System and method for providing on-line healthcare

• US 20030216937A1
• Filed: 05/14/2002
• Published: 11/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Homedoc Corporation, Roche Diabetes Care Inc. (Roche Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Roche Diabetes Care Inc. (Roche Holding AG)
• Inventors: Schreiber, Jorg, Field, Sean, Garbe, Susanne, Pickett, Jane, Briggs, Dan, Rodgers, Gail
• Application Number:
  US10/145,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20030216937A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method for providing on-line healthcare, including receiving, over a network, symptom information for a patient from a person requesting healthcare, generating a health assessment based on the symptom information, and providing an on-line facility whereby a healthcare provider communicates over the network with the person requesting healthcare. The present invention further includes a system and method for ordering prescriptions over a network, transmitting the health assessment to a patient'"'"'s personal physician over a network, and providing a physician referral for the patient. The present invention also provides for on-line follow-up with the patient after a health assessment is generated.

Claims

1. A method for providing on-line healthcare, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, over a network, patient symptom information from a user,

generating a health assessment of the patient based on the patient symptom information, and

providing an on-line facility whereby a healthcare provider communicates over the network with the user about the health assessment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of communicating to the user, over the network, a treatment plan created by the healthcare provider relating to the health assessment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the treatment plan includes a prescription.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of filling the prescription over the network.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of identifying a pharmacy from which to fill the prescription.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the pharmacy is identified based on a geographic location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the health assessment includes a recommendation to consult a physician.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of generating a referral.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the referral is based on a geographic location.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting the health assessment to a personal physician identified by the user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of questions are communicated to the user and a response to each question is received from the user.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of identifying the healthcare provider to provide the treatment plan and communicate with the user.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a patient.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a caregiver.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of verifying the identity of the user.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining from the health assessment whether a treatment plan can be provided.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of changing the health assessment based on input from the healthcare provider.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of electronically notifying the healthcare provider when a request for healthcare is received.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the on-line facility for communication between the healthcare provider and the user operates in real time.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving payment information from the user.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of updating the payment information when the health assessment is generated.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the health assessment in a computer-readable storage medium.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving patient information from the user.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the patient information includes information relating to a medical history of a patient.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the patient information includes information relating to current medications being taken by a patient.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the patient information includes information relating to allergies of a patient.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the patient information includes height, weight, age and race information for a patient.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of providing the patient information to the healthcare provider over the network.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving, within a defined time period, a request from the user for a follow-up health assessment.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of receiving a selection from the user indicating a previous health assessment for which follow-up is desired.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of communicating to the user a treatment plan relating to the selected previous health assessment.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of providing an on-line facility whereby the user and the healthcare provider communicate regarding the selected previous health assessment.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the defined time period is about forty-eight hours.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing an on-line facility further comprises the step of re-establishing communication between the healthcare provider and the user within a defined time period after the assessment is generated.

35. A program comprising:

a first routine for receiving symptom information over a network from a user requesting healthcare,

a second routine for generating a health assessment based on the symptom information,

a third routine for receiving input over a network from a healthcare provider regarding the health assessment, and

a fourth routine for facilitating on-line communication relating to the health assessment between the healthcare provider and the user.

36. The program of claim 35, wherein the input includes a treatment plan.

37. The program of claim 35, wherein the healthcare provider is a physician.

38. The program of claim 37, wherein the treatment plan includes a prescription.

39. The program of claim 35, further comprising a fifth routine for writing a prescription executable by a physician.

40. The program of claim 39, wherein the fifth routine checks a formulary.

41. The program of claim 39, wherein the fifth routine checks for drug interactions.

42. The program of claim 38, further comprising a fifth routine for filling the prescription over the network.

43. The program of claim 35, further comprising a fifth routine for defining a schedule of healthcare providers to provide input and communicate with the user.

44. The program of claim 43, wherein the fifth routine changes the schedule based on input from a healthcare provider.

45. The program of claim 35, further comprising a fifth routine for receiving a request from a patient to notify the patient'"'"'s personal physician of the treatment plan.

46. The program of claim 45, wherein the fifth routine notifies the personal physician of the health assessment by electronic mail.

47. The program of claim 45, wherein the fifth routine notifies the personal physician of the health assessment by fax.

48. The program of claim 45, wherein the fifth routine notifies the personal physician of the health assessment by postal mail.

49. A system for providing on-line healthcare, the system comprising:

network means for providing a communication network,

means for receiving patient symptom information from a user requesting healthcare over the network means,

processor means coupled to the network means, for generating a health assessment based on the symptom information, and

means for enabling a physician to provide input relating to the health assessment to the user over the network means.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the means for enabling the physician to provide input includes means for providing an on-line facility for real-time communication between the physician and the user.

51. The system of claim 49, further comprising memory means for storing the health assessment.

52. The system of claim 49, wherein the input includes a prescription.

53. The system of claim 52, further comprising means for enabling the physician to electronically write the prescription.

54. The system of claim 53, further comprising means for transmitting the prescription to a pharmacy over the network means.

55. The system of claim 49, further comprising means for transmitting the health assessment to a personal physician of a patient over the network means.

56. The system of claim 49, further comprising means for scheduling over the network means physicians to provide the input.

57. A method for providing on-line healthcare, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving at a main computer a symptom transmitted by a user via a first remote computing device, the main computer and the first remote computing device being connected by a network,

generating at the main computer a health assessment based on the symptom,

receiving at the main computer input regarding the health assessment transmitted by a healthcare provider via a second remote computing device connected to the network,

providing a facility whereby the healthcare provider and the user communicate regarding the health assessment over the network using the first and second remote computing devices, and

communicating a treatment plan to the user over the network.