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Patent 2579081 Summary

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Claims and Abstract availability

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(12) Patent Application: (11) CA 2579081
(54) English Title: HOME HEALTH POINT-OF-CARE AND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM
(54) French Title: SYSTEME INFORMATIQUE POUR SOINS A DOMICILE ET ADMINISTRATION
Status: Dead
Bibliographic Data
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • G06Q 10/06 (2012.01)
  • H04W 4/00 (2009.01)
  • H04W 12/02 (2009.01)
  • G06Q 50/22 (2012.01)
  • H04N 5/30 (2006.01)
  • G01S 19/03 (2010.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • KABOFF, ANDREW W. (United States of America)
  • WEGNER, STEVEN A. (United States of America)
(73) Owners :
  • CELLTRAK TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (United States of America)
(71) Applicants :
  • CELLTRAK TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (United States of America)
(74) Agent: ROBIC
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued:
(22) Filed Date: 2007-02-16
(41) Open to Public Inspection: 2008-04-24
Examination requested: 2009-05-20
Availability of licence: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): No

(30) Application Priority Data:
Application No. Country/Territory Date
11/586325 United States of America 2006-10-24

Abstracts

English Abstract




A home health point-of-care and administration system and method that has at
least one
mobile device that is adapted to establish bi-directional communication with a
server system is
provided. Tracking and data communication software are associated with the
mobile device in
various embodiments. One or more input components of the mobile device allow
for input of
information from a user (such as a visiting home healthcare staff member) and
the mobile device
is adapted for receipt of instructional and other information from the server
system to build a
dynamic visit record. The record provides detailed information related to off-
site visits such as
tasks performed by the visiting staff member using the mobile device. Start
and finish times of
the visit may also be recorded. A global positioning system (GPS) application
operating in
conjunction with the communication device and server system may be employed to
monitor the
actions of the visiting staff member. Such information is provided in
individual visit records
transmitted to the remote server system and may be used for administrative
purposes.


Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.




CLAIMS

We claim:


1. A home care administration system, comprising:

a. a server system accessible via a communication network and comprising at
least one
application module for designing patient-specific, visit-specific care plans
comprising tasks to
be performed;

b. a plurality of mobile devices configured to bidirectionally communicate
with the server
system via the communication network, wherein the plurality of mobile devices
are
associated with a respective plurality of caregivers assigned to visit
respective patients,
wherein the server system transmits the care plans to the mobile devices so
that the associated
caregivers receive information regarding tasks to be performed on the
patients, and wherein
the mobile devices are used by the caregivers to transmit information
regarding performed
tasks back to the server system.


2. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein each of the
plurality of mobile devices
comprises at least one application for rendering a fillable form based on a
particular patient-specific,
visit-specific care plan transmitted by the server system to the mobile
device, wherein the caregiver
enters data into the fillable form, and wherein a representation of the
entered data is transmitted by
the mobile device to the server system.


3. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein communications
between the server system
and the plurality of mobile devices are encrypted.


4. The home care administration system of claim 2, wherein each of the
plurality of mobile devices
comprises data storage for temporarily storing the entered data if the mobile
device is temporarily

47



unable to communicate via the communication network, and wherein the
temporarily stored entered
data is transmitted to the communication network at a time when the mobile
device is again able to
communicate via the communication network.


5. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the
plurality of mobile
devices is a cell phone and wherein the communication network is a cellular
network.


6. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the
plurality of mobile
devices includes a GPS receiver so that the location of the mobile device can
be tracked, and wherein
the location is transmitted from the mobile device to the server system.


7. The home care administration system of claim 6, wherein the server system
tracks the location of the
caregiver associated with the mobile device using the transmitted location.


8. The home care administration system of claim 7, wherein tracking the
location of the caregiver allows
the server system to determine a route traveled by the caregiver and an amount
of time conducting a
visit at a patient location.


9. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising a point-
of-care caregiver
scheduling module to provide flexible scheduling for the caregivers.


10. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising an
electronic visit record and
care plan module to (a) collect and store information pertaining to visits
conducted by caregivers
based on the transmitted care plans, and (b) accept a selection of tasks to be
performed in a care plan
for a particular patient.


48



11. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising a
clinical messaging and
notification module so that messages may be broadcast to the plurality of
mobile devices.


12. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein at least one of
the mobile devices comprises
an imaging device, wherein the mobile device transmits at least one image of a
patient to the server
system, and wherein the transmitted images may be used to remotely assess a
condition of the patient.


13. The home care administration system of claim 12, wherein the caregiver
associated with the mobile
device records an annotation to accompany the at least one transmitted image.


14. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein the mobile devices
accept supply orders
from the caregivers and transmit the supply orders to the server system for
fulfillment.


15. The home care administration system of claim 1, further comprising a
disease management
intelligence module for applying rules to entered data transmitted from the
mobile devices to the
server system to determine whether additional action should be taken.


16. The home care administration system of claim 15, wherein the additional
action comprises
transmitting medical advice from the server system to the mobile device
associated with the caregiver
performing the visit from which the entered data originated.


