Internet system for connecting healthcare providers and patients

• US 8,719,052 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2012
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Healthgrades Marketplace LLC (UnitedHealth Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Health Grades Incorporated (Mountain Acquisition Holdings LLC)
• Inventors: Hicks, David G., Montroy, Scott, Neal, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Pauls, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TRANG T
• Application Number:
  US13/551,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20120284045A1
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

An Internet-based system involves a database and search capabilities for connecting patients with healthcare providers, e.g., physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, treatment facilities, etc., and further enables such providers to reach patients with whom they may not otherwise come into contact. A patient may access the healthcare provider information through a search conducted using a search engine, such as Google, Yahoo, etc. Alternatively, a patient may access the company Web site'"'"'s predetermined Web page that provides search capabilities on its database. A patient may research a healthcare provider based on criteria specified by the patient. Information provided to the patient may be in the form of a report, profile, ratings, etc., including patient-provided information, physician-verified information, and information verified by an independent third party. The verified information and ratings provided by the Web site enable patients to differentiate among healthcare providers and thereby select the provider that best meets their individual needs.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing healthcare professional information to potential patients, said method comprising:

(a) receiving, at one or more server computers operated by a service provider who provides a service for connecting healthcare professionals with the potential patients, a request for a results list of healthcare professional information, wherein the one or more server computers comprise at least one computer processor and memory;

(b) in response to the request for the results list of healthcare professional information, creating, by at least one of the one or more server computers, the results list of healthcare professional information using the healthcare professional information for one or more healthcare professionals, and wherein the healthcare professional information comprises;

(i) healthcare professional-provided information received from the one or more healthcare professionals, wherein the healthcare professional-provided information comprises three or more from the group consisting of;

specialty information, medical philosophy, gender, age, years in profession, years in practice, awards, honors, professional appointments, professional memberships, publications, languages, and hobbies;

(ii) patient-provided information comprising patient ratings from one or more patients of the one or more healthcare professionals;

(iii) third party-verified information verified by an independent third-party, the third-party information comprises three or more from the group consisting of;

board certification, licensure, disciplinary action information, medical school, medical internship, medical residency, and medical fellowship information; and

(iv) a comparison rating for the one or more healthcare professionals; and

(c) providing access to the results list over a computer network.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the patient ratings are received from an on-line patient experience survey completed by the one or more patients of the one or more healthcare professionals and wherein the on-line patient experience survey is completed on a Web site operated by the service provider.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the patient-provided information is obtained through data collected through the method comprising:

receiving a response to a question from the on-line patient experience survey from the one or more patients; and

receiving an e-mail address from the one or more patients.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more patients of the one or more healthcare professionals are past or current patients.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising a method for verifying and compiling the data, the method comprising:

determining whether a past or current patient has completed a maximum number of surveys for a predetermined time period;

if the past or current patient has not reached the maximum number of surveys, transmitting a confirmation e-mail to a provided email address;

determining if the confirmation e-mail was successfully transmitted; and

if the e-mail was successfully transmitted, compiling the data provided by the past or current patient with other relevant data in a company database comprised of healthcare professional information.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the access to the results list is obtained through a predetermined Web page that provides search capabilities for a database comprised of the healthcare professional information of the one or more healthcare professionals.

7. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the search capabilities permit a search based on one or more from the group consisting of:

name, medical specialty, gender, state, city, procedure, diagnosis, procedure, and location criteria.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the results list displays all of the healthcare professional information relating to the one or more healthcare professionals.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, further including displaying in the results list two or more of the healthcare professional-provided information.

10. The method as defined in claim 9, further comprising sending the results list to a second device for displaying in the results list two or more third party-verified information.

11. The method as defined in claim 9, further comprising sending the results list to a second device for displaying an advertisement for a healthcare professional adjacent to the results list.

12. The method as defined in claim 9, further including:

determining whether each of the one or more healthcare professionals is a member of the on-line information service; and

providing one or more enhanced services for each of the members of the on-line information service.

13. The method as defined in claim 12, wherein the enhanced services comprise favorable positioning within the results list.

14. The method as defined in claim 12, wherein the enhanced services comprise providing a hyperlink to an on-line appointment booking service.

15. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more healthcare professionals are physicians.

16. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the independent third party is the information service provider.

17. The method as defined in claim 16, wherein the information service provider verifies the third-party verified information by receiving it from an entity other than the one or more healthcare professionals.

