Method and system for matching a service seeker with a service provider
First Claim
1. A method of creating a referral system for referring a service seeker to a service provider, the method comprising:
- creating a plurality of needs;
creating at least one specialty by examining a first set of factors characterizing the service provider;
matching the at least one specialty of the service provider with at least one need from the plurality of needs thereby creating a service provider/need correlation; and
making the service provider/need correlation available to a plurality of service seekers through the referral system.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A referral system in which input by a service seeker describing a need provides accurate, consistent, and reliable referrals to qualified service providers. The referral system is created and maintained by a host having extensive knowledge and experience in the field in which referrals are being sought by service seekers. Through this knowledge base and experience, the host is able to derive an accurate, comprehensive list of needs from which a service seekers can select the specific service being sought. The host also derives a list of needs that can be serviced by a service provider by examining qualitative and/or quantitative factors of a service provider. This needs list is derived for each service provider. This is also done most effectively by a host having extensive knowledge and experience in the relevant field. The host takes the selected needs of the service seekers, along with information such as the service seeker'"'"'s geographic location, and provides a list of one or more service providers most appropriate for the service seeker. The referral system can be used in the health care industry where the host is a health service organization. The service seeker is a health care consumer seeking mental or physical health services from a qualified health care provider.
54 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of creating a referral system for referring a service seeker to a service provider, the method comprising:
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creating a plurality of needs;
creating at least one specialty by examining a first set of factors characterizing the service provider;
matching the at least one specialty of the service provider with at least one need from the plurality of needs thereby creating a service provider/need correlation; and
making the service provider/need correlation available to a plurality of service seekers through the referral system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of referring a service seeker to a service provider, the method comprising:
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entering one or more needs from a list of needs, wherein the list of needs is derived from historical need data;
selecting from a list of one or more service providers qualified to handle the one or more needs, wherein qualifications of a service provider are based on a set of qualitative data; and
obtaining contact information for one or more service providers. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of creating a health care consumer referral system for referring a health care consumer to a health care provider, the method comprising:
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creating a list of conditions from which the consumer selects one or more conditions;
deriving for a health care provider a sublist of conditions for which the health care provider is qualified to handle each condition in the sublist; and
making the list of conditions available to the consumer whereby selecting a condition results in informing the consumer of one or more health care providers qualified for treating the selected condition. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method of creating a consumer and health care provider referral system for referring a consumer to a health care provider, the method comprising:
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creating a list of conditions utilizing a knowledge base of a host from which a consumer selects one or more conditions, the knowledge base derived from previous input from a plurality of consumers;
creating a sublist of conditions for a health care provider based on qualifications of the provider; and
making the list of conditions available to the consumer whereby selecting one or more conditions results in obtaining one or more health care providers suitable for treating the selected one or more conditions. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of creating a consumer and health care provider referral system for referring a consumer to a health care provider, the method comprising:
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creating a list of conditions using a knowledge base of a host from which a consumer selects one or more conditions;
creating a sublist of conditions for a health care provider; and
making the list of conditions available to the consumer whereby selecting one or more conditions results in displaying one or more health care providers suitable for treating the selected one or more conditions. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method of using a service seeker/service provider referral system comprising:
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entering a need;
entering a geographic area;
obtaining a list of qualified service providers suitable for handling the need; and
entering appointment information for a selected service provider. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A computer system for referring a service seeker to a service provider comprising:
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one or more processors; and
one or more memory storage areas containing;
a list of needs made available to a service seeker;
a plurality of specialty lists, a specialty list associated with a service provider; and
a plurality of service provider-specific needs lists, a service provider-specific needs list associated with a service provider and containing one or more needs that can be handled by the service provider.
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31. A referral system comprising:
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a plurality of needs from which a service seeker can select one or more needs for which a referral is sought, the plurality of needs being derived in part from historical data;
a plurality of specialty lists, a specialty list corresponding to a service provider and derived by examining a first set of factors;
a matching engine for matching a specialty from the specialty list with a need from the plurality of needs thereby creating a service provider/need correlation; and
a graphical user interface for displaying data to a service seeker. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification