Patient Community System With Anonymized Electronic Medical Data

• US 20100070306A1
• Filed: 09/11/2009
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Epic Systems Corporation
• Original Assignee: Epic Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Donoghue, Daniel J., Irwin, Larry G. II, Shah, Bhavik, Dvorak, Carl D., Sidney, Matthew D., Kim, John Ji-hoon, Weisberger, Brian M., Campbell, Janet L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,096,075 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/22 Social work or social welfare, e.g. community support activities or counselling services
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/70 for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

A computerized system allows intercommunication of patients with respect to the treatment of their diseases. This system includes an electronic medical record database providing electronic medical records of a given set of patients as developed by healthcare professionals and linked to an anonymous identifier for each patient and a set of terminal devices accessible to the patients allowing for the electronic exchange of information through a display and data input device. A server system connects the anonymous medical record database and the terminal devices and executes a stored program to: (1) allow an authenticated connection by a given patient to the server system through a terminal device and associate the connection with an anonymous identifier; (2) permit authoring by the given patient of a patient site viewable on a terminal device incorporating medical records from the anonymous medical record database associated with the anonymous identifier; and (3) identify to the given patient other patient sites for other patients having shared medical conditions according to a predetermined clustering of data of the anonymous medical record database.

Claims

1. A computerized system allowing intercommunication of patients with respect to the treatment of their diseases comprising:

an anonymous electronic medical record database providing electronic medical records of a given set of patients as developed by healthcare professionals and linked to an anonymous identifier for each patient;

a set of terminal devices accessible to the patients allowing for the electronic exchange of information through a display and data input device;

a server system communicating between the anonymous medical record database and the terminal devices and executing the stored program contained in computer readable memory to;

(1) allow an authenticated connection by a given patient to the server system through a terminal device and associating the connection with an anonymous identifier;

(2) permit authoring by the given patient of a patient site viewable on a terminal device incorporating medical records from the anonymous medical record database associated with the anonymous identifier; and

(3) identifying to the given patient other patient sites for other patients having shared medical conditions according to a predetermined clustering of data of the anonymous medical record database.

2. The computerized system of claim 1, wherein incorporating medical records from the anonymous medical record database includes incorporating a subsection of each medical record.

3. The computerized system of claim 2, wherein the subsection of each medical record incorporated into the patient site is defined by the patient associated with that medical record.

4. The computerized system of claim 2, wherein the subsection of each medical record is defined by the predetermined clustering of data associated with the shared medical condition.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein access to other patient sites for other patients having shared medical conditions for a patient is granted based on providing access to sections of the patient anonymous medical record related the shared medical condition.

6. The computerized system of claim 1, wherein identifying to the given patient other patient sites for other patients having shared medical conditions includes verifying that the patient has the shared medical condition based on the anonymous medical records.

7. The computerized system of claim 6, where each predetermined clustering is associated with a plurality of parameters and verifying that the patient has the shared medical condition based on the anonymous medical records includes matching those parameters to the anonymous medical records.

8. A computerized system allowing authorized sharing of medical data of patients with respect to the treatment of their diseases comprising:

an anonymous electronic medical record database providing electronic medical records of a given set of patients as developed by healthcare professionals and linked to

an anonymous identifier for each patient and an anonymous identifier for the patient'"'"'s physician;

a set of terminal devices accessible to the physicians allowing for the electronic exchange of information through a display and data input device;

a server system communicating between the anonymous medical record database and the terminal devices and executing the stored program contained in computer readable memory to;

(1) allow a searching by a given physician of the anonymous medical record database according to search criteria entered by the given physician to provide a search result of patients; and

(2) allow communication by the given physician with at least one patient'"'"'s physician for a patient in the search result using the anonymous identifier to the patient'"'"'s physician.

9. The computerized system of claim 8, wherein allowing a searching includes allowing searching based on a medical diagnosis in that anonymous medical record.

10. The computerized system of claim 9, further including allowing searching based on a treatment plan.

11. The computerized system of claim 8, wherein allowing communication includes utilizing a closed email system that routes communication through the server system without providing identification information.

12. The computer system of claim 8, wherein allowing a searching by a given physician of the anonymous medical record database includes allowing a search of sections of each anonymous medical record that a patient has designated as shared.