Method of generating and maintaining a patient medication profile

• US 7,716,065 B1
• Filed: 10/16/2003
• Issued: 05/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.), Max Well Medical, Inc. (Fresenius Medical Care AG)
• Original Assignee: Max Well Medical, Inc. (Fresenius Medical Care AG)
• Inventors: Noffsinger, Norman J., Maxwell, Milton B. Jr., Mitchell, Bradley R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan; C. Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rapillo; Kristine K
• Application Number:
  US10/686,900
• Time in Patent Office: 2,399 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3
• US Class Current: 705/2
• 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

The present invention discloses methods for conveniently providing a complete medication profile of a patient. A medication profile report may be obtained on-line by the patient or a registered provider. In addition to information regarding the expiration of prescriptions, the patient'"'"'s compliance with the prescriber'"'"'s directions for usage, and the names of medications being used by a patient, the medication profile report also provides the therapeutic classes of each medication, possible drug-drug interactions, and possible side effects. Convenient access to such complete medication information is highly desirable to the patient and his or her provider.

Claims

1. A medical information processing method, comprising:

providing a data processing system accessible to a plurality of users via a communications network, the data processing system including a computer program effective to execute the steps of

(a) receiving at the data processing system and from a remote user location via the communications network a request for medical information associated with a patient;

(b) obtaining medication specific data representing physical conditions associated with the patient, the medication specific data comprising

names of one or more medications of a patient as recorded by a medical history of the patient, as determined from one or more sources independent of the patient, the medications further comprising discontinued medications and current medications, and

names of all physical conditions that are medically known to be treated by the medications, as determined from one or more predetermined information databases;

(c) identifying within the data processing system one or more probable disease/drug contra-indications based upon relationships between the one or more medications and the physical conditions, said contra-indications further identified as significant or non-significant;

(d) generating within the data processing system a list of physical conditions comprising only the physical conditions that are not associated with said contra-indications and the physical conditions that are associated with said non-significant contra-indications;

(e) identifying within the data processing system consequential information associated with the medications currently in use by the patient, said consequential information including significant and non-significant side effects that are probable, significant and non-significant drug-drug interactions that are probable; and

therapeutic classes;

(f) outputting from the data processing system to a remote user location via the communications network the generated list of physical conditions and the identified consequential information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

(g) assigning the user an identification code;

assigning the user a pass code; and

upon entry of an identification code and pass code, comparing the entered identification code and the pass code to the assigned identification code and the assigned pass code to authorize access to the output physical conditions and consequential information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, in step (b) the medication specific data further comprises at least one of the items of data selected from the following group:

an administration dose of the medication;

a name of a health care provider that prescribed the medication;

an original date of a prescription for the medication;

a date of exhaustion of the prescription for the medication;

a set of instructions for administering the medication; and

compliance information for the medication.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

in step (b) the medication specific data includes information indicative of patient usage of prescribed medications; and

in step (e) the consequential information includes information regarding the indicated patient usage of prescribed medications.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein:

step (g) includes enabling a selected class of users to access less than all of the consequential information.