Home health point-of-care and administration system

• US 20100198608A1
• Filed: 10/24/2006
• Published: 08/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Celltrak Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Celltrak Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Wegner, Steven A., Kaboff, Andrew M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,019,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/00 ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A home health point-of-care and administration system and method that has at least one mobile device that is adapted to establish bi-directional communication with a server system is provided. Tracking and data communication software are associated with the mobile device in various embodiments. One or more input components of the mobile device allow for input of information from a user (such as a visiting home healthcare staff member) and the mobile device is adapted for receipt of instructional and other information from the server system to build a dynamic visit record. The record provides detailed information related to off-site visits such as tasks performed by the visiting staff member using the mobile device. Start and finish times of the visit may also be recorded. A global positioning system (GPS) application operating in conjunction with the communication device and server system may be employed to monitor the actions of the visiting staff member. Such information is provided in individual visit records transmitted to the remote server system and may be used for administrative purposes.

Claims

1. A home care administration system, comprising:

a. a server system accessible via a communication network and comprising at least one application module for designing patient-specific, visit-specific care plans comprising tasks to be performed;

b. a plurality of mobile devices configured to bidirectionally communicate with the server system via the communication network, wherein the plurality of mobile devices are associated with a respective plurality of caregivers assigned to visit respective patients, wherein the server system transmits the care plans to the mobile devices so that the associated caregivers receive information regarding tasks to be performed on the patients, and wherein the mobile devices are used by the caregivers to transmit information regarding performed tasks back to the server system.

2. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of mobile devices comprises at least one application for rendering a fillable form based on a particular patient-specific, visit-specific care plan transmitted by the server system to the mobile device, wherein the caregiver enters data into the fillable form, and wherein a representation of the entered data is transmitted by the mobile device to the server system.

3. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein communications between the server system and the plurality of mobile devices are encrypted.

4. The home care administration system of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of mobile devices comprises data storage for temporarily storing the entered data if the mobile device is temporarily unable to communicate via the communication network, and wherein the temporarily stored entered data is transmitted to the communication network at a time when the mobile device is again able to communicate via the communication network.

5. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of mobile devices is a cell phone and wherein the communication network is a cellular network.

6. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of mobile devices includes a GPS receiver so that the location of the mobile device can be tracked, and wherein the location is transmitted from the mobile device to the server system.

7. The home care administration system of claim 6, wherein the server system tracks the location of the caregiver associated with the mobile device using the transmitted location.

8. The home care administration system of claim 7, wherein tracking the location of the caregiver allows the server system to determine a route traveled by the caregiver and an amount of time conducting a visit at a patient location.

9. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising a point-of-care caregiver scheduling module to provide flexible scheduling for the caregivers.

10. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising an electronic visit record and care plan module to (a) collect and store information pertaining to visits conducted by caregivers based on the transmitted care plans, and (b) accept a selection of tasks to be performed in a care plan for a particular patient.

11. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising a clinical messaging and notification module so that messages may be broadcast to the plurality of mobile devices.

12. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the mobile devices comprises an imaging device, wherein the mobile device transmits at least one image of a patient to the server system, and wherein the transmitted images may be used to remotely assess a condition of the patient.

13. The home care administration system of claim 12, wherein the caregiver associated with the mobile device records an annotation to accompany the at least one transmitted image.

14. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein the mobile devices accept supply orders from the caregivers and transmit the supply orders to the server system for fulfillment.

15. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising a disease management intelligence module for applying rules to entered data transmitted from the mobile devices to the server system to determine whether additional action should be taken.

16. The home care administration system of claim 15, wherein the additional action comprises transmitting medical advice from the server system to the mobile device associated with the caregiver performing the visit from which the entered data originated.

19. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein the server system comprises at least one database storing information selected from the group consisting of patient demographic information, home care tasks, staff information, locations, visit records, visit status, care plans, actual tasks that are performed in each actual visit, clinical outcomes, and clinical measurements.

17. The home care administration system of claim wherein the server system includes an enterprise application integration module for integrating with a third-party application.

18. The home care administration system of claim 17, wherein the third-party application is selected from the group consisting of a billing system, a payroll system, and a scheduling system.