17. The home care administration system of claim wherein the server system
includes an enterprise
application integration module for integrating with a third-party application.


18. The home care administration system of claim 17, wherein the third-party
application is selected from
the group consisting of a billing system, a payroll system, and a scheduling
system.


49



19. The home care administration system of claim 1, wherein the server system
comprises at least one
database storing information selected from the group consisting of patient
demographic information,
home care tasks, staff information, locations, visit records, visit status,
care plans, actual tasks that are
performed in each actual visit, clinical outcomes, and clinical measurements.


20. A method of administering home care, comprising:

a. determining tasks to be included in a care plan for a particular patient;

b. identifying a caregiver to perform a visit for the particular patient,
wherein a mobile device is
associated with the caregiver;

c. transmitting a representation of the care plan across a communication
network to the mobile
device;

d. receiving a data transmission across the communication network from the
mobile device,
wherein the data transmission includes data entered by the caregiver
responsive to the care
plan; and

e. storing the received data as a visit record for the particular patient.


21. The method of claim 20, wherein determining tasks comprises presenting a
user interface to a user,
wherein the user interface includes a listing of tasks that may be selected by
the user to be included in
the care plan.


22. The method of claim 20, wherein the care plan is patient-specific and
visit-specific.


23. The method of claim 20, wherein identifying the caregiver comprises
accessing a caregiver
scheduling application.





24. The method of claim 20, wherein the mobile device is a cell phone and
wherein communications with
the cell phone are conducted using a data plan associated with the cell phone.


25. The method of claim 20, wherein transmitting a representation of the care
plan comprises transmitting
metadata to the mobile device, wherein the mobile device renders a fillable
form from the metadata.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the data transmission includes multiple
transmissions in real-time

from the mobile device, and wherein each of the multiple transmissions is sent
when the caregiver
enters data into the fillable form on the mobile device.


27. The method of claim 20, further comprising transmitting a representation
of the visit record to a
billing system.


28. The method of claim 20, further comprising subjecting the visit record to
an approval process.

29. The method of claim 20, further comprising managing visit status by
assigning the visit a status
selected from the group consisting of a scheduled visit, an open visit, a
pending visit, an approved
visit, a denied visit, and an archived visit.


30. The method of claim 28, further comprising archiving the visit record
after the visit has been
approved.


31. The method of claim 20, further comprising tracking the caregiver by
receiving location information
from the mobile device associated with the caregiver.


51



32. The method of claim 31, further comprising determining mileage based on
the received location
information.


33. The method of claim 31, further comprising determining a visit time based
on the received location
information.


34. The method of claim 31, further comprising identifying a visit exception
based on the received
location information.


35. The method of claim 31, further comprising transmitting caregiver schedule
information to the mobile
device.


36. The method of claim 20, wherein the data transmission further includes
image data corresponding to
the patient.


37. The method of claim 20, wherein the data transmission further includes a
supply order sent by the
caregiver.


38. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

a. applying at least one rule to the received data; and

b. transmitting responsive information to the mobile device, wherein the
responsive information
is selected from the group consisting of medical instructions, medical advice,
and an alert
condition.


39. The method of claim 20, further comprising transmitting a representation
of the visit to a third-party
application.


52



40. The method of claim 39, wherein the third-party application is selected
from the group consisting of a
billing system, a payroll system, and a scheduling system.


41. A method for providing home care services, comprising:

a. receiving at a mobile device a data transmission across a communication
network from a
server system, wherein the data transmission includes a representation of
tasks defined by a
patient-specific care plan associated with a patient;

b. rendering a fillable form on a display on the mobile device;

c. accepting data inputs from a caregiver performing a visit for the patient,
wherein the data
inputs correspond to the tasks in the patient-specific care plan; and

d. transmitting the data inputs across the communication network to the server
system.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein receiving the data transmission comprises
receiving metadata
corresponding to the tasks to be performed at the visit.


43. The method of claim 41, wherein the mobile device is a cell phone and the
communication network is
a cellular communication network.


44. The method of claim 41, wherein the care plan is patient-specific and
visit-specific.


45. The method of claim 41, wherein the patient is located remotely from the
server system.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein accepting data inputs further comprises:

a. determining whether an entered data input is of the correct data type; and

53



b. upon determining that the entered data input is of the correct data type,
determining whether
the entered data satisfies an applicable rule;

c. upon determining that the entered data input is not of the correct data
type, presenting an
error indication to the caregiver.


47. The method of claim 46, wherein, upon determining that the entered data
does not satisfy the
applicable rule, taking a predetermined action.


48. The method of claim 47, wherein the predetermined action is selected from
the group consisting of
presenting a violated rule indication, transmitting an alert to the server
system, providing medical
information, and providing medical advice.


49. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

a. temporarily storing the data inputs if the communication network is
temporarily unavailable;
and

b. transmitting the temporarily stored data inputs across the communication
network at a time
when the communication network is available.


