Transaction-driven social network

• US 8,548,870 B1
• Filed: 12/05/2012
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rimedio Incorporated, VSPN, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Rimedio Incorporated
• Inventors: Herbette, Leo, Bavasso, Richie
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jeffrey A
• Assistant Examiner(s): GEORGALAS, ANNE MARIE
• Application Number:
  US13/705,308
• Time in Patent Office: 300 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.1, 705/27.1, 705/26.3, 705/26.35, 705/319, 705/2
• US Class Current: 705/26.35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A transaction-based social network for a life science vertical industry is provided. A method for implementing the network includes qualifying a user to join the transaction-based social network based on a minimum set of qualifications. The method also includes creating, from input received by the user, an opportunity with respect to an offer, identifying members of a target user community in the network based on the input from the user, and posting the opportunity over the social network to the members of the target user community. The method further includes receiving at least one response from the target user community that is indicative of a bid to accept the opportunity. The method also includes providing a view of the bid for the user and, once accepted, executing a transaction based on a pre-negotiated fee. The executing includes validating regulatory compliance of content associated with the transaction.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

qualifying a user, via a computer processor, to join a transaction-based social network for a life science vertical industry based on a minimum set of qualifications;

adding the user, once qualified, to the transaction-based social network;

creating an opportunity from input received by the user, the input specifying criteria with respect to the offer and to a target user community;

identifying, via the computer processor, members of the target user community in the transaction-based social network based on the criteria, the target user community comprising at least a subset of the transaction-based social network;

posting the opportunity over the transaction-based social network to the members of the target user community;

receiving at least one response from the target user community, the at least one response indicative of a bid to accept the opportunity;

providing a view of the bid for the user within a user interface, receiving acceptance of the bid from the user via the user interface, and upon acceptance of the bid, executing a transaction based on a pre-negotiated fee;

validating regulatory compliance of content that is subject to exchange over the transaction-based social network, the content forming at least part of the transaction, the regulatory compliance mandated for the life science vertical industry; and

providing the user with access to a compensation manager executable by the computer processor, the compensation manager providing a user interface configured to manage at least one of receipts, receivables, payments, and payables associated with the transaction with respect to the pre-negotiated fee.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein in response to successfully qualifying the user to join the transaction-based social network, the method further comprises:

classifying the user within a user type;

classifying the user within a user community;

creating a profile for the user, the profile including;

identification information for the user;

contact information for the user;

a user type; and

a user community; and

storing the profile in a storage device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the user type specifies professions within the life science vertical industry, and the user type is one of a plurality of selectable user types, the user types including at least one of:

a pharmaceutical company representative;

a pharmaceutical company sales representative;

a freelance pharmaceutical sales representative;

a medical supply sales representative;

a health care provider;

a key opinion leader;

an insurer;

a content agency; and

a medical science liaison.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising establishing a plurality of user communities that include the user community;

wherein the user communities include at least one of;

global;

country;

region;

state;

specialty; and

tier; and

wherein the target user community comprises at least one of the user communities.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the opportunity includes providing the user with access to an opportunity manager executable by the computer processor, the opportunity manager providing a user interface configured to guide the user in creating the opportunity, the creating the opportunity further comprising:

receiving, from the user, via the user interface of the opportunity manager, as the criteria;

an opportunity type;

an opportunity description;

constraints; and

an expiration date of the opportunity;

assigning a unique identifier to the opportunity;

determining the target user community for the opportunity from the criteria;

populating data fields of the user interface of the opportunity manager with the members of the target user community from the determining; and

storing the opportunity with the unique identifier in a storage device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the constraints include at least one of a geographic location of the opportunity and a topic of the opportunity.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the opportunity includes a request for at least one of:

an in-person meeting;

a web-based meeting;

an electronic transmission of medically-related information, the medically-related information forming at least part of the content;

delivery of at least one of medical supplies, medical equipment, and medicine samples;

a conference speaker; and

a workshop facilitator.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning a unique identifier to the transaction;

