Method for generating and transmitting prescription renewal request information

• US 7,890,350 B1
• Filed: 06/11/2002
• Issued: 02/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Epocrates LLC (Athenahealth Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Epocrates (Athenahealth Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hyde, Geoffrey David, Fraser, Diane Elizabeth, Fiedotin, Richard Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Rines; R. David
• Application Number:
  US10/167,803
• Time in Patent Office: 3,171 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• 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

Abstract

A method for providing prescription renewal request information via an electronic network. Upon receiving a request from a client for renewal request information for a particular prescriber, a report is generated containing the requested renewal request information and transmitted to the client. The transmitted report allows the client to easily review renewal request information and helps the client to manage appointments with patients whom the prescriber wishes to see. Depending on the client request, the transmitted report may be an “active renewals” page containing renewal request information regarding renewal requests that the prescriber has not reviewed, an “archived renewals” page containing renewed request information regarding renewal requests that the prescriber has reviewed, an “appointment” page containing renewal request information regarding patients with whom the prescriber wishes to make an appointment, or a “prescription detail” page containing detailed renewal request information regarding a particular renewal request.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for providing information regarding renewal requests for prescriptions via an electronic network, comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of renewal requests at a server, each requesting that a prescriber renew an existing prescription, wherein the plurality of renewal requests include renewal requests for prescriptions of a plurality of patients;

transmitting the plurality of renewal requests to the prescriber, wherein each renewal request notifies the prescriber that a prescription for a patient will expire unless the prescriber renews the prescription;

determining whether the prescriber has responded to any of the plurality of renewal requests and based on said determining, assigning a respective status to each of the plurality of renewal requests, wherein the respective status for a respective renewal request indicates whether the prescriber has responded to the respective renewal request;

storing information on a renewal database at a server, where the information comprises the respective status for each of the plurality of renewal requests;

receiving a query at the server for said information from a client computer remote from the server, wherein said client computer is associated with the prescriber;

searching said renewal database for respective information that matches said query;

generating a report at the server containing said respective information, which includes respective statuses for the plurality of respective renewal requests; and

transmitting from the server to the client computer said report to facilitate review of said respective information.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said generating step comprises the step of producing a report selected from the group consisting of:

an “

active renewals”

page containing information regarding renewal requests of the plurality of respective renewal requests that the prescriber has not yet reviewed, an “

archived renewals”

page containing information regarding renewal requests of the plurality of respective renewal requests that the prescriber has already reviewed, an “

appointment”

page containing information regarding patients with whom the prescriber wishes to make an appointment, and a “

prescription detail”

page containing detailed information regarding a particular renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said generating step comprises producing a report including details for a particular renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests, wherein said details are selected from a group consisting of:

patient name, patient date of birth, patient gender, a prescription identifier, a pharmaceutical identifier, a dispenser identifier, a renewal request date, a renewal request approval, a status indicator of the particular renewal request, dosage of a prescribed pharmaceutical, number of doses per refill, number of refills, a last refill date, an appointment indicator to indicate whether the prescriber wishes to make an appointment with a particular patient, and a print indicator to indicate whether the particular renewal request has been printed.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said receiving step comprises the step of receiving a query for information pertaining to the plurality of respective renewal requests, and the plurality of respective renewal requests are for multiple patients for the prescriber.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the generating and transmitting steps are undertaken without further human intervention.

6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

obtaining new information regarding a particular renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests; and

updating the status of the particular renewal request in the renewal database with said new information.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein said receiving step comprises receiving a query for information regarding patients with whom the prescriber wishes to make an appointment.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein said report includes action buttons selected from a group consisting of:

a “

print list”

button to print a list of all renewal requests of the plurality of respective renewal requests that are contained on a current page, a “

print selected”

button to print a prescription detail page of all renewal requests of the plurality of respective renewal requests that are selected, and a “

print all”

button to print a prescription detail page of all renewal requests of the plurality of respective renewal requests that are contained on a current page.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein said report includes action buttons selected from a group consisting of:

an “

update view”

button to view an updated page containing only information matching filter parameters received in filter boxes, a “

reset”

button to view a page containing non-filtered information, and an “

update list”

button to view a page which does not contain patients who have already made an appointment with the prescriber.

10. The method according to claim 9 wherein said filter parameters include patient name, pharmaceutical identifier, approval date range, and renewal request status.