50. The method of claim 41, wherein transmissions across the communication
network are encrypted.

51. The method of claim 41, further comprising requiring the caregiver to
enter a passcode.


52. The method of claim 41, wherein the passcode is selected from the group
consisting of a PIN and a
username/password combination.


53. The method of claim 41, wherein the data inputs include a voice
annotation.

54



54. The method of claim 41, further comprising capturing image data pertaining
to the patient, and
wherein the data inputs include the image data.


55. The method of claim 54, wherein the image data includes an associated
patient identifier and an
associated visit identifier to link the image data to the patient and the
visit.


56. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

a. accepting a supply order from the caregiver; and

b. transmitting the supply order across the communication network to the
server system.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

a. displaying an inventory catalog on the display; and

b. processing an inventory catalog search initiated by the caregiver.

58. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

a. receiving real-time schedule information across the communication network
from the server
system; and

b. displaying the real-time schedule information to the caregiver.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

a. accepting a proposed schedule modification from the caregiver; and

b. transmitting the proposed schedule modification across the communication
network to the
server system.


55

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

HOME HEALTH POINT-OF-CARE AND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for administering home
care,
which, in particular, may include, for example, formulating and rendering care
plans, collecting
and reporting information from field based personnel, and other functions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The home healthcare industry is a multi-billion dollar field. Instead of
requiring patients
to undergo prolonged hospital stays or frequent visits to a clinic, a home
care agency brings the
medical services to the patient's location. Payment for services rendered is
primarily paid by
federal and state Medicare and Medicaid programs. Patient well-being often
depends on the visit
and attendance compliance of the visiting nurse, aide, or therapist, for
example.

Home healthcare agencies dispatch nurses, aides, and therapists to the homes
of patients
to perform required healthcare assessments, tasks, and other vital services.
The frequency and
length of time of a visit and the care provided by the visiting professional
are important to
obtaining a positive outcome and improving the health of the patient.
Government
reimbursement to a home healthcare agency is paid on a per episode (sickness)
basis; therefore,
the visiting nurse is often required to recommend the frequency and type of
visits by a caregiver.
Thus, it is important to ensure compliance by the caregiver in attending the
needed visits, and
knowing what tasks and services are required for the specific patient.
Tracking the duration of
the actual visit is also important. Homecare agency administrators are then
responsible for
processing patient visit data records generated by the visiting staff to be
transferred into billing,
scheduling, and payroll systems.

2


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Certain home healthcare reporting systems and processes rely on the visiting
staff to self
report their visit attendance performance. Disadvantageously, at times this
results in increased
miscommunication, fraud, and abuse by the visiting caregiver. The
administrative staff of the
home healthcare agency is faced with monitoring the off-site personnel by spot-
checking visit
attendance data or relying on patient complaints or feedback.

Another disadvantage to such self-reporting procedures is that the reporting
is generally
self-documented by visiting staff on paper reports. A full time visiting staff
employee can
perform over 1250 visits a year, which could require a typical administrative
staff person to
spend an average of five minutes or more per employee visit to process and
enter the information
into appropriate billing, scheduling, and payroll systems. This can be
inefficient and costly.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system that provides for improved
monitoring, reporting, data
communication, and/or tracking of information relating to field service
personnel such as visiting
staff in the home healthcare field.

3


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. I is a representative system diagram illustrating a home heath point-of-
care and
administration system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating representative modules that
may be
included in an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2a is a flow chart illustrating the steps associated with initiating and
establishing bi-
directional communication with the communication device and remote server
system.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the steps associated with an office
administrative process
as part of the home care administration system.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a field personnel visitation
process
associated with a communication device and related tracking as part of the
home care
administration system.

Fig. 5 is an illustrative diagram representing relationships between
communication device
field service users/agents, patients, visits by field service users/agents and
tasks performed.

Fig. 6A shows pictorial representations of a display screen for a mobile
device, showing
an initialization procedure, according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6B shows pictorial representations of a display screen for a mobile
device, showing
data inputs to complete tasks and a conclusion procedure, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 6C shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing a map-based tracking application, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

4


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Fig. 7 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing a patient database, according to one embodiment of the
invention.
Fig. 8 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server

computer, showing a task-list editing application, for designing a patient's
care plan, according
to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing a patient record editing interface, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 10 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing a staff scheduling application, according to one embodiment
of the invention.
Fig. 11 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server

computer, showing a login screen according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 12 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing a visit status summer screen, according to one embodiment of
the invention.
Fig. 13 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server

computer, showing an "open visits" summary screen, according to one embodiment
of the
invention.