18. A computer-implemented method of providing healthcare professional information to potential patients, said method comprising:

receiving, at one or more server computers, a request for information regarding a first healthcare professional, wherein the one or more server computers comprise at least one computer processor and memory;

accessing, by at least one of the one or more server computers, healthcare professional-verified information about the first healthcare professional, wherein the healthcare professional-verified information is received from the first healthcare professional and comprises three or more from the group consisting of;

specialty information, medical philosophy, gender, age, years in profession, years in practice, awards, honors, professional appointments, professional memberships, publications, languages, and hobbies;

compiling, by the at least one of the one or more server computers, patient-provided information regarding the first healthcare professional, wherein the patient-provided information comprises patient ratings from one or more past or current patients of the first healthcare professional;

compiling, by the at least one of the one or more server computers, information regarding the first healthcare professional verified by an independent third-party source, wherein the information verified by the independent third-party source comprises three or more from the group consisting of;

board certification, licensure, disciplinary action information, medical school, medical internship, medical residency, and medical fellowship information;

creating, by the at least one of the one or more server computers, a healthcare professional report on the first healthcare professional using the healthcare professional-verified information, the patient-provided information, and the information verified by the independent third-party source, wherein the healthcare professional report on the first healthcare professional includes a comparison rating of the first healthcare professional; and

providing, by the at least one of the one or more server computers, access to the healthcare professional report on the first healthcare professional over a computer network.

19. The method as defined in claim 18, wherein the healthcare professional report on the first healthcare professional comprises multiple pages connected via hyperlinks.

20. The method as defined in claim 19, wherein a portion of the healthcare-professional verified information is displayed on a first page of the multiple pages of the healthcare professional report on the first healthcare professional.

21. The method as defined in claim 19, wherein a portion of the third-party verified information is provided in the healthcare professional report such that the portion of the third-party verified information is displayed on a first page of the multiple pages of the healthcare professional report on the first healthcare professional.

22. The method as defined in claim 19, further comprising:

accessing, by the at least one of the one or more server computers, healthcare professional-verified information about a second healthcare professional, wherein the healthcare professional-verified information is received from the second healthcare professional and comprises three or more from the group consisting of;

specialty information, medical philosophy, gender, age, years in profession, years in practice, awards, honors, professional appointments, professional memberships, publications, languages, and hobbies;

compiling, by the at least one of the one or more server computers, patient-provided information regarding the second healthcare professional, wherein the patient-provided information comprises patient ratings from one or more past or current patients of the second healthcare professional;

compiling information regarding the second healthcare professional verified by an independent third-party source, wherein the information verified by the independent third-party source comprises three or more from the group consisting of;

board certification, licensure, disciplinary action information, medical school, medical internship, medical residency, and medical fellowship information;

creating a healthcare professional report on the second healthcare professional using the healthcare professional-verified information on the second healthcare professional, the patient-provided information on the second healthcare professional, and the information verified by the independent third-party source on the second healthcare professional, wherein the healthcare professional report on the second healthcare professional includes a comparison rating of the second healthcare professional; and

providing access to the healthcare professional report on the second healthcare professional over a computer network.

23. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of the report on the first healthcare professional on a first Web page; and

displaying at least a portion of the report on the second healthcare professional on the first Web page.

24. The method as defined in claim 23, wherein the access to the healthcare professional report on the first healthcare professional is obtained through a predetermined Web page that provides search capabilities for a database comprised of healthcare professional information of the first and second healthcare professionals.

25. The method as defined in claim 24, wherein the search capabilities permit a search based on one or more from the group consisting of:

name, medical specialty, gender, state, city, procedure, diagnosis, procedure, and location criteria.

26. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the search of the database produces a results list of one or more healthcare professionals satisfying the search criteria, wherein the results list includes the first healthcare professional and the second healthcare professional.

27. The method as defined in claim 26, further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of the report on the first healthcare professional on a first Web page;

displaying at least a portion of the report on the second healthcare professional on the first Web page; and

displaying at least a portion of the results list on the first Web page.

28. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of the report on the first healthcare professional on a second Web page.

29. The method as defined in claim 28, further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of the report on the second healthcare professional on a third Web page.

30. The method as defined in claim 19, further comprising:

determining whether the first healthcare professional is a member of the on-line information service; and

if the first healthcare professional is a member of the on-line information service, providing enhanced services for the first healthcare professional.

31. The method as defined in claim 30, wherein the enhanced services comprise making report information on the member healthcare professional available at no charge to the potential patients.

32. The method as defined in claim 30, further comprising:

providing a predetermined Web page that permits a search of a database comprised of healthcare professional information, wherein the search of the database produces a results list of one or more healthcare professionals satisfying a search criteria; and

wherein the enhanced services comprise favorable positioning in the results list.

33. The method as defined in claim 19, wherein the first and second healthcare professionals are physicians.