U.S. patent application number 14/274457 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-04 for systems and methods for delivering on-call data for health care locations and physicians.
The applicant listed for this patent is Curtis W. Brown. Invention is credited to Curtis W. Brown.
Application Number | 20140249840 14/274457 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41342748 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140249840 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brown; Curtis W. |
September 4, 2014 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DELIVERING ON-CALL DATA FOR HEALTH CARE
LOCATIONS AND PHYSICIANS
Abstract
A system which contains real-time specialist on-call data is
disclosed. The system allows for the input and searching of
specialist on-call data for various health care locations. The
system is configured to allow a patient in need of the medical care
of a specialist not currently available at the patient's location
to search for the nearest health care location(s) with a physician
of the desired specialization presently or soon to be on call.
Methods of the same are also disclosed.
Inventors: |
Brown; Curtis W.; (Reno,
NV) |
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Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Brown; Curtis W. |
Reno |
NV |
US |
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|
Family ID: |
41342748 |
Appl. No.: |
14/274457 |
Filed: |
May 9, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12437453 |
May 7, 2009 |
8751255 |
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14274457 |
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61055348 |
May 22, 2008 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G16H 80/00 20180101;
G06Q 40/08 20130101; G16H 40/67 20180101; G06Q 30/0627 20130101;
G06Q 10/06 20130101; G16H 40/20 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/2 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 50/22 20060101
G06Q050/22; G06Q 30/06 20060101 G06Q030/06 |
Claims
1. A system for delivering on-call schedule information for health
care providers, comprising: a machine-readable database comprising
on-call schedule information for a plurality of health care
providers, and locations of health care facilities with which said
health care providers are affiliated; and a server computer system
configured to electronically receive a query comprising a health
service category and a patient location, the computer system
configured to respond to the query by searching the database to
find at least one health care facility having a health care
provider currently on-call, the health care provider having
expertise in said health service category, said health care
facility being within a certain distance of said patient
location.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer system is configured
to output an identification and location of the health care
facility found by searching the database.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein said query specifies said certain
distance.
4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of client
computer systems each configured to send the query to the server
computer system over an electronic network.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the server computer system is
configured to respond to the query by sending an identification and
location of the health care facility found by searching the
database to a client computer system that sent the query to the
server computer system, said client computer system configured to
allow a user to select the health care facility for receiving a
patient currently requiring care from said affiliated health care
provider.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the server computer system is
configured to respond to a selection of the health care facility by
a user of the client computer system by sending an electronic
notification of said selection to said selected health care
facility.
7. The system of claim 5, wherein the server computer system is
configured to respond to a selection of the health care facility by
a user of the client computer system by storing said selection in a
database of health care facility selections.
8. The system of claim 4, wherein the server computer system is
configured to receive a plurality of queries from said client
computers system, each query comprising a health service category
and a patient location, the server computer system being configured
to respond to each query by sending an identification and location
of one or more health care facilities found, if any, by searching
the database to the client computer system that sent the query to
the server computer system, said client computer systems each
configured to allow a user to select one of the health care
facilities, the server computer system being configured to record,
for each of said queries, (1) the health service category of the
query, (2) the patient location of the query, (3) a time of the
query, (4) one or more health care facilities, if any, found by
searching the database in response to the query, and (5) one or
more selections, if any, of said health care facilities whose
identifications were sent to a client computer system that sent the
query to the server computer system.
9. The system of claim 4, wherein the network comprises the
Internet.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the database includes contact
information for the health care facilities and/or health care
providers, the server computer system configured to output contact
information of the health care facility found by searching the
database.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer system is
configured to receive on-call schedule information for the health
care providers over an electronic network, the server computer
system configured to update the database with the received on-call
schedule information.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the database includes contact
information for patient transporters, the server computer system
configured to respond to the query by: searching the database to
find at least one patient transporter that can transport a patient
from the patient location to the health care facility found by
searching the database; and sending contact information for said
found patient transporter to a client computer system that sent the
query to the server computer system.
