Method for direct-to-patient marketing and clinical trials recruitment with outcomes tracking and method for confidential appointment booking

• US 20040236601A1
• Filed: 05/19/2003
• Published: 11/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ThreeWire, Inc. (WCG Clinical, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ThreeWire, Inc. (WCG Clinical, Inc.)
• Inventors: Renaud, Jennifer Mary Zwiefel, Lindberg, Gary Russell, Summers, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 7,499,866 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 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

Generally, the present invention is directed to marketing techniques and more particularly to direct-to-patient marketing for medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs, and biotechnology products. The approach presented here may also be applied to the recruitment of patients for clinical trials evaluation including tracking outcomes after treatment. An embodiment of the invention includes the steps of finding potential patients, qualifying potential patients, connecting potential patients to preferred physicians, and tracking the patient'"'"'s progress through the appointment phase and tracking outcomes.

Claims

1. A method for marketing of a client'"'"'s specific medical product or therapy to a patient, comprising:

finding potential patients who are candidates for a specific product by attracting them to a marketer'"'"'s informational non-branded web site containing information about medical conditions which includes treatment with client'"'"'s medical product or therapy;

qualifying potential patients, as to their suitability for utilizing client'"'"'s medical product or therapy;

connecting qualified patients, in real time, to a preferred health care professional capable of providing the specific product or therapy; and

tracking patient outcomes after utilization of the client'"'"'s specific product or therapy.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the client is a medical product supplier seeking patients for utilization of the specific product or therapy.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the client is a medical product supplier seeking candidates for clinical trial evaluations.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the clinical trials evaluation is for a medical device or therapy.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the clinical trials evaluation is for a pharmaceutical drug.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the clinical trials evaluation is for a medical device or therapy in conjunction with a pharmaceutical drug.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

creating a non-branded informational website with information relevant to a specific client'"'"'s product;

providing on-line assistance to qualify potential patient'"'"'s of client'"'"'s products according to pre-determined criteria;

providing on-line interactive technical assistance directing potential patients to client'"'"'s preferred health care professionals;

assisting, in real time, in booking an appointment for the potential patient with said health care professional;

issuing a reminder to the potential patient of upcoming appointment;

verifying that the patient attended the preferred health care professsional'"'"'s appointment;

tracking outcomes of patient'"'"'s appointment with client'"'"'s preferred health care professional.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein qualifying the potential patient further comprises verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been considered.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein qualifying the potential patient further comprises verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been evaluated and rejected.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein qualifying the potential patient further comprises verifying that the potential patient has means to pay for medical treatments.

11. A method of booking and tracking secure patient appointments with a preferred health care professional capable of supplying the client'"'"'s medical product or therapy comprising:

posting an on-line secure portal for communication between a booking agent and a preferred health care professional;

contracting with the preferred health care professional for pre-allocated appointment time slots which may be scheduled by the booking agent;

assisting, in real time, in booking an appointment for the potential patient with said health care professional;

transmitting a message to the health care professional that a pre-allocated appointment slot has been taken without transmitting patient specific data and inviting the professional to retrieve said data

confirming the patient made scheduled appointment by monitoring it the preferred health care professional has retrieved the patient specific data at the secure portal;

12. A method for marketing of a client'"'"'s medical product or therapy to a patient via a marketer'"'"'s web site, comprising:

a. finding potential patients who are suitable candidates for a specific medical condition including the steps of;

1) posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the specific medical condition;

2) providing interactive technical assistance reachable via the site to assist potential patients with questions relating to said specific medical condition;

b. qualifying interested parties utilizing predetermined criteria comprising;

verifying whether specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been considered, including the steps of

1) interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s medical condition with respect to the subject matter of the web site.

