Method for clinician house calls utilizing portable computing and communications equipment

• US 7,249,036 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2004
• Issued: 07/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gresham Bayne
• Original Assignee: Cary Gresham Bayne
• Inventors: Bayne, C. Gresham
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan; C. Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): PASS, NATALIE
• Application Number:
  US10/934,802
• Publication Number:
  US 20050060198A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,054 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.52, 340/286.07, 340/573, 379/106.02, 379/38, 702/188, 600/300, 600/509, 600/513, 235/375, 235/380, 705/2, 705/3
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems

Abstract

Mobile clinicians conduct in-home patient visits utilizing on-site diagnostic and treatment equipment, where service is enhanced by the use of portable computing and communications equipment. Initially, a mobile care entity provides a network of predesignated mobile clinicians, each having the use of a preprogrammed portable computer. Each computer is coupled to a wireless communications device, and includes local storage of patient data. Whenever the mobile care entity receives requests for medical service at a patient'"'"'s premises, the entity selects a mobile clinician and dispatches him/her to the patient'"'"'s premises. The clinician visits the patient'"'"'s premises accompanied by an assortment of electronic diagnostic and treatment devices. To examine the patient, the doctor utilizes various diagnostic devices to prepare machine-readable reports of related aspects of the patient'"'"'s condition.

Claims

1. A method of providing medical treatment by licensed physicians, comprising operations of:

a mobile care entity providing a network of predesignated mobile licensed physicians;

the mobile care entity providing the licensed physicians with use of preprogrammed portable computers, each portable computer coupled to a wireless communications interface and including local storage of patient medical records;

determining a current location of the licensed physicians using GPS self-locating devices located with each of the licensed physicians;

receiving at the mobile care entity the current locations of the licensed physicians;

storing patient medical records at a central storage facility;

according to a predetermined schedule, transmitting wirelessly current medical records from a central storage facility to the local storage in each portable computer for automatically updating patient medical records in the local storage by utilizing the wireless communications interface;

the mobile care entity receiving a request for medical services from a patient at the patient'"'"'s premises;

the mobile care entity selecting one of the predesignated mobile licensed physicians in view of the requested medical services and the current locations of the licensed physicians;

the mobile care entity dispatching the selected licensed physician to the patient'"'"'s premises by sending a notification signal to the selected licensed physician using a wireless medical care provider electronic paging system;

the selected licensed physician visiting the patient'"'"'s premises accompanied by the portable computer and a preselected collection of portable electronic medical care devices, at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices including a wireless device communications interface with the portable computer of the selected licensed physician;

the selected licensed physician examining the patient at the patient'"'"'s premises, including selecting and operating one or more of the portable electronic medical care devices to analyze one or more aspects of the patient'"'"'s condition and prepare representative outputs for transmission wirelessly to the portable computer in response to the notification signal;

storing the outputs in the local storage of the portable computer of the selected licensed physician;

the selected licensed physician updating the patient'"'"'s medical record stored in the local storage at the patient'"'"'s premises; and

the selected licensed physician directing the portable computer to perform follow-up operations including;

electronically collecting the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices utilizing the wireless device communications interfaces directly to the portable computer and presenting them in human-readable form;

wirelessly transmitting from the portable computer the outputs of at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices stored in the local storage directly to at least one remote medical care device including remote treatment equipment for analyzing the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices for the patient;

analyzing the transmitted outputs of the portable computer by the remote treatment equipment;

wirelessly retrieving with the portable computer said analysis of the outputs directly from the remote treatment equipment;

storing the retrieved analysis from the remote treatment equipment in the local storage of the portable computer;

displaying on the portable computer to the selected licensed physician in the patient'"'"'s premises a portion of the patient'"'"'s medical records, the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices, and said analysis from the remote treatment equipment;

treating the patient at the patient'"'"'s premise by the selected licensed physician in response to the information displayed on the portable computer;

inputting orders at the patient'"'"'s premises by the selected licensed physician into the portable computer for the care of the patient;

wirelessly sending at least one of the orders from the patient'"'"'s premises at the time of treating the patient by the selected licensed physician to at least one third party vendor via the portable computer for products or services to be provided by the third party vendor;

updating in the local storage the patient'"'"'s medical record with the observations from the selected licensed physician'"'"'s examination of the patient, and the retrieved analysis from the remote medical care device of the patient at the patient'"'"'s premises at the time of treating the patient;

storing the updated patients medical record in the local storage; and

utilizing the wireless communications interface to transmit the updated medical record of the patient from the local storage to the central storage facility for storage therein to synchronize the medical records.