Fig. 14 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing an "open visit" details screen, according to one embodiment
of the invention.
Fig. 15 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server

computer, showing a "pending visits" summary screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Fig. 16 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing a "pending visits" details screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 17 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing an "approved visits" screen, according to one embodiment of
the invention.
Fig. 18 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server

computer, showing a "patient reports" summary screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 19 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer, showing a sample patient report, according to one embodiment of the
invention.
6


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A home health point-of-care and administration system is provided that, in
various
embodiments, may track visiting staff members during working hours via a
global positioning
system (GPS) and further prompt the visiting staff to electronically interact
with software-based
tracking and data communication programs associated with a mobile device, such
as a mobile or
wireless telephone or other communication device. The tracking and
communication programs
associated with one or more computer-based communication devices provide for
bi-directional
communication and build a patient visit record dynamically based on the
specific services

required for the patient. For example, the visiting staff may enter a patient
record number, alpha
numeric data, or other data into the mobile device via an input device, such
as a keypad,
touchscreen, or other device, to start a visit. A visit record is, in turn,
generated and transmitted
to an office administration server system over a communication network such as
the Internet and
alerts the administration that a visit is starting for a specific patient. In
one example, the server
system automatically responds to the visit that is starting and sends back to
the visiting staff
member's mobile device the specific list of tasks, vitals, and services to be
performed for the
patient. Alternatively, information and task instructions may be manually
inputted by an
administrator and sent to the visiting staff member.

By receiving this information from the administrative computer-based server
system, the
visiting staff member knows specifically what patients are on his or her
schedule, an optimized
route to take to visit each patient, what to do for that patient, and a
patient specific visit record
may be generated. The administrative staff persons at the home office (server
system) are
informed that a visit has started, of the time and date it started, of the
staff person that is
performing the homecare visit, and what the visiting staff person was told to
do for the specific

7


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

patient. By way of example only, the present specification describes
embodiments related to
systems and methods of data collection, reporting and tracking of in-field
home healthcare
personnel. However, it is understood that the present invention may encompass
and apply to
various systems and methods and is intended to relate to alternative
embodiments for use in
communicating information with, and the monitoring of, any type of field
service personnel.

The home health point-of-care and administration system starts a visit by
creating a
patient and visiting staff electronic visit record at the point-of-care. The
record may selectively
be customized to each specific patient each time a new visit is started. The
record allows the
visiting staff person to enter patient-specific vitals, identify patient
conditions, report service
performed and a clock associated with the mobile telephone communication
device
independently records the visit time, and provides it in the visit record.
Preferably, the mobile
telephone communication device employed by the visiting staff user is capable
of
communicating data over the Internet. The communication device may
alternatively be any type
of telephonic device, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer
(PC), or any other type
of bi-directional communication device capable of transmitting and receiving
data. The
communication device is preferably a computer software-based device that has
an associated
memory for storage of data communication software and personnel/device
tracking software. It
is understood that the communication and tracking software can be operated on
various types of
mobile or cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDA), portable
personal computers
(PC) or any type of mobile device capable of conducting bi-directional
communications that can
receive and enter alpha and numeric data from a field location such as at the
point-of-care
location of a patient. The completed visit record is then electronically sent
by the mobile device
over the Internet (or other communication network) to a server system and the
open visit record

8


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

in progress is automatically filled out and completed. A real-time paperless
dynamic patient
specific record is accordingly provided to appropriate administrative staff
that may include, for
example, vital patient data in real-time. Provision of this record in real-
time tends to reduce
errors, expedite the data entry, reduce expenses and improve patient outcomes
and reduces the
chances of staff fraud and abuse.

In one aspect, the system provides electronic data collection and reporting.
Interaction
with the communication device, such as a wireless portable telephone, by the
user establishes a
visitation record through real-time data communication with the application
server computer. A
complete visit compliance record is created in paperless fashion and real-time
confirmation of a
completed visit is provided. A global positioning system (GPS) is also
associated with the
communication device (as well as the server system) and provides for real-time
tracking and
recording of the user (such as visiting homecare staff personnel) and is able
to determine a
traveled path of the user. Estimated speed and length of travel are used in
conjunction with the
GPS application for automatically calculating accurate mileage of the user.
User travel is
tracked from location to location such that mileage to the 100a' of a mile may
be determined. A
shortest distance from location to location as the user is traveling between
visits may be
determined. The travel path between locations or visits is automatically
determined and recorded
in real-time for accurate mileage recordation.

In one example, the communication device employed includes a keypad,
touchscreen, or
alternative input device for inputting information into the computer memory of
the
communication device. The communication device is a computer software-based
unit having a
clock for automatically keeping track of time and date information. When the
user begins or
starts a visit, for example to the home of a patient, the user may move
through a menu provided

9


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

on a screen of the communication device and select a "start visit" application
through interaction
with the input device. The user may then enter an identification number
associated with the
patient or enter other related visit data which is recorded in real-time. Once
the visitation is
started and the time and date information is recorded, the user may input
various information
relating to the patient in response to various prompts that appear at the
display of the

communication device, as seen in Figs. 6A and 6B.

The software-based client application associated with the communication
device, that is
operated by the user, provides various screen displays or prompts to the user
at the start of a visit.
Additionally, the client applications will provide displays to the user
related to the assignment of
various tasks to be performed by the user during the in-field activity (e.g.
during a patient visit).
The displays or prompts provided by the client application instruct the user
to input information
related to the in-field activity such as information related to a patient and
a patient visit (see Figs.
6A and 6B). Various tasks are performed and completed by the user and certain
requested

information is inputted and stored in memory of the communication device. Once
the tasks are
completed and the user inputs necessary information, for example information
relating to a
patient and a patient visit, the client application may provide a finish visit
prompt (e.g. providing
a "finish" display on the display screen) to end the visit and complete
recordation of the
associated information related to the visit. Time and date information are
recorded as well as the
information accumulated in relation to the visit. Such information associated
with the visit may
be stored in memory at the computer-based communication device for
transmission to a remote
server system.

