Method and system for providing a user-selected healthcare services package and healthcare services panel customized based on a user's selections

• US 6,735,569 B1
• Filed: 11/04/1999
• Issued: 05/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vivius, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vivius, Inc.
• Inventors: Wizig, Lewis Howard
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Porter, Rachel L.
• Application Number:
  US09/434,271
• Time in Patent Office: 1,650 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2-4, 705/14, 703/38
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1057 Benefits or employee welfare, e.g. insurance, holiday or retirement packages
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A method and system for allowing a user to select a healthcare services package is disclosed where a central server generally receives personal information data from the user over the Internet regarding the user'"'"'s preferences with respect to healthcare service providers and the user'"'"'s sponsor, i.e., the party responsible for paying for all or part of the user'"'"'s healthcare costs (such as an employer, an insurance company or the user himself). The server thereafter provides a list comprising a plurality of healthcare service providers and information regarding the healthcare service providers (e.g., specialty, rate, location, hospital affiliation, etc.) to the user for selection by the user of a healthcare services panel. Once the server has received the selected healthcare services panel from the user comprising at least one of the listed healthcare service providers, the server determines a healthcare services package.

Claims

1. A method for providing a user with a healthcare services package, comprising:

receiving personal information data from the user, wherein the personal information data comprises a user identifier and a financial parameter;

transmitting a list comprising a plurality of healthcare service providers to the user;

receiving a selection of a healthcare services panel from the user comprising at least one of the healthcare service providers;

using a computer system for determining, a healthcare services package based on the user'"'"'s selection and the financial parameter;

transmitting a description of the determined healthcare services package to the user, said description including a proposed periodic payment for purchasing said determined healthcare services package,

wherein each healthcare service provider is associated with an individual cost and an umbrella policy credit and the personal information data further comprises an uncredited umbrella policy cost, and wherein determining the healthcare services package further comprises;

using said computer system to aggregate the individual costs of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel;

using said computer system to aggregate the umbrella policy credits of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel;

using said computer system to calculate a difference between the uncredited umbrella policy cost and the aggregated amount of umbrella policy credits, wherein the difference represents a credited umbrella policy cost; and

using said computer system to determine the healthcare services package based on a sum of the aggregated individual costs and the credited umbrella policy cost.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the personal information data further comprises a sponsor identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sponsor identifier identifies an employer of the user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the financial parameter comprises an amount of healthcare benefits available from the employer.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the sponsor identifier identifies a healthcare administration company associated with the user.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the financial parameter comprises an amount of healthcare benefits available from the healthcare administration company associated with the user.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the sponsor identifier identifies the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the financial parameter comprises an amount of healthcare costs identified by the use.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the financial parameter represents that the user is soliciting price estimates.

11. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising using said computer system to receive a selection of an anchor provider by the user, wherein the list is provided to the user based on the anchor provider.

12. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising using said computer system to receive a selection of an anchor provider by the user, wherein the list is provided to the user based on a predefined criteria associated with the anchor provider.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the predefined criteria comprises one of the group consisting of:

price, quality, ratings, ranking, location, time, distance and hospital affiliation.

14. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising using said computer system to receive a selection of a predefined criteria from the user wherein the list is provided to the user based on the predefined criteria.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the predefined criteria comprises one of the group consisting of:

price, quality, ratings, ranking, location, time, distance and hospital affiliation.

16. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the personal information data further comprises an identification of a plurality of individuals to be associated with the healthcare services package.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a healthcare services panel is selected by the user for each of the plurality of individuals, and wherein the healthcare services package is further determined based on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal information data further comprises an amount of deductible on an umbrella policy, and wherein the step of determining the healthcare services package is further based on the amount of deductible.

2. A method for providing a user with a healthcare services package, comprising:

receiving personal information data from the user, wherein the personal information data comprises a user identifier and a financial parameter;

transmitting a list comprising a plurality of healthcare service providers to the user;

receiving a selection of a healthcare services panel from the user comprising at least one of the healthcare service providers;

using a computer system for determining a healthcare services package based on the user'"'"'s selection and the financial parameter;

transmitting a description of the determined healthcare services package to the user, said description including a proposed periodic payment for purchasing said determined healthcare services package,

wherein the personal information data further comprises an identification of a plurality of individuals to be associated with the healthcare services package, wherein a healthcare services panel is selected by the user for each of the plurality of individuals, wherein the healthcare services package is further determined based on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals, wherein each healthcare service provider is associated with an individual cost and an umbrella policy credit and the personal information data further comprises an uncredited umbrella policy cost, and wherein determining the healthcare services package further comprises;

using said computer system to aggregate the individual costs of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals;

using said computer system to aggregate the umbrella policy credits of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals;

using said computer system to calculate a difference between the uncredited umbrella policy cost and the aggregated amount of umbrella policy credits, wherein the difference represents a credited umbrella policy cost; and

using said computer system to determine the healthcare services package based on a sum of the aggregated individual costs and the credited umbrella policy cost.

