Method and system for providing online medical records

• US 8,121,855 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2005
• Issued: 02/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: MyMedicalRecords Incorporated
• Original Assignee: MyMedicalRecords Incorporated
• Inventors: Lorsch, Robert H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Morgan, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHNG, JOY P
• Application Number:
  US11/225,518
• Publication Number:
  US 20070061169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,353 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• 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

Abstract

A method for providing a consumer with the ability to access and collect personal health records associated with the consumer in a secure and private manner is provided. The method includes assigning a toll-free phone number individually associated with and dedicated to the consumer for private fax and voice communications from a health care provider, associating access information with the consumer for the consumer to use to access a secure web site, receiving a private fax communication comprising a personal health record associated with the consumer for which the consumer has requested and given permission to the health care provider to send to the toll-free number, converting the private fax communications into an image file format, storing the health record encoded in the image file format, and providing the consumer with secure access to the web site using the access information and providing on the web site an interface to the health records of the consumer for the consumer to access the health record.

Claims

1. A method for providing a consumer with a service to access and collect personal health records associated with the consumer in a secure and private manner, comprising:

providing a phone number to the consumer through a web site, the phone number individually associated with and dedicated to the consumer for private fax and voice communications from a health care provider;

associating access information with the consumer for the consumer to use to access the web site hosted on a web server using a web-enabled device;

providing the consumer with a document to provide to the health care provider, the document requesting and providing authorization from the consumer to the health care provider for faxing existing personal health records of the consumer to the phone number and faxing future personal health records of the consumer to the phone number as the future personal health records are created by the health care provider;

receiving a private fax communication at a fax server, the private fax communication comprising a personal health record associated with the consumer for which the consumer has requested and authorized the health care provider to send to the phone number, wherein the personal health record is from the set consisting of a patient chart, a birth certificate, a vaccination record, a medical history, a lab report, a test result, a prescription, an x-ray result or image, a scan, and an EKG result or image;

converting the private fax communications into an image file format at the fax server;

storing the personal health record encoded in the image file format such that the personal health record is accessible through the web site;

providing the consumer with access to the web site hosted on the web server, the access provided through use of the access information and providing on the web site an interface to the personal health records of the consumer for the consumer to use to access the personal health record;

providing a means of receiving a voice communications message from the health care provider to the consumer and maintaining the voice communications message as private; and

alerting the consumer of the voice communications message from the health care provider and providing the consumer with access information to access the voice communications message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the document is a sticker adapted for attachment to the personal health records.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing the consumer with an emergency access card comprising the access information and adapted for use by a third-party to access the personal health record associated with the consumer in event of a medical emergency associated with the consumer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the web site interface further provides for organizing and annotating the personal health records by the consumer into separate file folders with functionality for the consumer to name the file folders and add file folders.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising alerting the consumer of a fax transmission from the health care provider.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the alerting comprises sending a text message.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the alerting comprises sending an email.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the alerting comprises sending a voice message.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing on the web site means to calendar a prescription refill.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising sending a reminder regarding the prescription refill.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing on the web site means to calendar an appointment with a health care provider.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising sending a reminder regarding the appointment with the health care provider.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the reminder is a text message.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the reminder is an email.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the reminder is a voice message.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving payment from the consumer for facilitating access to the personal health records associated with the consumer.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the web site provides means to facilitate creation of wallet cards containing access information and stickers requesting the health care provider to fax health records to the phone number.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the health records include prescriptions for drugs and comprising analyzing interactions between the drugs and reporting the interactions.

19. A method for providing a user with a service to access and collect personal health records associated with the user in a private manner, comprising:

assigning through a web site, a destination address associated with a user for private fax communications from a health care provider without having the health care provider enter a personal identification number of the user;

associating access information with the user for the user to use to access a web site hosted on a web server using a web-enabled device;

providing authorization to the health care provider to send existing and future personal health records to the destination address;

receiving a private fax communication at a fax server, the private fax communication comprising a personal health record associated with the user for which the consumer has requested and given permission to the health care provider to send to a fax number;

converting the personal health record into an image file format at the fax server;

storing the personal health record encoded in the image file format such that the personal health record is accessible through the web site, wherein the personal health record is from the set consisting of a patient chart, a birth certificate, a vaccination record, a medical history, a lab report, a test result, a prescription, an x-ray result or image, a scan, and an EKG result or image;

associating the personal health record encoded in the image file format with a user account of the user on the web site;

providing the user with access to the user account on the web site through use of the access information;

providing a means of receiving a voice communications message from the health care provider to the consumer and maintaining the voice communications message as private; and

alerting the consumer of the voice communications message from the health care provider and providing the consumer with access information to access the voice communications message.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the destination address identifies the user or the user account.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the destination address comprises an individualized fax number.

22. A method for providing a user with functionality for accessing and collecting personal health records associated with the user, comprising:

associating access information with the user for the user to use to access a web site hosted on a web server using a web-enabled device;

providing the user with a document to provide to the health care provider, the document requesting and providing authorization from the user to a health care provider for faxing existing personal health records of the user to a phone number and faxing future personal health records of the user to the phone number as the future personal health records are created by the health care provider;

receiving at the web site a personal health record encoded in an image file format, wherein the personal health record is from the set consisting of a patient chart, a birth certificate, a vaccination record, a medical history, a lab report, a test result, a prescription, an x-ray result or image, a scan, and an EKG result or image;

associating the personal health record encoded in the image file format with a user account of the user on the web site;

providing the user with access to the user account on the web site hosted on the web server, the access granted through use of the access information;

providing a means of receiving a voice communications message from the health care provider to the consumer and maintaining the voice communications message as private; and

alerting the consumer of the voice communications message from the health care provider and providing the consumer with access information to access the voice communications message;

wherein the personal health record encoded in the image file format is a representation of a faxed communication from a health care provider directed to an individual phone number uniquely associated with the user account to thereby provide for conveniently collecting the personal health records from the health care provider.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the individual phone number is a toll-free phone number.

24. A method for providing a user with functionality for accessing and collecting personal health care records associated with the user, comprising:

associating access information with the user to use to access a web site hosted on a web server using a web-enabled device;

providing the user with a document to provide to a health care provider, the document requesting and providing authorization from the user to the health care provider for faxing existing personal health records of the user to a phone number and faxing future personal health records of the user to the phone number as the future personal health records are created by the health care provider;

receiving at the web site a personal health care record encoded in an image file format from the health care provider, wherein the personal health record is from the set consisting of a patient chart, a birth certificate, a vaccination record, a medical history, a lab report, a test result, a prescription, an x-ray result or image, a scan, and an EKG result or image;

automatically determining a user account associated with the personal health care record and associating the personal health care record with the user account on the web site;

providing the user with access to the user account on the web site through use of the access information;

providing a means of receiving a voice communications message from the health care provider to the consumer and maintaining the voice communications message as private;

alerting the consumer of the voice communications message from the health care provider and providing the consumer with access information to access the voice communications message;

wherein the personal health care record encoded in the image file format is a representation of a faxed communication from the health care provider.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the phone number is individually associated with and assigned to the user through the web site.