Healthcare Notification Method And System Including A Healthcare Website

• US 20090276243A1
• Filed: 06/18/2009
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PDR Network LLC (PSKW LLC)
• Original Assignee: Medem, Inc.
• Inventors: Yuan, Leslie, Krym, Nick, Fotsch, Edward J., Guidice, Debra Del
• Granted Patent: US 8,401,871 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/20 Education
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40
• 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 50/80 for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics, e.g. flu
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

Methods and apparatus enabling organizations with a need to communicate with healthcare providers regarding health-related issues affecting patient health to notify healthcare providers of a health-related issue affecting patient health are disclosed. An electronic notification of the health-related issue is transmitted by one of the organizations to a healthcare notification network, which may include a healthcare website, for transmission to a healthcare provider, where the electronic notification includes a mechanism for obtaining an acknowledgement indicating that the healthcare provider has received and opened the electronic notification. Healthcare related information, such as drug recalls and medication warnings to healthcare providers from content providers, along with other services, is provided at the healthcare website. Healthcare related information may also be provided through other websites, such as electronic prescription and electronic medical/health records websites. Other services include providing corresponding Continuing Medical Education (“CME”) courses that may enable healthcare providers to earn CME credits toward a Maintenance of Certification (MOC) required by Medical Boards. MOCs for corresponding healthcare providers along with certificates to prescribe particular medications and/or use particular medical devices may be also stored at the healthcare website and verified by third parties, such as pharmacists and medical device manufacturers, before delivery.

Claims

1. A method performed by a processing device to notify a plurality of healthcare providers of a medical event, the method comprising:

receiving, by the processing device, electronic information indicating the medical event;

selecting, by the processing device, a set of the plurality of healthcare providers to notify in response to a type of medical event;

selecting, by the processing device, a test to be completed by a healthcare provider in the set of healthcare providers in order to earn credit toward continuing medical education requirements;

preparing, by the processing device, an electronic healthcare notification of the medical event to the set of healthcare providers;

providing, by the processing device, the electronic healthcare notification to the set of healthcare providers;

providing, by the processing device, the test to each of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers; and

receiving, by the processing device, answers to the test provided by at least one of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing, by the processing device, the provided answers with the correct answers; and

assigning, by the processing device, a credit value to the at least one healthcare provider in response to the comparing.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the set of healthcare providers is based on a medical specialty and the selecting the test is based on a content of the electronic healthcare notification.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the electronic healthcare notification includes generating an email message to the at least one healthcare provider in the set of healthcare providers, wherein the email message includes a hyperlink to a website that includes a content of the healthcare notification.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the providing the test includes providing a web page at a website, the web page including a plurality of multiple choice questions regarding the content of the electronic healthcare notification.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, by the processing device, a type of electronic notification to provide to each of the healthcare providers in the set of health care providers; and

formatting, by the processing device, the information indicating the medical event in response to a selected type of electronic notification,

wherein providing the electronic healthcare notification includes notifying each of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers by the respective selected type of electronic notification.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the medical event is selected from a group consisting of a drug recall, a medical device recall, a drug usage warning, a medical device warning, a medical equipment recall, a medical equipment warning, a biological threat and a communicable threat, and

wherein receiving the electronic information includes receiving information from an entity selected from a group consisting of a pharmaceutical company, a medical device manufacturer, a medical equipment manufacturer and a government agency.