2. The method of claim 1, the medical care devices including at least one of the following:

an x-ray machine;

a cardiac output monitoring machine;

laboratory analyzer;

a pulse oximeter.

3. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

the selected licensed physician treating the patient; and

the selected licensed physician directing the portable computer to store a machine-readable record including a summary of the selected licensed physician'"'"'s treatment of the patient.

4. The method of claim 1, the wireless communications interface comprising a mobile digital telephone.

5. The method of claim 1, the wireless communications interface comprising a radio frequency transceiver.

6. The method of claim 1, the selected licensed physician further directing the portable computer to perform operations comprising:

directing the portable computer and wireless communications interface to transmit selected machine-readable reports and records from the local storage to a patient referral source.

7. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

each portable computer tracking and recording various event times related to the patient visit, including at least one of the following;

dispatch time, travel time, patient visit time.

8. The method of claim 1, the downloading of updates from the central storage facility being performed, via the public Internet.

9. The method of claim 1, the operation of utilizing the wireless communications interface to transmit the machine-readable record to the central storage facility comprising:

transmitting the record to the central storage facility via the public Internet.

10. The method of claim 1, the operation of the selected licensed physician examining the patient further comprising:

the selected licensed physician interconnecting one or more sensors between the patient and the portable computer;

the selected licensed physician directing the portable computer to gather machine-readable representations of bodily conditions measured by the sensors, and transmit the representations via the wireless communications interface to a remotely located electronic medical care device; and

the portable computer communicating with the remotely located device to obtain a machine-readable output representing analysis performed by the remotely located device.

11. The method of claim 10, the operation of obtaining, a machine-readable output representing analysis performed by the remotely located device further comprising:

the portable computer presenting the results in human-readable form to the selected licensed physician.

12. The method of claim 1, the operation of the selected licensed physician examining the patient further comprising:

the selected licensed physician directing the portable computer and communications interface to cooperatively engage in machine-readable communications with a remotely located electronic medical care device to report bodily conditions of the patient to the remotely located device and receive analysis based thereon.

13. The method of claim 12, the remotely located electronic medical care device including an ultrasound machine.

14. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

the selected licensed physician directing the portable computer and communications interface to obtain information provided by Internet web sites.

15. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

while at the patients premises, the selected licensed physician utilizing the portable computer to place orders for medical supplies over the Internet.

16. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

the operation of receiving a request for medical services at a patients premises comprising the mobile care entity receiving patient medical information transmitted by a medical device located at the patient'"'"'s premises.

17. The method of claim 1, the dispatching of the selected licensed physician to the patients premises including sending wireless dispatch information to the selected licensed physician, including patient medical record information, current medical condition information, and patient location information.

18. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to the request for medical services, transmitting a machine-readable notification of the request to a pre-registered party.

19. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to the request for medical services, transmitting a machine-readable response to the patient including at least one of the following;

posting a message upon an Internet web site, transmitting an e-mail message.

20. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to the request for medical services, transmitting a machine-readable notification of at least one of the following to the patient;

geographic location of the selected licensed physician, and expected arrival time of the selected licensed physician at the patient'"'"'s premises.

21. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to completion of the selected licensed physician'"'"'s visit to the patient, conducting automatic computer-driven operations including generating and transmitting an e-mail notification to a pre-registered pasty.

22. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to completion of the selected licensed physician'"'"'s visit to the patient, conducting automatic computer-driven operations including;

scheduling of a follow-up visit; and

transmitting machine-readable notification of the scheduled follow-up visit to a pre-registered party.

23. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

automated medical-condition monitoring equipment at the patient'"'"'s premises generating and transmitting the request for medical services to the mobile care entity.

24. The method of claim 1, the follow-up operations further comprising:

the selected licensed physician operating the portable computer to prepare and make wireless transmission of one or more orders for items related to the examination for delivery to the patient.

25. The method of claim 1, the follow-up operations further comprising:

the selected licensed physician operating the portable computer to prepare and make wireless transmission of information to admit the patient to a hospital.

