Method for consolidating medical records through the world wide web

• US 8,731,967 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2011
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cybernet Systems Corporation
• Original Assignee: Cybernet Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Jacobus, Charles J., Braun, Jeffrey C., Cobb, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HIEP VAN
• Application Number:
  US13/312,812
• Publication Number:
  US 20120143626A1
• Time in Patent Office: 896 Days
• Field of Search: 705/3
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

Medical records, clinical observations, and medical imagery are organized and aggregated into a common database, enabling the data to be viewed and/or updated by medical practitioners world-wide. The information may also be viewed and monitored by patients or their relatives for accuracy, also regardless of their location. The invention further allows the records to be updated by manually controlled or automated instrumentation which measures medical parameters whether located in a doctors office, in a hospital setting, in the patient'"'"'s home, or worn by the patient. Common access and point-to-point data transmission is via the global grid, or over public access common data networks supporting TCP/IP, most often referred to as the Internet. The same approach can be using insider an organization over an internal network or Intranet.

Claims

1. A system for managing patient information, comprising:

an input for receiving patient information in the form of documents and film from medical records and imaging systems;

at least one database for storing the patient information;

a first computer network interfaced to the database through a medical practice or institution enabling access to the information by the patient'"'"'s physician or clinicians; and

a second, wide-area network, independent of the first computer network, providing an interface allowing direct, secure access to the information by the patient.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the wide-area network is the internet; and

the interface is a web browser.

3. The system of claim 1, further including an input for receiving patient information in an HL7 format.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the information from medical records or imaging systems is contained in a GIF, TIFF, JPEG or DICOM file.

5. The system of claim 1, further including an input for receiving patient information in a clinical observation and analysis system (COAS) format.

6. The system of claim 1, further including apparatus for converting existing patient medical records into a GIF, TIFF, JPEG or DICOM file.

7. The system of claim 1, further including:

a scanner with optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities; and

wherein the database stores the information in raw and OCR versions.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein some or all of the interfaces use encryption and decryption to protect patient privacy.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the encryption and decryption is based upon public or private key cryptography.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface associated with the second, wide-area network enables secure access to the information by the patient through an HTML browser without requiring a dedicated medical software application.

11. A method for managing patient information, comprising the steps of:

providing at least one database for storing patient information in the form of documents and film from medical records and imaging systems;

providing a first computer network interfaced to the database through a medical practice or institution enabling access to the information by the patient'"'"'s physician or clinicians;

receiving a request from a patient to upload the patient information into the database from the medical practice or institution; and

providing direct, secure access to the patient information by the patient through an interface to a second, wide-area network, independent of the first computer network, in communication with the database.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the wide-area network is the internet; and

the interface is a web browser.

13. The method of claim 11, further including an input for receiving patient information in an HL7 format.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the information from medical records or imaging systems is contained in a GIF, TIFF, JPEG or DICOM file.

15. The method of claim 11, further including an input for receiving patient information in a clinical observation and analysis system (COAS) format.

16. The method of claim 11, further including the step of converting existing patient medical records into a GIF, TIFF, JPEG or DICOM file.

17. The method of claim 11, further including:

a scanner with optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities; and

wherein the database stores the information in raw and OCR versions.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein some or all of the interfaces use encryption and decryption to protect patient privacy.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the encryption and decryption is based upon public or private key cryptography.