule of educational material delivered to the point of need.

2. The new method of claim 1 wherein the request for at least one of the granules of educational material from the point of need is based on at least one patient characteristics.

3. The new method of claim 1 wherein each of the granules of educational material is less than approximately five minutes of educational material and less than approximately five minutes of educational credits are associated with the granules.

4. The new method of claim 1 wherein the educational material is educational material for health care providers.

5. A new method for providing licensure mandated education to an individual at a point of need, comprising:

creating granules of educational material;

associating licensure mandated education credits with the granules of educational material;

receiving a request for at least one of the granules of educational material from the point of need; and

responding to the request by delivering at least one of the granules of educational material to the point of need.

6. The new method of claim 5 wherein the request for at least one of the granules of educational material from the point of need is based on at least one patient characteristics.

7. The new method of claim 5 further comprising recording an identifier corresponding to the individual and an identifier corresponding to the at least one of the granules of educational material.

8. The new method of claim 7 further comprising reporting to a licensing authority a name of the individual and a number of credits associated with the at least one of the granules of educational material.

9. A method for providing continuing medical education to a medical professional at a point and time of need, comprising:

creating a set of granules of medical knowledge;

associating continuing medical education credits with each of the set of granules of medical knowledge;

receiving a request for at least one of the set of granules of medical knowledge from the point and time of need;

responding to the request by electronically delivering at least one of the set of granules of medical knowledge to the point and at the time of need; and

recording the continuing medical education credits based on the at least one of the set of granules of medical knowledge delivered to the point and at the time of need.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

receiving a request for at least one additional granule of medical knowledge from the set of granules of medical knowledge, the at least one additional granule of medical knowledge related to the at least one granule of medical knowledge; and

delivering the at least one additional granule of medical knowledge after the time of need.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one additional granule of medical knowledge is larger in size than the at least one granule of medical knowledge.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising recording the continuing medical education credits based on the at least one additional granule of medical knowledge delivered after the time of need.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the time of need is the time during which the medical professional requires additional medical knowledge to render proper care to a patient.

14. A method for providing medical knowledge to a health care provider at a point of need and a time of need to improve the quality of care given to a patient, comprising:

participating in an interaction with the patient;

performing a request for a granule of medical knowledge based on the interaction;

receiving a response to the request containing the granule of medical knowledge at the point of need; and

providing care to the patient based on the granule of medical knowledge; and

receiving a follow-up message containing a list of related granules of medical knowledge.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising documenting continuing medical education credits based on the granule of medical knowledge.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

accessing at least one related granules of medical knowledge; and

documenting continuing medical education credits based on the at least one related granules of medical knowledge.

17. A system for providing medical education, comprising:

a server;

at least one database containing granules of medical knowledge and continuing medical education credit information operatively connected to the server;

at least one health care provider computer operatively connected to the server such that the at least one health care provider computer requests granules of medical knowledge and the server responds with requested granules of medical knowledge and corresponding continuing medical education credit information.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the at least one health care provider computer is a handheld computer.

19. An article of software for providing medical knowledge to a health care provider at a point of need and a time of need to improve the quality of care given to a patient, comprising:

means for performing a request for a granule of medical knowledge;

means for receiving a response to the request containing the granule of medical knowledge;

means for receiving a follow-up message containing a list of related granules of medical knowledge; and

means for documenting continuing medical education credits based on the at least one related granules of medical knowledge.