Method for registering user in medical software application

Abstract

A method for registering a user in a medical software application is provided. The method comprises: providing a registration code (6) to the user (U), the registration code (6) containing information (60) relating to a permission key and information (61, 62) relating to at least one user credential associated with the user (U); inputting, by the user (U), the registration code (6) and at least one user credential associated with the user (U) into the software application (24); processing, by the software application (24), the registration code (6) entered by the user (U) and the at least one user credential; and creating a user account (240) for the user (U) in the software application (24) on the basis of information (61, 62) contained in the registration code (6) relating to at least one user credential associated with the user (U). In this manner, a method is provided that enables easy management of user accounts and permissions at medical software applications.

Description

[0001] This patent application is a divisional application of a patent application with an international application date of January 16, 2019, a national application number of 201980012087.5, and an invention name of “Method for registering users in medical software applications”. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for registering a user in a medical software application, a computing device configured to perform such a method, and a software program product implementing such a method. Background Art

[0003] Medical software applications may particularly relate to the operation and control of medical devices, such as medical infusion devices for administering medical fluids (such as drugs or nutritional solutions for enteral feeding) to patients. Such medical software applications may particularly relate to programmed drug libraries configured to control infusion devices, the software application enabling, for example, a user to create, edit or share drug libraries within a hospital environment or between multiple different physically separated hospital environments (such as different hospitals).

[0004] Typically, medical devices, such as infusion pumps, for administering drugs to patients are installed at various locations in a health care environment (e.g., in a hospital facility). Such medical devices may, for example, be located in different rooms of a ward (nursing unit) of a hospital or in an operating room. Now, such medical devices are connected to a local network to communicate with a hospital management system hosted on a server located in the health care environment. For example, a set of infusion pumps may be installed on a rack that serves as a communication link to a local network, so that the infusion pumps are connected to the local network via the rack, and the infusion pumps may be operated to communicate with a hospital management system on a server within a health care environment (e.g., within a hospital) via a local network, such as a local area network (LAN) or a wireless local area network (WLAN).

[0005] In order to control the operation of such medical devices for administering drugs to patients, a so-called drug library is installed on such medical devices, which includes drug library data characterizing drugs, their ingredients, compatibility rules and administration rules, etc. The drug library can, for example, include a list of drugs in which each drug is associated with parameters defining, for example, boundary values ​​for administering drugs by means of an infusion device. Such boundary values ​​can, for example, relate to a minimum dose and a maximum dose for administering a particular drug, a minimum rate and a maximum rate for administering a drug, a minimum time and a maximum time for administering a drug, etc. In addition, such boundary values ​​can depend on the age, weight and sex of the patient and can therefore be patient-specific.

[0006] By using such a drug library, the operation of a medical device, such as an infusion pump, for administering a specific drug to a patient is controlled, since the nurse can only operate the medical device within the boundaries created by the drug library. To this end, in order to administer the drug to the patient, the nurse identifies the drug to the medical device, on the basis of which the medical device automatically loads the corresponding rules and boundary values ​​from the drug library installed on the medical device.

[0007] Currently, such drug libraries are installed locally in healthcare environments, such as in hospitals. Such drug libraries are installed, for example, as software on a personal computer (PC) or server in the hospital, from which the drug library can be distributed to medical devices located in different wards of the hospital to be installed on such medical devices.

[0008] WO 2005 / 036447 A2 discloses a drug management system, which includes a drug management unit associated with a medical device. The drug management unit is configured to compare drug order information from a first input device with machine-readable delivery information from a second input device, and download the drug order to the medical device only when the information from the first input device matches the information from the second input device. The drug management unit also includes a drug library editor that enables a user to import, export and edit the entire drug library and individual drug library values ​​to control and customize the drug library according to hospital preferences.

[0009] According to WO 2010 / 132617 A2, a computer-implemented method for interacting with a medical device in conjunction with a user device is known. In the method, a certified medical application is received at the user device and stored in a secure storage segment. A communication link is established from the user device to the medical device to execute the certified medical application on the medical device.

