U.S. patent application number 10/317609 was filed with the patent office on 2004-06-17 for smart card based drug prescriptions.
Invention is credited to Alberth, William P. JR., Steele, Scott A..
Application Number | 20040112953 10/317609 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32506171 |
Filed Date | 2004-06-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040112953 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Alberth, William P. JR. ; et
al. |
June 17, 2004 |
SMART CARD BASED DRUG PRESCRIPTIONS
Abstract
A method and apparatus for securely transferring medical
information is provided, which includes storing information
relating to a medical prescription item on a smart card using an
encryption method that provides independent verification as to the
source of the information, verifying the source of the information
by the provider of the medical prescription item and modifying the
stored information relating to the medical prescription item when
the prescription is filled, and storing the modified information on
the smart card using an encryption method that provides independent
verification of the source of the modified information.
Inventors: |
Alberth, William P. JR.;
(Crystal Lake, IL) ; Steele, Scott A.; (San Diego,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
INGRASSIA FISHER & LORENZ, P.C.
7150 E. CAMELBACK, STE. 325
SCOTTSDALE
AZ
85251
US
|
Family ID: |
32506171 |
Appl. No.: |
10/317609 |
Filed: |
December 11, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
235/380 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F 17/0092 20130101;
G06Q 20/357 20130101; G06Q 20/341 20130101; G07F 7/1008 20130101;
G06Q 20/346 20130101; G06Q 20/3552 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
235/380 |
International
Class: |
G06K 005/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for securely transferring medical information
comprising: storing information relating to a medical prescription
item on a smart card, using an encryption method which provides
independent verification as to the source of the information;
verifying the source of the information by the provider of the
medical prescription item; modifying the stored information
relating to the medical prescription item when the prescription is
filled; and storing the modified information on the smart card
using an encryption method that provides independent verification
of the source of the modified information.
2. A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein additional medical
information is stored on a portion of the smart card in an
unencrypted form.
3. A method as set forth in claim 2 wherein the information stored
in unencrypted form comprises information related to medical
history information.
4. A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the encryption method
is a private key/public key encryption method and the medical
prescription item is a prescription entered into the smart card by
a medical practitioner using the medical practitioner's private
encryption key.
5. A method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the source of the
information is verified by an entity filling the prescription using
the medical practitioner's public key.
6. A method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the modified
information is encrypted using the private key of the entity
filling the prescription.
7. A method as set forth in claim 6 wherein a subsequent filler of
the prescription verifies the source of the modified data by using
the public key of the entity filling the prescription and the
source of the information relating to the medical prescription by
using the public key of the medical practitioner.
8. An electronic transfer device for securely transferring medical
prescription information comprising: a control portion of the
electronic transfer device for storing information provided by a
medical practitioner relating to a medical prescription to be
filled, the information being stored using encryption information
which provides independent verification as to the source of the
information, such that an entity filling the prescription may
verify that the source of the information is the provider of the
medical prescription item; the control portion of the electronic
transfer device capable of being read by the entity filling the
prescription for verifying the source of the information and for
storing information relating to the medical prescription item as
modified when the prescription is filled, the modified information
being stored using encryption information which provides
independent verification as to the source of the modified
information.
9. An electronic transfer device as set forth in claim 8 wherein
the control portion of the electronic transfer device stores
information using public key/private key encryption information
provided by the medical practitioner.
10. An electronic transfer device as set forth in claim 9 wherein
the control portion of the electronic transfer device stores
modified information using public key/private key encryption
information provided by the entity filling the prescription.
11. A method for securely transferring medical information
comprising: storing information relating to a medical prescription
item on a smart card, using a public key/private key encryption
method to provide independent verification as to the source of the
information; verifying the source of the information by the
provider of the medical prescription item by using the public key
of the provider of the stored information; modifying the stored
information relating to the medical prescription item when the
prescription is filled; and storing the modified information on the
smart card in an encrypted form using the private key of the
provider of the medical prescription item to provide independent
verification of the source of the modified information wherein a
subsequent provider of the medical prescription item may verify the
source of the modified data by using the public key of the provider
of the medical prescription item, and the source of the information
relating to the medical prescription by using the public key of the
provider of the stored information.
12. A method as set forth in claim 11 wherein additional medical
information is stored on a portion of the smart card in an
unencrypted form.
13. A method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the information
stored in unencrypted form comprises information related to medical
history information.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to methods and
apparatus for storing information, and more particularly relates to
storing medical information on electronic transfer media.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Prescriptions for medicines, drugs, or other medical items
are presently written or typed on pieces of paper. The paper is
then submitted to a pharmacist or other fulfiller of medical
prescriptions to be filled. Where the prescription has been
hand-written, it is left to the pharmacist to interpret the
handwriting, sometimes poor, of the prescribing medical
practitioner. Furthermore, the pharmacist must determine whether
the prescription may have been modified, or, indeed, whether the
prescription is valid or has been written on a stolen or otherwise
illegally acquired prescription form.