20. A method of administering home care, comprising:

a. determining tasks to be included in a care plan for a particular patient;

b. identifying a caregiver to perform a visit for the particular patient, wherein a mobile device is associated with the caregiver;

c. transmitting a representation of the care plan across a communication network to the mobile device;

d. receiving a data transmission across the communication network from the mobile device, wherein the data transmission includes data entered by the caregiver responsive to the care plan; and

e. storing the received data as a visit record for the particular patient.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein determining tasks comprises presenting a user interface to a user, wherein the user interface includes a listing of tasks that may be selected by the user to be included in the care plan.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the care plan is patient-specific and visit-specific.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein identifying the caregiver comprises accessing a caregiver scheduling application.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the mobile device is a cell phone and wherein communications with the cell phone are conducted using a data plan associated with the cell phone.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein transmitting a representation of the care plan comprises transmitting metadata to the mobile device, wherein the mobile device renders a fillable form from the metadata.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the data transmission includes multiple transmissions in real-time from the mobile device, and wherein each of the multiple transmissions is sent when the caregiver enters data into the fillable form on the mobile device.

27. The method of claim 20, further comprising transmitting a representation of the visit record to a billing system.

28. The method of claim 20, further comprising subjecting the visit record to an approval process.

29. The method of claim 20, further comprising managing visit status by assigning the visit a status selected from the group consisting of a scheduled visit, an open visit, a pending visit, an approved visit, a denied visit, and an archived visit.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising archiving the visit record after the visit has been approved.

31. The method of claim 20, further comprising tracking the caregiver by receiving location information from the mobile device associated with the caregiver.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising determining mileage based on the received location information.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising determining a visit time based on the received location information.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising identifying a visit exception based on the received location information.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising transmitting caregiver schedule information to the mobile device.

36. The method of claim 20, wherein the data transmission further includes image data corresponding to the patient.

37. The method of claim 20, wherein the data transmission further includes a supply order sent by the caregiver.

38. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

a. applying at least one rule to the received data; and

b. transmitting responsive information to the mobile device, wherein the responsive information is selected from the group consisting of medical instructions, medical advice, and an alert condition.

39. The method of claim 20, further comprising transmitting a representation of the visit to a third-party application.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the third-party application is selected from the group consisting of a billing system, a payroll system, and a scheduling system.

41. A method for providing home care services, comprising:

a. receiving at a mobile device a data transmission across a communication network from a server system, wherein the data transmission includes a representation of tasks defined by a patient-specific care plan associated with a patient;

b. rendering a fillable form on a display on the mobile device;

c. accepting data inputs from a caregiver performing a visit for the patient, wherein the data inputs correspond to the tasks in the patient-specific care plan; and

d. transmitting the data inputs across the communication network to the server system.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein receiving the data transmission comprises receiving metadata corresponding to the tasks to be performed at the visit.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the mobile device is a cell phone and the communication network is a cellular communication network.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein the care plan is patient-specific and visit-specific.

45. The method of claim 41, wherein the patient is located remotely from the server system.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein accepting data inputs further comprises:

a. determining whether an entered data input is of the correct data type; and

b. upon determining that the entered data input is of the correct data type, determining whether the entered data satisfies an applicable rule;

c. upon determining that the entered data input is not of the correct data type, presenting an error indication to the caregiver.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein, upon determining that the entered data does not satisfy the applicable rule, taking a predetermined action.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the predetermined action is selected from the group consisting of presenting a violated rule indication, transmitting an alert to the server system, providing medical information, and providing medical advice.

49. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

a. temporarily storing the data inputs if the communication network is temporarily unavailable; and

b. transmitting the temporarily stored data inputs across the communication network at a time when the communication network is available.

50. The method of claim 41, wherein transmissions across the communication network are encrypted.

51. The method of claim 41, further comprising requiring the caregiver to enter a passcode.

52. The method of claim 41, wherein the passcode is selected from the group consisting of a PIN and a username/password combination.

53. The method of claim 41, wherein the data inputs include a voice annotation.

54. The method of claim 41, further comprising capturing image data pertaining to the patient, and wherein the data inputs include the image data.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the image data includes an associated patient identifier and an associated visit identifier to link the image data to the patient and the visit.

56. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

a. accepting a supply order from the caregiver; and

b. transmitting the supply order across the communication network to the server system.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

a. displaying an inventory catalog on the display; and

b. processing an inventory catalog search initiated by the caregiver.

58. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

a. receiving real-time schedule information across the communication network from the server system; and

b. displaying the real-time schedule information to the caregiver.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

a. accepting a proposed schedule modification from the caregiver; and

b. transmitting the proposed schedule modification across the communication network to the server system.