[0010] Since computing devices, such as personal computers located within a hospital environment, may be run in the local environment of the hospital and may not use a connection to, for example, the Internet, the problem arises that user accounts for accessing software applications running on such computing devices must be established locally, without using an external network connection. This generally involves the technical problem of identifying the user accessing the software application and additionally checking the validity of the license based on which the user wishes to use the software application.

[0011] In today's software applications, especially those used in corporate environments, typically a privileged user (also denoted administrator) has the authority to enter user credentials and license keys into the software application to establish a user account, wherein the user account allows the user to access and use the software application according to the privileges associated with the user account. Particularly in medical environments where software applications are used offline (i.e., without a network connection to a public communication network such as the Internet), however, it is desirable to simplify the creation of user accounts and improve the management of licenses to simplify workflow and enable improved license control. Summary of the invention

[0012] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method, a computing device and a software program product that allow easy management of user accounts and permissions within a medical software application.

[0013] This object is achieved by means of a method according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0014] Therefore, the method comprises:

[0015] - providing a registration code to the user, the registration code comprising information related to the license key and information related to at least one user credential associated with the user,

[0016] - inputting by the user into the software application the registration code and at least one user credential associated with the user,

[0017] - processing, by the software application, a registration code and at least one user credential entered by a user, and

[0018] - Creating a user account for the user in the software application based on information contained in the registration code relating to at least one user credential associated with the user.

[0019] By using this method, a user account can be established and created without the involvement of a privileged user (administrator). Specifically, the creation of a user account within a software application can be performed by providing a registration code to the user, the registration code containing information related to a license key and information related to at least one user credential associated with the user. For example, such a registration code can be provided to the user from a software vendor of a medical software application, wherein the software vendor can provide the registration code to the user upon request by the user and upon obtaining user credentials, such as a username and password, from the user.

[0020] After obtaining the registration code, the user enters the registration code into the software application, for example, via a login screen of the software application. In addition, the user is required to enter his or her user credentials, such as a username and password, into the software application (along with entering the registration code), since the user has previously provided the user credentials to the software vendor. Thus, both the registration code and the user credentials are entered into the software application by the user.

[0021] Once the user has entered the registration code and user credentials into the software application, the software application processes the registration code and user credentials and, if the processing is successful, creates a user account. In particular, the software application may process the registration code to obtain the user credentials from the registration code. The processing may then involve comparing the user credentials obtained from the registration code with the user credentials entered into the software application by the user. If the user credentials obtained from the registration code match the user credentials entered into the system by the user, then a user account for the user is created in the software application based on the user credentials, such as based on a combination of a username and password.

[0022] Thus, creation of a user account becomes possible based on the user entering a registration code into the software application. The registration code is obtained, for example, from a software vendor, so that no privileged user (administrator) involvement is required to create a user account, for example within a hospital environment.

[0023] In one embodiment, the registration code is encrypted using known encryption techniques such as RSA encryption techniques. Thus, the registration code is not provided to the user in plain text but in encrypted form, so that a third party cannot obtain any information from the registration code in an obvious manner. In this regard, the software application is configured to decrypt the registration code when the registration code is entered into the software application by the user, so that the software application can obtain knowledge about the license key and user credentials contained in the registration code, thereby enabling the software application to check the validity of the license and verify the user credentials obtained from the registration code with the user credentials entered into the system by the user.

[0024] Since the registration code is processed in order to derive information about the license key and information about the user credentials from it (advantageously the registration code is encrypted when it is supplied to the user), an improved licensing control can be achieved. In particular, even if the registration code is known to a third party (e.g. during the process of transmitting the registration code from the software supplier to the user), the third party cannot make use of the registration code, since the registration code needs to be entered into the software application by the user together with the user credentials. If the third party does not have knowledge of the user credentials, the processing of the registration code by the software application will not be successful, since the user credentials contained in the registration code cannot be verified against the user credentials entered into the software application.