8. A method of operation in a system including at least one processing device to execute machine readable instructions and at least one storage device to store a plurality of healthcare provider names, a plurality of respective specialties and a plurality of tests, the method comprising:

receiving electronic information indicating a medical event;

selecting, by the at least one processing device in response to

     1) the machine readable instructions,

     2) a type of the medical event and

     3) the plurality of specialties, a set of the plurality of healthcare provider names to notify from the at least one storage device;

selecting, by the processing device in response to the machine readable instructions, a test from the plurality of tests, stored in the storage device, to be completed by a healthcare provider in the set of healthcare providers names in order to earn credit toward continuing medical education requirements;

preparing, by the processing device in response to the machine readable instructions, an electronic healthcare notification of the medical event to the set of healthcare providers;

providing the electronic healthcare notification to the set of healthcare providers;

providing the test to each of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers; and

receiving answers to the test provided by at least one of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the providing the electronic healthcare notification includes generating an email message to the at least one healthcare provider in the set of healthcare providers, wherein the email message includes a hyperlink to a website that includes a content of the electronic healthcare notification.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the providing the test includes providing a web page at a website, the web page including a plurality of multiple choice questions regarding a content of the electronic healthcare notification.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

comparing, by the at least one processing device in response to the machine readable instructions, the received answers with correct answers; and

assigning, by the at least one processing device in response to the machine readable instructions, a credit value to the at least one healthcare provider in the set of healthcare providers in response to the comparing.

12. A system to provide information regarding a medical event, the system comprising:

at least one storage device to store a plurality of healthcare provider names, a plurality of respective specialties and a plurality of tests to earn continuing education credit;

at least one processor, coupled to the storage device;

the at least one storage device to store executable machine readable instructions for controlling the processor; and

the at least one processor is operative with the executable machine readable instructions to;

receive information regarding the medical event;

select a set of healthcare providers to receive information regarding the medical event from the plurality of healthcare providers;

select a preferred type of communication for each of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers;

format the information regarding the medical event in response to the preferred type of communication for each of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers;

provide an electronic notification of the information regarding the medical event to each of the set of healthcare providers, each electronic notification formatted based on the corresponding preferred type of communication;

select a test from the plurality of tests to provide to each of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers;

provide the test to each of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers; and

receive answers to the test provided by at least one of the healthcare providers in the set of healthcare providers.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the provided electronic notification includes generating an email message to the at least one healthcare provider in the set of healthcare providers, wherein the email message includes a hyperlink to a website that includes information regarding the medical event.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the provided test includes a web page at a website, the web page having a plurality of multiple choice questions regarding the medical event.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is operative with the executable machine readable instructions to:

compare the received answers with correct answers; and

assign a credit value to the at least one healthcare provider in the set of healthcare providers in response to the comparison of the provided answers with the correct answers.

16. A method performed by a processing device to notify a plurality of healthcare providers of a medical event, the method comprising:

receiving, by the processing device, electronic information regarding the medical event;

selecting, by the processing device, a set of the plurality of healthcare providers to notify in response to a type of medical event and in response to whether a healthcare provider has received an electronic healthcare notification of the medical event;

preparing, by the processing device, an electronic healthcare notification of the medical event for the set of healthcare providers; and

providing, by the processing device, the electronic healthcare notification to the set of healthcare providers.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the providing includes providing the electronic healthcare notification to a website that provides electronic prescriptions for the set of healthcare providers.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the providing includes providing the electronic healthcare notification to a website that provides electronic healthcare records for the set of healthcare providers.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the providing includes providing a notification to register at a website in order to obtain the electronic healthcare notification.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the providing includes providing a hyperlink to a website in order to obtain the electronic healthcare notification.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the selecting the set of healthcare providers is based on a medical specialty of the healthcare provider and the selecting is based on whether the healthcare provider in the plurality of healthcare providers received an email regarding the electronic healthcare notification.