26. A method of patient treatment comprising:

according to a predetermined schedule, transmitting wirelessly current medical records from a central storage facility to local storage in a portable computer for automatically updating patient medical records in the local storage by utilizing a wireless communication interface;

receiving in the local storage of the portable computer a wireless dispatch notification including dispatch information concerning a patient including current patient location information, and current medical symptoms;

determining present position of the portable computer utilizing a GPS self-locating device;

utilizing the present position and the patient location information to generate directions to the patient;

visiting the patient accompanied by the portable computer having the wireless communication interface and a preselected collection of portable electronic medical care devices, at least one of the devices including a wireless device communications interface with the portable computer;

examining the patient with one or more of the portable electronic medical care devices providing outputs to the portable computer via the wireless device communications interface by applying at least one of the portable electronic medical care devices to the patient in response to the dispatch notification;

wirelessly transmitting the outputs of at least one of the portable electronic

medical care devices to the portable computer;

storing the outputs in the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location;

wirelessly transmitting the outputs from the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location directly to at least one remote medical care device for analysis including remote treatment equipment;

analyzing the tramsmitted outputs by the remote treatment equipment;

wirelessly retrieving said analysis directly from the remote treatment equipment via the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location;

storing the analysis in the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location;

displaying on the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location a portion of the medical records, the outputs of the portable electronic medical care devices, and the analysis from the remote medical care device;

treating the patient according to the information displayed on the portable computer;

entering medical treatment information including prders for the care of the patient into the portable computer in response to patient treatment at the patient'"'"'s location;

wirelessly sending at least one of the orders from the patient'"'"'s location at the time of treating the patient to at least one third party vendor via the selected portable computer for products or services to be provided by the third party vendor;

storing the medical treatment information in the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location; and

wirelessly transmitting from the local storage of the portable computer at the patient'"'"'s location said medical treatment information, the outputs of the medical care devices, and the analysis from the remote medical care device to a central storage facility to synchronize the medical records via the portable computer.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising wirelessly ordering delivery of medication for said patient via the interface of the portable computer.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising wirelessly ordering delivery of medical equipment for said patient via the interface of the portable computer.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein said medical treatment information comprises a request to automatically schedule a follow-up visit for said patient.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising wirelessly contacting a predetermined party as to said medical treatment information via e-mail.

31. The method of claim 26, further comprising wirelessly transmitting admission information for admitting said patient to a hospital.

32. The method of claim 26, further comprising sending wireless notification of a current medical care provider location.

33. A method of providing medical treatment by licensed physicians, comprising:

providing a plurality of mobile licensed physicians, with portable computers each being equipped with local storage, and with portable wireless on-site electronic medical care devices for analyzing patient conditions and for transmitting the condition information to the portable computer wirelessly;

determining the location of the mobile licensed physicians;

receiving a dispatch notice for a given patient at a selected portable computer of an appropriate mobile physician depending on the current location of the appropriate licensed physician in response to a request for medical care at the given patient'"'"'s premises;

prior to arrival of the appropriate mobile physician at the given patient'"'"'s premises, wirelessly downloading to the selected portable computer from a remote central storage facility a complete medical record for the given patient to enable the mobile physician to treat the given patient;

prior to arrival of the appropriate mobile physician at the given patient'"'"'s premises, storing the downloaded complete medical record in the local storage in the selected portable computer of the appropriate mobile physician;

transporting the selected portable computer storing the complete medical record and the wireless on-site medical care devices to the given patient'"'"'s premises by the appropriate mobile physician;

applying by the appropriate mobile physician at least one of the wireless on-site medical care devices to the given patient in the given patients premises in response to the dispatch notice;

wirelessly sending patient information from the on-site medical care devices directly to the selected portable computer at the given patient'"'"'s premises;

storing the patient information in the local storage of the selected portable computer;

directly communicating wirelessly between the selected portable computer at the given patient'"'"'s premises and at least one remote medical care device including remote treatment equipment for analyzing the patient information for the given patient;

analyzing the patient information for the given patient by the at least one remote treatment equipment;

wirelessly receiving in the selected portable computer at the given patient'"'"'s premises said analysis from the remote treatment equipment;

storing the analysis received from the remote treatment equipment in the local storage of the selected portable computer;

displaying on the selected portable computer to the appropriate mobile physician in the given patient'"'"'s premises a portion of medical record, said patient information, and said analysis from the remote treatment equipment;

treating the given patient at the given patient'"'"'s premises by the appropriate mobile physician in response to the information displayed on the selected portable computer;

inputting orders at the given patient'"'"'s premises by the appropriate mobile physician into the selected portable computer for the care of the given patient;

wirelessly sending at least one of the orders from the given patient'"'"'s premises at the time of treating the given patient by the appropriate mobile physician to at least one third party vendor via the selected portable computer for products or services to be provided by the third party vendor;

updating the medical record stored in the local storage of the selected portable computer with the patient information, the analysis and the orders at the given patient'"'"'s premises at the time of treating given patient;

storing the updated medical record in the local storage of the selected portable computer; and

wirelessly uploading the updated medical record to the remote central storage facility.