2) verifying whether specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical conditions, not supported by the client'"'"'s product or therapy, have been considered and rejected;

connecting the qualified interested party to at least one preferred health care professional capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product comprising;

1) contracting, in advance, with preferred health care professionals which can provide medical services utilizing client'"'"'s product or therapy,

2) querying a database of said preferred health care professionals providing the patient with a preferred health care professional most appropriate to the patient;

in advance of booking appointments, contracting with preferred health care professionals to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be scheduled by the marketer; and

storing said data in marketer'"'"'s data base;

querying the patient to schedule an appointment for the patient with a preferred health care professional drawing from the data base of pre-approved appointment slots.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said health care professional providing step is based on the professional most geographically convenient to the patient.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said vendor providing step includes providing professionals names based on objective criteria associated with selection of professionals from the database.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein said qualifying step includes:

interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s current medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

17. The method of claim 13 wherein said providing step is based on the health care professional most geographically convenient to the patient.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein said providing step includes providing health care professional names based on objective criteria associated with selection of professionals from the database.

19. The method according to claim 13 wherein the finding step includes:

in response to the contact by the interested party, interactively collecting information from said interested party concerning as to how they found the web site; and

periodically optimizing the website by modifying its contents in response to the survey information to increase the probability that interested parties searching the internet for information about the specific medical condition will be directed to the site;

20. The method according to claim 13 wherein the qualifying step includes:

interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s medical condition with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

1) interactively querying the interested part as to the potential patient'"'"'s current medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site; and

2) verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical conditions, not supported by the client'"'"'s product or therapy, have been considered;

21. The method according to claim 13 when the connecting step includes:

upon obtaining patient consent, recording patient information in marketer'"'"'s database and making patient information available only to preferred health care professionals by way of a secure portal.

23. The method according to claim 14 wherein the connecting step includes:

interactively collecting survey information from interested parties viewing the website concerning as to how they found the web site;

periodically optimizing the website by modifying its contents in response to the survey information to increase the probability that potential patients searching the internet for information about the specific medical condition will be directed to the site.

24. The method according to claim 14 wherein the connecting step includes:

receiving authorization from the potential patient to contact their medical insurance carrier to verify reimbursement coverage for the specific medical product or therapy.

25. The method according to claim 14 wherein the connecting step includes:

querying a data base of information specific to the potential patient'"'"'s geographical area to determine, with some degree of probability, that the potential patient'"'"'s insurance policy with cover the cost of the client'"'"'s medical product or therapy.

26. The method according to claim 14 wherein the connecting step includes:

maintaining a database of financial institutions that provide financial assistance to potential patient'"'"'s without reimbursement coverage for the client company'"'"'s specific product or therapy.

27. The method according to claim 14 wherein the connecting step includes:

referring potential patients to possible financing sites in the event that potential patient'"'"'s insurance carrier does not reimburse client company'"'"'s specific product or therapy.

28. The method according to claim 14 wherein the connecting step includes:

after the scheduled appointment time slot has passed, confirming that the patient attended scheduled appointment by issuing a communication to the health care professional requesting information to track the progress of treatment;

repeating the tracking until the health care professional confirms conclusion of treatment so that the marketer has a complete record of treatment of the patient'"'"'s condition and can assemble a data base of like experiences from other patients via the web site.

30. The method of claim 15 wherein said providing step is based on the health care professional most geographically convenient to the patient.

31. The method of claim 15 wherein said providing step includes providing health care professional names based on objective criteria associated with selection of professionals from the database.

35. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of qualifying further includes:

interactively querying the interested part as to the potential patient'"'"'s current medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site.

36. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of qualifying further includes:

interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s use of interventional therapies, drugs or devices or adverse reactions with respect to the subject matter of the web site.

37. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of qualifying further includes:

verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been evaluated and rejected.

38. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of qualifying further includes:

receiving authorization from the potential patient to contact their medical insurance carrier to verify reimbursement coverage for the specific medical product or therapy.

39. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of qualifying further includes:

maintaining a data base of information specific to the potential patient'"'"'s geographical area, and querying said database to determine, with some degree of probability, that the potential patient'"'"'s insurance policy will cover the cost of the client'"'"'s medical product or therapy.

40. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of qualifying further includes:

Providing referral information to potential patients to possible financing resources, in the event that potential patient'"'"'s insurance carrier does not reimburse for the specific product or therapy.

43. The method of claim 20 wherein said providing step is based on the health care professional most geographically convenient to the patient.