The data information inputted and accumulated at the client communication
device is
transmitted through a communications network, such as the Internet, and is
recorded at a server


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

system. As discussed, the visit information is captured and stored in real-
time. A record is
created and saved relating to the visit (for example a patient specific record
containing
information associated with the patient visit) and may be used for
administrative purposes. The
server system may include a web portal computer for establishing proper
communication through
the Internet or World Wide Web with the communication devices operating in the
field. The
web portal computer may be coupled to an office/administrative computer or,
alternatively, to a
display unit for retrieval and viewing of the record information stored that
has been received
from the in-field communication devices. The web portal computer (either alone
or in
conjunction with other computers or display devices) may provide for the
viewing of open visits.
An administrator reviewing such records may view, edit or approve of visits
and the tasks
performed during visits as the information is received by the server system in
real-time.
Alternatively, such editing or approval of information relating to visits may
be performed in an
automated fashion by the web portal server or by other computer devices
associated therewith.
The records established with completed visits (such as records involving home
care patient

visits) are archived at the server system. The server system may further
provide reporting
capabilities. Thus, from the communication device, a dynamic electronic record
that is
personalized to a patient, patient visit or other in-field activity is
automatically sent via the
Internet for receipt by a remote server system.

The information is sent in real-time (and in a paperless fashion) such that a
detailed
electronic visit record is provided. For example, for a home visit of a
patient, the established
record reflecting the visit may selectively include information relating to
the services and tasks
performed, the vitals obtained relating to the patient, the start/finish times
of the visit,
information relating to billing, information relating to the in-field health
care person using the

11


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

communication device, and any other information associated with the visit. The
real-time bi-
directional communication between the server and the communication devices in
the field allows
for proper visit compliance to be achieved and detailed paperless records to
be established for
individual visits, which may then be used for monitoring, billing, reporting
or other
administrative purposes.

As described herein, the home health point-of-care and administration system
includes a
GPS application for real-time tracking and recording of off-site personnel as
they perform tasks
in the field. The GPS application allows for monitoring, from the remote
server system (or
alternative office or computer-based monitoring location), of the position or
location of the field
staff members as they possess and carry associated communication devices with
them from visit
to visit. The GPS application is programmed to identify the daily path of
travel as the field
personnel users transport their respective communication devices with them as
they move from
each visit location. The GPS application determines the location coordinates
of the
communication device held by the off-site personnel user and sends the
coordinates from the
communication device to the remote server system, for example, at
predetermined time intervals
such as every two minutes. The tracking performed by the GPS application
provides for real-
time web mapping and accurately tracks the device location within a particular
distance range
(e.g. 300 ft.) Automatic geofencing of different locations (such as different
patient homes) may
selectively be performed. The GPS component of the system allows for real-time
communication of location information to the remote server system including
date/time
information, as well as location and duration in place for the visiting staff
member. The travel
path of the visiting staff member is also mapped out for display at the remote
server system and

12


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

information such as: date and times, each visit location, duration at each
visit, and travel
time/speed are selectively provided, as seen in Fig. 6C.

Referring now to Fig. 1, one embodiment of a home health point-of-care and
administration system 100 includes one or more mobile devices 102 that may be
used by a home-
care staff person and/or caregiver to bidirectionally communicate 110, 112
with base/office
server system 104. The bidirectional communications 112 are preferably over
the Internet 106,
which the mobile device 102 may access through a gateway 108. The preferred
protocol used to
communicate data is HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol with SSL (Secure Socket
Layer)
encryption for security).

Where the mobile device 102 is a cell phone, the gateway 108 may comprise a
cellular
tower, base station, and Internet gateway, so that the mobile device 102
communicates with the
gateway 108 via a cellular signal 110. Other alternatives for facilitating
wireless bidirectional
communications could call for the gateway 108 being a wireless gateway at a
patient's home or a
private or municipal WiFi access point. As yet another alternative, the mobile
device 102 may
be a satellite phone, and gateway 108 could include a satellite communication
system that
provides access to the Internet 106. The particular implementation of the
bidirectional
communication link between the mobile device 102 and the server system 104 may
vary
depending on what systems are available in the relevant home care region being
serviced. The
frequency of data transmissions will depend on the particular activity that is
in process; however,
a typical schedule might be a morning download to obtain schedule information,
along with
periodic transmissions as visits are completed. For example, a home infusion
therapy visit might
call for relatively infrequent transmissions (e.g. batch files transmitted
three times per day), since
an infusion is generally a slow process, with relatively little data to
report. In contrast, a battery

13


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

of clinical measurements performed by a nurse's aide may be transmitted after
each
measurement is taken, for real-time reporting, which can be useful if disease
management
intelligence is included in the system (see Fig. 2, module 216).

