Systems and methods of notifying a patient to take medication

• US 9,280,888 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2013
• Issued: 03/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ramsdell, Scott W., Waxenberg, Susan A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C
• Assistant Examiner(s): DARAMOLA, ISRAEL O
• Application Number:
  US13/875,597
• Publication Number:
  US 20140327544A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• Field of Search: 340/309.16, 340/573.1, 340/572.1, 600/300, 600/301
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

Systems and methods of scheduling and sending notifications to, and receiving acknowledgements from, patients regarding specific health care events, such as the taking of medications at scheduled times and in prescribed dosages. By directing a patient to take their prescribed dosages of medication at scheduled times based on a schedule of medications prepared for the patient by a health care provider, a caregiver, etc., and enabling the patient to provide acknowledgements of having taken their prescribed dosages of medication, improved health care outcomes can be achieved. Further, by allowing the patient to receive such directives to take their medication, as well as to send such acknowledgements, using a set top box connected to a television set, a mobile device such as a mobile phone, and/or a patient notification device such as a wireless pendant, desired improvements in health care outcomes can be achieved with an increased level of convenience.

Claims

1. A method of providing one or more notifications to, and receiving one or more acknowledgements from, a patient with regard to taking medication at least one scheduled time, comprising:

in response to the patient opting-in to a notification program;

obtaining personalized information pertaining to the patient, the personalized information including (1) a unique identification code for the patient, (2) a predetermined reference number for each of at least one network access device associated with the patient, and (3) addressable information for the network access device, the network access device being communicably connectable to a display device, the opting-in of the patient to the notification program including electing to receive the one or more notifications via the network access device; and

storing the personalized information in an account information database;

obtaining, by a computerized authentication component, the personalized information from the account information database;

securely providing, by the computerized authentication component, (1) the unique identification code for the patient, (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device, and (3) the addressable information for the network access device, to a computerized notification component;

securely providing, by the computerized authentication component, (1) the unique identification code for the patient, and (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device, to a computerized scheduling component;

monitoring, by the computerized scheduling component, for the scheduled time to take the medication to occur;

upon detection of the occurrence of the scheduled time, securely sending, by the computerized scheduling component to the computerized notification component, a first message containing (1) the unique identification code for the patient, and (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device associated with the patient;

upon receipt of the unique identification code and the predetermined reference number from the computerized scheduling component, securely sending, by the computerized notification component over at least one network, a notification message to the network access device in accordance with the addressable information for the network access device;

in response to receipt of the notification message at the network access device, causing, by the network access device, a perceptible notification of the scheduled time to take the medication to be presented to the patient on the display device; and

receiving, at the computerized notification component over the at least one network, an acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication from a selected one of the at least one network access device;

wherein the network access device is a set top box, wherein the at least one network includes one or more of a cable television (CATV) network and an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network, and wherein the sending of the notification message includes sending the notification message to the set top box over one or more of the CATV network and the IPTV network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring, by the set top box, for the receipt of the notification message.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the causing of the perceptible notification to be presented on the display device includes causing, by the set top box, one or more of a text notification, a video notification, an audio notification, and an image notification to be presented to the patient on the display device.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending, by a remote control device, at least one signal indicative of the acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication to the network access device.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the sending of the at least one signal to the network access device includes sending, by the remote control device, one or more of an infrared signal and a radio frequency signal indicative of the acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, at the computerized scheduling component from at least one computerized device, credentials of at least one specified individual for use in verifying the specified individual to the computerized scheduling component.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

receiving, at the computerized scheduling component from the computerized device, a patient account number for use in allowing the specified individual to prepare a schedule of medications for the patient on the computerized device.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

receiving, at the computerized scheduling component from the computerized device, the schedule of medications for the patient, the schedule of medications including the scheduled time for the patient to take the medication.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

directing, by the computerized scheduling component, the computerized authentication component to query the account information database for the personalized information pertaining to the patient using the patient account number, the personalized information including one or more of the unique identification code designed to avoid direct association of the personalized information with the patient, the predetermined reference number for the network access device, a device type for the network access device, and addressable information for the network access device.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

querying, by the computerized authentication component, the account information database for the personalized information pertaining to the patient.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

forwarding, by the computerized notification component, the acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication to the computerized scheduling component.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

storing, by the computerized scheduling component, the acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication in at least one data storage.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

sending, by the computerized scheduling component, at least one report of one or more of the notification message sent to, and the acknowledgement received from, the patient, to at least one computerized device.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in the event the acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication is not received at the computerized notification component from the network access device, notifying, by the computerized notification component, one or more of the computerized scheduling component and a computerized device of a specified individual of a failure to receive the acknowledgement.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

in response to the notification of the failure to receive the acknowledgement, sending, via the computerized notification component, an emergency message to each of the at least one network access device.

