System and method of conducting telemedicine sessions across different geopolitical zones

• US 8,635,084 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2010
• Issued: 01/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innovation Specialists LLC
• Original Assignee: Innovation Specialists LLC
• Inventors: Phillips, Clinton Glen
• Primary Examiner(s): Morgan, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): KANAAN, MAROUN P
• Application Number:
  US12/977,220
• Publication Number:
  US 20120166221A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,125 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

A system and method designed to overcome or work with the geopolitical restraints on medical practice that presently hampers the process of conducting physician patient telemedicine sessions across different geopolitical zones such as different states or different countries. The method uses at least one Internet server and database, which may optionally reside or have an IP address within in the one or more geopolitical zones where the physician is licensed to practice medicine. The database will often contain lists of physician authorizations to conduct telemedicine in various other geopolitical zones, lists of patient telemedicine waivers, as well as information pertaining to the physician'"'"'s specialty, rating, fee structure, and availability. The database may additionally contain other features such as lists of translator availability and patient electronic health records. The server may additionally facilitate video conferencing by presenting a unified user interface and/or relaying video teleconferencing data packets between participants.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of conducting Internet based telemedicine across at least two geopolitical zones comprising:

a first geopolitical zone comprising;

a healthcare practitioner, a first licensing authority, and a first legal authority;

the first licensing authority, providing via the Internet, a certificate authorizing a healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in a first geopolitical zone;

a second geopolitical zone, where the healthcare practitioner is not licensed to practice medicine, comprising;

a patient, a second licensing authority, and a second legal authority;

the healthcare practitioner via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the second licensing authority via the Internet, identifying information, the provided certificate, and a request for authorization to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, receiving from the second licensing authority via the Internet, a certificate reciting authorization by the second licensing authority for the healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone for a predetermined amount of time, wherein the predetermined amount of time is the length of the telemedicine session;

the telemedicine server, transmitting to an Internet-server-based database via the Internet, the certificate reciting authorization by the second licensing authority for the healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone for the predetermined amount of time;

the patient via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the first legal authority via the Internet, a request for a legal waiver for consent to a telemedicine session with an authorized healthcare practitioner from the first geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, receiving from the first legal authority via the Internet, a legal waiver authorizing the patient to participate in a telemedicine session with the healthcare practitioner located in the first geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, transmitting to the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, the patient'"'"'s legal waiver, the patient'"'"'s current medical condition and a request for available healthcare practitioners authorized to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone;

the patient via the telemedicine server, receiving from the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, the practitioner'"'"'s identifying information.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the Internet-server-based database further comprises the specialties and availability schedules of at least one of the healthcare practitioners from the first geopolitical zone.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, in which the Internet-server-based database matches the patient'"'"'s current medical condition with the specialties and availability schedules of at least one of the healthcare practitioners;

the Internet-server-based database provides the matched specialties and availability schedules to the patient;

and wherein the patients may use the matched specialties and availability schedules to select an appointment time to schedule a telemedicine session with at least one healthcare practitioner.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the Internet-server-based database further comprises either the electronic health records or links to the electronic health records of at least some of the patients, and wherein after the patient schedules a telemedicine session with at least one healthcare practitioner, the patient'"'"'s electronic health record or link to the electronic health record is transmitted to the healthcare practitioner.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the Internet-server-based database additionally comprises audio-video link information required to establish audio and video communication between the patient and the healthcare practitioner, and the Internet-server-based database transmits the audio-video link information to the patient and the healthcare practitioner on or before the time of said scheduled telemedicine session.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the Internet-server-based database additionally comprises a list of authorized interpreters and interpreter audio-video link information, and wherein upon request by the patient or the healthcare practitioner, the Internet-server-based database additionally schedules a session with the interpreter at the same time as the scheduled telemedicine session, and the Internet-server-based database exchanges audio-video link information between the interpreter, the healthcare professional, and the patient, so that the patient, the healthcare professional, and the interpreter may establish a simultaneous three-way audio video link during the scheduled telemedicine session.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further displaying a visual simulation of patient travel from the second geopolitical zone to the first geopolitical zone on the user interface.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further adjusting the IP address of the Internet-server-based database to conform with IP addresses associated with either the first geopolitical zone or the second geopolitical zone.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the geopolitical zones are American states, and the healthcare professionals are physicians.