22. A system to provide information regarding a medical event, the system comprising:

at least one storage device to store a plurality of healthcare provider names, a plurality of respective specialties and respective associated healthcare websites;

at least one processor, coupled to the storage device;

the at least one storage device to store executable machine readable instructions for controlling the processor; and

the at least one processor is operative with the executable machine readable instructions to;

receive electronic information regarding the medical event;

select a set of healthcare providers to notify in response to a type of medical event and in response to respective specialties of the plurality of healthcare providers; and

provide an electronic notification of the information regarding the medical event to each of the set of healthcare providers at the respective associated healthcare websites.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the at least one storage device, at least one processor and executable machine readable instructions provide a healthcare website that provides electronic information regarding the medical event, and wherein the electronic notification includes a hyperlink to the healthcare website.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the respective associated healthcare websites include at least one of an electronic prescription website and an electronic medical records website.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the electronic notification is not provided to the healthcare providers at the respective associated healthcare websites when an email message has been provided to the healthcare providers.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the at least one storage device, at least one processor and executable machine readable instructions provide a healthcare website that provides electronic information regarding the medical event, and wherein the electronic notification includes a notification to register at the healthcare website in order to obtain the electronic healthcare notification.

27. A system to provide notification of a medical event to a healthcare provider, the system comprising:

a first processing device including a processor to execute machine readable instructions stored on a storage device, the first processing device to access notification of the medical event from a healthcare website;

a second processing device including a processor to execute machine readable instructions stored on a storage device, the second processing device to provide the healthcare website that provides the notification of the medical event; and

a third processing device including a processor to execute machine readable instructions stored on a storage device, the third processing device to provide an associated healthcare website that receives an indication that the notification of the medical event is available at the healthcare website.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the first processing device is used by the healthcare provider to access the notification of the medical event.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the associated healthcare website includes at least one of an electronic prescription website and an electronic medical records website

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the indication that the notification of the medical event is available includes a hyperlink to the notification of the medical event.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein the indication that the notification of the medical event is available includes notification to register at the healthcare website in order to obtain the notification of the medical event.

32. The system of claim 27, wherein the second processing device provides the indication that the notification of the medical event is available at the healthcare website to the third processing device when the second processing device has not sent an email regarding the medical event to the first processing device.

33. A method performed by a processing device to provide a maintenance of certificate for a healthcare provider, the method comprising:

selecting, by the processing device, the healthcare provider from a plurality of healthcare providers stored in the processing device that should pass at least a test in order to obtain the maintenance of certificate;

selecting, by the processing device, the test from a plurality of tests corresponding to a plurality of specialties to be provided to the healthcare provider;

providing, by the processing device, the selected test in electronic form to the selected healthcare provider;

receiving, by the processing device, answers in electronic form to the selected test;

comparing, by the processing device, the provided answers with the correct answers; and

assigning, by the processing device, the maintenance of certificate to the healthcare provider in response to at least the comparing.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the selecting the healthcare provider is in response to a date of a previous maintenance of certificate of the healthcare provider.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the selecting the healthcare provider is based on the specialty of the plurality of healthcare providers.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the assigning includes determining whether the healthcare provider has completed other steps.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the other steps are selected from a group consisting of having a good standing, a positive practical performance evaluation, and a required number of credits toward a continuing medical education requirement.

38. A method to provide one of a medication and a medical device to a patient, the method comprising:

providing in electronic form, by a processing device, educational material regarding one of the medication and the medical device to a healthcare provider

selecting, by the processing device, a test from a plurality of tests stored in the processing device corresponding to one of the medication and the medical device;

providing in electronic form, by the processing device, the selected test to the healthcare provider;

receiving in electronic form, by the processing device, answers to the selected test;

comparing, by the processing device, the received answers with the correct answers; and

assigning, by the processing device, a certificate to the healthcare provider in response to the comparing that indicates the healthcare provider is able to provide one of a prescription for the medication and the medical device to the patient.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

verifying the certificate of the healthcare provider stored at the processing device; and

,

providing one of the medication and the medical device to the patient in response to verifying.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the verifying and providing is performed by one of a medication manufacturer and a medical device manufacturer.

41. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

receiving in electronic form, by the processing device, an indication that the patient has been educated regarding one of the medication and the medical device; and

storing an electronic document indicating that the patient has been educated in an electronic health record of the patient.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein the providing in electronic form the education material further includes providing, by the processing device, an electronic healthcare notification of a medical event to a healthcare provider that is selected from a plurality of healthcare providers.