16. A patient notification system, comprising:

a notification server;

an account information database;

an authentication server;

at least one network access device associated with at least one patient, each of the at least one network access device being communicably connectable to a display device; and

a scheduling server,

wherein the account information database is operative, in response to the patient opting-in to a notification program, to store personalized information pertaining to each of the at least one patient, the personalized information including (1) a unique identification code for the patient, (2) a predetermined reference number for the network access device associated with the patient, and (3) addressable information for the network access device, the opting-in of the patient to the notification program including electing to receive a perceptible notification via the network access device,

wherein the authentication server is operative;

to obtain the personalized information from the account information database;

to securely provide (1) the unique identification code for the patient, (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device, and (3) the addressable information for the network access device, to the notification server; and

to securely provide (1) the unique identification code for the patient, and (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device, to the scheduling server,

wherein the scheduling server is operative to monitor for a scheduled time to take medication to occur, and, upon detection of the occurrence of the scheduled time, to securely send, to the notification server, a first message containing (1) the unique identification code for the patient, and (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device associated with the patient,

wherein the notification server is operative, upon receipt of the unique identification code and the predetermined reference number from the scheduling server, to securely send, over at least one network, a notification message to the network access device in accordance with the addressable information for the network access device,

wherein the network access device is operative, in response to receipt of the notification message, to cause the perceptible notification of the scheduled time to take the medication to be presented to the patient on the display device, and

wherein the notification server is further operative to receive, over the at least one network, an acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication from a selected one of the at least one network access device;

wherein the network access device is a set top box, wherein the at least one network includes one or more of a cable television (CATV) network and an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network, and wherein the sending of the notification message includes sending the notification message to the set top box over one or more of the CATV network and the IPTV network.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the notification server is further operative to receive the acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication from the network access device over one or more of the CATV network and the IPTV network.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the notification server and the scheduling server are implemented on one or more computers or computerized devices.

19. A method of providing one or more notifications to, and receiving one or more acknowledgements from, a patient with regard to taking medication at least one scheduled time, comprising:

in response to the patient opting-in to a notification program;

obtaining personalized information pertaining to the patient, the personalized information including (1) a unique identification code for the patient, (2) a predetermined reference number for each of at least one network access device associated with the patient, and (3) addressable information for the network access device, the network access device being communicably connectable to a display device, the opting-in of the patient to the notification program including electing to receive the one or more notifications via the network access device; and

storing the personalized information in an account information database;

obtaining, by a computerized authentication component, the personalized information from the account information database;

securely providing, by the computerized authentication component, (1) the unique identification code for the patient, (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device, and (3) the addressable information for the network access device, to a computerized notification component;

securely providing, by the computerized authentication component, (1) the unique identification code for the patient, and (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device, to a computerized scheduling component;

monitoring, by the computerized scheduling component, for the scheduled time to take the medication to occur;

upon detection of the occurrence of the scheduled time, securely sending, by the computerized scheduling component to the computerized notification component, a first message containing (1) the unique identification code for the patient, and (2) the predetermined reference number for the network access device associated with the patient;

upon receipt of the unique identification code and the predetermined reference number from the computerized scheduling component, securely sending, by the computerized notification component over at least one network, a notification message to the network access device in accordance with the addressable information for the network access device;

in response to receipt of the notification message at the network access device, causing, by the network access device, a perceptible notification of the scheduled time to take the medication to be presented to the patient on the display device; and

receiving, at the computerized notification component over the at least one network, an acknowledgement of the patient having taken the medication from a selected one of the at least one network access device;

wherein the network access device is a set top box, wherein the at least one network includes one or more of a cable television (CATV) network and an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network, and wherein the sending of the notification message includes sending the notification message to the set top box over one or more of the CATV network and the IPTV network.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the securely sending of the first message includes securely sending, to the computerized notification component, the first message containing the predetermined reference numbers for the respective patient notification devices configured as one or more of a mobile device, a network access device, and an intelligent home gateway.