10. A computer-implemented method of conducting Internet based telemedicine across at least two geopolitical zones comprising:

a first geopolitical zone comprising;

a healthcare practitioner, a healthcare practitioner'"'"'s profile, wherein the profile contains a specialty and an availability schedule, a first licensing authority, and a first legal authority;

the first licensing authority, providing via the Internet, a certificate authorizing a healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in a first geopolitical zone;

a second geopolitical zone, where the healthcare practitioner is not licensed to practice medicine, comprising;

a patient, a second licensing authority, and a second legal authority;

the healthcare practitioner via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the second licensing authority via the Internet, the healthcare practitioner'"'"'s profile, the provided certificate, and a request for authorization to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, receiving from the second licensing authority via the Internet, a certificate reciting authorization by the second licensing authority for the healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone for a predetermined amount of time, wherein the predetermined amount of time is the length of the telemedicine session;

the telemedicine server, transmitting to an Internet-server-based database via the Internet, the certificate reciting authorization by the second licensing authority for the healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone for the predetermined amount of time and the healthcare practitioner'"'"'s profile;

the patient via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the first legal authority via the Internet, a request for a legal waiver for consent to a telemedicine session with an authorized healthcare practitioner from the first geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, receiving from the first legal authority via the Internet, a legal waiver authorizing the patient to participate in a telemedicine session with the healthcare practitioner located in the first geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, transmitting to the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, the patient'"'"'s legal waiver, the patient'"'"'s current medical condition and a request for available healthcare practitioners authorized to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone;

the patient via the telemedicine server, receiving from the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, at least one healthcare practitioner name, specialty, and availability schedule that matches the patient'"'"'s current medical condition;

the patient via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, a selection for an available appointment with at least one healthcare practitioner;

the patient via the telemedicine server, receiving from the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, audio-video link information required to establish audio and video communication between the patient and the selected healthcare practitioner.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the patient communicates with the Internet-based-server database via a computational device comprising:

a video display screen, a user interface, a video camera, a microphone, and a speaker, wherein the patient may conduct said scheduled telemedicine session using the user interface of the computational device.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the Internet-server-based database further comprises either the electronic health records or links to the electronic health records of at least some of the patients, and wherein after the patient schedules a telemedicine session with at least one healthcare practitioner, the patient'"'"'s electronic health record or link to the electronic health record is transmitted to the healthcare practitioner.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the Internet-server-based database additionally comprises a list of authorized interpreters and interpreter audio-video link information, and wherein upon request by the patient or the healthcare practitioner, the Internet-server-based database additionally schedules a session with the interpreter at the same time as the scheduled telemedicine session, and the Internet-server-based database exchanges audio-video link information between the interpreter, the healthcare professional, and the patient, so that the patient, the healthcare professional, and the interpreter may establish a simultaneous three-way audio video link during the scheduled telemedicine session.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the patient may enter the legal waiver into the Internet-server-based database prior selecting the appointment time.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the Internet-server-based database additionally accepts payment from the patient or third party payors, and disperses at least some of the payment to the healthcare practitioner.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the payment from third party payors is made by at least one gift certificate.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the healthcare practitioner communicates with the Internet-based-server database via a computational device comprising:

a video display screen, a user interface, a video camera, a microphone, and a speaker, wherein the healthcare practitioner may conduct said scheduled telemedicine session using the user interface of the computational device.

18. A computer-implemented method of conducting Internet based telemedicine across at least two geopolitical zones comprising:

a first geopolitical zone comprising;

a healthcare practitioner, a healthcare practitioner'"'"'s profile, wherein the profile contains a specialty and an availability schedule, a first licensing authority, and a first legal authority;

the first licensing authority, providing via the Internet, a certificate authorizing a healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in a first geopolitical zone;

a second geopolitical zone, where the healthcare practitioner is not licensed to practice medicine, comprising;

a patient, a patient'"'"'s electronic health records, a second licensing authority, and a second legal authority;

the healthcare practitioner via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the second licensing authority via the Internet, the healthcare practitioner'"'"'s profile, the provided certificate, and a request for authorization to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, receiving from the second licensing authority via the Internet, a certificate reciting authorization by the second licensing authority for the healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone for a predetermined amount of time, wherein the predetermined amount of time is the length of the telemedicine session;

the telemedicine server, transmitting to an Internet-server-based database via the Internet, the certificate reciting authorization by the second licensing authority for the healthcare practitioner to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone for the predetermined amount of time and the healthcare practitioner'"'"'s profile;

the patient via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the first legal authority via the Internet, a request for a legal waiver for consent to a telemedicine session with an authorized healthcare practitioner from the first geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, receiving from the first legal authority via the Internet, a legal waiver authorizing the patient to participate in a telemedicine session with the healthcare practitioner located in the first geopolitical zone;

the telemedicine server, transmitting to the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, the patient'"'"'s legal waiver, the patient'"'"'s current medical condition, the patient'"'"'s electronic medical record and a request for available healthcare practitioners authorized to practice telemedicine in the second geopolitical zone;

the patient via the telemedicine server, receiving from the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, at least one healthcare practitioner name, specialty, and availability schedule that matches the patient'"'"'s current medical condition;

the patient via the telemedicine server, transmitting to the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, a selection for an available appointment with at least one healthcare practitioner;

the patient via the telemedicine server, receiving from the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, audio-video link information required to establish audio and video communication between the patient and the selected healthcare practitioner;

the healthcare practitioner via the telemedicine server, receiving from the Internet-server-based database via the Internet, a confirmation of an appointment and the patient'"'"'s electronic medical record.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the healthcare professional further enters information obtained from the telemedicine session into the electronic health record associated with the patient.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein an audio or audio-video record of the telemedicine session is entered into the electronic heath record associated with the patient.