Method and system for providing pre and post operative support and care

• US 20010021910A1
• Filed: 11/29/2000
• Published: 09/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The SMG Trust
• Original Assignee: The SMG Trust
• Inventors: Goldstein, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 7,171,371 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A system for delivering pre and post operative support and care to patients undertaking elective medical procedures and processing information regarding the patient and sales of products and services made to such patient, comprising means for receiving, processing and delivering personal, medical and credit information pertaining to patients, to and from patients and medical practitioners, means for providing information regarding what can be expected through the process of undergoing a medical procedure and for providing positive reinforcement to patients regarding their decision to undergo a medical procedure, means for scheduling and coordinating pre and post-operative medical appointments and procedures between patients and medical practitioners, means for receiving, processing and delivering pre and post procedure care orders and medicament prescriptions from medical practitioners to patients and means for monitoring patient adherence to medical practitioners'"'"' care orders and medicament prescriptions.

A method for delivering pre and post operative support and care to persons considering or undergoing medical procedures is also disclosed and claimed.

Claims

1. A system for providing support and care to persons considering or undergoing a medical procedure, comprising

means for receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons to and from said persons and said medical practitioners,

means for providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding said medical procedure being considered or undergone,

means for scheduling and coordinating medical consultations and said medical procedure between said persons and said medical practitioners, and

means for receiving, processing and delivering care orders and medicaments from said medical practitioners to said persons.

2. The system of

claim 1

, further comprising means for monitoring said persons'"'"' adherence to said medical practitioners'"'"' care orders, medical consultation and medical procedure schedules and medicament prescriptions.

3. The system of

claim 1

, further comprising means for receiving, transmitting and processing said persons'"'"' financial/credit information to a lender for medical procedure financing.

4. The system of

claim 1

, further comprising means for requesting and obtaining said persons'"'"' insurer or other third party payor authorization for payment of said medical consultations and procedures.

5. The system of

claim 1

, further comprising means for processing data regarding sales of medicaments and completion of financing transactions for said medical procedure by said medical practitioner and processing of payments due to said medical practitioner based on said sales of medicaments and financed procedures.

6. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons further comprises a network of computer systems.

7. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons further comprises a voice telephony system permitting communication between said medical practitioner and said patient.

8. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons further comprises a facsimile communications system permitting communication between said medical practitioner and said patient.

9. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons to and from said persons and said medical practitioner further comprises a structured query protocol designed to allow said medical practitioner to assess said person'"'"'s physical and psychological/psychiatric characteristics in order to identify said person'"'"'s needs for medical care.

10. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons to and from said persons and said medical practitioner further comprises a structured query protocol designed to allow said medical practitioner to assess said person'"'"'s physical and psychological/psychiatric characteristics in order to identify said person'"'"'s needs for information regarding said medical procedure.

11. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons to and from said persons and said medical practitioner further comprises a structured query protocol designed to allow said medical practitioner to assess said person'"'"'s physical and psychological/psychiatric characteristics in order to identify said person'"'"'s needs for positive reinforcement.

12. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding said medical procedure being considered or undergone comprises a website accessible via a network of computer systems connected by common protocols, said website having a searchable database containing information regarding said medical procedure being considered, and wherein information is provided without obligation or requiring persons using the system to disclose their identities or other personal information, thereby fostering a sense of comfort and trust in the person considering undergoing said medical procedure.

13. The system of

claim 12

, wherein said information provided through said website comprises accounts of the personal experiences of persons who have undergone the medical procedure under consideration.

14. The system of

claim 12

, further comprising means for accessing a live attendant that can provide additional information, assist with selection of a medical practitioner and coordinate scheduling of an initial consultation with the selected medical practitioner upon request by persons using the system.

15. The system of

claim 1

, wherein said means for providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding said medical procedure being considered or undergone further comprises kits assembled and delivered to said persons containing said information.

16. The system of

claim 15

, wherein said kits include information regarding said medical practitioner who will perform said medical procedure.

