Method and System for Providing Current Industry Specific Data to Physicians

• US 20090089392A1
• Filed: 12/11/2008
• Published: 04/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Epocrates LLC (Athenahealth Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Epocrates LLC (Athenahealth Incorporated)
• Inventors: Fiedotin, Richard Alan, Lee, Thomas Ho, Tangney, Jeffrey Alan
• Granted Patent: US 7,856,365 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• 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: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users

Abstract

The present invention provides physicians access to formulary data as well as important clinical and practice management information at the point of care on easy-to-use handheld electronic devices. The invention also provides a method for distributing medical data to medical personnel. The method comprises the steps of storing medical data in a database and periodically communicating selected medical data between the database and an electronic device to establish a medical data distribution system subsidized by sponsoring entities. The invention also provides a computer readable memory storing executable instructions for execution by a computer system such that the computer system functions in a specified manner. The instructions comprise instructions for storing medical data in a database, and instructions for periodically communicating selected medical data between the database and an electronic device to establish a medical data distribution system subsidized by sponsoring entities.

Claims

1. A method for distributing medical information stored on a computer system, the method comprising:

at a server in the computer system;

identifying a group of one or more physicians to receive customized medical information;

generating an interactive message comprising said customized medical information and objects that the one or more physicians in the group can select to respond to, or dispose of, the interactive message;

receiving, at the server, a signal from a respective handheld computing device operated by a respective physician of the group, wherein the signal indicates an availability of the respective handheld computing device for receipt of the interactive message; and

in response to the signal, automatically transmitting the interactive message from the computer system to the respective handheld computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of one or more physicians have a common specialty or industry specific interest and the medical information is relevant to the specialty or industry specific interest.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying is based on information selected from the group consisting of:

a practice area of each respective physician of the group of one or more physicians;

a number of prescriptions written by each respective physician;

a Drug Enforcement Agency number of each respective physician, a medical education number of each respective physician, and or any combination of the aforementioned.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive message includes an interactive question directed to each respective physician of the group.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive message includes a question asking the respective one or more physicians of the group if the respective physician would like further information on a certain medical topic.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized medical information includes information selected from the group consisting of:

clinical information, drug-drug reaction information, contra-indication information, drug trial information, medical record data, clinical protocol information, and or any combination of the aforementioned.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating further comprises associating an expiration date with the interactive message, such that the interactive message expires after a predetermined time.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive message is configured to be automatically displayed to the respective physician of the group once downloaded to the respective handheld computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving further comprises receiving, from the respective handheld computing device, an amount of interactive messages stored on the respective handheld computing device;

and if the amount is above a maximum amount, storing the interactive messages on the server instead of transmitting the interactive messages to the respective handheld computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising prioritizing the interactive message by a category selected from the group consisting of:

an expiration date, importance, and urgency.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing medical data in a database on the server; and

communicating at least some of the medical data from the database to the respective handheld computing device in response to a connection signal received from the respective handheld computing device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, before the storing, aggregating the medical data from multiple sources.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the aggregating step further comprises collecting medical data from a group consisting of:

formulary data, pharmacopeia data, and any combination of the aforementioned.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the communicating the medical data further comprises:

receiving a request for medical data from the respective handheld computing device; and

responding to the request by sending at least a portion of the medical data to the respective handheld computing device.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least some of the medical data aggregated from multiple sources and stored in the database on the server is transmitted as the interactive message, and wherein the communicating to the handheld computing device comprises transmitting according to the group consisting of:

direct transmission, via a network, via a desktop computer and or any combination of the aforementioned.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprises examining a profile of each physician in the group of one or more physicians, each of the profile including count data and input data, wherein the count data records access time and frequency and the input data tracks all input for each physician of the identified one or more physicians.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the objects include answers each respective physician of the group can select without typing text.

18. The method of claim 1, including, after the transmitting,

receiving, in response to a second signal, a selection of a negative response object or a positive response object in the interactive message, wherein the selection is one click on either the negative response object or the positive response object.

19. A computer readable storage medium, storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors at a server system, the one or more programs storing instruction for distributing medical information stored on a computer system, the one or more programs comprising:

instructions for identifying a group of one or more physicians to receive customized medical information;

instructions for generating an interactive message comprising said customized medical information and objects that the one or more physicians in the group can select to respond to, or dispose of, the interactive message;

instructions for receiving, at the server, a signal from a respective handheld computing device operated by a respective physician of the group, wherein the signal indicates an availability of the respective handheld computing device for receipt of the interactive message; and

instructions for automatically transmitting the interactive message from the computer system to the respective handheld computing device in response to the signal.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the group of one or more physicians have a common specialty or industry specific interest, and the medical information is relevant to the specialty or industry specific interest.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions for identifying is based on information selected from the group consisting of:

a practice area of each respective physician of the group of one or more physicians;

a number of prescriptions written by each respective physician;

a Drug Enforcement Agency number of each respective physician, a medical education number of each respective physician, and or any combination of the aforementioned.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the customized medical information includes information selected from the group consisting of:

clinical in formation, drug-drug reaction information, contra-indication information, drug trial information, medical record data, clinical protocol information, and or any combination of the aforementioned.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions for generating further comprises associating an expiration date with the interactive message, such that the interactive message expires after a predetermined time.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the interactive message is configured to be automatically displayed to the respective physician of the group once downloaded to the respective handheld computing device.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions for receiving further comprises receiving, from the respective handheld computing device, an amount of interactive messages stored on the respective handheld computing device;

and if the amount is above a maximum amount, instructions for storing the interactive messages on the server instead of transmitting the interactive messages to the respective handheld computing device.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions for prioritizing the interactive message by a category selected from the group consisting of:

an expiration date, importance, and urgency.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising:

instructions for storing medical data in a database on the server; and

instructions for communicating at least some of the medical data from the database to the respective handheld computing device in response to a connection signal received from the respective handheld computing device.

28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 27, further comprising, instructions for aggregating the medical data from multiple sources.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein the instructions for aggregating step further comprises instructions for collecting medical data from a group consisting of:

formulary data, pharmacopeia data, and any combination of the aforementioned.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions for examining a profile of each physician in the group of one or more physicians, each of the profile including count data and input data, wherein the count data records access time and frequency and the input data tracks all input for each physician of the identified one or more physicians.