METHOD FOR CLINICIAN HOUSE CALLS UTILIZING PORTABLE COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
First Claim
1. A method of providing medical treatment by clinicians, comprising operations of:
- a mobile care entity providing a network of predesignated mobile clinicians;
the mobile care entity providing the clinicians with use of preprogrammed portable computers, each portable computer coupled to a wireless communications interface and including local storage of patient medical records;
a selected one of the clinicians visiting a patient'"'"'s premises accompanied by the portable computer and a preselected collection of portable electronic medical care devices, at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices including a wireless device communications interface with the portable computer of the selected clinician;
the selected clinician examining the patient at the patient'"'"'s premises, including selecting and operating one or more of the portable electronic medical care devices to analyze one or more aspects of the patient'"'"'s condition and prepare representative outputs for transmission wirelessly to the portable computer;
storing the outputs in the local storage of the portable computer of the selected clinician;
the selected clinician updating the patient'"'"'s medical record stored in the local storage at the patient'"'"'s premises; and
the selected clinician directing the portable computer to perform follow-up operations including;
electronically collecting the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices utilizing the wireless device communications interfaces directly to the portable computer and presenting them in human-readable form;
wirelessly transmitting from the portable computer the outputs of at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices stored in the local storage directly to at least one remote medical care device including remote treatment equipment for analyzing the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices for the patient;
analyzing the transmitted outputs of the portable computer by the remote treatment equipment;
wirelessly retrieving with the portable computer the analysis of the outputs directly from the remote treatment equipment;
storing the retrieved analysis from the remote treatment equipment in the local storage of the portable computer;
displaying on the portable computer to the selected clinician in the patient'"'"'s premises a portion of the patient'"'"'s medical records, the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices, and the analysis from the remote treatment equipment; and
treating the patient at the patient'"'"'s premise by the selected clinician in response to the information displayed on the portable computer.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Mobile clinicians conduct in-home patient visits utilizing on-site diagnostic and treatment equipment, where service is enhanced by the use of portable computing and communications equipment. Initially, a mobile care entity provides a network of predesignated mobile clinicians, each having the use of a preprogrammed portable computer. Each computer is coupled to a wireless communications device, and includes local storage of patient data. Under a predetermined schedule, each portable computer updates patient data in the local storage utilizing the wireless communications device to download updates from a central storage facility. Whenever the mobile care entity receives requests for medical service at a patient'"'"'s premises, the entity selects a mobile clinician and dispatches him/her to the patient'"'"'s premises. The clinician visits the patient'"'"'s premises accompanied by an assortment of electronic diagnostic and treatment devices, such as a pulse oximiter, x-ray machine, lab analyzer, EKG equipment, etc. To examine the patient, the doctor utilizes various diagnostic devices to prepare machine-readable reports of related aspects of the patient'"'"'s condition. The clinician directs the portable computer to perform follow-up tasks including: (1) electronically collecting the prepared reports and graphically presenting them in human-readable form, (2) storing a machine-readable medical record including details of the patient'"'"'s exam, and (3) utilizing the wireless device to transmit the reports and records to the central storage facility.
-
Citations
33 Claims
-
1. A method of providing medical treatment by clinicians, comprising operations of:
-
a mobile care entity providing a network of predesignated mobile clinicians;
the mobile care entity providing the clinicians with use of preprogrammed portable computers, each portable computer coupled to a wireless communications interface and including local storage of patient medical records;
a selected one of the clinicians visiting a patient'"'"'s premises accompanied by the portable computer and a preselected collection of portable electronic medical care devices, at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices including a wireless device communications interface with the portable computer of the selected clinician;
the selected clinician examining the patient at the patient'"'"'s premises, including selecting and operating one or more of the portable electronic medical care devices to analyze one or more aspects of the patient'"'"'s condition and prepare representative outputs for transmission wirelessly to the portable computer;
storing the outputs in the local storage of the portable computer of the selected clinician;
the selected clinician updating the patient'"'"'s medical record stored in the local storage at the patient'"'"'s premises; and
the selected clinician directing the portable computer to perform follow-up operations including;
electronically collecting the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices utilizing the wireless device communications interfaces directly to the portable computer and presenting them in human-readable form;
wirelessly transmitting from the portable computer the outputs of at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices stored in the local storage directly to at least one remote medical care device including remote treatment equipment for analyzing the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices for the patient;
analyzing the transmitted outputs of the portable computer by the remote treatment equipment;
wirelessly retrieving with the portable computer the analysis of the outputs directly from the remote treatment equipment;
storing the retrieved analysis from the remote treatment equipment in the local storage of the portable computer;
displaying on the portable computer to the selected clinician in the patient'"'"'s premises a portion of the patient'"'"'s medical records, the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices, and the analysis from the remote treatment equipment; and
treating the patient at the patient'"'"'s premise by the selected clinician in response to the information displayed on the portable computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method of patient treatment comprising:
-
visiting a patient accompanied by a portable computer having local storage containing the patient'"'"'s medical records, a wireless communication interface, and a preselected collection of portable electronic medical care devices, at least one of the devices including a wireless device communications interface with the portable computer;
examining the patient with one or more of the portable electronic medical care devices providing outputs to the portable computer via the wireless device communications interface by applying at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices to the patient;
wirelessly transmitting the outputs of at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices to the portable computer;
storing the outputs in the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location;
wirelessly transmitting the outputs from the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location directly to at least one remote medical care device for analysis including remote treatment equipment;
analyzing the transmitted outputs by the remote treatment equipment;
wirelessly retrieving the analysis directly from the remote treatment equipment via the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location;
storing the analysis in the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location;
displaying on the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location a portion of the medical records, the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices, and the analysis from the remote medical care device; and
treating the patient according to the information displayed on the portable computer. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. A method of providing medical treatment by clinicians, comprising:
-
providing a plurality of mobile clinicians, with portable computers each being equipped with local storage, and with portable wireless on-site electronic medical care devices for analyzing patient conditions and for transmitting the condition information to the portable computer wirelessly;
prior to arrival of a selected one of the plurality of appropriate mobile clinicians at a given patient'"'"'s premises, wirelessly downloading to the selected portable computer from a remote central storage facility a complete medical record for the given patient to enable the mobile clinician to treat the given patient;
prior to arrival of the appropriate mobile clinician at the given patient'"'"'s premises, storing the downloaded complete medical record in the local storage in the selected portable computer of the selected mobile clinician;
transporting the selected portable computer storing the complete medical record and the wireless on-site medical care devices to the given patient'"'"'s premises by the selected mobile clinician;
applying by the selected mobile clinician at least one of the wireless on-site medical care devices to the given patient in the given patient'"'"'s premises in response to the dispatch notice;
wirelessly sending patient information from the on-site medical care devices directly to the selected portable computer at the given patient'"'"'s premises;
storing the patient information in the local storage of the selected portable computer;
directly communicating wirelessly between the selected portable computer at the given patient'"'"'s premises and at least one remote medical care device including remote treatment equipment for analyzing the patient information for the given patient;
analyzing the patient information for the given patient by the at least one remote treatment equipment;
wirelessly receiving in the selected portable computer at the given patient'"'"'s premises the analysis from the remote treatment equipment;
storing the analysis received from the remote treatment equipment in the local storage of the selected portable computer;
displaying on the selected portable computer to the selected mobile clinician in the given patient'"'"'s premises a portion of the medical record, the patient information, and the analysis from the remote treatment equipment;
treating the given patient at the given patient'"'"'s premises by the selected mobile clinician in response to the information displayed on the selected portable computer.
-
Specification