13. A method of identifying a health care facility, comprising:
sending a query over an electronic network to a server computer,
said query including a health service category and a patient
location; and receiving over the network an identification and
location of a health care facility having an health care provider
currently on-call, the health care provider having expertise in
said health service category; wherein the method is performed by
one or more computing devices..
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the query includes a
specification of a certain distance, the health care facility being
within the certain distance of the patient location.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising selecting the
received health care facility from a screen display.
16. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving contact
information of the health care facility over the network.
17. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving contact
information for a patient transporter that can transport a patient
from the patient location to the health care facility.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein said receiving comprises:
receiving over the network identifications and locations of a
plurality of health care facilities each having a health care
provider currently on call, each of the health care providers
having expertise in said health service category; and receiving
over the network, for one or more of the health care facilities, a
transportation option for transporting the patient from the patient
location to the health care facility.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein each transportation option
comprises: at least one carrier for transporting the patient from
the patient location to the health care facility; and for each
carrier, a time estimate for said transporting the patient.
20. The method of claim 13, wherein said receiving comprises:
receiving over the network identifications and locations of a
plurality of health care facilities each having a health care
provider currently on call, each of the health care providers
having expertise in said health service category; and receiving
over the network, for one or more of the health care facilities,
health insurance information related to health insurance accepted
by the one or more health care facilities in treating a patient.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 12/437,453, filed May 7, 2009, which in turn
claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) to U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 61/055,348, filed on May 22, 2008. The entire
disclosure of each of the foregoing priority applications are
hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field
[0003] The field of the disclosure relates generally to improving
the speed and efficiency with which a health care facility
currently having a doctor or physician with a particular specialty
on-call may be located and identified.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Currently there is no centralized database or data bank
which assists in finding specialists on a real-time basis to care
for patients requiring emergency care. In general, if a hospital
does not or cannot provide an emergency service which is required
for a patient, then the hospital must, and may be legally obligated
to, arrange for the patient to be transferred to a facility which
can provide that care immediately. For example, in certain
situations, the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active
Labor Act (EMTALA) or other state or federal law may require a
hospital to transfer a patient who comes to its emergency
department suffering from an emergency medical condition to another
hospital able to treat the patient. Searching for a hospital with a
physician of a desired specialization to treat the emergency
medical condition currently on call is now often done manually,
where the hospital telephonically calls up hospitals in an attempt
to identify another hospital or care facility with the required
specialist currently on call. It can an enormous amount of time and
effort to locate such an alternate facility which can provide the
needed care, and this lost time may be wasted to the detriment or
death of the patient.
SUMMARY
[0006] A database or data bank which contains real-time data of
health care facilities or hospitals with physicians of a particular
specialty that are on-call is disclosed. In some embodiments, the
database may be accessible through the Internet and can be
available to health care providers 24 hours a day. A website may
provide access to the database and provide information as to the
nearby locations of the appropriate institutions and care givers
for a given specialty. In various embodiments, the information may
include hospital names, physician names, locations, phone numbers,
distance from a requester's (or any given) location, and maps to
identified facilities. In some embodiments, additional information
may include transportation options for transporting the patient to
the identified alternate facility, providers and hospitals
requesting referrals and regional centers, etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0007] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment in which a server
communicates with multiple clients over a communications medium,
such as the Internet.
[0008] FIG. 2A schematically depicts the structures of the client
and server according to one embodiment of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 2B schematically depicts an embodiment of a data
structure containing on-call schedule data for two health care
facilities.
[0010] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a flow chart of an embodiment
of a method of inputting on-call data.
[0011] FIG. 4A schematically depicts a flow chart of an embodiment
of a method of identifying a health care facility which currently
has a physician on-call with a desired specialty.
[0012] FIG. 4B schematically depicts a flow chart of an embodiment
of a method of finding medical treatment for a patient.
[0013] FIG. 5 shows a sample home page and an embodiment of an
interface for entering address and/or location data and medical
specialty data for a query.
[0014] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a webpage with information
from the data bank.
