Software system for aiding medical practitioners and their patients

Abstract

Applicant has disclosed a software system, preferably run over the Internet on an SQL server, used to prompt care providers to check certain medical conditions based upon: a patient's history from, e.g., prior office visits to a physician's office; and preferably, if appropriate, the patient's history from other sources. Using the system results in more thorough care and enhanced billing. Applicant's software provides a digital (or printed) version of a familiar billing format—the so-called Superbill. Medical conditions of a patient are highlighted to ensure the medical service provider performs the following services during a patient visit: investigates medical conditions of the patient, as prompted by highlights in the Superbill; and exhaustively addresses all the conditions worthy of investigation based on stored patient information. Afterwards, additional data obtained from the visit are entered into the computer system for later use. Since the system is set up on a standard billing format—i.e., the Superbill, the system helps to ensure that the service provider's bills and the paperwork submitted to insurance carriers are accurate and complete.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority from Applicant's U.S. Provisional Patent Application, Ser. No. 61 / 165,575, filed Apr. 1, 2009. Applicant claims the benefit of priority from that provisional application. Applicant also hereby incorporates the disclosure from that earlier application herein by reference.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]This invention relates in general to medical record keeping and billings. More particularly, it relates to computerized processes for providing such assistance to medical practitioners and their patients.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Medical practitioners see multiple patients daily for a wide variety of problems. Traditionally, records have been kept on paper. Practitioners create records for each patient, or “member” or “client.” In smaller offices, records often are kept by hand. Records are filed on a shelf or in a file cabinet and subject to loss or misfiling. Notes concerning office visits, or “encounters” (defined below in the...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The patent describes a software system that helps care providers check important medical conditions based on a patient's history and the Superbill billing format. This system results in more thorough care and better billing. It also makes it easier for providers to use and accept, as the information is stored on a secure database."

Problems solved by technology

Records are filed on a shelf or in a file cabinet and subject to loss or misfiling.

Practitioners reviewing such records while preparing to meet a patient are often pressed for time.

Reviewing such records thoroughly on short notice is difficult often leading to cursory reviews and poor follow-up on symptoms.

There is nothing in the typical system to prompt a practitioner faced with a particular symptom or condition to look for related problems.

If the practitioner forgets to ask about a related condition during the encounter, that condition cannot be billed.

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