[0025] In one embodiment, the processing performed by the software application includes at least one of: checking the validity of the registration code; verifying information related to the license key contained in the registration code; and verifying information related to at least one user credential contained in the registration code against at least one user credential entered into the software application by the user.

[0026] For example, the validity of the registration code can be checked without decoding the registration code. In particular, to check the validity of the registration code, the format of the registration code, such as the length and data format of the registration code, can be checked, and the registration code is considered valid if and only if the format of the registration code matches a specific standard.

[0027] The registration code may in particular be a string of letters and numbers. The registration code may have a predefined length and may include predefined parts.

[0028] Verification of the information related to the license key contained in the registration code may, for example, comprise verifying the information related to the license key against a valid license key stored in the software application. The software application may, for example, store a list of valid license keys. Thus, the license key derived from the registration code may be checked against the list of valid license keys, and if a match is found, the license key is assumed to be valid. Alternatively, the software application may be able to verify the license key by matching it to certain criteria, which may involve, for example, processing the license key using a predefined algorithm.

[0029] Verifying the information related to the user credentials contained in the registration code may involve comparing the user credentials obtained from the registration code with the user credentials entered by the user into the software application along with the registration code. For example, the software application may obtain a username and password from the registration code by decoding the registration code, the username and password being contained in the registration code because the registration code has been provided to the user by the software vendor. In addition, the user enters his or her username and password into the software application along with the registration code, so that the software application can check whether the username and password entered by the user matches the username and password obtained from the registration code. Processing of the registration code and the user credentials produces a successful result, whereby a user account may be created, if and only if the user credentials entered by the user and the user credentials obtained from the registration code match.

[0030] In particular, in one embodiment, a user account is created if and only if the processing of the registration code is successful. In particular, the condition for creating a user account may be that all processing steps (e.g., related to checking the validity of the registration code, verifying the license key contained in the registration code, and verifying the user credentials) produce a successful result.

[0031] Creation of a user account may involve, for example, storing user credentials in a software application. For example, the software application may have an internal database in which user account information is stored, with the user accounts being identified, for example, by usernames of different users, wherein each username is associated with a password that enables the user to access his or her user account.

[0032] Not all user credentials are necessarily included in the registration code. For example, in one embodiment, the registration code may only include information related to the user name, but not the password. However, the registration code may also include information related to both the user name and the password.

[0033] In one embodiment, the registration code may include additional information, such as identification information of the computing device on which the user is authorized to execute the software application, such as a MAC address, and / or information about the functions of the software application that the user is authorized to access or execute, and / or information about the validity period of the license key. After the user account is created, such information may be stored in association with the user account so that it is defined for the user account which computing device the user can access the software application from, which functions of the software application the user is authorized to use, and / or the time period during which the user can access the software application.

[0034] The object is also achieved by a computing device configured to perform the method as described above.

[0035] The object is also achieved by a software program product implementing the method as described above.

[0036] For example, communications between a software vendor and a user to provide a registration code to a user may be conducted in different ways (e.g., via a public communications network, by sending an electronic message to the user, or by utilizing any other known communications technology), and the communications may be electronic (i.e., via an electronic communications network) or non-electronic (e.g., by regular mail). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The basic concept of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the embodiments of the accompanying drawings. In this context:

[0038] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing a scenario as might be found in a hospital setting;

[0039] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a registration code is shown;

[0040] Figure 3 A flow chart showing a method for registering a user in a medical software application; and

[0041] Figure 4A schematic diagram of a computing device configured to execute a software application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Figure 1 A setup as may be found in a hospital environment 2 is shown schematically.