[0015] FIG. 7 shows related links available for the user's perusal
in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0016] FIG. 8 is an embodiment of a data collection tool used to
collect on-call schedule data for the queriable data bank.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] The following detailed description is directed to certain
specific embodiments of the invention. However, the invention can
be embodied in a multitude of different ways.
[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates a server computer system 101
communicating with multiple client computer systems 102 over a
communications medium 103, such as the Internet. The server 101 can
include one or more server computer devices with a machine-readable
queriable database or data bank of on-call schedule information for
doctors and health care facilities. The clients 102 can be
configured to query the server's 101 database by use of, e.g., web
browsers.
[0019] FIG. 2A schematically depicts the structures of the client
102 and server 101 according to one embodiment of the invention.
The client system 102 may contain a display module 210 and a client
control module 220. The client 102 display module 210 and control
module 220 may comprise a web browser to allow the client to
interface with the server 101 over a communications medium, such as
the Internet. Although not illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2A, the
server computer system 101 and the client computer system 102 may
comprise various components typically included in a computer
system, such as CPU, disk memory or other memory, RAM, network
interfaces, peripheral device interfaces, etc.
[0020] The server system 101 may also comprise a server 101 control
module 250. Additionally, the server 101 may comprise server 101
data structures 270 which contain health care location (e.g.,
hospital or other health care facility), physician, health service
category (e.g., physician specialty), and on-call schedule data. As
used herein, health care location includes hospitals, urgent care
centers, health care facilities, or any other location at which a
patient may receive health care or medical attention, such as a
doctor's office or the scene of a medical emergency where medical
personnel are dispatched to the scene. Medical personnel may
include doctors, nurses, paramedics, or any other person providing
a medically related service. The data structures 270 may also
comprise other data, such as potential transportation carrier data
(i.e., companies that transport patients to hospitals and other
facilities), as well as potential health-related services data,
etc.
[0021] FIG. 2B schematically depicts an embodiment of a data
structure 270 containing on-call schedule data 271, 272 for two
health care facilities or locations. For each health care facility,
the data structure 270 may include date and time related
information regarding which medical specialties are scheduled to be
on-call or otherwise available at the health care facility. While
only medical specialty is illustrated in FIG. 2B, it is understood
that other on-call related data may be included in the on-call
schedule data 271, 272, such as doctor's name, phone number, etc.
As illustrated in data entry 273, a particular calendar day may be
divided into several shifts and hence data may be entered on a
shift basis. However, on-call schedule data may also be entered on
an hourly basis.
[0022] Broadly speaking, the medical specialties indicated in FIG.
2B represent health service categories available at the two health
care locations. As used herein, health service category may include
a medical specialty of a physician. In some embodiments, the health
service category may include the medical services of a
non-physician, such as the availability of a nutritionist or a
lactation consultant. In some embodiments, health service category
may include other medical services, such as special medical
equipment. In some embodiments, on-call schedule data 271, 272 may
represent the availability of medical staff, such as a technician,
to operate the special medical equipment. In some embodiments,
health service category may include broad medical services, such as
a labor ward. In some embodiments, the health service category may
indicate that a health care location has a particular department,
such as a psychiatric department.
[0023] Although not illustrated in on-call schedule data 272, 273,
data structure 270 may include also physical location data (e.g.,
street address or other location data) for the health care facility
for distance-based searching, as will be discussed further later.
In some embodiments, data structure 270 may also comprise other
kinds of medically related data. In some embodiments, data
structure 270 may include data related to health care locations,
such as medical equipment available at health care locations, the
insurance carriers with whom health care locations have a contract,
transportation options to health care locations, etc. Such data in
data structure 270 may also be used as criteria for a search query
or may be included in results to a search query, described in
various embodiments below.
[0024] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a flow chart of an embodiment
of a method of inputting on-call schedule data 271, 272 (FIG. 2B).
