Systems for personal emergency intervention

Abstract

There are provided methods and systems for personal emergency Intervention, comprising determining that an event regarding a patient has occurred, and thereupon enabling a tracking mode in a device controlled by the patient; monitoring one or more conditions to determine whether the tracking mode should be disabled, and until the tracking mode is disabled, the device: obtains a data pairing, the data pairing comprising a location of the patient and a time related to the location of the patient, and stores the data pairing within a memory in the device; and formatting a report for transmission to a medical data server, the report comprising at least a patient identifier for the patient and the data pairing. This method can be practiced automatically to allow a device controlled by a patient or other subject to be monitored without requiring the patient to manually enter information. Methods and systems also provide for networked implementations of personal emergency tracking in a defined locality and relay of emergency assistance through audial communications with the patient.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 862,743, filed Oct. 24, 2006; and claims priority to and is a continuation of: U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080097908 filed as U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11 / 876,689 on Oct. 22, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080097909 filed as U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11 / 876,695 on Oct. 22, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080097551 filed as U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11 / 876,708 on Oct. 22, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080103554 filed as U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11 / 876,711 on Oct. 22, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080103370 filed as U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11 / 876,713 on Oct. 22, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080097910 filed as U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11 / 876,719 on Oct. 22, 2007; U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080215360 filed as U.S. Utility patent applica...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]Another method according to aspects of the present invention includes receiving data through a wired connection from a medical device, transmitting the data to an intermediary device, formatting a message including the received data for transmission to a medical data server, and transmitting the formatted message from the intermediary device to the medical data server. Once at the medical data server the information can be reviewed by a healthcare professional at a location remote to the patient. This method may be practiced automatically, either continuously or at set intervals, or may be initiated by someone utilizing the system (such as the patient or health care provider). The method preferably functions without the need for the patient to manually enter information into a device. This method optionally allows for multiple different medical devices used by a single patient to be monitored, even if each of the devices communicate through different wired connections and / or use different communication protocols.

[0026]Embodiments of the present invention may be used to monitor any appropriate medical device from essentially any location from which a communications signal can be sent and received. This enables patients to enjoy an active lifestyle by not being tied to medical device monitoring equipment that is difficult or impossible to transport or having to routinely visit health care facilities. The present invention can be used to monitor any amount and type of data from any medical device.

Problems solved by technology

In large part, health care providers conducted fewer and fewer house calls because it became impractical to bring bulky medical diagnosis and test equipment to the patient.

Likewise, it was not cost effective or intellectually feasible for patients to purchase and operate the complicated and expensive medical machines in a home setting.

Unfortunately, although portable medical devices such as blood glucose meters now allow patients to perform tests outside the context of medical facilities, patients still need to meet with health care providers to discuss the results obtained.

There are drawbacks with these conventional devices.

Because of their complexity and proprietary interfaces, many are very expensive, which reduces the cost-savings benefit of RPM.

Additionally, they often require a land-line connection (such as phone or VPN) to transmit data and / or are physically bulky / heavy and therefore difficult to transport.

Furthermore, conventional systems are often unable to provide data to healthcare providers quickly where data must be manually entered by a patient, which can reduce the level of benefit the patient receives from RPM.

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