19. The method of claim 2, wherein the personal information data further comprises an amount of deductible on an umbrella policy for each individual, and wherein the step of determining the healthcare services package is further based on the amounts of deductible.

20. A system for providing a user with a healthcare services package, comprising:

means for receiving personal information data from the user, wherein the personal information data comprises a user identifier and a financial parameter;

means for providing a list comprising a plurality of healthcare service providers to the user;

means for receiving a selection of a healthcare services panel from the user comprising at least one of the healthcare service providers;

means for determining a healthcare services package based on the user'"'"'s selection and the financial parameter; and

means for transmitting a description of the determined healthcare services package to the user, said description including a proposed periodic payment for purchasing said determined healthcare services package, wherein each healthcare service provider is associated with an individual cost and an umbrella policy credit and the personal information data further comprises an uncredited umbrella policy cost, and wherein the means for determining the healthcare services package further comprises;

means for aggregating the individual costs of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel;

means for aggregating the umbrella policy credits of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel;

means for calculating a difference between the uncredited umbrella policy cost and the aggregated amount of umbrella policy credits, wherein the difference represents a credited umbrella policy cost; and

means for determining the healthcare services package based on a sum of the aggregated individual costs and the credited umbrella policy cost.

22. The system of claim 20 or 21, wherein the personal information data further comprises a sponsor identifier.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the sponsor identifier identifies an employer of the user.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the financial parameter comprises an amount of healthcare benefits identified by the employer.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the sponsor identifier identifies a healthcare administration company associated with the user.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the financial parameter comprises an amount of healthcare benefits available from the healthcare administration company associated with the user.

27. The system of claim 22, wherein the sponsor identifier identifies the user.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the financial parameter comprises an amount of healthcare costs identified by the user.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the financial parameter represents that the user is soliciting price estimates.

30. The system of claim 20 or 21, further comprising means for receiving a selection of an anchor provider by the user, wherein the list is provided to the user based on the anchor provider.

31. The system of claim 20 or 21, further comprising means for receiving a selection of an anchor provider by the user, wherein the list is provided to the user based on a predefined criteria associated with the anchor provider.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the predefined criteria comprises one of the group consisting of:

price, quality, ratings, ranking, location, time, distance and hospital affiliation.

33. The system of claim 20 or 21, further comprising means for receiving a selection of a predefined criteria from the user wherein the list is provided to the user based on the predefined criteria.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the predefined criteria comprises one of the group consisting of:

price, quality, ratings, ranking, location, time, distance and hospital affiliation.

35. The system of claim 20 or 21, wherein the personal information data further comprises an identification of a plurality of individuals to be associated with the healthcare services package.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein a healthcare services panel is selected by the user for each of the plurality of individuals, and wherein the healthcare services package is further determined based on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals.

37. The system of claim 20, wherein the personal information data further comprises an amount of deductible on an umbrella policy, and wherein the means for determining the healthcare services package is further based on the amount of deductible.

21. A system for providing a user with a healthcare services package, comprising:

means for receiving personal information data from the user, wherein the personal information data comprises a user identifier and a financial parameter;

means for providing a list comprising a plurality of healthcare service providers to the user;

means for receiving a selection of a healthcare services panel from the user comprising at least one of the healthcare service providers;

means for determining a healthcare services package based on the user'"'"'s selection and the financial parameter; and

means for transmitting a description of the determined healthcare services package to the user, said description including a proposed periodic payment for purchasing said determined healthcare services package, wherein the personal information data further comprises an identification of a plurality of individuals to be associated with the healthcare services package, wherein a healthcare services panel is selected by the user for each of the plurality of individuals, wherein the healthcare services package is further determined based on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals, and wherein each healthcare service provider is associated with an individual cost and an umbrella policy credit and the personal information data further comprises an uncredited umbrella policy cost, and wherein the means for determining the healthcare services package further comprises;

means for aggregating the individual costs of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals;

means for aggregating the umbrella policy credits of each healthcare service provider on the healthcare services panel of each of the plurality of individuals;

means for calculating a difference between the uncredited umbrella policy cost and the aggregated amount of umbrella policy credits, wherein the difference represents a credited umbrella policy cost; and

means for determining the healthcare services package based on a sum of the aggregated individual costs and the credited umbrella policy cost.

38. The system of claim 21, wherein the personal information data further comprises an amount of deductible on an umbrella policy for each individual, and wherein the means for determining the healthcare services package is further based on the amounts of deductible.