In the illustrated embodiment, participating health care locations,
facilities, and/or institutions may have an administrator who can
login 301 to a server through, for example, a website. In step 302,
after login 301, the administrator may input on-call schedule data
271, 272, which may include data such as doctor name, specialty,
time/date or shift doctor will be on-call, doctor contact
information, etc. The administrator may input this data 302 from
time to time, such as on a daily basis. Alternatively, the
administrator may input this data 302 on a monthly basis or any
other periodic basis. As changes to the schedule occur, the system
may be configured to allow the administrator to change the on-call
schedule for the administrator's facility. The data may then aid
the server in retrieving the on-call schedule data on a real-time
basis. Hence the server may use the entered data to answer queries
seeking the nearest health care location, hospital, health care
facility, or other participating institution with an on-call
specialist of a particular specialty. In another embodiment,
participating health care locations may send a copy of their doctor
on-call schedule to a central data entry location. In this
embodiment, a centralized administrator may enter the data from
various health care locations from time to time or on a regular
basis, for example, on a monthly basis.
[0025] In various embodiments, the administrator may input
additional information other than the on-call schedule information.
For example, in some embodiments, the administrator may be able to
input transportation carriers that the health care location uses or
prefers. In some embodiments, the administrator may be able to
input data related to the medical equipment or facilities available
at the health care location, e.g., MRI machine, hyperbaric chamber,
or other specialized equipment related to the diagnosis and
treatment of medical conditions. In some embodiments, the
administrator may be able to input insurance carriers or providers
with which the health care location currently has a contract or
other billing relationship. In this way, when searching for a
health care location, in various embodiments, a search may be
conducted using any of the above data as search criteria, alone or
in combination with other data.
[0026] FIG. 4A schematically depicts a flow chart of a method of
identifying a health care location or facility which currently has
a physician on-call with a desired specialty. As described above,
the central server 101 (FIGS. 1, 2A) will contain a database or
data structure 270 containing on-call schedule data 271, 272 for
participating health care locations, such as hospitals and other
health care facilities. In one embodiment, a subscriber or searcher
may login 401, enter patient location or other location 402, such
as an address or a zip code. The subscriber may then also input the
required or desired specialty 403 and submit the query 404. In
other embodiments, no login is required. In one embodiment, the
server will search the database containing real-time on-call
schedule data 271, 272, and return results such as the nearest
hospital(s) or other health care location(s) with the desired
specialty, contact information and street address (or other
physical location data) for the health care location(s), name of
the specialist, a map, etc. In some embodiments, a searcher may
include other search criteria, such as health insurance accepted by
the health care location. Hence the subscriber or searcher receives
the results 405. The subscriber may query the closest hospitals
within a given radius, or other similar search criteria, such as
the nearest N hospitals with no distance limitation (where N may be
the nearest 3, 10, or other user selected number).
[0027] It is understood that the nearest hospital may indeed be
far. For example, a child in Reno, Nevada may require the medical
attention or care of a pediatric neurosurgeon as soon as possible.
The condition of the child may be such that the child is
non-dischargeable and must remain under medical supervision until
the required medical care is received. The nearest pediatric
neurosurgeon currently on call may be hundreds of miles away, for
example, in a pediatric hospital in northern California. In this
example, the subscriber or searcher may then receive results
including the address and contact information of the pediatric
hospital in northern California as well as other hospitals which
may be even further away. Then the doctor or other medical
personnel presently attending to the child may decide to transfer
the child to one of the identified locations immediately.
[0028] In some embodiments, the server 101 may also provide contact
information for appropriate transportation carriers that could
transport the patient from the inputted location to the identified
hospital(s). For example, the server may return the contact
information of a helicopter carrier capable of transporting a
patient from the inputted location to the hospital identified as
having a specialist on-call of the requested specialty. Similarly,
the server may return the contact information of major region
centers that, although further away, provide a broad range of
health care services. Then the subscriber can decide on the best
alternative facility given the patient's condition. The subscriber
may be a hospital or other health care provider, such as a doctor's
office, or other subscribing facility. The subscriber may even be a
patient. For example, a patient may login to the patient's
insurance carrier or provider, and request information from the
insurance carrier regarding urgent care. The patient may be able to
input the desired specialty, and the insurance carrier could access
the server on behalf of the patient, and then provide the results
to the patient. It is understood that embodiments of the system can
be used to find emergent care. As used herein, emergent care can
include care needed by a patient who is suffering from an emergency
medical condition.