generating a second transaction from the opportunity when a process of executing the transaction results in a request by the user to conduct an activity in addition to the transaction executed for the opportunity;

associating a unique identifier with the second transaction; and

associating a second pre-negotiated fee with the second transaction.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

updating a database to reflect the second transaction and the second pre-negotiated fee; and

providing, via the user interface, a view of updates made with respect to the at least one of receipts, receivables, payments, and payables, the view displaying a status of the transaction and the second transaction within the opportunity with respect to a stage of completion, wherein statuses of transactions are indicated within the user interface as completed, accepted, and pending.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving at least one response from the target user community includes receiving the response from a target user in the target user community, the method further comprising:

providing via the user interface, with respect to the opportunity, a view of bids including the bid from the target user and, updating a status of the view to include the acceptance by the user.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request for a collaborative bid from a target user in the target user community, the request for a collaborative bid including input identifying at least one of a user type associated with a member of a second target user community and a community type, the collaborative bid indicative of a request to jointly execute the opportunity with assistance from another party;

identifying members of the second target user community based on the input from the collaborative bid;

posting the collaborative bid over the transaction-based social network to the second target user community; and

presenting details of the collaborative bid to the user within the view of the bid.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum set of qualifications include a medical license and a professional certification.

13. A system, comprising:

a computer processor; and

an application executable by the computer processor, the application implementing a method, the method comprising;

qualifying a user to join a transaction-based social network for a life science vertical industry based on a minimum set of qualifications;

adding the user, once qualified, to the transaction-based social network;

creating an opportunity from input received by the user, the input specifying criteria with respect to the offer and to a target user community;

identifying members of the target user community in the transaction-based social network based on the criteria, the target user community comprising at least a subset of the transaction-based social network;

posting the opportunity over the transaction-based social network to the members of the target user community;

receiving at least one response from the target user community, the at least one response indicative of a bid to accept the opportunity;

providing a view of the bid for the user within a user interface, receiving acceptance of the bid from the user via the user interface, and upon acceptance of the bid, executing a transaction based on a pre-negotiated fee;

validating regulatory compliance of content that is subject to exchange over the transaction-based social network, the content forming at least part of the transaction, the regulatory compliance mandated for the life science vertical industry; and

providing the user with access to a compensation manager of the application, the compensation manager providing a user interface configured to manage at least one of receipts, receivables, payments, and payables associated with the transaction with respect to the pre-negotiated fee.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein in response to successfully qualifying the user to join the transaction-based social network, the method further comprises:

classifying the user within a user type;

classifying the user within a user community;

creating a profile for the user, the profile including;

identification information for the user;

contact information for the user;

a user type; and

a user community; and

storing the profile in a storage device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the user type specifies professions within the life science vertical industry, and the user type is one of a plurality of selectable user types, the user types including at least one of:

a pharmaceutical company representative;

a pharmaceutical company sales representative;

a freelance pharmaceutical sales representative;

a medical supply sales representative;

a health care provider;

a key opinion leader;

an insurer;

a content agency; and

a medical science liaison.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises establishing a plurality of user communities that include the user community, the user communities including at least one of:

global;

country;

region;

state;

specialty; and

tier; and

wherein the target user community comprises at least one of the user communities.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein creating the opportunity includes providing the user with access to an opportunity manager of the application, the opportunity manager providing a user interface configured to guide the user in creating the opportunity, the creating the opportunity further comprising:

receiving, from the user, via the user interface of the opportunity manager, as the criteria;

an opportunity type;

an opportunity description;

constraints; and

an expiration date of the opportunity;

assigning a unique identifier to the opportunity;

determining the target user community for the opportunity from the criteria;

populating data fields of the user interface of the opportunity manager with the members of the target user community from the determining; and

storing the opportunity with the unique identifier in a storage device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the constraints include at least one of a geographic location of the opportunity and a topic of the opportunity.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the opportunity includes a request for at least one of:

an in-person meeting;

a web-based meeting;

an electronic transmission of medically-related information, the medically-related information forming at least part of the content;