17. The system of

claim 15

, wherein said kits include information regarding self-care measures for said person to undertake.

18. The system of

claim 15

, wherein said kits include medicaments to be used by said person.

19. A system for providing pre and post procedure support and care to persons considering or undergoing medical procedures, comprising

a system representative terminal having a central processing unit,

a main processing unit communicating with said central processing unit of said system representative terminal,

a communications server interconnected to said main processing unit,

a modem interconnected to said communications server,

a medical practitioner terminal having a central processing unit, and

a modem interconnected to said medical practitioner terminal'"'"'s central processing unit and communicating with said modem interconnected to said system representative terminal'"'"'s central processing unit to allow for information transfer between said medical practitioner terminal and said system representative terminal.

20. The system of

claim 19

, further comprising a display device interconnected to said central processing unit of said system representative terminal, a printer interconnected to said central processing unit of said system representative terminal, a display device interconnected to said central processing unit of said medical practitioner terminal and a printer interconnected to said central processing unit of said medical practitioner terminal.

21. The system of

claim 19

, further comprising a web server interconnected to said communications server to provide for communications between said system representative terminal, said medical practitioner terminal and patient/patient prospects through the Internet.

22. The system of

claim 19

, further comprising one or more third party payor terminals, each having a central processing unit with a modem interconnected thereto to provide for communications between said system representative terminal, said medical practitioner terminal and said third party payor terminals.

23. A method for providing pre and post procedure support and care to persons considering or undergoing medical procedures, comprising the steps of

receiving, processing and providing information regarding said persons to and from said persons and medical practitioners,

providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding the procedure being considered or undergone,

scheduling and coordinating medical appointments and procedures between said persons prospects and medical practitioners,

receiving, processing and delivering care orders and medicaments from medical practitioners to said persons and

monitoring said persons'"'"' adherence to medical practitioners'"'"' care orders, appointment and procedure schedules and medicament prescriptions.

24. The method of

claim 23

, wherein said step of providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding the procedure being considered or undergone comprises providing information via a searchable database accessible through an Internet website without obligation or requiring said persons to disclose their identities or other personal information, thereby fostering a sense of comfort and trust in said persons.

25. The method of

claim 23

, wherein said step of providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding the procedure being considered or undergone further comprises providing information regarding the personal experiences of persons who have undergone the medical procedure under consideration.

26. The method of

claim 23

wherein said step of providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding the procedure being considered or undergone further comprises providing access to a live attendant that can provide additional information, assist with selection of a medical practitioner and coordinate scheduling of an initial consultation with the selected medical practitioner upon request by said persons.

27. The method of

claim 23

, wherein said step of providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons regarding the procedure being considered or undergone further comprises providing pre and post procedure information and medicament kits assembled based on the particular needs and characteristics of said patient.

42. The method of

claim 23

, wherein said step of providing information and positive reinforcement to said persons further comprises providing means for delivery of information about said medical procedures to customer bases of healthcare organizations and healthcare insurance companies and providing means for said customer bases to request additional information.

28. A method of improving patient outcomes and patient satisfaction with regard to medical procedures undergone, comprising the steps of

educating said patient regarding said medical procedure before it is undergone,

managing said patient'"'"'s expectations regarding realistic results and outcomes of said medical procedure,

providing pre and post procedure medicaments, and

monitoring said patients'"'"' adherence to medical practitioners'"'"' orders and self-care regimens.

29. The method of

claim 28

, further comprising the step of assisting said patient with obtaining financing for said medical procedure.

30. The method of

claim 28

, wherein said step of educating said patient regarding said medical procedure before it is undergone further comprises providing information via a searchable database accessible through an Internet website before said patient decides to proceed with said medical procedure without obligation or requiring said patient to disclose his or her identity or other personal information, thereby fostering a sense of comfort and trust in said patient.

31. The method of

claim 28

, wherein said step of educating said patient regarding said medical procedure before it is undergone further comprises providing information regarding the personal experiences of persons who have undergone said medical procedure.