[0029] FIG. 4B schematically depicts a flow chart of a method of
finding medical treatment for a patient at a first health care
location, such as in the emergency room of a hospital or at the
scene of a medical emergency, such as an accident. In step 410,
medical personnel may determine that the patient requires a
physician of a particular specialty and that the patient is
non-dischargeable. For example, after an appropriate medical
screening examination, medical personnel (such as an emergency room
physician) may determine that the patient is suffering from an
emergency medical condition. Based on such a determination, the
patient may be classified as non-dischargeable or other
classification indicating that the patient is suffering from an
emergency medical condition and/or requires the care of a
specialist. In some embodiments, the classification may indicate
that the patient requires the care of the specialist immediately,
urgently, or emergently. In some embodiments, the classification
may indicate that the patient requires the care of the specialist
within a certain, specified time period. In view of the
classification, a medical record may be made to indicate the
classification. The medical record may be in any recording medium,
such as paper, magnetic voice or data storage, computer-based data
storage, etc. In some embodiments, a medical record may include a
written note, instruction, or indication. In some embodiments, the
medical record may be made by the medical personnel, or may be made
by someone other than the medical personnel, upon instruction by
the medical personnel. In some embodiments, the medical record may
be a voice recording made by the medical personnel. In some
embodiments, the medical record may be a recorded instruction to
transfer a patient to a hospital with a particular specialist on
call or with particular medical equipment or facilities.
[0030] Medical personnel may include doctors, such as emergency
room doctors, or emergency response providers who are dispatched to
the scene of a medical emergency. Medical personnel may be any
health care practitioner, such as a nurse. In some cases, the
medical emergency may be acute and it may be determined that the
patient must be seen by or receive the medical attention of a
specialist within less than one hour or even less than one half of
an hour. In other cases, the medical emergency may be less acute.
However, the patient may have a condition such that it is
determined that the patient must remain in medical care or under
medical supervision until a physician of a particular specialty
examines and treats the patient. If such a physician is not
available at the patient location, medical personnel may be
obligated to find another (a second) health care location where
such a physician of a particular specialty is currently, or soon
will be, available, and transfer the patient to the second health
care location. In step 415, a query is sent over an electronic
network to a computer. The query may include the patient location
as well as the desired specialty, e.g., the particular specialty
required by the patient. In some embodiments, the query may include
a certain time period such as the time within which the care of the
specialist is needed, e.g., within 24 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours, 1
hour, or less than 1 hour, and/or a maximum distance from the
patient's current location. In some embodiments, the query may
include information related to medical equipment required by the
patient, e.g., a hyperbaric chamber or other specialized equipment
for diagnosing or treating a medical condition. In some
embodiments, the query may include the patient's insurance carrier
or provider. In some embodiments, the query may be sent by a hand
held device.
[0031] In step 420, results are received for a second health care
location that currently has a physician available to treat the
patient at the second health care location. The results may include
multiple second health care locations. In some embodiments, the
results may include the distance between the patient location and
the second health care location(s). Hence, in some embodiments,
results for a returned health care location may include at least
one time estimate for travel between the patient location and the
second health care location(s). For example, in some embodiments,
the results may include suggested transportation options
(ambulance, helicopter, specific transportation providers, etc.)
for each returned health care location and/or estimated travel time
between the patient location and the second health care location
based on each suggested transportation option. The transportation
option may allow for transportation of the patient from the
patient's location to the second health care location within said
certain time period within which the care of the specialist is
needed. In some embodiments, the results may include health care
locations that do not currently have physicians of the required
specialty on-call at the moment, but expect to have such a
physician arriving soon, for example, when a physician of the
desired specialty will soon be arriving at the beginning of the
next shift and/or when the physician of the desired specialty will
be arriving at the second health care location within the time
within which the care of the specialist is needed. In some
embodiments, the results may include health care locations that do
not currently have physicians of the required specialty currently
on call, but expect to have such a physician arriving within either
the certain time period within which the care of the specialist is
needed or the estimated travel time between the patient location
and the second health care location. This may be indicated in the
results received. For example, the results may indicate that the
second health care location has the specialist currently on call.
