Automated system and method for providing real-time verification of health insurance eligibility
First Claim
1. In a medical facility that utilizes an existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system to input patient information and register patients for healthcare services, the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system lacking the capability to reliably verify patient health insurance coverage information in real time, the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system generating a digital output stream based at least in part on patient information inputted into the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the digital output stream including declared insurance provider information, a method of automatically, without requiring direct human intervention, verifying patient health insurance information using a patient health insurance verification computer system operatively connected to the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the method comprising the following steps:
- (a) inputting, into the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, information relating to a patient to be registered with a health care provider;
(b) based at least in part on said information inputted by the inputting step (a), generating a digital output stream with the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system and sending the digital output stream to an output device connected as part of the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system;
(c) capturing, with the patient health insurance verification computer system operatively connected to the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the digital output stream the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system generates in step (b), and extracting at least some patient related information including said declared insurance provider information from said digital output stream;
(d) generating, with the patient health insurance verification computer system, a digital insurance verification request message that is formatted based at least in part on said extracted declared insurance provider patient related information;
(e) communicating said digital insurance verification request message from the patient health insurance verification computer system to at least one data source located remotely from the patient health insurance verification computer system; and
(f) receiving, with the patient health insurance verification computer system from the remotely located data source, a digital insurance verification response message in response to said communicated request message.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Data from a health care provider computer system is used to automatically request real-time electronic insurance eligibility verification information from health care insurance payors. A patient health insurance verification computer system is operatively connected to a patient registration computer system. The verification computer system obtains a data output stream such as a print image from the registration computer system. This data output stream is captured and broken down into separate data fields. The insurance carrier is determined, and the verification computer system determines which electronic data source to request patient eligibility data from. The verification computer system reformats the captured data to fit the data format required by the data source, establishes a communications link to the data source, and sends the reformatted data to the data source. The data source sends responsive patient specific eligibility data which the verification computer system uses to automatically verify insurance coverage. Health insurance verification becomes much more reliable since no human intervention is required to carry on the automatic verification process. Additionally, automatic verification can be performed conveniently without double data entry even in environments with preexisting admissions systems that cannot be easily modified.
450 Citations
18 Claims
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1. In a medical facility that utilizes an existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system to input patient information and register patients for healthcare services, the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system lacking the capability to reliably verify patient health insurance coverage information in real time, the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system generating a digital output stream based at least in part on patient information inputted into the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the digital output stream including declared insurance provider information, a method of automatically, without requiring direct human intervention, verifying patient health insurance information using a patient health insurance verification computer system operatively connected to the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the method comprising the following steps:
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(a) inputting, into the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, information relating to a patient to be registered with a health care provider; (b) based at least in part on said information inputted by the inputting step (a), generating a digital output stream with the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system and sending the digital output stream to an output device connected as part of the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system; (c) capturing, with the patient health insurance verification computer system operatively connected to the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the digital output stream the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system generates in step (b), and extracting at least some patient related information including said declared insurance provider information from said digital output stream; (d) generating, with the patient health insurance verification computer system, a digital insurance verification request message that is formatted based at least in part on said extracted declared insurance provider patient related information; (e) communicating said digital insurance verification request message from the patient health insurance verification computer system to at least one data source located remotely from the patient health insurance verification computer system; and (f) receiving, with the patient health insurance verification computer system from the remotely located data source, a digital insurance verification response message in response to said communicated request message. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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2. In a medical facility that utilizes an existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system to input patient information, the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system being used to register patients for healthcare services, the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system lacking the capability to reliably verify patient health insurance information in real time, the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system generating digital output signals based at least in part on patient information inputted into the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the digital output signals providing patient related information including a declared insurance provider, a method of automatically, without requiring direct human intervention, verifying patient health insurance information using a patient health insurance verification computer system operatively connected to the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the method comprising the following steps:
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(a) operatively connecting a patient health insurance verification computer system to the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system; (b) capturing at least some patient related information including the declared insurance provider from the digital output signals generated by the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, (c) generating a digital verification request message based at least in part on said captured patient related information, including the step of formatting the digital verification request message based at least in part on said declared insurance provider; (d) communicating said digital verification request message to a verification institution; (e) receiving a digital verification response message in response to said communicated digital verification request message; (f) providing an indication of at least one aspect of said patient'"'"'s health insurance to said patient'"'"'s health care provider in response to said received response message; and (g) discharging said patient from said health care provider some time after said step (f) has been performed.
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18. Apparatus for automatically verifying patient health insurance information in a health care facility having an existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system including at least one output device connected thereto, the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system being used to register patients for healthcare services by inputting information relating to a patient to be registered with a health care provider, the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system lacking the capability to reliably verify patient health insurance coverage information in real time, the computerized healthcare patient registration computer system generating a digital output stream including a declared insurance provider based at least in part on said inputted information, and sending the digital output stream to the output device, the apparatus comprising a patient health insurance verification computer system operatively connected to the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system, the patient health insurance verification computer system automatically verifying patient health insurance information without requiring direct human intervention, the patient health insurance verification computer system including:
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a capture subsystem that obtains the digital output stream generated by the existing computerized healthcare patient registration computer system and extracts at least some patient related information including the declared insurance provider from said digital output stream, a communications subsystem that generates a digital insurance verification request message formatted based at least in part on said extracted declared insurance provider patient related information, communicates said digital insurance verification request message from the patient health insurance verification computer system to at least one data source located remotely from the patient health insurance verification computer system, and receives, from the remotely located data source, a digital insurance verification response message in response to said communicated request message, and an indicating subsystem that provides a humanly readable indication of the received digital insurance verification response message.
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Specification