Secure healthcare management and communication system

• US 10,120,977 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2013
• Issued: 11/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bruce Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bruce Corporation
• Inventors: Coney, Lillie Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): Sereboff, Neal
• Application Number:
  US14/648,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20150310173A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,785 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload

Abstract

A healthcare management and communication system including a central server, home base devices, and portable medical assistant devices (PMAD) providing secure electronic communications among medical facilities and healthcare providers, while ensuring privacy of patient medical records. In an embodiment, the central server communicates with the home base device(s) and the PMAD providing information necessary for a healthcare provider to perform a procedure for a patient. The healthcare communication system provides security for patient information by allowing the healthcare provider to access some basic patient information on the PMAD, including directions to the patient'"'"'s house, when the PMAD is in all locations. Only when the PMAD is within a physical proximity to a selected home base device can the healthcare provider access the corresponding patient'"'"'s confidential information necessary for the on-site visit. Notes and data recorded during the procedure may be securely transmitted to the central server, updating the patient'"'"'s record.

Claims

1. A healthcare system comprising:

(A) a central server, (B) a home base device (HBD), and (C) a portable medical assistant device (PMAD);

the central server configured to—

communicate with selected medical facilities, healthcare providers, the portable medical assistant device (PMAD), and the home base device (HBD);

login a registered physician or her designee to enable the registered physician or her designee to schedule a specific procedure to be provided to a specific patient at a geographic location associated with the patient in the central server;

store data at the server comprising the scheduled specific procedure;

identify a PMAD associated in the central server with a healthcare provider that is designated to provide services including the specific procedure;

download first information specifying at least the patient, the procedure, and the geographic location, to the portable medical assistant device (PMAD),

download second information, including selected private medical records of the patient that are pertinent to the specific procedure, to the PMAD;

communicate with an HBD, including receiving indicia of a current location of the HBD;

determine from the indicia whether the HDB is located at the geographic location; and

if the HBD is located at the geographic location, initialize—

activate the HBD for operation at the geographic location;

the home base device (HBD) configured to—

communicate with the central server, including sending indicia of a current location of the HBD to the central server;

receive an initialization instruction from the central server;

responsive to receiving the initialization instruction, condition further communications with the HBD to function only while the HBD remains at the current location or at a second location proximate to the central server;

determine whether the PMAD is located within a proximity activation border of the current location of the HBD;

responsive to a determination that the PMAD is located within the proximity activation border, communicate with the portable medical assistant device (PMAD) to cause the PMAD to release access to the second information; and

the portable medical assistant device (PMAD) configured to—

login an authorized user;

receive a patient code input from the user;

responsive to the patient code corresponding to the first information downloaded from the central server, enable user access to the first information;

determine whether the PMAD is located within a proximity activation border of the HBD;

receive a communication from the HBD to enable release;

conditioned on both a determination that the PMAD is located within the proximity activation border and receipt of the communication from the HBD,

enable user access to the second information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable medical assistant device (PMAD) is further configurable to acquire and store diagnostic information from the home base device (HBD) while the PMAD is located within the proximity activation border.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the PMAD is configured to lock itself when it is out of range of the home base device, so as to prevent disclosure of patient information stored in the PMAD.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the PMAD is configured to communicate an alert to the central server responsive to an unauthorized attempt to access patient data stored on the PMAD.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the central server is configured to enable a registered physician to populate a list of healthcare providers and to assign one of the healthcare providers from the list to perform the specific procedure for the specific patient at the geographic location.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the PMAD is configured to enable the assigned healthcare provider to access a limited portion of the specific patient'"'"'s health information, the limited portion selected as pertinent to the specific procedure assigned to the healthcare provider, the access enabled only while the PMAD is within the selected physical proximity to the home base device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the PMAD is configured to enable access to a second patient'"'"'s information only after information input by the assigned healthcare provider associated with the first patient has been saved in the PMAD.