The mobile device 102 is preferably a small (easily portable) wireless device
that
includes at least a display and a data entry mechanism, such as a keypad,
keyboard, touchscreen,
and/or voice-recognition input system. Other physical features that may be
included as part of
the mobile device 102 are (a) a transceiver, such as a cellular phone and/or
wireless modem (data
transmissions would preferably made using a cell phone's data plan), (b) an
imaging device, such
as a digital camera and/or video camera, (c) a GPS (Global Positioning System)
module, (d) an
RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) module, and/or (e) a Bluetooth (or other
PAN (Personal
Area Network) module. The mobile device 102 is preferably carried by each home-
care staff
person and/or caregiver that operates in the field. These may include, for
example, nurse aides,
nurses, therapists, physician assistants, and other medical technicians and/or
professionals.

To provide the functionality afforded by various embodiments of the present
invention,
the mobile device 102 preferably includes software, hardware, firmware, or a
combination of
these, to allow the mobile device 102 to act as a client device with respect
to the server system
104. As such, the mobile device preferably includes one or more resident
software applications
and associated data storage so that the mobile device can be configured to
provide one or more
of the following example features:

= Require a user to enter a username and/or password to prevent unauthorized
access to the mobile device and underlying accessible patient data;

= Exchange, update, approve, and/or deny staff schedules with the server
system
104;

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CA 02579081 2007-02-16

= Transmit position updates to the server system 104, using the GPS module;

= Accept a patient identification input from the user for an upcoming or
current visit
to the residence or current location of a particular home care patient;

= Download from the server system 104 a patient-specific care plan
corresponding
to the particular home care patient;

= Dynamically render on the mobile device 102 one or more electronic data
collection forms corresponding to the downloaded care plan;

= Prompt the user to enter data corresponding to the electronic data
collection
forms;

= Accept and validate data entered into the electronic data collection forms
by the
user;

= Receive transmissions from telemedicine devices, such as Bluetooth-enabled
weight scales, pacemakers, blood-pressure monitors, and others;

= Transmit the entered data and/or completed electronic data collection forms
to the
server system 104;

= Upon determining that no communication link is present, storing entered data
offline (on the mobile device) for a period of time, until a communication
link is
again present;

= Receive and display clinical messaging and/or notification from the server
system
104;

= Capture clinical images and/or video of patient features, such as surgical
and
wound conditions;



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

= Accept voice annotations from the user, where the voice annotations may be
associated with the captured clinical images or other data inputted by the
user into
the mobile device;

= Accept supply order requests from the user and transmit the supply order
requests
to the server system so that they may be fulfilled; and

= Receive messages and alerts from the server system 104 that relate to real-
time
health conditions for a patient undergoing a home care visit.

The above features are merely examples of some of the functionality that may
be provided on the
mobile device 102, in accordance with various embodiments of the present
invention. These
features may be supported by a set of application components written in
programming languages
such as mobile computing languages (e.g. J2ME or BREW), running on the mobile
device 102.

The server system 104 in the illustrated embodiment includes a web portal
server
computer 114 and one or more associated displays 116, a firewall 118, one or
more database
servers 120, and a billing / accounting system 122. The server system 104 may
be a centralized
nation-wide central system that provides administration services for several
or many home care
offices in different regions. Alternatively, each home care region could be
serviced by one or
more dedicated server systems 104. Multiple server systems 104 and/or multiple
components
within the server system 104 may be included in order to provide redundancy
and/or load
balancing.

The server computer 114 acts as a server to the mobile device 102 and is
preferably
provided with a software based web server application that performs many
actions such as
dynamically managing workforce schedules; viewing open visits; viewing,
editing and approving

visits; archiving completed visits; and reporting based on monitoring and
communicating visit
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CA 02579081 2007-02-16

information with the mobile device 102 used by caregivers and or other home-
care staff in the
field. Since bidirectional communications with the mobile device 102 are
preferably made over
the public Internet 106, the server computer 114 is preferably connected to
the Internet 106
through the firewall 118.

The one or more displays / terminals 116 may be used by office-based staff to
create,
modify, and otherwise interact with care plans, patient information, staff
schedules, and other
data. Examples of such devices 116 include desktop PCs, laptop computers,
Tablet PCs,
workstations, or any computer devices running on any Operating System that can
connect to a
World Wide Web server, retrieve, and display web pages.

The database server 120 may selectively store various types of data that
provide
assistance in the management and administration of information, such as visit
records and field
service monitoring reports, obtained as a result of activities (such as home
care visits) performed
by field service personnel or agents. The database server 120 may be coupled
to a local or

remote corporate billing / accounting system 122 to provide appropriate
billing information
based on tasks performed by the field service personnel. A non-exclusive list
of the types of
information (fields) that may be stored in one or more databases includes:
patient demographic
information, home care tasks, staff information, locations, visit records,
visit status, care plans,
actual tasks that are performed in each actual visit, clinical outcomes, and
clinical measurements.
The one or more databases are preferably of any RDBMS (Relational Database
Management
System) based. For example, a care plan may be maintained as a table having
rows and columns
corresponding to the stored fields. XML (eXtensible Markup Language) based
data structure
with associated tags and metadata are preferably used for storing and sharing
the home care
information among the components of the system 100.