32. The method of

claim 28

, wherein said step of educating said patient regarding said medical procedure before it is undergone further comprises providing access to a live attendant that can provide additional information, assist with selection of a medical practitioner and coordinate scheduling of an initial consultation with the selected medical practitioner upon request by said patient.

43. The method of

claim 28

, wherein said step of educating said patient regarding said medical procedure before it is undergone further comprises providing means for delivery of information about said medical procedures to customer bases of healthcare organizations and healthcare insurance companies and providing means for said customer bases to request additional information.

33. A method for delivering pre and post procedure support and care to patients undergoing medical procedures comprising the steps of

obtaining patient medical, demographic, psychological and financial/credit information prior to the patient'"'"'s undergoing said medical procedure,

assessing said information to determine patient needs for information, support and financing for said medical procedure,

providing information regarding the procedure to be undergone,

providing pre and post medical procedure medicaments and self-care orders,

providing positive reinforcement to said patient regarding said medical procedure, and

coordinating scheduling of medical consultations and said medical procedure between medical practitioners and said patient.

34. The method of

claim 33

further comprising the steps of

obtaining patient financial information prior to the patient'"'"'s undergoing said medical procedure and

assessing said information to determine patient needs for financing for said medical procedure.

35. A method of increasing revenues generated by medical practitioners in providing elective or aesthetic medical products and services to patients comprising the steps of

obtaining medical, demographic, psychological/psychiatric and financial/credit information regarding a patient prior in anticipation of providing elective or aesthetic medical products and services,

developing a profile regarding said patient prospect identifying said patient'"'"'s present and future needs for elective or aesthetic medical products and services and said patient'"'"'s ability to pay for said elective or aesthetic medical products and services, and

providing elective or aesthetic medical products and services to said patient based on said patient'"'"'s needs and ability to pay for said elective or aesthetic medical products and services.

36. The method of

claim 35

further comprising the step of processing said patient'"'"'s financial/credit information through third party lenders to assist said patient in obtaining financing for said medical products and services.

37. A system for improving medical procedure outcomes, comprising

means for receiving, processing and delivering care orders and medicament prescriptions from medical practitioners to patients,

means for receiving, processing and delivering medical status information from patients to medical practitioners, and

means for scheduling and coordinating post-operative medical appointments between patients and medical practitioners and monitoring patient adherence to medical practitioners'"'"' care orders and medicament prescriptions.

38. A system for delivering pre and post operative support and care to patients and processing and managing information regarding patients and sales of products and services made to patients, comprising

means for receiving and processing personal, medical and financial/credit data pertaining to said patient,

means for electronically transmitting said patient'"'"'s personal and medical data to and from medical practitioners, and for electronically transmitting said patient financial/credit data to a third party lender for medical procedure financing application processing,

means for scheduling and coordinating medical consultation appointments and medical procedures between said patients and said medical practitioners, and for coordinating said medical practitioners'"'"' receipt of payment for said medical consultations and medical procedures through said third party lender upon patient credit and financing approval,

means for receiving, processing and delivering pre and post medical procedure patient prescriptions for medicaments, procedure information and patient care orders from said medical practitioners to said patients, and

means for processing data regarding sales of medicaments and completion of medical procedure financing transactions attributable to each said medical practitioner, and calculation of payments due to each said medical practitioner based on said sales and financings.

39. A method for improving medical procedure outcomes and satisfaction of persons undergoing said medical procedures comprising the step of providing information via a searchable database accessible through an Internet website without obligation or requiring persons requesting said information to disclose their identities or other personal information.

40. The method of

claim 39

for further comprising providing access to a live attendant that can provide additional information, assist with the selection of a medical practitioner and coordinate scheduling of an initial consultation with the selected medical practitioner upon request by said persons.

41. The method of

claim 39

wherein said information provided though said searchable database comprises accounts of the personal experiences of persons who have undergone the medical procedure under consideration.

44. The method of

claim 39

, further comprising providing means for delivery of information about said medical procedures to customer bases of healthcare organizations and healthcare insurance companies and providing means for said customer bases to request additional information.