If the specialist is not currently on call, but soon will be, the
results may indicate that the specialist is scheduled to arrive
within a certain amount of time, e.g., in one hour or thirty
minutes.
[0032] As discussed above, in step 420 (or 405 in FIG. 4A), results
are received for a second health care location that currently has,
or soon will have, a physician available to treat the patient at
the second health care location. In various embodiments, results
may include data related to transportation options, distance from
patient (first health care) location, estimated travel time between
patient and second health care location, data related to medical
equipment available at the second health care location, and other
medically relevant data relating to the facilities and capabilities
of the second health care location and patient transportation to
the second health care location. In some embodiments, the results
in step 420 may also include insurance related data. For example,
if a patient is transferred to a hospital or other health care
location that does not have a contract (e.g., non-contracting
health care location) with the patient's insurance provider, even
if emergently transferred, the insurance provider may not be
required to pay the entire bill to the non-contracting hospital. In
some situations, the patient cannot be billed for the difference.
In a preferred embodiment, the results may include insurance
providers that presently have a contract or other billing
relationship with the returned second health care location(s).
Hence, in some embodiments, the results may include health
insurance information related to health insurance accepted by the
returned second health care location(s) in treating a patient. In
some embodiments, the query submitted in step 415 (404 in FIG. 4A),
may also include insurance-related information, e.g., the insurance
provider of the patient and/or other insurance information. In such
embodiments, the results may be limited to health care locations
that accept the queried insurance carrier or the results may
include both health care locations that accept the queried
insurance carrier as well as non-contracting health care locations
and health care locations that otherwise do not accept the queried
insurance carrier.
[0033] In some embodiments the subscriber--such as a health care
facility searching for an alternative nearby health care facility
with a doctor currently on-call with a desired medical
specialty--may be able to select one of the alternate health care
facilities identified by the server 101 as having a specialist with
the desired medical specialty currently on-call. The server 101 may
further be configured to then electronically contact the selected
health care facility to inform it of the potential transfer of the
patient, and the specialized medical care required by the patient.
The server 101 may further be configured to verify if the patient
was indeed later transferred to the identified health care
facility, or to another facility.
[0034] Over time, transfer patterns may be discernable. For
example, in some embodiments the server 101 and/or system can be
configured to track data related to past searches. For example, the
server 101 may record data indicative of, and correlations between,
patient location, the medical specialty required by the patient,
the time of the query, the health care facilities identified as
presently having the needed specialist, the health care facility
selected for transfer, and the health care facility to which the
patient is ultimately transferred. This information may include
correlations between data for queried locations, queried
specialties, returned health care facilities, selected health care
facilities, and times of queries. More generally, the server may be
configured to identify correlations between any data inputted by
the subscriber in the query, and any results returned by the
server. Furthermore, the server may be configured to identify
correlations among the data inputted by the subscriber and
correlations among the results returned by the server.
[0035] In some cases, there may be no immediately available
hospitals nearby with the desired specialist on-call. In such a
case, the server may additionally comprise a system to
electronically contact participating nearby physicians to see if
they are available to come to the subscribing facility to treat the
patient. In other embodiments, the server may be able to
electronically contact participating physicians who are not nearby
the subscribing facility, but are nearby a regional center or other
appropriate alternative facility. The mode of contact may be, for
example and without limitation, a page or a text message asking the
physician if he or she is available to accept the transfer of the
patient to the alternative facility.
[0036] In some embodiments, the system can serve as a referral
service for subscribers (e.g., patients or doctors). For example,
there are times when a patient does not need an emergency transfer
and can be seen in a follow up session or appointment. In this case
there may be information provided in the data bank. Physicians,
hospitals, and other organizations who wish to participate in the
data bank may enter their information. Other subscribers who may
participate in such a referral service include, for example, a
subspecialist who may not be on call for a hospital currently,
regional stroke centers, chest pain centers, teaching institutions,
government institutions, and transportation companies to name a
few.