17


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Fig. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating representative modules 200
that may be
included in an embodiment of the present invention. The modules include an
underlying base
and mobile framework module 202 and a plurality of functional modules 204-220.
Each of these
modules will now be described in order. While all of the representative
modules 200 may be
included in certain embodiments of the present invention, some embodiments may
be omitted in
alternative embodiments, depending on the particular functionality to be
provided by the home
care administration system.

Base and mobile framework

The base and mobile framework 202 is the foundation layer of the home care
administration system 100 and is what allows the other modules 204-220 to
operate. Based on
the framework 202, applications in the system 100 are designed and tuned to
provide optimal
performance in the mobile home care and home health settings. For example, the
framework
includes, but is not limited to, components such as dynamically rendering data
collection forms
on the mobile device 102; dynamically rendering applications from the server
system 104 to the
mobile device 102; and managing data types, rules, validation, offline data
storage, security, and
data transmission between the mobile device 102 and the server system 104.

For example, dynamic rendering of data collection forms on the mobile device
104 may
include the appearance on the mobile device 102 of a particular electronic
fillable medical form
to be filled out by a caregiver during a patient visit. In legacy systems,
such as paper-based
systems, forms were often designed to look the same regardless of what tasks
were to be
performed for a particular visit, in order to promote uniformity and prevent
mistakes in
complying with standards set by Medicare and other organizations. However, the
framework
202 provides a patient-specific, visit-specific form for each visit to a
patient. While further

18


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

details are provided elsewhere in this specification as to how the content for
such a form is
generated, the framework 202 includes components in the mobile device 102
and/or server
system 104 that transmit at least an indication of this content from the
server system 104 to the
mobile device 102, so that the mobile device 102 will display a fillable form
that includes only
the patient-specific, visit-specific tasks to be performed.

At least two possible techniques for rendering forms on the mobile device 102
vary in the
amount of processing performed by the mobile device 102 versus the server
system 104. A first
technique is for the server system 102 (and, in particular, an application on
the server computer
114, to send task metadata to the mobile device 104. The task metadata could
indicate, for
example what specific tasks are to be performed and the kind of data expected
to be entered in
response to performing those tasks (e.g. numbers, characters, integers, binary
inputs, or even
particular expected ranges, such as a range for body temperature or blood
pressure). A second
technique would be for the server system 104 to create the form on the server
side and send the
created form as a fillable patient-specific, visit-specific form to the mobile
device 102. The
application on the mobile device 102 would then display the fillable fonn and
accept data entries
from the caregiver. The decision of whether to use the first technique or the
second technique, or
a variation of either one, will depend on several factors, such as the
bandwidth of the
transmission media (e.g. 110, 112), the processing capabilities of the mobile
device 102, and
other factors. The presently preferred embodiment utilizes the first technique
to account for
relatively slow transmission rates supported by many current cell phone
systems. The term
"fillable form" is intended to broadly compass text prompts, a graphical form,
audio prompts,
and other forms for collecting data.

19


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Dynamic rendering of applications from the server system 104 to the mobile
device 102
allows application(s) on the mobile device 102 to be updated and/or
supplemented without
frequent recompilations. By specifying, through use of the server system 104,
client or company
specific requirements, (such as graphical menus, layouts, widgets, and data) a
mobile application
may be built or rendered on the fly. The server sends the actual application
as well as the
metadata concerning the visit-specific form.

Managing data types, rules, validation, offline data storage, security, and
data
transmission are other tasks that are preferably handled by the framework 202.

Since the system 100 is designed to present the caregiver with fillable
patient-specific,
visit-specific forms, it becomes beneficial to assess the data being entered
by the caregiver into
such forms. By sending metadata to the mobile device 102, the server system
104 can provide
instructions on how the application on the mobile device 102 treats data and
what kind of data is
expected (e.g. a particular range for a blood pressure reading). Expected data
types may include,
for example, number, character, integer, binary value, etc. In addition, the
metadata might also
include one or more rules for at least some of the data entries made by the
caregiver. An
example of a rule is that an entered pulse rate cannot equal zero or a
negative number. Finally,
to ensure that the entered data matches the expected data, validation can be
performed to check
the entered data values against the rules.

Offline data storage may be necessary in at least two cases: while the mobile
device 102
is out of wireless data service coverage, so that the data needs to be stored
until coverage is
present again, and (2) when data has just been collected and entered into the
mobile device 102,
but not yet transmitted to the server system 104. Such offline data storage is
preferably in



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

memory or some other storage medium that maintains its contents even if the
device 102 is
powered down.