44. The method of claim 20 wherein said providing step includes providing health care professional names based on objective criteria associated with selection of professionals from the database

46. The method according to claim 21 wherein the vendors include health care professionals.

47. The method of claim 21 wherein the vendors include lawyers qualified to provide legal service in the field of medical malpractice.

48. The method of claim 21 wherein the vendors have contracted with the marketer to receive qualified referrals.

49. The method of claim 21 wherein said trained assistance is provided by a patient interaction center and wherein said trained assistance is provided by a medically trained professional.

50. The method of claim 21 wherein said trained assistance is provide in real time by telephone.

51. The method of claim 21 wherein said trained assistance is provide in real time by interactive email.

53. The method of claim 28 further including the step of

with the consent of the patient, periodically reporting to client progress and outcome data from the vendor with respect to each patient receiving client'"'"'s product or treatment.

54. The method of claim 28 where in said clients are competitors and where said step of providing vendors is without preference to the product or therapy of any particular client.

55. The method of claim 28 wherein said vendor providing step is based on the vendor most geographically convenient to the patient.

56. The method of claim 28 wherein said vendor providing step includes providing vendor names based on objective criteria associated with selection of vendors from the vendor database.

16. A method for marketing of a client'"'"'s medical product or therapy to a patient via a marketer'"'"'s web site, comprising:

a. finding potential patients who are suitable candidates for a specific medical condition including the steps of;

1) posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the specific medical condition;

2) providing interactive technical assistance reachable via the site to assist interested parties with questions relating generally to said specific medical condition.

b. qualifying interested parties utilizing predetermined criteria comprising;

verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been considered, including the steps of

1) interactively querying the interested part as to the potential patient'"'"'s medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

verifying that the potential patient has means to pay for medical treatments;

c. connecting the qualified interested party to at least one preferred health care professional capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product comprising;

1) contracting in advance with preferred health care professionals which can provide medical services utilizing client'"'"'s product or therapy,

2) querying a database of said preferred health care professionals

3) providing the patient with a preferred health care professional most appropriate to patient;

in advance of booking appointments, contracting with preferred health care professionals to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be scheduled by the marketer; and

storing said data in marketer'"'"'s data base;

querying the patient to schedule an appointment for the patient with a preferred health care professional drawing from the data base of pre-approved appointment slots;

issuing a confirmatory communication from marketer'"'"'s database to preferred health care professional, referring to the patient by indirect data so as not to transmit name identifiable patient data over a communications channel, confirming that the time slot provided by contract is now engaged and blocking that slot from further use;

in response to said confirmatory communication, allowing the health care professional to query the marketer'"'"'s secure portal and obtain patient data corresponding to that patient for said time slot;

monitoring the secure portal to confirm that the health care professional has accessed and retrieved the patient data.

22. A method for marketing of a client'"'"'s medical product or therapy to a patient via a marketer'"'"'s web site, comprising:

a. finding potential patients who are suitable candidates for a specific medical condition including the steps of;

1) Posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the specific medical condition;

2) providing online technical assistance reachable via the site to assist interested parties with questions relating generally to said specific medical condition;

3) inviting interested parties to contact health care professionals knowledgeable of said medical condition via the web site

b. qualifying interested parties utilizing a predetermined criterion comprising;

verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been tried and failed, including the steps of

1) interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s medical condition with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

2) interactively querying the interested part as to the potential patient'"'"'s symptoms with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

3) interactively querying the interested part as to the potential patient'"'"'s current medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

4) interactively querying the interested part as to the potential patient'"'"'s use of interventional therapies, drugs or devices or adverse reactions with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been evaluated and rejected;

verifying that the potential patient has means to pay for medical treatments;

c. connecting qualified interested parties to a preferred health care professional capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product comprising;

1) querying a database of preferred health care professionals

2) providing the patient with a preferred health care professional appropriate to patient;

3) initiating an on-line connection with said appropriate preferred health care professional;