[0037] FIG. 5 shows a sample home page and an interface for
entering address and/or location data and medical specialty data
for a query as discussed above in relation to
[0038] FIGS. 4A and 4B. As illustrated, the home page may include a
field 510 for entering the present location of the patient. This
location may include the patient's home, patient's doctor's office,
hospital or other health care facility at which patient is
presently located, or any other location, such as the scene of a
medical emergency. The home page may also include a field 520 for
entering the desired specialty. Field 520 may preferably be a drop
down box to allow for a standard naming convention of medical
specialties, however, in some embodiments, text may also be input
into field 520. The home page may also include a search button 530
to initiate the sending of the query over an electronic network to
a computer or server 101 (FIGS. 1, 2A). The home page may include
relevant advertisements 540, such as medical transport carriers or
other relevant advertising.
[0039] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the retrieved information from
the data bank. In the illustrated example, a particular location in
Nevada was entered with the desired specialty being an
ear-nose-throat specialist (ENT). The results 601 include three
health care locations (e.g., hospitals) with an ENT specialist
currently on-call to care for the patient. As illustrated, the
results 601 include the distance between the entered location and
the identified health care location. In the illustrated embodiment,
clicking on a "MAP" hyperlink 603 related to a health care location
brings up a map of the health care location and/or directions from
the entered location and the health care location. Relevant
advertising 602 may also be displayed, for example, an
advertisement for a doctor of the desired specialty or an ambulance
service.
[0040] FIG. 7 shows related links 701 available for the user's
perusal. For example, a website may include a webpage with relevant
links 701 to other services. For example, the website may be used
as a medical services portal for other related searches and may
include a link to search for the nearest location with particular
medical equipment, such as a hyperbaric chamber or an MRI
machine.
[0041] FIG. 8 is a sample of a data collection tool 800 used to
collect on-call schedule data 271, 272 for the queriable data bank,
as discussed above in relation to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3. An
administrator associated with a particular participating health
care location 805 such as a hospital, urgent care facility, or
other health care facility may log into a website to input data
into the server 101 to be included in the on-call database. The
website may then direct the administrator to a data collection tool
800 as shown in FIG. 8. The tool 800 may include a calendar 810.
The calendar 810 may then be populated with the specialties of the
physicians scheduled to be on-call at the participating health care
location 805. As illustrated, the administrator has selected a
month (April 2008). For example, the administrator may further
select a particular day in the month, and the day may then be
divided into time shifts, as shown in FIG. 2B. The time shifts may
be hourly or even greater time resolution is possible. Each
participating health care location 805 may have particular settings
preferences, such as its on-call shift structure preference. In
this way, when accessing data collection tool 800, an administrator
for one participating health care location 805 may see, e.g., three
shifts per day requiring population with specialty information,
while an administrator for another participating health care
location 805 may see, e.g., two or four, depending on the
preference settings for the particular health care locations.
Furthermore, the tool 800 may be customizable in other ways. For
example, the administrator for each participating health care
location 805 may be able to upload information relating to all
physicians who are affiliated with the location 805. In this way,
the administrator may only need to enter data relating to each
individual physician and when that physician will be on call. The
tool 800 can then automatically correlate the data input by the
administrator to specialty related on-call data.
[0042] Although certain preferred embodiments and examples are
discussed herein, it is understood that the inventive subject
matter extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to
other alternative embodiments and/or uses of the invention and
obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. It is intended that
the scope of the inventions disclosed herein should not be limited
by the particular disclosed embodiments. Thus, for example, in any
method or process disclosed herein, the acts or operations making
up the method/process may be performed in any suitable sequence and
are not necessarily limited to any particular disclosed sequence.
Various aspects and advantages of the embodiments have been
described where appropriate. It is to be understood that not
necessarily all such aspects or advantages may be achieved in
accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, it
should be recognized that the various embodiments may be carried
out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group
of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other
aspects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
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