System and method for displaying messages using a messages table

• US 7,398,219 B1
• Filed: 06/23/2000
• Issued: 07/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Computer Sciences Corporation (DXC Technology Company)
• Original Assignee: Computer Sciences Corporation (DXC Technology Company)
• Inventors: Wolfe, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan; C. Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): PASS, NATALIE
• Application Number:
  US09/603,306
• Time in Patent Office: 2,937 Days
• Field of Search: 345/708, 345/218, 705/2, 705/8, 705/9, 705/7, 705/35, 705/38, 705/4, 705/42, 705/3, 705/1, 705/34, 705/36.R, 705/26, 705/39, 707/104.1, 707/4, 707/10, 707/3, 707/201, 704/8, 704/231, 717/106, 463/25, 709/203, 709/229, 709/206
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

An improved method and system to display messages, while processing insurance claims, using a messages table. The messages associated with the processing of insurance claims are primarily used to obtain inputs from the user of the claims processing computer system. Messages, which are typically displayed on a display screen, may include questions, answers, errors, warnings, and other text used with interactive claims processing. The messages are stored as message codes along with a corresponding message text in a messages table. The database, which includes the messages table is the repository and the lookup system for the message codes and the corresponding message texts. Each message code has a corresponding customizable message text, which may be specified at installation time. The application program requests display of specific messages by referring to its message code. The application program, thus, remains unaffected to changes in the corresponding customizable message texts.

Claims

1. A method of processing a bodily injury insurance claim comprising:

providing a database, each entry in the database comprising a message code and a corresponding message text;

customizing the message text of at least one of the entries for a particular insurance company during an installation of an insurance claims processing program on a computer system, wherein said customizing the message text comprises modifying the message text of the at least one entry during the installation;

sending an insurance claim to the insurance claims processing program, wherein the insurance claims processing program;

automatically generates one or more processing steps in response to the insurance claim,

automatically displays one or more processing steps to a user;

automatically generates a request to display a message to the user based on the displayed processing steps, wherein the request comprises a requested message code;

automatically searches the database for a matching entry which matches the requested message code, wherein the database stores a plurality of entries including the matching entry;

automatically retrieves the matching entry from the database in response to said searching the database for the matching entry which matches the requested message code, wherein the matching entry comprises a matching message text;

automatically displays the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code to the user along with one or more of the displayed processing steps, wherein the message text is configured to assist the user in processing the insurance claim using the insurance claims processing program;

receives input from the user relating to the insurance claim;

automatically estimates a bodily injury general damages value of the insurance claim based on input from the user, wherein the insurance claim comprises a bodily injury claim; and

displays the estimated value to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying the message text of each entry in the database during an installation of the insurance claims processing program on a computer system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said specifying the message text of each entry in the database comprises modifying the message text of at least one of the entries in the database during the installation of the insurance claims processing program on the computer system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying the message text of each entry in the database during an installation of the database on a computer system.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

updating the message text of each entry in the database by re-installing the database on the computer system without re-installing the insurance claims processing program on the computer system.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the message text of one or more entries in the database is localized for use in a particular geographical location.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein the database comprises a relational database.

8. The method of claim 1,

wherein the database comprises an object-oriented database.

9. The method of claim 1,

wherein each message code comprises a message section and a message code identifier.

10. The method of claim 1,

wherein the requested message text comprises information relevant to an estimate of a value of the insurance claim.

11. The method of claim 1,

wherein the requested message code comprises an injury code which identifies a specific bodily injury, and wherein the requested message text comprises a name of the specific bodily injury.

12. The method of claim 1,

wherein the requested message code comprises a treatment code which identifies a specific injury treatment, and wherein the requested message text comprises a name of the specific injury treatment.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising estimating a bodily injury general damages value based at least in part on the specific injury treatment.

14. The method of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code comprises the insurance claims processing program displaying the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code.

15. The method of claim 1,

wherein said displaying the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code comprises displaying the matching message text on a display device coupled to a computer system.

16. The method of claim 1,

wherein each message code comprises a sequence of alphanumeric values, wherein each sequence is unique relative to the other sequences.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the matching message text warns a user of the insurance claims processing program of an out of range input value.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying at least one processing step of the insurance claim processing program in response to said displaying of the matching message text.