4) collecting patient information and storing it in the marketer'"'"'s on-line secure database for communication between the web site and the preferred health care professional;

recording patient information in marketer'"'"'s database and making patient information available only to preferred health care professionals by way of a secure portal;

in advance of booking appointments, contracting with preferred health care professionals to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be scheduled by the marketer; and

storing said data in marketer'"'"'s data base;

scheduling an appointment for the patient with a preferred health care professional drawing from the data base of pre-approved appointment slots;

automatically issuing a confirmatory communication from marketer'"'"'s database to preferred health care professional, referring to the patient by indirect data so as not to transmit name identifiable patient data over a communications channel, confirming that the time slot provided by contract is now engaged and blocking that slot from further use;

in response to said confirmatory communication, the health care professional queries the marketer'"'"'s data base by way of the secure portal and obtains patient and payment data corresponding to that patient for said time slot;

monitoring the secure portal to confirm that the health care professional has accessed and retrieved the patient data;

d. tracking patient progress from scheduled appointment to outcome comprising;

receiving consent from potential patient to remind patient of upcoming appointments with the preferred health care professional;

issuing a reminder to the patient of scheduled appointment within a specific time interval before upcoming appointment with the preferred health care professional.

29. A method for marketing of a client'"'"'s medical product or therapy to a patient via a marketers web site, comprising:

a. finding potential patients who are suitable candidates for a specific medical condition including the steps of;

1. posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the specific medical condition;

2. providing interactive technical assistance reachable via the site to assist interested parties with questions relating generally to said specific medical condition;

b. qualifying interested parties utilizing a predetermined criterion comprising;

verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been considered, including the step of

c. connecting the qualified interested party to at least one preferred health care professional capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product comprising;

1. contracting in advance with preferred health care professionals which can provide medical services utilizing client'"'"'s product or therapy,

2. querying a database of said preferred health care professionals

3. providing the patient with a preferred health care professional most appropriate to patient;

4. upon obtaining patient consent, recording patient information in marketer'"'"'s database and making patient information available only to preferred health care professionals by way of a secure portal;

in advance of booking appointments, contracting with preferred health care professionals to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be scheduled by the marketer; and

storing said data in marketer'"'"'s data base;

querying the patient to schedule an appointment for the patient with a preferred health care professional drawing from the data base of pre-approved appointment slots;

issuing a confirmatory communication from marketer'"'"'s database to preferred health care professional, referring to the patient by indirect data so as not to transmit name identifiable patient data over a communications channel, confirming that the time slot provided by contract is now engaged and blocking that slot from further use;

in response to said confirmatory communication, the health care professional queries the marketer'"'"'s secure portal and obtains patient data corresponding to that patient for said time slot;

monitoring the secure portal to confirm that the health care professional has accessed and retrieved the patient data.

32. A method for booking patient appointments with a preferred health care professional, without requiring real time contact with the preferred health care professional comprising:

in advance of booking said appointments, contracting with preferred health care professionals to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be assigned via said web site, and storing said data in a data base;

posting a secure web site accessible to patients capable of displaying a calendar of available appointment time slots for preferred health care professionals, and

allowing patients to access the calendar of a preferred health care professional and elect an available time slot.

notifying the preferred health care professional that one of said contracted pre-approved time slots has been elected by a patient and inviting the health care professional to retrieve the confidential patient information by a secure channel,

allowing said preferred health care professional to access said calendar to retrieve the stored data corresponding to the patient who has elected said time slot, and then downloading patient confidential information to said preferred health care professional for correlating with their own database,

monitoring secure accesses by said preferred health care professional of said time slot data, to determine if said professional has retrieved said confidential patient data and thereby effectively confirmed the appointment time slot.

33. A method for securely and confidentially booking patient appointments with a preferred health care professional, without requiring real time contact with the professional, comprising:

in advance of booking said appointments, contracting with preferred health care professionals to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be assigned via said web site, and storing said data in a data base;

posting a secure web site accessible to patients capable of displaying a calendar of available appointment time slots for preferred health care professionals, and

allowing patients to securely access the calendar of a preferred health care professional and elect an available time slot.

allowing patients to deposit confidential patient information into the web site in association with the time slot elected,

notifying the preferred health care professional, without transmission of confidential patient data, that one of said contracted pre-approved time slots has been elected by a patient and inviting the preferred health care professional to retrieve the confidential patient information by a secure channel,

allowing said preferred health care professional to securely retrieve the data said confidential patient data site by correlating time slot specific information from said notification with said calendar, and then securely downloading patient confidential information to said preferred health care professional for correlating with their own database,

monitoring secure accesses by said preferred health care professional of said time slot data, to determine if said professional has retrieved said confidential patient data and thereby effectively confirmed the appointment time slot.

