| CPC G06Q 10/1095 (2013.01) [G06Q 10/08 (2013.01); G06Q 10/087 (2013.01); G06Q 10/10 (2013.01); G16H 10/60 (2018.01); G16H 40/20 (2018.01)] | 22 Claims |
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1. A system to manage records and data in an orthopedic healthcare practice that is connected to a network, the system comprising:
a nonvolatile data storage memory in which patient data are stored;
a server that is connected to the network and is programmed to receive over the network and store in the nonvolatile data storage memory a set of individual patient data records of disparate form and format, wherein the set of individual patient data records comprises patient identification data for a plurality of patients scheduled for appointments at the orthopedic healthcare practice in a time window and patients' health data, the server also programmed to store inventory equipment records;
a check-in client computing device configured to check-in patients for appointments, and having a display screen and having a network interface coupled to the network;
wherein the server is further programmed to access and retrieve from the data storage memory patient data for the plurality of patients having an appointment during the time window, to translate the patient data to a form and format for an app running on the check-in client computing device, and communicating over the network the schedule of appointments in the time window to the check-in client computing device wherein the app programs the check-in client computing device to receive the schedule of appointments and to control the display screen on which the schedule of appointments is displayed;
wherein the app at the check-in client computing device programs the check-in client computing device to check in a patient for an appointment at the orthopedic healthcare practice at the check-in client computing device, comprising the programmed steps of:
identifying the patient and confirming the patient's name is on a list of patients having an appointment in the time window;
reviewing additional patient information as a gatekeeping function to determine if the patient has met certain requirements so that a scheduled appointment can be approved, including at least one of reviewing current insurance information for valid insurance of the patient, verifying that co-payment has been made, verifying that a prior test on the patient has been completed, and verifying that a prior healthcare practitioner examination of the patient has been completed before a scheduled test can be performed on the patient; and
locking the appointment of a patient if review of the additional patient information indicates that the patient has not met one of the requirements and therefore the scheduled appointment is not approved and communicating the locked appointment to the server for storing in the data storage memory;
a first hand-held computing device used by a first health care practitioner (HCP) having a network interface coupled to the network;
wherein the server is further programmed to translate the retrieved patient data for the plurality of patients having an appointment during the time window to a form and format for use by an app in the first hand-held computing device, to communicate the schedule of patient appointments to the app of the first hand-held computing device, the schedule showing the patient identifications for the plurality of patients scheduled and an appointment time corresponding to each patient, the displayed schedule including a listing of entries for a subset of the appointments scheduled at the orthopedic healthcare practice in the time window;
wherein the app running on the first HCP computing device further controls linking a schedule entry for a first appointment of the schedule to at least part of a first health record stored on the data storage memory that corresponds to a first patient associated with the first appointment;
wherein the app on the first HCP hand-held computing device receives a first user input from a healthcare practitioner and selects the first patient or the first appointment that is displayed on the schedule displayed on the first hand-held computing device for examination;
wherein, in response to receiving the first user input, the app at the first HCP hand-held computing device is programmed to display a link to at least part of the first health record if the appointment has been approved, or showing the appointment as locked until approval of the appointment is granted;
wherein the app of the first HCP hand-held computing device receives a second user input from a healthcare practitioner as to examination of the selected patient, the second user input selecting the link to at least part of the first health record;
wherein, in response to receiving the second user input, the app of the first HCP hand-held computing device programs the first HCP hand-held computing device to retrieve over the network from the server and the data storage memory, via the network interface coupled to the network and to store the examination of the selected patient in the data storage memory;
wherein the app of the first HCP hand-held computing device receives a third user input from a healthcare practitioner, the third user input including a prescription for an orthopedic brace for the first patient associated with the first appointment;
a second hand-held computing device used by a second health care practitioner (HCP) running an app wherein the app of the second HCP hand-held computing device includes a network interface coupled to the network and the app transmitting to the server that the brace has been obtained for the patient;
wherein the app of the first HCP hand-held computing device transmits to the app of the second HCP hand-held computing device the orthopedic brace information with a key code to allow the second healthcare practitioner to access inventory storage to obtain the orthopedic brace for the patient;
wherein the app of the second HCP hand-held computing device receives a fourth user input indicating that the orthopedic brace has been fitted to the patient and delivered to the patient;
wherein the app of the second HCP hand-held computing device transmits over the network to the server for storing in the data storage memory the fitting information and the delivery information of the orthopedic brace to the patient to update the patient's health data in the data storage memory; and
in the event that the brace did not fit the patient and has been returned to inventory storage, the app of the second HCP hand-held computing device communicates to the server to revise the inventory equipment records and the patient health data to show that the brace has been returned;
wherein the server is further programmed for accepting a fifth user input at an app of the second HCP hand-held computing device from a healthcare practitioner, the fifth user input entering treatment information comprising information pertaining to an examination of the patient associated with the first appointment and a patient diagnosis, for updating the patient's health data to reflect the treatment information, and for storing, in the data storage memory, at least part of the updated first health record;
wherein all apps of the HCP hand-held computing devices communicate in the same form and format of data for the communications recited herein and the server is programmed to communicate with all apps of the HCP hand-held computing devices in that form and format of data and to translate all disparate data types into that form and format.
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