Methods and Systems for Facilitating a Virtual Consultation Between a User and a Health Care Practitioner

Abstract

An exemplary method includes a virtual health care solutions provider system 1) detecting an initiation of a virtual health care session by a user by way of a user portal, 2) presenting, in response to the initiation of the virtual health care session, an interactive health care questionnaire by way of the user portal, 3) detecting a completion by the user of the health care questionnaire by way of the user portal, 4) identifying, based on the completed health care questionnaire, a pool of one or more health care practitioners qualified to treat the user and open for virtual consultations, and 5) placing the user in a virtual queue associated with the pool of one or more health care practitioners for a virtual consultation with any one of the identified one or more health care practitioners by way of the user portal. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 732,177, filed Nov. 30, 2012. The contents of the provisional patent application are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND INFORMATION[0002]People are often in need of basic or non-emergency medical attention. For example, a person may have a cold, the flu, a sinus infection, a sore throat, allergies, or a host of other sicknesses, ailments, or health issues that hinder their ability to function as they normally would. To receive treatment for such health issues, a person has typically had to make an in-person visit to a medical clinic (e.g., an office of a primary care physician). Unfortunately, such a visit may be costly, time consuming, and / or difficult to arrange. As a result, many people with non-emergency health issues forego seeing a medical practitioner and obtaining the medical attention that they need. This may hind...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a system and method for providing virtual health care solutions to users by connecting them with health care professionals through a virtual platform. This allows users to receive medical attention without having to make an in-person visit to a health care clinic. The system detects the user's health care needs and presents a health care questionnaire to the user through a user portal. The user then completes the health care questionnaire and the system identifies a pool of health care professionals who are available for virtual consultations. The system assigns the virtual health care session to the health care practitioner and connects the user and the health care practitioner through a virtual examination interface for real-time communication. This allows for early treatment of health issues, prevents spreading of disease, reduces costly emergency room visits, and encourages early recovery from health issues.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, such a visit may be costly, time consuming, and / or difficult to arrange.

As a result, many people with non-emergency health issues forego seeing a medical practitioner and obtaining the medical attention that they need.

This may hinder their ability to recover from their health issues, which may result in lost productivity, spreading of disease, and / or costly emergency room visits if their health issues worsen.

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