[0043] The system 1 as set up in a hospital environment 2, for example, comprises a plurality of medical devices 20, for example in the shape of infusion devices, such as peristaltic (volumetric) pumps or syringe infusion pumps, wherein these medical devices are positioned, for example, in an organized manner, on an organizing device 21 (such as shelves in different bedrooms, units and wards) in the hospital environment 2 (for example, within a hospital). The organizing device 21 can form a vertical stack of the medical devices 20, for example, by mechanically holding the medical devices 20 and additionally providing the medical devices 20 with power and a communication link by connecting the medical devices 20 to an external power source and by communicatively connecting the medical devices 20 to a central server 22 of the hospital environment 2 via an internal local communication network. The communication network together with the central server 22, for example, forms a hospital information management system (HIMS) for managing information and data flows within the hospital environment 2.

[0044] The personnel of the clinic can access the hospital information management system using, for example, a computing device 23 in the form of a personal computer (PC). For example, a user U can access the computing device 23 to run a software application installed on the computing device 23 for controlling the operation of one or more medical devices 20, for inputting information into the system or for obtaining information from the system. This type of software application can, for example, be a software application related to a drug library, because the drug library is used by a medical device 20, such as an infusion device, during an operation for administering a specific drug to a patient, and the software application enables the user U to, for example, create a new drug library, edit an existing drug library, and share a drug library between a plurality of different medical devices 20 within the hospital environment 2.

[0045] In the context of this article, the drug library will be understood as a drug list, wherein each drug is associated with a parameter defining the operational boundaries for administering a specific drug to a patient. Such parameters may depend on patient demographics, such as the patient's age, weight or sex. As is generally known, the drug library is used to provide a rule for administering drugs to a patient to medical devices 20. In particular, the drug library in the context of an infusion device contains such a drug list: wherein each drug is associated with a parameter defining, characterizing a boundary value and applying the boundary value to an infusion device for administering a specific drug to a patient. For example, such a boundary value may be related to the dosage of the drug administered, the rate of administration and the time of administration, and may vary for different drugs, and may also vary for different types of patients, such as depending on the patient's age, weight and sex.

[0046] It is desirable to provide a simple workflow for allowing users to access software applications, which workflow is advantageously designed to simplify setup of user accounts and improve permission control, in particular to prevent unauthorized third parties from accessing software applications in an unauthorized manner.

[0047] In this context, in order to register a user in a medical software application, it is proposed as in Figure 3 The workflow shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is a flow chart of FIG. 1 , in which a user U is provided with a datagram as in FIG. 1 from an external communication entity 5, for example associated with a software provider of a software application to be accessed. Figure 2 The registration code 6 schematically shown in the figure is transmitted to a communication device 3 of a user U, such as a smart device such as a smart phone or a portable computing device such as a laptop or a tablet computer, for example via a public communication network 4 such as the Internet.

[0048] like Figure 2 As shown, the registration code 6 includes different parts related to information 60 about the license key and information 61, 62 about user credentials such as username and password. The registration code 6 is generated by the software vendor and sent to the user U by the software vendor. Figure 1 In the example shown, it is sent to the communication device 3 of the user U.

[0049] To do this, the user U may have to request a registration code 6 ( Figure 3 ), and may have to send the user credentials to the software vendor so that the software vendor can generate the registration code 6 by including information 61, 62 about the user credentials. After the request, the software vendor generates the registration code 6 ( Figure 3 and sends a registration code 6 containing information 60-62 about the license and user credentials to the user U ( Figure 3 Step S3 in ).

[0050] The registration code 6 may have the shape of a string of letters and numbers and may have a defined length. The registration code 6 may be generated in particular in an encrypted form using known encryption techniques such as RSA encryption techniques. Thus, the registration code 6 is not sent in plain text format but is encrypted so that the third party cannot obtain information from the registration code 6 in the event that the third party intercepts the transmission of the registration code 6.

[0051] After obtaining the registration code 6, the user U accesses the computing device 23 (see Figure 1 ) to input the registration code 6 into the software application. The user U can, for example, input the registration code 6 via a login screen provided by the software application, and since the user credentials have been provided to the software provider for generating the registration code 6, the user U is required to input his user credentials together with the registration code 6 into the software application ( Figure 3 Step S4 in ).