34. A method for prequalifying a patient for a specific medical product or therapy before directing the patient to a health care professional via a marketers web site, comprising:

a. finding potential patients who are suitable candidates for a specific medical condition including the steps of;

1. posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the specific medical condition;

2. providing on-line technical assistance reachable via the site to assist interested parties with questions relating generally to said specific medical condition;

b. qualifying interested parties utilizing a predetermined criterion comprising;

interactively verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been considered including the steps of

1) interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s medical condition with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

2) interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s symptoms with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

3) verifying that the potential patient has means to pay for medical treatments;

c. connecting qualified interested parties to a preferred health care professional capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product.

41. A method for prequalifying a patient for a specific medical product or therapy before directing the patient to a health care professional via a marketer'"'"'s web site, comprising:

a. finding potential patients who are suitable candidates for a specific medical condition including the steps of;

1. posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the specific medical condition;

2. providing online technical assistance reachable via the site to assist interested parties with questions relating generally to said specific medical condition;

b. qualifying interested parties utilizing predetermined criteria comprising;

1. Interactively verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been considered, including the steps of

a). interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s medical condition with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

b). interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s symptoms with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

c). interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s current medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

d). interactively querying the interested party as to the potential patient'"'"'s use of interventional therapies, drugs or devices or adverse reactions with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

e). verifying that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been evaluated and rejected;

2. verifying that the potential patient has medical insurance or alternative means to pay for medical treatments;

3. receiving authorization from the potential patient to contact their medical insurance carrier to verify reimbursement coverage for the specific medical product or therapy;

4. querying a data base of information specific to the potential patient'"'"'s geographical area to determine, with some degree of probability, that the potential patient'"'"'s insurance policy will cover the cost of the client'"'"'s medical product or therapy,

5. maintaining a database of financial institutions that provide financial assistance to potential patient'"'"'s without reimbursement coverage for the client company'"'"'s specific product or therapy;

6. referring potential patients to possible financing sites in the event that potential patient'"'"'s insurance carrier does not reimburse client company'"'"'s specific product or therapy;

c. connecting qualified interested parties to a preferred health care professional capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product.

42. A method for marketing of a client'"'"'s medical product or therapy to a patient via a marketers web site, and encouraging patient commitment to investigating therapy, comprising:

a. finding potential patients who are suitable candidates for a specific medical condition including the steps of;

1. posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the specific medical condition;

2. providing on-line technical assistance reachable via the site to assist interested parties with questions relating generally to said specific medical condition;

3. inviting interested parties to initiate immediate contact with a preferred health care professional knowledgeable of said medical condition via the web site;

b. qualifying interested parties utilizing a predetermined criterion comprising;

Connecting, in real time, said interested parties to a representative of the marketing company who can interactively verify the interested party that specific alternative medical options for treating the patient'"'"'s medical condition have been considered;

c. connecting, in real time, qualified interested parties to a preferred health care professional capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product comprising;

1. querying a database of preferred health care professionals

2. providing the patient with a preferred health care professional most appropriate to patient;

3. initiating an on-line connection with said appropriate preferred health care professional.

