Methods and systems for managing distributed digital medical data

• US 8,874,453 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2011
• Issued: 10/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medecision Incorporated (Health Care Service Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Medecision Incorporated (Health Care Service Corporation)
• Inventors: Menschik, Elliot D., Corio, Christopher R., Davis, Wayne F., Didizian, Haig C.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HIEP VAN
• Application Number:
  US13/006,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20110131062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,383 Days
• Field of Search: 705/3
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines

Abstract

A network for mediating the peer-to-peer transfer of digital patient medical data includes a plurality of distributed agents each associated with a health care provider and connected to a central system. Periodically the agents collect local information relating to patient medical files and/or data streams, for example diagnostic images and associated reports, and process that information into metadata files acting as pointers to the original files. The metadata files are transmitted to the central system where they are parsed and the attributes are stored on the central system in patient records with records from the same patient grouped together whenever possible. Registered users can search the central system, even in the absence of a unique identifier, to identify patient records pointing to the remote patient medical files. Upon finding a patient medical file, the invention provides a streamlined process for communicating access authorization from the patient to the hospital or facility storing the medical files. Once patient authorization is received, secure processes are provided for transferring the data in its entirety to or for viewing by the user in a peer-to-peer fashion.

Claims

1. A method operable on a computer for sharing distributed medical records, comprising the steps of:

receiving from a central computer a request to obtain an identified patient medical file from a medical information system and to transmit the identified patient medical file directly to a specified device of an authenticated user authorized by the patient to access the identified patient medical file;

retrieving the identified patient medical file from the medical information system;

transmitting the identified patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and

transmitting to the central computer a notice that the identified patient medical file has been transmitted to the specified device.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of retrieving includes operating a software program to request the patient medical file from the medical information system.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of retrieving includes operating a software program to receive the patient medical file transmitted by the medical information system.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the specified device includes a device on which the patient medical file is viewable by a human user.

5. A system for sharing distributed medical records, comprising:

a processor;

a memory connected to the processor and storing instructions for controlling the operation of the processor to perform the steps of;

receiving from a central computer a request to obtain an identified patient medical file from a medical information system and to transmit the identified patient medical file directly to a specified device of an authenticated user authorized by the patient to access the identified patient medical file;

retrieving the identified patient medical file from the medical information system;

transmitting the identified patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and

transmitting to the central computer a notice that the identified patient medical file has been transmitted to the specified device.

6. A system in accordance with claim 5 wherein the processor operates a software program to request the patient medical file from the medical information system.

7. A system in accordance with claim 5 wherein the processor operates a software program to receive the patient medical file transmitted by the medical information system.

8. A system in accordance with claim 5 wherein the specified device includes a device on which the patient medical file is viewable by a human user.

9. A computer-implemented method for sharing distributed medical records, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to obtain an identified patient medical file from a medical information system and to transmit the identified patient medical file directly to a specified device of an authenticated user authorized by the patient to access the identified patient medical file;

retrieving the identified patient medical file from the medical information system;

transmitting the identified patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through a central computer; and

transmitting a notice to the central computer that the identified patient medical file has been transmitted to the specified device.

10. A system for sharing distributed medical records, comprising:

means for receiving from a central computer a request to obtain an identified patient medical file from a medical information system and to transmit the identified patient medical file directly to a specified device of an authenticated user authorized by the patient to access the identified patient medical file;

means for retrieving the identified patient medical file from the medical information system;

means for transmitting the identified patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and

means for transmitting to the central computer a notice that the identified patient medical file has been transmitted to the specified device.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for controlling the operation of a computer, when processed, to perform the steps of:

receiving from a central computer a request to obtain an identified patient medical file from a medical information system and to transmit the identified patient medical file directly to a specified device of an authenticated user authorized by the patient to access the identified patient medical file;

retrieving the identified patient medical file from the medical information system;

transmitting the identified patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and

transmitting to the central computer a notice that the identified patient medical file has been transmitted to the specified device.