[0003] In the case of typewritten prescriptions, the handwriting
legibility is less of a problem, but the questions regarding
modification and validity may still remain.
[0004] In a highly mobile society such as the one in which we
presently reside, it is becoming increasingly difficult to have
prescriptions filled in areas where the particular medical
practitioner is not located, for reasons such as unfamiliarity with
the medical practitioner, his signature, and other indicia upon
which pharmacists or other entities for filling prescriptions may
rely to judge the validity of a particular prescription.
[0005] Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a secure method and
apparatus for holding medical prescription and other sensitive
medical data, perhaps provided by a medical practitioner to a
patient, and allowing the secure transfer of such data to others
that may have a reason to access the data. In addition, it is
desirable for a receiver of such sensitive medical data or
prescriptions to be able to validate the origin of the information
and the validity thereof. Furthermore, other desirable features and
characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from
the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the
appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings and this background of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The present invention will hereinafter be described in
conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like
numerals denote like elements, and
[0007] FIG. 1.is a partially schematic drawing showing certain
aspects of a smart card that may be used in conjunction with the
present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2. is a flow diagram showing how a smart card of FIG. 1
could be used for entering and filling a prescription while
practicing the present invention; and
[0009] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing how a smart card of FIG. 1
could be used for initiating a refill of a prescription remotely
while practicing the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The following detailed description of the invention is
merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the
invention or the application and uses of the invention.
Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory
presented in the preceding background of the invention or the
following detailed description of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a smart card 10
as used in the instant invention. For purposes of describing a
preferred embodiment of the invention, a smart card is shown, but
it is understood that any equivalent data transfer device other
than a smart card could be used, for example, smart card 10 may be
encapsulated in any convenient form so long as the functions
performed by the smart card 10 are similar in operation to that
shown in FIG. 1.
[0012] The use of a smart card has several advantages, including
portability, a known and accepted form factor, existing packaging
technology, existing semiconductor technology for use in smart
cards, and existing card reading technology.
[0013] Smart card 10 has embedded therein a microprocessor or
microcontroller unit (MCU) 12 which is coupled to a memory 14. The
memory 14 is shown here as being a device that is independent of
the MCU 12, but it is understood that the memory 14 may be a
circuit that actually resides on the same chip as the MCU 12 or is
included within the same package as the MCU 12. The memory 14 is
also shown as comprising three separate sections for storing
different types of information, but, again, memory 14 may be a
single memory circuit which is partitioned electronically by the
MCU 12. The memory is shown here having an information section 16,
a control section 18 and an "other" information section 20, the
significance of which memory sections will be described later in
conjunction with the explanation of the operation of the invention.
Memory 14 may also contain a control program (not shown) for
controlling the operation of the MCU 12, or the control program may
be formed as a separate circuit that resides on the MCU itself as
ROM 22. An input-output circuit 24 is coupled to the MCU 12 to
provide access for a user of the card to the contents of memory
14.
[0014] Further shown in FIG. 1 is a data entry/reader 26 which may
be used to upload or download information to or from memory 14.
Smart card 12 has contacts thereon (not shown) which are coupled to
the input output circuit 24 to facilitate the transfer of
information to and from memory 14 from an external source. Data
entry/reader device 26 may be coupled to the computer 28 of a user
of the smart card 10, and information from the computer 28 may be
downloaded through entry /reader device 26, through input output
circuit 24 and MCU 12 to the memory 14. Likewise data from memory
14 may be downloaded through MCU 12 and input/output device 24 and
data entry/reader 26 to the computer 28 of a user.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing how the smart card 10 of
FIG. 1 could be used for entering and filling a prescription while
practicing the present invention. A doctor or medical practitioner
prescribes a drug to a patient at 30. For example, the doctor may
prescribe Valium, 60 doses, 20 mG, refillable three times. The
patient gives his personal smart card 10 to the doctor who, by
using the doctor's computer 28 loads a portion of the prescription
information at 32, (for example: Valium, 20 mG, twice a day),
together with the doctor's name and the date of the transaction
into the information section 16 of the smart card 10 by downloading
the information through entry/reader device 26, through input
output circuit 24 and MCU 12 to the memory section 16 of memory
14.
[0016] A duplicate of the encrypted prescription information plus
the number of times the prescription is authorized to be filled 34
is entered into the control section 18 of memory 14 along with the
number of refills authorized. This information is encrypted in the
doctor's computer 28 with the private security key of the doctor,
part of a private key/public key security system.
[0017] The patient then proceeds to fill the prescription 36. The
patient presents his smart card 10 to a pharmacist or other
dispenser of medications or prescription filler.
[0018] The pharmacist reads the information file stored in the
information section 16 of memory 14 and, using his computer 28 and
data entry/reader 26, transfers the data from control section 18 of
memory 14 to his computer 28. This transfer may proceed in the same
manner in which money may be transferred from a smart card to
another device to pay for a transaction of some sort.
