Method and system for managing wellness plans for a medical care practice

• US 6,208,974 B1
• Filed: 12/30/1997
• Issued: 03/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Medical Management International Incorporated (Mars Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Medical Management International Incorporated (Mars Incorporated)
• Inventors: Howard, Mark, Campbell, Scott Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): Stamber, Eric W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KAZIMI, HANI M
• Application Number:
  US09/000,602
• Time in Patent Office: 1,183 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/2, 705/3, 705/4
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/70 relating to mental therapies, e.g. psychological therapy or autogenous training
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

Wellness plan administration software provides a user interface to enable users to learn about and select a wellness plan. The software tracks wellness plan service items for patients and dynamically estimates discounts for service items offered to patients during visits to a medical facility. When a patient'"'"'s visit is complete, the software can generate an invoice automatically and analyze the product and service items provided during the visit to determine the appropriate discount. The software includes additional features for recording promotional activities associated with wellness plans and computing employee bonuses.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for managing a wellness plan comprising:

maintaining a list of wellness plan items associated with a wellness plan for a patient;

displaying a user interface for enabling a user to select among product or service items;

in response to receiving an entry of a selected product or service item in the user interface, recording the selected entry;

computing an invoice for a patient visit, checking whether the selected entry is in the wellness plan items, and if so, discounting the selected entry.

2. The method of claim 1, further including:

displaying a user interface enabling a user to select a wellness plan for a patient from among two or more wellness plan options displayed to the user, where each of the wellness plan options is associated with a set of wellness plan items; and

in response to a user selecting one of the wellness plan options, creating a record of the set of wellness plan items associated with the selected wellness plan option for the patient.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the user interface for managing a patient visit includes a series of display screens that guide the user through a medical exam and enable the user to select from among the product or service items.

4. The method of claim 1 further including:

computing a cost estimate of selected product or services items entered during the patient visit; and

displaying an indicator of cost savings for the products or service items attributable to the wellness plan.

5. The method of claim 1 further including:

automatically scheduling patient visits for the patient covered by the wellness plan.

6. The method of claim 1 further including:

in response to a program action associated with promotion of a wellness plan, recording an event including a provider identifier indicating a provider associated with the event; and

evaluating events to determine bonuses for providers.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the program action comprises entry of an input to select a display of wellness plan information.

8. A wellness plan management system comprising:

a medical facility computer having a user interface for enabling a client to enter billing information and to select a wellness plan from among two or more wellness plans, each having a set of predetermined wellness plan items, the user interface further including an interactive display for selecting product or service items provided to a patient during a visit;

the medical facility computer being programmed to record selected product or service items provided to the patient and to compare predetermined wellness plan items with the selected items to determine a wellness plan discount; and

a remote computer in communication with the medical facility computer for obtaining the billing information and for automatically billing clients that have selected a wellness plan.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the medical facility computer is programmed to estimate cost savings for the selected product and service items due under a wellness plan associated with the patient and is programmed to display the cost savings.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the medical facility computer is programmed to record events associated with a promotional activity of the wellness plans, wherein the events identify an employee responsible for the promotional activity and are evaluated to compute employee bonuses.

11. A computer readable medium having software for managing a wellness plan, the software comprising instructions for:

maintaining a list of wellness plan items associated with a wellness plan for a patient;

displaying a user interface for enabling a user to select among product or service items;

in response to receiving an entry of a selected product or service item in the user interface, recording the selected entry;

computing an invoice for a patient visit, checking whether the selected entry is in the wellness plan items, and if so, discounting the selected entry.