Method of making appointments for medical examinations for patients in medical facilities and appointment-making system
First Claim
1. A method of making a medical examination appointment, comprising the steps of:
- storing performance data for each instance of examination;
updating, based on the stored performance data, a number of appointments acceptable for each time frame;
receiving an appointment request designating at least one kind of examination;
determining one or more time frames available to accept the appointment request, wherein determining one or more time frames comprises (a) determining if a physician needs to attend the examination, (b) determining if the examinations can be conducted on the same day if more than one kind of examination is designated, and (c) determining priority among the examinations if more than one kind of examination is designated; and
presenting the available one or more time frames for selection.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method of making a medical examination appointment and a system that implements such a method. In such a system, performance data is stored for each instance of examination. Based on the stored performance data, the number of appointments acceptable for each time frame is updated. When an appointment request designating at least one kind of examination is received, one or more time frames is determined which are available to accept the appointment request. In determining one or more time frames, (a) it is also determined if a physician needs to attend the examination, (b) it is also determined if the examinations can be conducted on the same day if more than one kind of examination is designated, and (c) priority among the examinations is determined if more than one kind of examination is designated. Then, the available one or more time frames are presented for selection.
15 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A method of making a medical examination appointment, comprising the steps of:
-
storing performance data for each instance of examination;
updating, based on the stored performance data, a number of appointments acceptable for each time frame;
receiving an appointment request designating at least one kind of examination;
determining one or more time frames available to accept the appointment request, wherein determining one or more time frames comprises (a) determining if a physician needs to attend the examination, (b) determining if the examinations can be conducted on the same day if more than one kind of examination is designated, and (c) determining priority among the examinations if more than one kind of examination is designated; and
presenting the available one or more time frames for selection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A medical examination appointment making system, comprising:
-
a memory that stores performance data for each instance of examination;
a performance manager that updates, based on the stored performance data, a number of appointments acceptable for each time frame;
an input unit that receives an appointment request designating at least one kind of examination;
a timeframe finder that determines one or more time frames available to accept the appointment request, wherein when determining one or more time frames, the timeframe finder determines (a) if a physician needs to attend the examination, (b) if the examinations can be conducted on the same day if more than one kind of examination is designated, and (c) priority among the examinations if more than one kind of examination is designated; and
an output unit that presents the available one or more time frames for selection. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification