Method, system and article of manufacture, such as a card, to provide user selectable medical information and information to obtain eligibility of healthcare payments

• US 8,041,579 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2006
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Del Guidice, Debra, Fotsch, Edward J.
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor; Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LE, LINH GIANG
• Application Number:
  US11/362,644
• Publication Number:
  US 20060143052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,059 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 4, 600/300, 283/68, 283/117
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• 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 10/65 stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/70 for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients

Abstract

An article of manufacture, such as a credit card sized health card having a magnetic strip, includes user selected medical information and/or information to obtain medical information of an individual and eligibility of healthcare payments in an embodiment. A user may customize the medical information displayed on the health card. In an embodiment, a method obtains and stores medical information in a machine-readable format. An interface to select a portion of the medical information is provided to a user. In response to a user selection, the portion is displayed on a substrate, such as the health card, and the medical information is accessed by information, such as a URL, user identifier and password, recorded in a machine-readable format on the substrate. In an embodiment, a system includes a healthcare provider processing device obtaining eligibility information from the health card and generating an eligibility request to an entity processing device that forwards the eligibility request to a payer processing device. An eligibility response from the payer processing device is then provided to the healthcare provider processing device via the entity processing device. In an embodiment, medical information in a paper format is faxed using a unique user identifier and password and categorized into a machine-readable format.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a first processing device to obtain information to access medical information of an individual and information to obtain eligibility of payment of healthcare for the individual, the information to access the medical information of the individual and information to obtain eligibility recorded on the plastic card, the first processing device to generate an eligibility request in response to reading the information to obtain eligibility recorded on the plastic card, the first processing device to obtain the medical information in response to reading the information to access the medical information;

a second processing device, coupled to the first processing device, to receive and route the eligibility request, the second processing device routes the eligibility request in response to an identifier in the eligibility request;

a third processing device, coupled to the second processing device, to receive the eligibility request, the third processing device to provide an eligibility response to the first processing device by way of the second processing device, the eligibility response including eligibility information of payment of healthcare for the individual; and

a fourth processing device, coupled to the first processing device, to provide the medical information to the first processing device in response to the information to access the medical information;

wherein the fourth processing device comprises;

a storage device to store the medical information of the individual;

a processor, coupled to the storage device;

the storage device to store executable instructions for controlling the processor; and

the processor is operative with the executable instructions to;

receive a request to provide a card displaying a portion of the medical information of the individual;

provide a graphical user interface allowing the individual to select a first portion of the medical information, wherein the first portion of the medical information is to be displayed on the card; and

receive a selection from the individual that indicates the first portion.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information to access the medical information includes a URL, user identifier and password, and wherein the fourth processing device provides the medical information in response to receiving the user identifier and password.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the individual is a healthcare recipient and the medical information includes information selected from a group consisting of a name of the individual, an individual to contact in case of emergency, a clinician used by the individual, a medication taken by the individual, a medical condition of the individual, and an allergy of the individual.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a plastic card having a magnetic strip, and wherein the information to access the medical information is recorded on the magnetic strip, and wherein the information to obtain eligibility is recorded on the magnetic strip.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is operative with the executable instructions to simulate the card.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the card is an article of manufacture including a magnetic readable medium, comprising:

a first field to store information that indicates a payer of health care of the individual;

a second field to store information that identifies the individual; and

a third field to store information that indicates a policy number associated with the individual.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein the first, second, and third fields are positioned on a track of the magnetic strip.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the substrate is a card, and wherein the first processing device includes a card reader.