[0052] Once the user U has entered the registration code 6 and his user credentials into the software application running on the computing device 23, the software application processes the registration code 6 by checking its validity, for example by checking whether the registration code 6 complies with a predefined required format. Furthermore, the software application decrypts the registration code 6 to obtain from the registration code 6 information 60 related to the license key and information 61, 62 related to the user credentials, so that the software application can verify the license key and can verify the user credentials as obtained from the registration code 6 with the user credentials entered into the system by the user U ( Figure 3 Step S5 in the process).

[0053] If and only if the processing produces a positive result, the software application registers the user U in the software application by creating a user account ( Figure 3 In particular, only if such a registration code 6 is found to be valid, and additionally if the license key matches the predefined criteria, and additionally if the user credentials as derived from the registration code 6 match the user credentials entered into the software application by the user U, a user account is created, enabling the user U to log into the software application to utilize the software application, e.g. to create, edit or share a drug library.

[0054] Figure 4 The arrangement of a user account 240 within a software application 24 installed on a computing device 23 is schematically shown. The user account 240 is associated with a username and a password, the combination of the password and the username forming the user credentials. As known per se, in order to access the software application 24, the user must enter the username and password into the software application 24.

[0055] Furthermore, associated with the user account 240, additional information may be stored relating to the privileges of the user and additional restrictions on the user's access. In particular, associated with the user account 240, information 241 may be stored relating to the functionality of the software application 24 that the user is allowed to access or execute (thus defining the user's specific set of privileges). Furthermore, information 242 may be stored relating to the identification of the computing device 23 from which the user is authorized to access the software application 24. The information 242 may be in the form of, for example, a MAC address identifying the computing device 23 by its network address, the user being authorized to run the software application 24 only from a specifically identified communication dictation device 23. Furthermore, information 243 may be stored relating to the validity period of the license associated with the user account 240 (thus limiting the user to use the software application only for a predefined period of time, such as one year).

[0056] Additional information 241, 242, 243 may also be included in the registration code 6 and may thus be communicated from the software supplier to the user. When the user account 240 is created by the registration process as described above, the information 241, 242, 243 is stored in association with the user account 240.

[0057] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments but can be implemented in completely different ways.

[0058] In particular, by the proposed concept, a user can be registered in a software application without the involvement of a privileged user (administrator), thereby enabling a simple workflow for registering a user in a software application. The registration process can be performed by an offline software application, i.e., without access to a public communication network. Since the registration code can be provided in an encrypted manner, the process can be made secure against interception by a third party, thereby enabling improved permission control.

[0059] The present invention provides the following inventive concepts:

[0060] 1. A method for registering a user (U) in a medical software application (24), the method comprising:

[0061] - providing a registration code (6) to a user (U), said registration code (6) comprising information (60) relating to a license key and information (61, 62) relating to at least one user credential associated with said user (U),

[0062] - inputting, by the user (U), the registration code (6) and the at least one user credential associated with the user (U) into the software application (24),

[0063] - processing by said software application (24) said registration code (6) and said at least one user credential entered by said user (U), and

[0064] - creating a user account (240) for said user (U) in said software application (24) based on said information (61, 62) related to said at least one user credential associated with said user (U) contained in said registration code (6).

[0065] 2. The method according to inventive concept 1, wherein the provided registration code (6) is encrypted using an encryption technique, wherein the software application (24) decrypts the registration code (6) input by the user (U).

[0066] 3. A method according to inventive concept 1 or 2, wherein the processing performed by the software application (24) includes at least one of the following: checking the validity of the registration code (6), verifying the information related to the license key (60) contained in the registration code (6), and verifying the information related to the at least one user credential (61, 62) contained in the registration code against the at least one user credential entered by the user (U).

