Real-time medical alerting system

• US 6,909,359 B1
• Filed: 04/04/2003
• Issued: 06/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert T. Mcgovern
• Original Assignee: Robert T. Mcgovern
• Inventors: McGovern, Robert T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): TANG, SON M
• Application Number:
  US10/407,583
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• Field of Search: 340/309.16, 340/286.02, 340/286.07, 340/311.2, 364/479.01
• US Class Current: 340/309.16
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0481 working on a schedule basis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

A computerized reminder system collates medical prescription information such as provided by commercial retail pharmacies to customized schedules for administration of medication and therapy to patients. The system broadcasts reminder information via radio frequency wireless transmissions over a wide area network subsystem to portable receivers uniquely associated with specific patients. The patients receive real-time reminders directed only to them to take medicine. Patients receive only their own respective reminders and do not obtain reminders for other patients who subscribe to the system.

Claims

1. A medical alerting system comprising

a connectivity server including a digital computer,

a supervisory computer program continuously running on the connectivity server,

a medication database in machine-readable form stored in computer memory accessible in real-time by the supervisory computer program and comprising medical records for patients each of whom has a unique patient identifier, and which medical records comprise regimens for administration of one or more medications or therapies prescribed for the patients,

a wide area network subsystem adapted to wirelessly transmit into a preselected geographic area real-time alerting signals of electromagnetic radiation corresponding to directive signals provided from time-to-time by the connectivity server, and

a plurality of portable receivers assigned uniquely to individual patients and operative to receive the alerting signals in real-time, each receiver comprising (a) an electronic filter adapted to selectively accept alerting signals directed to only the one individual patient assigned to the receiver, (b) a visual display unit, and (c) an interpreter system operative to provide to the visual display unit a human-readable message which corresponds to an alert signal

in which the supervisory computer program is operative to use the medical records obtained from the medication database to generate directive signals corresponding to events in the regimens of respective patients, and

in which the interpreter system comprises a standardized database of pre-programmed messages pertinent to regimens for administration of medications or therapies, and in which the interpreter system is operative to select one or more messages to be displayed in response to receipt by the receiver of corresponding alerting signals.

2. The medical alerting system of claim 1 in which the messages comprise the name of a medication or therapy prescribed for the patient, the dose of the medication or therapy to be administered, instructions for the administration of the medication or therapy, and optionally, images of the medication or therapy.

3. The medical alerting system of claim 1 in which the receiver further comprises a manually operable switch and the interpreter system is adapted to provide on the visual display unit one or more messages in a scrolling sequence that present all of the names of the medication or therapy currently prescribed by the regimens for the individual patient assigned to the receiver when the switch is activated.

4. The medical alerting system of claim 1 in which the connectivity server comprises a remotely accessible interface through which real-time modifications to the regimens and/or the supervisory computer program can be made by a person.

5. The medical alerting system of claim 4 in which the interface is selected from the group consisting of an internet portal and an interactive voice response telecommunication portal.

6. The medical alerting system of claim 5 in which the supervisory computer program comprises a report generation module adapted to provide verbally and/or visually perceptible reports of interactively selected information about the regimens for a patient.

7. The medical alerting system of claim 1 in which the wide area network subsystem includes a DirectBand wide area network and the portable receivers comprise smart personal object technology devices.

8. The medical alerting system of claim 1 in which the portable receivers are adapted to be worn on a wrist of the patient in the style of a wrist watch.

9. A process for alerting a patient about administration of a prescribed medication or therapy comprising

(A) providing a system comprising

(i) a connectivity server including a digital computer,

(ii) a supervisory computer program continuously running on the connectivity server,

(iii) a medication database in machine-readable form stored in computer memory,

(iv) a wide area network subsystem adapted to wirelessly transmit into a preselected geographic area real-time signals of electromagnetic radiation, and

(v) a plurality of portable receivers operative to receive signals of electromagnetic radiation transmitted by the wide area network subsystem, each receiver having a visual display unit and an onboard memory bank in which is stored a library of encoded displays of preselected visually perceptible messages pertaining to administration of medications or therapies

(B) allotting a unique identification code to each of a plurality of individuals,

(C) associating each individual with a different portable receiver,

(D) storing in the medication database medical records for each individual comprising the identification code and regimens for administration of one or more prescribed medications or therapies for the individual,

(E) operating the supervisory computer program on the medical records to determine a scheduled time that a regimen calls for a scheduled administration of medication or therapy to a patient among the individuals,

(F) generating from the connectivity server to the wide area network subsystem an instruction for the patient corresponding to the scheduled administration of medication or therapy for the patient,

(G) wirelessly transmitting throughout the preselected geographic area via the wide area network subsystem an alerting signal of electromagnetic radiation corresponding to the instruction,

(H) filtering the alerting signal by the portable receivers such that only the receiver associated with the patient accepts the alerting signal corresponding to the instruction for the patient,

(I) displaying a visually perceptible message on the visual display unit of the portable receiver associated with the patient,

(J) setting up a calendar of the scheduled administration of prescribed medications or therapies at scheduled times according to initially prescribed regimens for the patient, and

(K) near the actual scheduled times in the calendar displaying visually perceptible messages selected from the library which correspond respectively to the scheduled administration of medications or therapies then currently due.

10. The process of claim 9 which comprises utilizing the alerting signal accepted by the portable receiver to display near the actual scheduled time one or more visually perceptible messages about the scheduled administration of medication or therapy then currently due.

11. The process of claim 10 in which the alerting signal contains in machine-readable form a visually perceptible message about the scheduled administration of medication or therapy and the process comprises directing the visual display unit to display near the actual scheduled time the visual perceptible message contain in the alerting signal.

12. The process of claim 9 which comprises repeating steps (E)-(I) periodically.

13. The process of claim 12 in which comprises carrying out steps (F)-(I) near the actual scheduled time of the corresponding scheduled administration of medication or therapy.

14. The process of claim 9 in which setting up the calendar comprises utilizing the alerting signal accepted by the portable receiver.

15. The process of claim 14 which comprises utilizing the alerting signal accepted by the portable receiver to modify the calendar from time to time, thereby displaying on the visual display unit near the actual scheduled times visually perceptible messages selected from the library which correspond respectively to the scheduled administration of medications or therapies then currently due according to the modified calendar.

16. The process of claim 9 further comprising the step of changing the determination of scheduled time or scheduled administration of medication or therapy according to adjustments made from time to time to the regimens for a patient.

17. The process of claim 16 which comprises using an internet portal or an interactive voice response telecommunications portal to change the medical records.

18. The process of claim 17 which comprises using information provided by the patient to change the determination of scheduled time or scheduled administration of medications or therapies.

19. The process of claim 9 which further comprises from time to time printing a report for a patient comprising the prescribed regimens for administration of medications or therapies for the patient.

20. The process of claim 9 in which the wide area network subsystem comprises a DirectBand wide area network.

21. The process of claim 9 in which the portable receivers utilize Smart Personal Objects Technology and are adapted to be worn on a wrist of an individual in the style of a wrist watch.