delivery of at least one of medical supplies, medical equipment, and medicine samples;

a conference speaker; and

a workshop facilitator.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the method further includes:

assigning a unique identifier to the transaction;

generating a second transaction from the opportunity when a process of executing the transaction results in a request by the user to conduct an activity in addition to the transaction executed for the opportunity;

associating a unique identifier with the second transaction; and

associating a second pre-negotiated fee with the second transaction.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises:

updating a database to reflect the second transaction and the second pre-negotiated fee; and

providing, via the user interface, a view of updates made with respect to the at least one of receipts, receivables, payments, and payables, the view displaying a status of the transaction and the second transaction within the opportunity with respect to a stage of completion, wherein statuses of transactions are indicated within the user interface as completed, accepted, and pending.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein receiving at least one response from the target user community includes receiving the response from a target user in the target user community, the method further comprising:

providing, via the user interface, with respect to the opportunity, a view of bids including the bid from the target user and, updating a status of the view to include the acceptance by the user.

23. The system of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a request for a collaborative bid from a target user in the target user community, the request for a collaborative bid including input identifying at least one of a user type associated with a member of a second target user community and a community type, the collaborative bid indicative of a request to jointly execute the opportunity with assistance from another party;

identifying members of the second target user community based on the input from the collaborative bid;

posting the collaborative bid over the transaction-based social network to the second target user community; and

presenting details of the collaborative bid to the user within the view of the bid.

24. The system of claim 13, wherein the minimum set of qualifications include a medical license and a professional certification.

25. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon, which when executed by a computer processor, cause the computer processor to implement a method, the method comprising:

qualifying a user to join a transaction-based social network for a life science vertical industry based on a minimum set of qualifications;

adding the user, once qualified, to the transaction-based social network;

creating an opportunity from input received by the user, the input specifying criteria with respect to the offer and to a target user community;

identifying members of the target user community in the transaction-based social network based on the criteria, the target user community comprising at least a subset of the transaction-based social network;

posting the opportunity over the transaction-based social network to the members of the target user community;

receiving at least one response from the target user community, the at least one response indicative of a bid to accept the opportunity;

providing a view of the bid for the user within a user interface, receiving acceptance of the bid from the user via the user interface, and upon acceptance of the bid, executing a transaction based on a pre-negotiated fee;

validating regulatory compliance of content that is subject to exchange over the transaction-based social network, the content forming at least part of the transaction, the regulatory compliance mandated for the life science vertical industry; and

providing a user interface configured to manage at least one of receipts, receivables, payments, and payables associated with the transaction with respect to the pre-negotiated fee.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein in response to successfully qualifying the user to join the transaction-based social network, the method further comprises:

classifying the user within a user type;

classifying the user within a user community;

creating a profile for the user, the profile including;

identification information for the user;

contact information for the user;

a user type; and

a user community; and

storing the profile in a storage device.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the user type specifies professions within the life science vertical industry, and the user type is one of a plurality of selectable user types, the user types including at least one of:

a pharmaceutical company representative;

a pharmaceutical company sales representative;

a freelance pharmaceutical sales representative;

a medical supply sales representative;

a health care provider;

a key opinion leader;

an insurer;

a content agency; and

a medical science liaison.

28. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises establishing a plurality of user communities that include the user community, the user communities including at least one of:

global;

country;

region;

state;

specialty; and

tier; and

wherein the target user community comprises at least one of the user communities.

29. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein creating the opportunity includes providing a user interface configured to guide the user in creating the opportunity, the creating the opportunity further comprising:

receiving, from the user, via the user interface, as the criteria;

an opportunity type;

an opportunity description;

constraints; and

an expiration date of the opportunity;

assigning a unique identifier to the opportunity;

determining the target user community for the opportunity from the criteria;

populating data fields of the user interface of the opportunity manager with the members of the target user community from the determining; and

storing the opportunity with the unique identifier in a storage device.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the constraints include at least one of a geographic location of the opportunity and a topic of the opportunity.