Method and system for distributing patient referrals
First Claim
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1. A method for referring patients to practitioners to perform a procedure, the method comprising:
- maintaining a referral directory comprising data stored on a computer system, the referral directory data including contact information for practitioners and information that the practitioners are certified to perform the procedure, the data further comprising information for sorting the practitioners prioritized into a plurality of tiers based at least in part on expressed desire of each of a plurality of the practitioners to perform the procedure at one of;
(1) an increased rate relative to a current rate for the practitioner, (2) the current rate, and (3) at a decreased rate relative to the current rate;
electronically receiving inquiries from prospective patients regarding the procedure; and
electronically transmitting a referral to individual patients, in response to their requests, to practitioners within the patient'"'"'s geographic area, wherein practitioners are selected from the referral directory and sorted by the computer system such that the transmitted referral gives relative preference to at least one of the practitioners having expressed desire to perform the procedure at an increased rate relative to the current rate for the practitioner.
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Abstract
Practitioners are certified to perform a medical procedure, such as an orthodontic procedure. Certified practitioners are maintained in a referral directory and classified within tiers based on criteria such as the number of procedures that they have performed. Inquiries are solicited from prospective patients, and referral lists are provided to those patients who request them. The referral lists are obtained from the referral directory with doctors from higher tiers who have performed more procedures receiving preferential inclusion on the referral lists.
172 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for referring patients to practitioners to perform a procedure, the method comprising:
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maintaining a referral directory comprising data stored on a computer system, the referral directory data including contact information for practitioners and information that the practitioners are certified to perform the procedure, the data further comprising information for sorting the practitioners prioritized into a plurality of tiers based at least in part on expressed desire of each of a plurality of the practitioners to perform the procedure at one of;
(1) an increased rate relative to a current rate for the practitioner, (2) the current rate, and (3) at a decreased rate relative to the current rate;electronically receiving inquiries from prospective patients regarding the procedure; and electronically transmitting a referral to individual patients, in response to their requests, to practitioners within the patient'"'"'s geographic area, wherein practitioners are selected from the referral directory and sorted by the computer system such that the transmitted referral gives relative preference to at least one of the practitioners having expressed desire to perform the procedure at an increased rate relative to the current rate for the practitioner. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer system for generating a list of medical practitioners for referral to potential patients, the system comprising:
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an electronic database maintaining a referral directory that includes data comprising contact information for practitioners who are certified to perform a procedure, the data further comprising information for sorting the practitioners prioritized into a plurality of tiers based at least in part on expressed desire of each of a plurality of the practitioners to perform the procedure at one of (1) an increased rate relative to a current rate for the practitioner, (2) the current rate, and (3) at a decreased rate relative to the current rate; and computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a computer, sort practitioners of the referral directory to produce a referral list, in response to an inquiry from a prospective patient in a particular geographic location wherein practitioners are first sorted into tiers based no proximity to the geographic location and then sorted within each tier to which the practitioner has been assigned based at least in part on expressed desire of each of a plurality of the practitioners to perform the procedure at one of;
(1) an increased rate relative to a current rate for the practitioner, (2) the current rate, and (3) at a decreased rate relative to the current rate. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification