Universal health exchange

Abstract

A Universal Health Exchange (UHX) platform, including a storage mechanism for securely storing patient data, wherein the storage mechanism is accessible by an originator key and a provider key that is created by the originator, and wherein the patient data is only viewable if the originator key and provider key are applied to the UHX platform. A method of exchanging medical and health information between providers / caregivers and patients, by providing patient data to the UHX platform, the UHX platform standardizing the patient data and storing the patient data, an originator creating an originator key and a provider key, originator providing the provider key to a provider, and the provider accessing the patient data with the provider key.

Description

Attorney Docket No. 0156.00009UNIVERSAL HEALTH EXCHANGEBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to systems and methods for exchanging electronic medical records and encrypted health data between patients and providers.2. BACKGROUND ART

[0002] The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) began as an idea of recording patient information in electronic form, instead of on paper, in the late 1960’s, Larry Weed presented the EMR concept to generate an electronic record to allow a third party to independently verify the diagnosis. Weed’s vision focused on clinical data management. These systems were also known as hospital information systems.

[0003] The brilliant EMR concept was not even implemented until 1972 when the first EMR was developed in 1972 by the Regenstreif Institute. Due to limitations of technology at that time and resistance from practitioners, like many other new things, it was not much developed until 2021. During US President George W. Bush’s tenure in office, the budget doubled for healthcare IT projects along with the need for industry-wide adoption of electronic health record systems. This mandate has been supported by Obama through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to provide additional funding and incentives to healthcare professionals who adopt EMR systems. Thanks to the rapid development in computer systems and information technology, every physician in the US is using EMR for patient care.

[0004] Although it is very common nowadays that patient care and patient data are managed in EMR systems, there are many different system providers that are not compatible. For example, EMRs A and B can have different data structures and format (although some of the data are in H7 standard). The data collected and stored in EMRs are not shared with outside providers. If a patient wants to see a specialty doctor at EMR B, his / her specialty doctor is unable to access his / her medical history and records collected and stored at EMR A where his / her primary doctor belongs to. If a patient traveled abroad and is hospitalized, there was no way that the hospital doctors abroad are able to know the patient’s medical history / records. In a worst case of scenario, this could cause delay or miss treatment or death for the patient. Currently, if a patient wants to share their EMR with another doctor, they have to print out their record and either email it or physically mail it or deliver it to the doctor’s office.

[0005] The current status of non-exchangeable in EMRs is far away from the objective of fully utilizing the health information for enhancing healthcare, human health and medical research. There remains a need for interoperability that not only supports the care continuum, but supports health generally.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention provides for a Universal Health Exchange (UHX) platform, including a storage mechanism for securely storing patient data, wherein the storage mechanism is accessible by an originator key and a provider key that is created by the originator, and wherein the patient data is only viewable if the originator key and provider key are applied to the UHX platform.Attorney Docket No. 0156.00009

[0007] The present invention provides for a method of exchanging medical and health information between providers / caregivers and patients, by providing patient data to the UHX platform, the UHX platform standardizing the patient data and storing the patient data, an originator creating an originator key and a provider key, originator providing the provider key to a provider, and the provider accessing the patient data with the provider key.DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Other advantages of the present invention are readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0009] FIGURE 1 shows components of the Universal Health Exchange (UHX) and workflow diagram among patients, medical care providers, Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems, UHX platform, and Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Clinical Trials systems;

[0010] FIGURE 2 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient can register on the UHX platform;

[0011] FIGURE 3 is a flowchart illustrating how a provider can register on the UHX platform;

[0012] FIGURE 4 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient can be empowered to retrieve medical records on the UHX platform;

[0013] FIGURE 5 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient can build and manage medical records using My Medical Records (MMR) on the UHX platform;

[0014] FIGURE 6 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient can share medical records via MMR with a provider on the UHX platform;

[0015] FIGURE 7 is a flowchart illustrating how EMR providers can connect to the UHX platform;

[0016] FIGURE 8 is a flowchart illustrating how EDC sponsors can access the UHX platform for clinical trials or medical research;

[0017] FIGURE 9 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Personal Identifiable Information (PI I) data can be protected on the UHX platform;

[0018] FIGURE 10 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Identifiable Health Information (IHI) data can be protected on the UHX platform;

[0019] FIGURE 1 1 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Identifiable Health Information (IHI) data can be protected when patients share their medical files with physicians on the UHX platform;

[0020] FIGURE 12 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Identifiable Health Information (IHI) data can be protected when patients share their medical files with physicians outside of the UHX platform;

[0021] FIGURE 13 shows components of P2P circles in the UHX platform; and

[0022] FIGURE 14 shows modules within the UHX platform.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] The present invention provides for a Universal Health Exchange (UHX) platform 10, that allows for exchange of medical and health information between providers / caregivers and patients both securely and efficiently. Most generally, the UHX platform 10 includes a storage mechanism 22 for securely storing patient data, wherein the storage mechanism 22 is accessible by an originator key and a providerAttorney Docket No. 0156.00009 key that is created by the originator, and wherein the patient data is only viewable if the originator key and provider key are applied to the UHX platform 10.

[0024] The term “application” as used herein refers to a computer software application, otherwise known as an “app”, that is run and operated on a mobile device, such as, but not limited to, smart phones (IPHONE® (Apple, Inc.), ANDROID™ devices (Google, Inc.), WINDOWS® devices (Microsoft)), or tablet computers (IPAD® (Apple, Inc.)), especially ones utilizing a touch screen. The application can also be web based and run on a computer or laptop. The applications described herein include any necessary user interface or display and storage components to display the applications and store the algorithms running them.

[0025] Per law, patients have the right to access and obtain his / her health information. The UHX platform 10 empowers patients to retrieve their health information from a provider or take their electronic medical records and store them with total encryption with a key held by an originator (patient or caregiver). The data stored at the UHX platform 10 cannot be recognized by anyone including the UHX platform manger. If the patient would like to share their health information to a provider anywhere, they can create another “key” for the provider. The health information can be viewed by the provider if both are applied to the UHX platform. In other word, the originator holds the master key (i.e. originator key) and the other provider has the second key (i.e. provider key). The second key works only if the master key is entered by the originator.

[0026] FIGURE 1 shows components of the UHX platform 10 and workflow diagram among patients 12, medical care providers 14, Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems 16, and Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Clinical Trials systems 18. The UHX platform 10 is the central component which integrates the EMR systems 16 and EDC systems 18 for medical research and clinical trial studies. It is also a central piece which provides a secure medical information sharing and social network platform for patients 1 and physicians / medical health care providers 14.

[0027] The UHX platform 10 includes a database (i.e. storage mechanism 22) for storing electronic medical records on non-transitory computer readable media. The database can also use cloud storage. The UHX platform 10 includes a masking module 40 for masking data.

[0028] The UHX platform 10 includes a standardization module 30 for standardizing all patient data (i.e. EMR data in various formats and other patient data, such as physician notes). OCR technology converts images into texts. If the EMR data is in another electronic format, the UHX platform 10 can directly read it.

[0029] Artificial intelligence (Al) can be used by the standardization module 30 in order to standardize patient data. The Al can read physician notes on the patient written in natural language by the physician, extract all information regarding conditions, diagnoses, actions, and outcomes, and standardize the data into CDISC domains (Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium). The standardized data can then be used for various purposes, such as providing a summary for the patient regarding the patient’sAttorney Docket No. 0156.00009 medical history, notes to a physician before a patient’s appointment, identifying eligible participants for clinical trials, or conducting real-world evidence (RWE) studies.

[0030] Any of the data on the UHX platform 10 can be sent to EDC systems 18 if desired by the patient 12 or provider 14. A patient 12 can consent to allow their data to be used for medical research with their consent. If the patient 12 wants to mask their personal information by themself, they can use the masking module 40 provided at the UHX platform 10. The “secret” key can be held by the patient 12. If the patient 12 does not want to do their own masking, the UHX platform 10 can perform auto-masking to “desensitize” any personal information before storing data into the platform 10. All desensitized data is encrypted at the platform 10 with a common key held in a “safety-box” of the platform 10, which can be opened (accessed) only by entering passwords by two designated personnel sequentially. The purpose of encrypting the desensitized data is to prevent potential invasion by hackers. With a provider’s agreement, EMR data can be allowed to be used for medical research. In this case, an EMR provider 14 can use the auto-masking module 40 to mask the patient’s privacy information and hold the secret key. The EMR provider 14 then masks the non-private data using another key and shares with third party users / organizations who conduct the medical research.

[0031] The present invention provides for a method of exchanging medical and health information between providers / caregivers and patients, by providing patient data to the UHX platform 10, the UHX platform 10 standardizing the patient data and storing the patient data, an originator (i.e. patient 12 or other provider) creating an originator key and a provider key, originator providing the provider key to a provider 14, and the provider 14 using the provider key on the UHX platform 10 and accessing the patient data. Specific use of the UHX platform 10 is further described below.

[0032] FIGURE 2 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient 12 can register on the UHX platform 10. In step 1 , a patient 12 downloads and installs on a mobile device (smart phone or tablet) or computer (laptop or desktop) a Universal Patient Portal (UPAP) application (i.e. “app”) 100 (further described below) from the UHX site (or application provider) and registers an account to access the UHX platform 10. The patient 12 holds his / her own private key / passcode. In step 2, the patient is prompted to consent to sharing data for medical research during the registration process.

[0033] In step 3, the patient 12 does consent to sharing data for medical research. The patient’s Private Identifiable Information (Pll) data is encrypted using the patient’s own private key / passcode. Partial Pll data such as gender, age, and geo location, etc. along with the patient’s Health Identifiable Information (HI I) data is encrypted with a random secure key named as UHX-EDC-PASSCODE generated by the UHX platform 10. The secured UHX-EDC-PASSCODE is only shared with authorized EDC system 16 administrators.

[0034] In step 4, the patient 12 does NOT consent to sharing data for medical research. All the patient’s data including Pll and Hll data is encrypted using the patient’s own private key / passcode. No patient’s data is shared with any EDC systems 16.Attorney Docket No. 0156.00009

[0035] The patient’s own private key / passcode is used to decrypt his / her Private Identifiable Information (Pll) data when the patient 12 accesses the UPAP app 100 via UHX platform 10 portal to view and update their Private Identifiable Information (Pll) data. The patient’s Health Identifiable Information (H 11) is decrypted with the secured UHX-EDC-PASSCODE when the patient 12 accesses the UHX platform 10 to view their HI I data.

[0036] FIGURE 3 is a flowchart showing how a provider 14 registers on the UHX platform 10. First the provider 14 downloads and installs the app 100 (as a Universal Health Portal (UHP) app) from the UHX site (or application provider) and registers an account to access the UHX platform 10. The provider 14 inputs contact information and professional fields.

[0037] FIGURE 4 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient 12 can be empowered to retrieve medical records on UHX platform 10. In step 1 , the patient 12 logins to his / her EMR patient portal. In step 2, the patient 10 downloads medical records (MR) to his / her own device (i.e. computer, tablet, smart phone, etc.). In step 3, the patient 10 logs in to the UPAP app 100 via UHX platform 10 portal. In step 4, the patient 10 uploads his / her MR files to UHX platform 10. The MR files are encrypted according to patient’s consented method.

[0038] FIGURE 5 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient 12 can build and manage medical records using My Medical Records (MMR) 20 on UHX platform. In step 1 , the patient logins into UPAP app 100 via UHX platform 10 portal. In step 2, the patient 12 can build their own medical records system named as My Medical Record (MMR) 20 by either 1) adding or updating their own medical information; 2) uploading medical records from other medical providers; or 3) managing the MMR 20. In step 3, the patient’s Pll and Hll data is encrypted according to patient’s consented method. The patient 12 can change the secure key / passcode anytime through the UPAP app 100 via UHX platform 10 portal.

[0039] FIGURE 6 is a flowchart illustrating how a patient 12 can share medical records via MMR 20 with a provider 14 on UHX platform 10. In step 1 , the patient 12 logins to UPAP app 100 via UHX platformI O portal. In step 2, the patient 12 can share their own medical records via My Medical Records (MMR) 20 with a medical care provider 14 by providing a temporary passcode (provider key) to the provider 14. The provider 14 can use the temporary passcode (provider key) to decrypt the MMR records 20.

[0040] FIGURE 7 is a flowchart illustrating how EMR providers 14 can connect to UHX platform 10. In step 1 , the EMR provider 14 holds a private key for patients’ private data. The EMR provider 14 provides a shared key to the UHX platform 10 for non-private data. In step 2, UHX platform 10 uses the shared key to decrypt all patients’ non-private data and assign a secure random passcode to generate a unique encryption key for each patient 12, encrypt, and store patients’ data in UHX platform. When a patient 12 logs in to the UPAP app 100 via UHX platform 10 portal, the patient 12 can view their non-private data with the unique passcode for decryption.

[0041] FIGURE 8 is a flowchart illustrating how EDO sponsors 18 can access the UHX platform 10 for clinical trials or medical research. In step 1 , EDO sponsors 18 can login to Universal Physician Portal (UPYP) app 200 via UHX platform 10 portal to recruit physicians for participating clinical trials or medicalAttorney Docket No. 0156.00009 research. In step 2, the UHX platform 10 can transfer patients’ non-private data into authorized EDC systems 18. EDC sponsors can use a Patient Matcher tool to identify and match patients for clinical trials or medical research. In step 3, EDC sponsors can use the Patient Matcher tool to identify and match patients for clinical trials or medical research.

[0042] FIGURE 9 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Personal Identifiable Information (Pll) data can be protected on the UHX platform 10. In step 900, patients’ Pll data is encrypted from a EMR provider system with a shared encryption key and agreed encryption algorithm. The encrypted patients’ Pll data is then transmitted to UHX platform 10 (902) via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

[0043] In step 902, all patients’ Pll data is decrypted with the shared encryption key and agreed encryption algorithm, each patient is automatically assigned to a random secured passcode by UHX platform, and each patient’s Pll data is encrypted with a secret key and a secured random Initialization Vector (IV). The Pll data encryption uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) symmetric-key encryption algorithm with Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) Mode and PKCS5Padding schema. The secret key is generated from the patient’s random secured passcode using a Password-Based Key Derivation Functions 2 (PNKDF2) along with a salt value. The encrypted patient’s Pll data is then finally stored in the UHX platform 10.

[0044] When a patient 12 tries to access the UHX platform User Interface (Ul) in step 904, the platform validates the patient’s credential such as login name, password, validation code, fingerprint, or facial recognition, etc. in step 906. If the patient 12 does not provide the valid credential, no further action will be allowed for the patient 12 in step 908. If the patient 12 does provide the valid credential, the patient 12 is redirected to the UHX platform 10 portal in step 902.

[0045] After the patient 12 has access to the UHX platform 10 in step 902, the patient 12 can view their Pll data in the Ul via the decryption with the patient’s secured random passcode. The patient 12 can change the secured random passcode anytime. When the passcode is changed, the patient’s Pll data is decrypted with the old passcode, encrypted with the new passcode, and stored into the UHX platform 10.

[0046] In step 910, patients 12 are prompted to a consent agreement on medical research studies when they register on the UHX platform 10 website. If patients 12 agree on the consent agreement in step 912, their partial Pll data (e.g., gender, age, and geo location) is encrypted by the above same UHX encryption method with a secured random passcode named UHX-EDC-PASSCODE generated by the UHX platform 10.

[0047] In step 902, the encrypted partial Pll data is transferred into the authorized EDO sponsors’ systems 18 for clinical trial studies in step 914. The secured passcode UHX-EDC-PASSCODE is provided to the authorized EDC system administrators to decrypt the partial Pll data for clinical trial studies only.

[0048] FIGURE 10 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Identifiable Health Information (I H I) data can be protected on the UHX platform 10. In step 1000, patients’ IHI data is encrypted from a EMR provider system 14 with a shared encryption key and agreed encryption algorithm. The encrypted patients’ IHI data is then transmitted to the UHX platform 10 from 902 via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).Attorney Docket No. 0156.00009

[0049] In step 1002, all patients’ IHI data is decrypted with the shared encryption key and agreed encryption algorithm, each patient is automatically assigned to a random secured passcode by the UHX platform 10, and each patient’s IHI data is encrypted with a secret key and a secured random Initialization Vector (IV). The IHI data encryption uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) symmetric-key encryption algorithm with Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) Mode and PKCS5Padding schema. The secret key is generated from the patient’s random secured passcode using a Password-Based Key Derivation Functions 2 (PNKDF2) along with a salt value. The encrypted patient’s IHI data is then finally stored in the UHX platform 10.

[0050] When a patient 12 tries to access the UHX platform User Interface (Ul) in step 1004, the platform validates the patient’s credential such as login name, password, validation code, fingerprint, or facial recognition, etc. in step 1006. If the patient 12 does not provide the valid credential, no further action is allowed for the patient 12 in step 1008. If the patient 12 does provide the valid credential, the patient 12 is redirected to the UHX platform 10 portal in step 1002.

[0051] After the patient 12 has access to the UHX platform 10 in step 1002, the patient 12 can view their IHI data in the Ul via the decryption with the patient’s secured random passcode. The patient 12 can change the secured random passcode anytime. When the passcode is changed, the patient’s IHI data is decrypted with the old passcode, encrypted with the new passcode, and stored into the UHX platform 10.

[0052] In step 1010, patients 12 are prompted to a consent agreement on medical research studies when they register on the UHX platform website. If patients 12 agree on the consent agreement in step 1012, their IHI data (e.g., gender, age, and geo location) is encrypted by the above same UHX encryption method with a secured random passcode named UHX-EDC-PASSCODE generated by the UHX platform 10.

[0053] In step 1002, the encrypted IHI data is transferred into the authorized EDC sponsors’ systems 18 for clinical trial studies in step 1014. The secured passcode UHX-EDC-PASSCODE is provided to the authorized EDC system administrators to decrypt the IHI data for clinical trial studies only.

[0054] FIGURE 11 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Identifiable Health Information (IHI) files can be protected on UHX platform 10. When a patient 12 tries to access the UHX platform User Interface (Ul) in step 1 100, the platform 10 validates patient’s credential such as login name, password, validation code, fingerprint, or facial recognition, etc. in step 1 102. If the patient 12 does not provide the valid credential, no further action is allowed for the patient 12 in step 1 106. If the patient 12 does provide the valid credential, the patient 12 is redirected to the UHX platform portal in step 1 104.

[0055] After the patient 12 has access to the UHX Ul portal in step 1 104, the patient 12 can upload their IHI files and share them with physicians 14 who are in the UHX platform and are also in the same health care providers as patients are using Secure Message feature as a message’s attachments in the UHX platform 10. When the patient 12 clicks on a submit button to send the secure message, the patient’s IHI file(s) is uploaded and encrypted with a secret key and a secured random Initialization Vector (IV). TheAttorney Docket No. 0156.00009IHI file encryption can use the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) symmetric-key encryption algorithm with Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) Mode and PKCS5Padding schema. The secret key is generated from a secure random passcode using a Password-Based Key Derivation Functions 2 (PNKDF2) along with a salt value. The encrypted patient’s message along with the IHI file(s) are then finally stored in the UHX platform 10 in step 1 1 10.

[0056] When a physician 14 tries to access the UHX platform User Interface (Ul) in step 11 12, the platform 10 validates the physician’s credential such as login name, password, validation code, fingerprint, or facial recognition, etc. in step 11 14. If the physician 14 does not provide the valid credential, no further action is allowed for the physician 14 in step 1 1 16. If the physician 14 does provide the valid credential, the physician 14 is able to access the secured and encrypted messages along with the encrypted IHI files from the attachments sent from the patient 12 in step 1 1 10.

[0057] The encrypted message subject and body is decrypted automatically when the physician 14 opens the message while the encrypted attachments (e.g., IHI files) are automatically decrypted and downloaded to a physician’s device. The secured random passcode generated during the secure message encryption process is stored in the patient’s sent message record in the UHX platform 10 for decryption use later when the secure message is opened by the patient 12 (i.e., message sender) or physicians 14 (i.e., message recipients).

[0058] FIGURE 12 is a flowchart illustrating how patients’ Identifiable Health Information (IHI) files can be protected on the UHX platform 10. When a patient 12 tries to access the UHX platform User Interface (Ul) in step 1200, the platform 10 validates the patient’s credentials such as login name, password, validation code, fingerprint, or facial recognition, etc. in step 1202. If the patient 12 does not provide the valid credential, no further action is allowed for the patient 12 in step 1206. If the patient 12 does provide the valid credential, the patient 1 is redirected to the UHX platform portal in step 1204.

[0059] After the patient 12 has access to the UHX Ul portal in step 1 04, the patient 12 can upload their IHI files in the Ul. The patient 12 is prompted to provide a temporary passcode and select an expiration period for the passcode from 4 hours to 3 days in step 1208. When the patient 12 clicks on a submit button to upload the IHI file, the patient’s IHI file is encrypted with a secret key and a secured random Initialization Vector (IV). The IHI file encryption uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) symmetric-key encryption algorithm with Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) Mode and PKCS5Padding schema. The secret key is generated from the patient’s entered temporary passcode using a Password-Based Key Derivation Functions 2 (PNKDF2) along with a salt value. The encrypted patient’s IHI file is then finally stored in the UHX platform 10 in step 1210.

[0060] A URL link to the encrypted IHI file stored in UHX platforml 0 can be provided to the patient 12 and the patient 12 can share the URL along with the secured temporary passcode with physicians 14 who are NOT in the UHX platform 10 or NOT in the same health care providers as patients are in the UHX platform 10.Attorney Docket No. 0156.00009

[0061] When a physician 14 opens the URL in a browser in step 1212, the physician 14 is prompted to enter a passcode in step 1214. If the physician 14 enters a valid passcode and the passcode has not been expired yet in step 1216, the physician 14 is able to access the encrypted IHI file in step 1210 and download the decrypted IHI file automatically on the physician’s device.

[0062] The present invention provides for the Universal Patient Portal (UPAP) app 100, which allows patients 12 to access the UHX platform 10, and create and manage their own health records (medical history, primary / specialty cares, pharmacy information, lab tests, etc.) anywhere and anytime.

[0063] The present invention provides for the Universal Physician Portal (UPYP) app 200, which allows providers 14 to access the UHX platform 10, manage their own patients and review medical records of referred patients from other providers / EMRs.

[0064] The UPAP app 100 and UPYP app 200 allow for communication by text messaging, audio and video messaging and calls and enable the formation of P2P healthcare social circles solely for enhancing healthcare. All communications use built-in modules. The communication data are not encrypted before being stored in the UHX platform 10 with a key kept in the safety box.

[0065] FIGURE 13 shows components of P2P circles in a social media module 50 in the UHX platform 10. It shows how the UHX platform 10 can help patient and physician circles to enhance healthcare practices. Patients 12 can communicate / connect with other patients 12 in a Patient-Patient circle. Physicians 14 can communicate / connect with other physicians 14 in a Physician-Physician circle. Patients 12 can communicate / connect with physicians 14 in a Patient-Physician circle if accepted by the physician 14. The physician 14 can turn off the connection once it is not needed. Communication can be accomplished through the UPAP app 100 and UPYP app 200.

[0066] Throughout this application, various publications, including United States patents, are referenced by author and year and patents by number. Full citations for the publications are listed herein. The disclosures of these publications and patents in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference into this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains.

[0067] The invention has been described in an illustrative manner and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.

[0068] Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims

Attorney Docket No. 0156.00009CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A Universal Health Exchange (UHX) platform, comprising a storage mechanism for securely storing patient data on non-transitory computer readable media, wherein said storage mechanism is accessible by an originator key and a provider key that is created by an originator, and wherein said patient data is only viewable if said originator key and said provider key are applied to said UHX platform.

2. The UHX platform of claim 1 , further including a standardization module for standardizing said patient data.

3. The UHX platform of claim 2, wherein said patient data is chosen from the group consisting of electronic medical records, physician notes, and combinations thereof.

4. The UHX platform of claim 2, wherein said standardization module includes artificial intelligence (Al) for extracting and standardizing information from physician notes chosen from the group consisting of conditions, diagnoses, actions, outcomes, and combinations thereof.

5. The UHX platform of claim 1 , further including an electronic connection with an electronic data capture (EDC) clinical trial system.

6. The UHX platform of claim 1 , further including a masking module for masking personal information.

7. The UHX platform of claim 1 , wherein said UHX platform is accessible to a patient by a universal patient portal application on a device chosen from the group consisting of a mobile device and a computer.

8. The UHX platform of claim 1 , wherein said UHX platform is accessible to a provider by an application on a device chosen from the group consisting of a mobile device and a computer.

9. The UHX platform of claim 1 , further including a social media module that provides a patient-patient circle for patients to connect with patients, a physician-physician circle for physicians to connect with physicians, and a patient-physician circle for patients to connect with physicians.

10. A method of exchanging medical and health information between providers / caregivers and patients, including the steps of: providing patient data to a Universal Health exchange (UHX) platform; the UHX platform standardizing the patient data and storing the patient data; an originator creating an originator key and a provider key; the originator providing the provider key to a provider; and the provider accessing the patient data with the provider key.1 1 . The method of claim 10, wherein the patient data is chosen from the group consisting of electronic medical records, physician notes, and combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said standardizing step is further defined as artificial intelligence (Al) extracting and standardizing information from physician notes chosen from the group consisting of conditions, diagnoses, actions, outcomes, and combinations thereof.Attorney Docket No. 0156.0000913. The method of claim 10, wherein said provider accessing step is further defined as the UHX platform decrypting patient data when the provider key is entered.

14. The method of claim 10, further including the step of the originator providing consent to sharing data for medical research and sending a secured passcode to an authorized electronic data capture clinical trial system.

15. The method of claim 14, further including the step of an EDC sponsor accessing the UHX platform and recruiting physicians for clinical trials and research.

16. The method of claim 15, further including the step of the UHX platform transferring non-private patient data to authorized EDC clinical trial systems.

17. The method of claim 16, further including the step of the EDC sponsor using a patient matcher tool to identify and match patients for clinical trials and research.

18. The method of claim 10, further including the step of the originator accessing and viewing their private identifiable information data and health identifiable information by providing the originator key to the UHX platform.

19. The method of claim 10, further including before said providing patient data step, the step of the originator accessing the UHX platform by the UHX platform verifying originator credentials chosen from the group consisting of login name, password, validation code, fingerprint, facial recognition, and combinations thereof.

20. The method of claim 10, further including the step of the patient communicating with additional patients and physicians and the physician communicating with additional physicians in a social media module in the UHX platform.

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