[0067] 4. The method of inventive concept 3, wherein verifying the information (60) related to the license key contained in the registration code (6) comprises: verifying the information (60) related to the license key against a valid license key stored in the software application (24).

[0068] 5. The method according to one of the preceding inventive concepts, wherein the user account (240) is created in the software application (24) if and only if the processing of the registration code (6) is successful.

[0069] 6. A method according to one of the preceding inventive concepts, wherein creating the user account (240) in the software application (24) comprises storing the information related to the at least one user credential associated with the user (U) contained in the registration code (6).

[0070] 7. A method according to one of the preceding inventive concepts, wherein the information related to the at least one user credential associated with the user (U) contained in the registration code (6) comprises: at least one of a username and a password associated with the user (U).

[0071] 8. A method according to one of the aforementioned inventive concepts, wherein the registration code (6) contains other information related to at least one of the following information: identification information (242) of a computing device (22, 23) on which the user (U) is authorized to execute the software application (24); information (241) related to the functions of the software application (24) that the user (U) is authorized to access or execute; and information (243) related to the validity period of the license key.

[0072] 9. A computing device (23) configured to execute the method according to one of the inventive concepts 1 to 8.

[0073] 10. A software program product, the software program product implementing the method according to one of inventive concepts 1 to 8.

[0074] Reference numerals list

[0075] 1 System

[0076] 2 Hospital environment

[0077] 20 Medical devices (infusion devices)

[0078] 21 Organizing device (shelf)

[0079] 22 Servers

[0080] 23 Computing (client) devices

[0081] 24 Software Applications

[0082] 240 user accounts

[0083] 241 Information related to authorization functions

[0084] 242 Identification information of computing device

[0085] 243 Valid information

[0086] 3 communication device

[0087] 4 Communication network (Internet)

[0088] 5 External communication entities

[0089] 6 Registration Code

[0090] 60 License Key

[0091] 61, 62 User credentials

[0092] Steps S1-S6

[0093] U User

Claims

1. A method for registering a user (U) in a medical software application (24) without a network connection to a public communication network, the method comprising: - providing a registration code (6) to the user (U) from an external communication entity via a public communication network, the registration code (6) containing information (60) related to a license key and information (61, 62) related to at least one user credential associated with the user (U), - receiving, by the medical software application (24), from the user (U) the registration code (6) and the at least one user credential associated with the user (U), - processing by the medical software application (24) the registration code (6) and the at least one user credential received from the user (U) without a network connection to a public communication network and without the involvement of a privileged user, and - creating a user account (240) for the user (U) in the medical software application (24) based on the information (61, 62) related to the at least one user credential associated with the user (U) contained in the registration code (6).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The registration code (6) is encrypted using an encryption technique, wherein the medical software application (24) decrypts the registration code (6) received from the user (U).

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The processing performed by the medical software application (24) includes at least one of: checking the validity of the registration code (6), verifying the information related to the license key (60) contained in the registration code (6), and verifying the information related to the at least one user credential (61, 62) contained in the registration code against the at least one user credential received from the user (U).

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The processing performed by the medical software application (24) includes verifying the information (60) related to the license key contained in the registration code (6), and verifying the information (60) related to the license key contained in the registration code (6) includes: verifying the information (60) related to the license key against a valid license key stored in the medical software application (24).

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: If and only if processing of the registration code (6) is successful, the user account (240) is created in the medical software application (24).

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: Creating the user account (240) in the medical software application (24) comprises storing the information contained in the registration code (6) relating to the at least one user credential associated with the user (U).

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The information related to the at least one user credential associated with the user (U) contained in the registration code (6) comprises at least one of a username and a password associated with the user (U).

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The registration code (6) includes further information relating to at least one of: identification information (242) of a computing device (22, 23) on which the user (U) is authorized to execute the medical software application (24); information (241) relating to functions of the medical software application (24) that the user (U) is authorized to access or execute; and information (243) relating to a validity period of the license key.

9. A computing device (23) configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a software program, which when executed implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Images