[0019] The pharmacist then retrieves the public key of the
prescribing doctor from a database of such public keys and decrypts
the data of the control section 18 of memory 14 at 40. The
pharmacist then proceeds to fill the prescription and, using
computer 28, modifies the information section 16 of memory 14
indicating that one fill of the prescription has been accomplished.
The pharmacist appends his name and the date of the transaction to
the modified.
[0020] The modified control information including information that
the prescription has been once filled is then encrypted at 44 using
the pharmacist's private key and the encrypted, modified control
information is transferred at 46 from the computer 28 through the
data entry/reader device 26 and the input/output circuit 24 and MCU
12 of smart card 10 back into the control information section 18 of
memory 14.
[0021] This process may be repeated several times at the same or
different pharmacies. Each time a pharmacist would modify the data
in the information section 16 and the control section 18 of memory
14 to indicate what action has been taken, until there are no more
refills remaining on the prescription.
[0022] The system described above provides increased security over
present prescription filling systems in which it is very difficult
for a pharmacist to determine with certainty that a prescription is
legitimate and has not been tampered with. This is accomplished by
the use of an encryption model based on the public key-private key
system or something equally easy to use and difficult to corrupt.
The pharmacist, for example, by the very ability to use the public
key of the prescribing doctor to decrypt the original prescription
is given assurance that the prescription was, in fact, written by
that doctor and has not been maliciously or illegally altered. The
filling pharmacist, on the other hand, by encrypting his change (a
reduction in the remaining number of refills available) in his
private key, give assurance to a subsequent filler of prescriptions
that the information of the smart card is genuine and has not been
altered.
[0023] Furthermore, in a highly mobile society such as the one in
which we presently reside, it is becoming increasingly difficult to
have prescriptions filled in areas where the particular medical
practitioner is not located, for reasons such as unfamiliarity with
the medical practitioner, his signature, and other indicia upon
which pharmacists may rely to judge the validity of a particular
prescription.
[0024] Accordingly, it is an important feature of the instant
invention to provide a secure method and apparatus for holding
medical prescription and other sensitive medical data provided by a
medical practitioner to a patient, and allowing the secure transfer
of such data to others that may have a reason to access the data.
In addition, it is desirable for a receiver of such sensitive
medical data or prescriptions to be able to validate the origin of
the information and the validity thereof.
[0025] Referring again briefly to FIG. 1, the portion of the memory
14 identified as "other" information may be used to store items
regarding the health of the user of the card, such as illnesses,
medical history, drugs being taken, allergies to medicines or other
substances, insurance information, and the like, any of which may
be of interest to emergency medical personnel in the event of an
accident or unconsciousness of the card holder. This information
may not be encrypted so as to allow easier access to the
information by emergency or treating personnel.
[0026] As noted above, in a highly mobile society such as the one
in which we presently reside, it is becoming increasingly difficult
to have prescriptions filled in areas where the particular medical
practitioner is not located, for reasons such as unfamiliarity with
the medical practitioner, his signature, and other indicia upon
which pharmacists may rely to judge the validity of a particular
prescription. Presently available systems are not secure enough to
allow the transmission of sensitive prescription information over
the public airway, for example through a cellular telephone
system.
[0027] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing how a smart card of FIG. 1
could be used for initiating a refill of a prescription remotely.
If a patient chooses to refill 50 his prescription by mail order,
the patient may access a person or entity for filling prescriptions
over the internet, for example, where a reader/entry device 26 may
be connected to the patient's computer 28. Alternatively, the
patient may utilize a "smart" cellular telephone 52 with a
provision for accepting the smart card 10 to transfer the
appropriate information on the smart card to the prescription
filling entity or on-line pharmacy. In either case, the information
section 16 of the memory 14 is copied at 54 to the on-line
pharmacy, as is the control information in section 18 of the memory
14.
[0028] The pharmacy then decrypts the control information using the
most recent pharmacist's public key 56, in the case of a refill, or
only the prescribing doctor's public key if the transaction is a
first filling. (If the transaction is a first filling of the
prescription, the on-line pharmacy would, of course, decrypt the
control information using only the prescribing doctor's public key
as set forth in the description of FIG. 2.) The public keys are
obtained from a public key database. The on-line pharmacy fills the
prescription 58.
[0029] The on-line pharmacy then appends the information section
data 60 with the on-line pharmacy's information as above with
reference to FIG. 2, and the information section as modified is
transmitted back to the patient's smart card. The on-line pharmacy
then updates the control information 62 that a second filling of
the prescription has taken place. The modified control information
is encrypted using the on-line pharmacy's private key, and the new
control information is transmitted back to the patient's smart card
64.
[0030] The remote system described above has the same security
attributes as the system and method described in FIG. 2. Since a
secure and verifiable encryption system is used in both cases, a
pharmacist, even a remote pharmacist has a great deal of confidence
that the prescription with which he is working is valid and
unaltered.
[0031] While an exemplary embodiment has been presented in the
foregoing detailed description of the invention, it should be
appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also
be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary
embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the
scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way.
Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those
skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an
exemplary embodiment of the invention. It being understood that
various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of
elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing
from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended
claims.
* * * * *