45. A method of identifying qualified patients to marketer'"'"'s web site, for redirection to appropriate vendors of medically related services and confidentially booking appointments, in real time, comprising:

a. finding potential patients and interested parties representing patients, who are suitable candidates for medical treatment of a medical condition including the steps of;

1) posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the medical condition and inviting interested parties and patients to interactively contact the site;

2) providing online trained assistance reachable via the site, in real time, to assist interested parties and patients with questions relating generally to their medical condition;

b. qualifying interested parties and patients by utilizing a predetermined criterion comprising the steps of;

3) interactively querying interested parties and patients as to the patient'"'"'s medical condition with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

4) interactively querying interested parties and patients as to the patient'"'"'s current medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site

c. making a preliminary determination as to whether any of the site'"'"'s vendors may be appropriate to provide services or treatment to the potential patient;

d. connecting qualified interested parties and patients to a vendor capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product comprising;

1) querying a database for vendors most appropriate to the patient;

2) providing interested parties and patients with the name of said vendor;

3) interactively querying interested parties and patients as to whether they would like the set up an appointment between the patient and one of the vendors,

4) in advance of booking appointments, contracting with vendors to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be scheduled by the marketer; and

storing said data in marketer'"'"'s data base;

5) with consent of the patient, obtaining confidential patient information and storing it in marketer'"'"'s database;

6) scheduling an appointment for the patient with said vendor by drawing from the data base of pre-approved appointment slots;

7) issuing a confirmatory communication from marketer'"'"'s database to vendor, referring to the patient by indirect data so as not to transmit patient confidential information data over a communications channel, confirming that the time slot provided by contract is now engaged and blocking that slot from further use;

8) in response to said confirmatory communication, based on the data obtained there-from, allowing the vendor to query the marketer'"'"'s data base by way of a secure portal and obtain confidential patient data corresponding to that patient for said time slot;

46) monitoring the secure portal to confirm that the vendor has accessed and retrieved the patient data.

52. A method of identifying qualified patients appropriate to a plurality of clients of medical products or therapies, for redirection of patients, via a marketer'"'"'s web site, to prequalified vendors of clients'"'"' products or therapies and confidentially booking appointments, in real time, comprising:

a. finding potential patients and interested parties representing patients, who are suitable candidates for medical treatment of a medical condition including the steps of;

1) posting a non-branded, informational website with information relevant to the medical conditions of clients'"'"' products and therapies and inviting interested parties and patients to interactively contact the site;

2) providing online trained assistance reachable via the site, in real time, to assist interested parties and patients with questions relating generally to their medical condition;

b. qualifying interested parties and patients by utilizing a predetermined criterion comprising the steps of;

3) interactively querying interested parties and patients as to the patient'"'"'s medical condition with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

4) interactively querying interested parties and patients as to the patient'"'"'s current medical treatment with respect to the subject matter of the web site;

c. making a preliminary determination as to whether any of the site'"'"'s prequalified vendors may be appropriate to provide services or treatment to the potential patient;

d. connecting qualified interested parties and patients to a vendor capable of offering the client'"'"'s specific product comprising;

1) querying a database for vendors who are appropriate to the patient;

2) providing interested parties and patients with the name of at least one vendor;

3) interactively querying interested parties and patients as to whether they would like the set up an appointment between the patient and one of the vendors,

4) in advance of booking appointments, contracting with vendors to obtain pre-approved appointment slots which may be scheduled by the marketer; and

storing said data in marketer'"'"'s data base;

5) with consent of the patient, obtaining confidential patient information and storing it in marketer'"'"'s database

6) scheduling an appointment for the patient with said vendor by drawing from the data base of pre-approved appointment slots;

7) issuing a confirmatory communication from marketer'"'"'s database to vendor, referring to the patient by indirect data so as not to transmit patient confidential information data over a communications channel, confirming that the time slot provided by contract is now engaged and blocking that slot from further use;

8) in response to said confirmatory communication, based on the data obtained there-from, allowing the vendor to query the marketer'"'"'s data base by way of a secure portal and obtain confidential patient data corresponding to that patient for said time slot;

monitoring the secure portal to confirm that the vendor has accessed and retrieved the patient data.

57. A method for direct to buyer marketing of a client'"'"'s specific product or service, comprising:

finding potential customers who are candidates for a specific product or service by attracting them to a marketer'"'"'s informational non-branded web site containing information about issues related to said product or service includes solutions which employ client'"'"'s product or service;

qualifying potential customers, as to their suitability for utilizing client'"'"'s product or service; and

connecting qualified customers, in real time, to a vendor capable of providing the specific product or service.