11. The method according to claim 1 further comprising, after said searching step, filtering said respective information for information matching filter parameters where the filter parameters are selected from a group consisting of:

patient name, a pharmaceutical identifier, approval date range, and renewal request status.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein said report includes link buttons selected from a group consisting of:

an “

active renewals”

link button to view an active renewals page, an “

archived renewals”

link button to view an archived renewals page, an “

appointment tickler”

link button to view an appointment page, and a “

prescription identifier”

link to view a prescription detail page corresponding to a prescription identifier.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein said generating step comprises the step of producing a report selected from the group consisting of:

an “

active renewals”

page containing information regarding renewal requests of a plurality of respective renewal requests that the prescriber has not yet reviewed, and an “

archived renewals”

page containing information regarding renewal requests of a plurality of respective renewal requests that the prescriber has already reviewed.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein said generating step comprises producing a report including, for respective ones of the plurality of respective renewal requests, a indicator of the status of the respective renewal request, a date that the renewal request was dealt with by the prescriber, and a date that the renewal request was sent to the prescriber.

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising before the transmitting:

at a server computer monitoring an expiration date of a prescription by periodically determining whether a predetermined time period before said expiration date has been reached; and

at the server computer generating a respective renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests for the renewal of said prescription prior to said expiration date based on said computer monitoring.

24. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

instructions for, prior to the transmitting, monitoring at a server an expiration date of a prescription by periodically determining whether a predetermined time period before said expiration date has been reached; and

instructions for generating at the server a respective renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests for the renewal of said prescription prior to said expiration date based on said monitoring.

16. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:

instructions for receiving a plurality of renewal requests at a server, each requesting that a prescriber renew an existing prescription, wherein the plurality of renewal requests include renewal requests for prescriptions of a plurality of patients;

instructions for transmitting the plurality of renewal requests to the prescriber, wherein each renewal request notifies the prescriber that a prescription for a patient will expire unless the prescriber renews the prescription;

instructions for determining whether the prescriber has responded to any of the plurality of renewal requests and based on said determining, assigning a respective status to each of the plurality of renewal requests, wherein the respective status for a respective renewal request indicates whether the prescriber has responded to the respective renewal request;

instructions for storing information on a renewal database at a server, where the information comprises the respective status for each of the plurality of renewal requests;

instructions for receiving a query at the server for said information from a client computer remote from the server, wherein said client computer is associated with the prescriber;

instructions for searching said renewal database for respective information that matches said query;

instructions for generating a report at the server containing said respective information, which includes respective statuses for the plurality of respective renewal requests; and

instructions for transmitting from the server to the client computer said report to facilitate the review of said respective information.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the instructions for generating a report include instructions for generating a report selected from the group consisting of an “

active renewals”

page containing information regarding renewal requests of the plurality of respective renewal requests that the prescriber has not yet reviewed, an “

archived renewals”

page containing information regarding renewal requests of the plurality of respective renewal requests that the prescriber has already reviewed, an “

appointment”

page containing information regarding patients with whom the prescriber wishes to make an appointment, and a “

prescription detail”

page containing detailed information regarding a particular renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests.

18. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the instructions for generating a report include instructions for generating a report including details for a particular renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests selected from a group consisting of:

patient name, patient date of birth, patient gender, a prescription identifier, a pharmaceutical identifier, a dispenser identifier, a renewal request date, a renewal request approval date, a status indicator of the particular renewal request, dosage of a prescribed pharmaceutical, number of doses per refill, number of refills, a last refill date, an appointment indicator to indicate whether the prescriber wishes to make an appointment with a particular patient, and a print indicator to indicate whether the particular renewal request has been printed.

19. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the instructions for receiving a query include instructions for receiving a query for information pertaining to the plurality of respective renewal requests, and the plurality of respective renewal requests are for multiple patients for the prescriber.

20. The computer program product of claim 16 further comprising:

instructions for obtaining new information regarding a particular renewal request of the plurality of respective renewal requests; and

instructions for updating the status of the particular renewal request in the renewal database with said new information.

21. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the instructions for receiving a query include instructions for receiving a query for information regarding patients with whom the prescriber wishes to make an appointment.

22. The computer program product of claim 16 further comprising instructions for filtering said information for information matching filter parameters where the filter parameters are selected from a group consisting of:

patient name, a pharmaceutical identifier, approval date range, and renewal request status.

23. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein said report includes link buttons selected from a group consisting of:

an “

active renewals”

link button to view an active renewals page, an “

archived renewals”

link button to view an archived renewals page, an “

appointment tickler”

link button to view an appointment page, and a “

prescription identifier”

link to view a prescription detail page corresponding to a prescription identifier.