19. A system comprising:

a CPU;

a memory coupled to the CPU, wherein the memory stores an insurance claims processing program which is executable by the CPU;

a display device coupled to the CPU;

a database coupled to the CPU, wherein the database stores a plurality of entries, wherein each entry in the database comprises a message code and a corresponding message text;

wherein the memory stores program instructions which are executable by the CPU to;

customize the message text of at least one entry in the database during an installation of the insurance claims processing program on a computer system, wherein said customizing the message text comprises modifying the message text of the at least one entry during the installation;

receive an insurance claim;

automatically generate one or more processing steps in response to the insurance claim;

automatically display one or more processing steps to the user on the display device;

automatically generate a request to display a message to the user based on the displayed processing steps, wherein the request comprises a requested message code;

automatically search the database for a matching entry which matches the requested message code;

automatically retrieve the matching entry from the database, wherein the matching entry comprises a matching message text;

automatically display the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code to the user on the display device along with one or more of the displayed processing steps, wherein the message text is configured to assist a user in processing the insurance claim using the insurance claims processing program; and

receive input from the user relating to the insurance claim;

automatically estimate a bodily injury general damages value of the insurance claim based on the input from the user using the insurance claim processing program, wherein the insurance claim comprises a bodily injury claim; and

display the estimated value to the user.

20. The system of claim 19,

wherein the message text of each entry in the database is configured to be specified during an installation of the insurance claims processing program.

21. The system of claim 19,

wherein the message text of each entry in the database is configured to be specified during an installation of the database.

22. The system of claim 21,

wherein the message text of each entry in the database is configured to be updated by re-installing the database on the computer system without re-installing the insurance claims processing program.

23. The system of claim 19,

wherein the message text of at least one of the entries in the database is customized for use by a particular insurance organization.

24. The system of claim 19,

wherein the message text of one or more entries in the database is localized for use in a particular geographical location.

25. The system of claim 19,

wherein the database comprises a relational database.

26. The system of claim 19,

wherein the database comprises an object-oriented database.

27. The system of claim 19,

wherein each message code comprises a message section and a message code identifier.

28. The system of claim 19,

wherein the requested message text comprises information relevant to an estimate of a value of the insurance claim.

29. The system of claim 19,

wherein the requested message code comprises an injury code which identifies a specific bodily injury, and wherein the requested message text comprises a name of the specific bodily injury.

30. The system of claim 19,

wherein the requested message code comprises a treatment code which identifies a specific injury treatment, and wherein the requested message text comprises a name of the specific injury treatment.

31. The system of claim 19,

wherein each message code comprises a sequence of alphanumeric values, wherein each sequence is unique relative to the other sequences.

32. A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by a computer system to implement a method of:

customizing the message text of at least one of the entry in a database for a particular insurance company during an installation of an insurance claims processing program on a computer system;

wherein each entry in the database comprises a message code and a corresponding message text;

wherein said customizing the message text comprises modifying the message text of the at least one entry during the installation;

sending an insurance claim to the insurance claim processing program, wherein the insurance claim processing program;

automatically generates one or more processing steps in response to the insurance claim;

automatically displays one or more processing steps to a user;

automatically generates a request to display a message to the user based on the displayed processing steps, wherein the request comprises a requested message code;

automatically searches a database for a matching entry which matches the requested message code, wherein the database stores a plurality of entries including the matching entry, wherein each entry in the database comprises a message code and a corresponding message text;

automatically retrieves the matching entry from the database in response to said searching the database for the matching entry which matches the requested message code, wherein the matching entry comprises a matching message text;

automatically displays the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code to the user along with one or more of the displayed processing steps, wherein the message text is configured to assist a user in processing the insurance claim using an insurance claims processing program;

receives input from the user relating to the insurance claim;

automatically estimates a bodily injury general damages value of the insurance claim based on input from the user using the insurance claim processing program, wherein the insurance claim comprises a bodily injury claim; and

displays the estimated value to the user.

33. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the message text of each entry in the database is configured to be specified during an installation of the insurance claims processing program.

34. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the message text of each entry in the database is configured to be specified during an installation of the database.

35. The carrier medium of claim 34,

wherein the message text of each entry in the database is configured to be updated by re-installing the database on the computer system without re-installing the insurance claims processing program.

36. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the message text of at least one of the entries in the database is customized for use by a particular insurance organization.

37. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the message text of one or more entries in the database is localized for use in a particular geographical location.

38. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the database comprises a relational database.

39. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the database comprises an object-oriented database.

40. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein each message code comprises a message section and a message code identifier.

41. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the requested message text comprises information relevant to an estimate of a value of the insurance claim.

42. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the requested message code comprises an injury code which identifies a specific bodily injury, and wherein the requested message text comprises a name of the specific bodily injury.

43. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein the requested message code comprises a treatment code which identifies a specific injury treatment, and wherein the requested message text comprises a name of the specific injury treatment.

44. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein said displaying the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code comprises the insurance claims processing program displaying the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code.

45. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein said displaying the matching message text corresponding to the requested message code comprises displaying the matching message text on a display device coupled to a computer system.

46. The carrier medium of claim 32,

wherein each message code comprises a sequence of alphanumeric values, wherein each sequence is unique relative to the other sequences.