Computer system and method for storing medical histories using a smartcard to store data

• US 5,832,488 A
• Filed: 01/22/1997
• Issued: 11/03/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Information Retrieval Acquisition LLC
• Original Assignee: Stuart S. Bowie
• Inventors: Eberhardt, Silvio P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RONES, CHARLES
• Application Number:
  US08/785,969
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• Field of Search: 395/202, 395/203, 380/4, 380/23, 379/93, 340/825.54, 128/630, 707/104, 707/10, 600/300, 600/513, 235/492, 382/115, 705/3, 114/54
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A computer system and method for programming it for storage of individual medical histories on a storage device, preferably about the size of a credit card, for adding new medical data about the individual to the device and for communicating with other computers to retrieve large data records about the individual; and for enabling a second computer to collate and sort data relating to selected medical fields from the data of such individual and from the data about other individuals transferred to the second computer.

Claims

1. A method managing medical history information (MH) of a plurality of persons comprising the steps of programming a computer system (CS) having a plurality of computers (CP) to:

a. record the MH of each person on a computer-readable storage medium (SD), which SD is preferably about so-called credit card size;

b. add new MH data to the MH onto the SD to record new medical data (NMD) of each said person;

c. record the MH of each said person on the memory of at least one of the said CPs, said MHD including the names, and other pertinent data comprising addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses for each Health Care Specialist (HCS) who has provided medical services to each such person;

d. create a critical information file (CIF) within said program to record emergency medical information about each of said persons and recording said CIF data on the SD of each respective person;

e. to transfer, via a modem or other communication means, said MH for each of said persons to a main computer system (CDF) having means for recording data from the MHs of multiple persons sent to it by the computers of the CS and recording said MHs relating said persons, said CDF having means for selecting desired data (DD) from said MHDs of persons so recorded and aggregating said DD to create one or more separate files on the CDF.

2. The invention of claim 1 further including the step of storing on a graphics computer (CR) large amounts of medical graphic data (GD) comprising X-Rays and MRIs for persons whose MHD is recorded on the CS and electronically retrieving such GD from said CR for selected persons as medically needed.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the selected data relates to one or more drugs and reactions to such drugs, and wherein data relating to reactions to such drugs are sorted and transmitted to one or more drug companies.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein selected persons whose MHD is stored in the CS each have medical insurance from an insurer or the equivalent payor for health care for such persons thereof, further including the steps of transmitting the MHD for each such person to the CDF and wherein said CDF bills the insurer or equivalent payor for each such person for services performed as described in the MHD transmission and remits payment for such services to the HCS who provided such services to such persons.

5. The invention of claim 28 further including the steps of extracting and formatting symptom and diagnosis information about selected persons from their respective MHD on the CS and then electronically sending said information to a medical diagnosis computer system programmed to diagnose such information and then to transmit medical diagnosis for each such selected person to the CS based on symptom information transmitted to said medical diagnosis computer system by the CS.

6. A medical history computer system (CS) usable by health care specialists (HCS) for recording the medical histories (MH) of multiple persons comprising:

A. An electronic computer (CP) having;

a. a memory (M) including a random access memory (RAM) and means for permanent memory (PM);

b. means for storing MH data (MHD) in the M;

c. said computer having means for receiving a MH storage device (SD), said SD being preferably the size of a credit card, and which is optimally and routinely carried daily by each person whose MH is recorded thereon;

d. means for transferring MHD from/to the M to/from the SD;

e. means for adding new MH data (NMHD) to the SD for each person by inputting the new MH data for that person in the RAM and further including means for transferring said NMHD onto the person'"'"'s SD, whereby said NMHD becomes part of the MHD stored on said SD;

B. said CS including an MH program comprising means capable for storing each person'"'"'s on-going, year-after-year MH, said program comprising means for creating a MH file for each such person, for modifying that MH file, and for creating a critical information file (CIF) for all such persons; and

wherein;

C. said CS includes a modem or other communication means for transferring MHD to one or more other computers, at least one of said other computers comprising a main storage computer system (CDF) for recording data from the MHDs of said multiple persons sent to it by the CS, said CDF having means for recording said MHDs relating to other persons from like CS'"'"'s operated at multiple locations by medical health personnel (HCS), including multiple locations separated geographically by hundreds or thousands of miles, said CDF having means for selecting desired data (DD) from said MHDs of persons so recorded and aggregating said DD to create one or more separate files on the CDF.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein the DD is MHD relating to a specific pharmaceutical.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein CDF includes means for transmitting said DD relating to a specific pharmaceutical to the manufacturer of said pharmaceutical together with medical data indicating the efficacy, non-efficacy, and safety of said pharmaceutical.

9. The CS of claim 6 wherein:

a. The CS includes means for eliminating individual identification from all MHD transmitted to the CDF and includes means for assigning to each person whose MHD is transmitted a unique identification code (ID).

10. The CS of claim 6 wherein:

a. The CS transmits financial payment instructions (FP) for each HCS to the CDF and the CDF includes means for transmitting payment pursuant to the FP to each such HCS.

11. The CS of claim 6 wherein the CS includes a means for transmitting medical symptom information of said persons to a medical diagnostic service computer system programmed to diagnose said symptom information and having means to transmit said medical diagnosis to the CS based on said symptom information transmitted to the medical diagnostic service computer system by the CS.

12. The invention of claim 6 wherein the CS includes means for sending and receiving MHD to and from another computer system (CR), wherein the CR includes a memory sufficiently large to store very large amounts of MHD as graphical data in the form of X-Rays, EEGs, EKGs, MRIs and similar large image data (MHG), and said CR includes means for electronically transmitting MHG data to the computer used by the HCS.

13. A medical history computer system (CS) usable by a health care specialist (HCS) for recording the medical history (MH) of one or persons comprising:

A. An electronic computer (CP) having;

a. a memory (M) including a random access memory (RAM) and means for permanent memory (PM);

b. means for storing MH data (MHD) in the M;

c. said computer having means for receiving a MH storage device (SD), said SD being no larger than a normal human hand and preferably the size of a credit card, and which is optimally and routinely carried daily by each person whose MH is recorded;

d. means for transferring MHD from/to the M to/from the SD;

e. means for adding new MH data (NMHD) to the SD by inputting the new MH data in the RAM;

f. means for transferring the NMHD onto the SD, whereby said NMHD becomes part of the MHD stored on the SD;

B. said CS also having a monitor for the visual display of the MHD which is located in the RAM;

C. said CS including an MH program for storing a person'"'"'s MH, said program comprising means for creating a MH file for the person, for modifying that MH file, and for creating a critical information file (CIF) for that person; and

wherein;

D. Said CS includes a modem or other communication means for transferring MHD to one or more other computers at least one of said other computers comprising a main computer system (CDF) for recording selected data from the MHDs of multiple persons sent to it by the CS, said CDF having means for recording said MHDs relating to other persons from the CS first mentioned or from like CS operated at multiple locations by medical health personnel (HCS), said CDF having means for selecting desired data (DD) from said group of MHD so recorded and aggregating said DD to create one or more separate files on the CDF.