Security may include at least two aspects. A first aspect is directed to
assessing whether
the possessor/user of the mobile device 102 is authorized to access the mobile
device 102. This
assessment could include requiring the user to enter a PIN (Personal
Identification Number) or
username and password, for example, when the mobile device 102 is turned on or
a home care
application is started up on the mobile device 102. This is to prevent an
unauthorized user from
accessing (1) applications pertaining to the system 100, and (2) offline data
that may be stored on
the mobile device 102. Such offline data could include, for example, clinical
patient
measurements that have been stored offline (on the mobile device 102) while
the mobile device
102 is out of wireless data service coverage or even data that has just been
collected and entered
into the mobile device 102, but not yet transmitted to the server system 104.
The second aspect
is directed to protecting data as it is communicated across communication
links 110/112. The
second aspect may be addressed by encrypting the data and deleting offline
data from the mobile
device 102 once it has been sent to the server system 104.

Point-of-care caregiver scheduling module

The point-of-care caregiver scheduling module ("scheduling module") 204
enables the
home care office and caregivers to dynamically create, publish (provide
appropriate notification),
and synchronize schedules bi-directionally in real-time, while caregivers are
in the field. There
are two aspects to these scheduling functions. First, as opposed to being only
static, the
scheduling module 204 allows a caregiver's schedule to change while the
caregiver is in the field
(e.g. conducting a visit at a patient's home). For example, while a first
caregiver is conducting a
visit at a first patient's home, the home office might receive notice that a
second caregiver has

21


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

become ill and will be unable to complete his or her previously scheduled
visits. The home
office can then update the first caregiver's schedule so that the first
caregiver can cover the visits
that the second caregiver was previously going to conduct. The first caregiver
will then receive
notification of the updated schedule and can go to the next patient's home
accordingly. As

another example, caregiver schedules might be changed if a worker at the home
office notices
that several visits are in a particular area or location (e.g. at a single
nursing home), so that it
would be more economical and efficient for a single caregiver to conduct all
the visits for that
data at that particular location. A second aspect to the scheduling functions
handled by the
scheduling module is its bidirectional nature. Workers in the field (e.g.
caregivers) are able to
set schedules according to predefined rules. For example, if this
functionality is present and
enabled, a higher-skilled worker (e.g. nurse) might set the schedule of a
lower-skilled worker
(e.g. nurse's aide), either directly or by updating his or her own schedule.
If a nurse updates her
schedule to conduct a wound-inspection visit with a bum victim, such an update
might also
include updating the schedule of a nurse's aide to visit the same patient at
the same time or
directly after, to apply new bandages, for example.

In a preferred embodiment, the point-of-care caregiver scheduling module acts
as a
workforce management system that generates work schedules dynamically based on
a plurality
of worker-based variables, patient-based variables, or other variables.
Example worker-based
variables include (1) a worker's location, (2) a worker's expertise level,
and/or (3) whether a
worker has previously conducted a visit at a particular location. Example
patient-based variables
include (1) a patient's location, (2) a patient's care plan or medical plan
status (e.g. covered
services/timing versus non-covered services/timing), and/or (3) a patient's
disease-state or
condition. The workforce management system may be particularly beneficial
where an

22


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

appointment is cancelled and a worker needs to be efficiently rescheduled, in
emergency
situations, where a worker needs to be rescheduled because of a change in a
patient's disease-
state or condition, or in the situation where a patient's insurance coverage
would expire after a
certain date so that a visit should be conducted before expiration.

The aforementioned workforce management system preferably interfaces with the
GPS
tracking and travel management module to obtain worker location information.
Patient
information, such as location information, may be obtained from home office
records (such as a
patient database), for example. Dynamic generation of schedule information
based on location
information may be accomplished by selecting visits in order to minimize a
travel-route
cumulative distance, as determined by accessing maps databases, such as those
offered by
NAVTEQ or Tele Atlas NV, for example.

Electronic visit record and care plan module

The electronic visit record and care plan module 206 preferably comprises
software
applications located on the mobile device 102 and at the server system 104
(such as on the server
computer 114) for electronically creating, storing, communicating, and
monitoring information
on patients, visits, tasks, care plans, and other home-care-related
information. Legacy systems
typically were paper-driven and labor intensive, due to the prevalence of
paper forms that were
generic, rather than patient-specific and/or visit-specific. In contrast, the
electronic visit record
and care plan module 206 provides customizable care plans that may be
downloaded in real-time
to a caregiver's mobile device 102. Customization may include, for example,
the ability to add
tasks to a visit "on-the-fly," such as throughout a particular patient's
overall home care period, as
the patient's condition improves, declines, or otherwise changes. In addition,
different tasks can
be added by different supervisory care persons, such as nurses, doctors, or
therapists, to be

23


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

performed by the caregiver in the field. Such care plan customization may be
accomplished, for
example by presenting a care plan administrator with a user interface
identifying a plurality of
tasks that be selected, such as through check-boxes that the administrator may
select. (See Fig.
8.)

When used in conjunction with the scheduling module or a variation thereof,
the
electronic visit record and care plan module 206 can be utilized to deliver
the patient-specific,
visit-specific care plan to the correct caregiver at the correct time and
place (such as when the
caregiver is arriving at the patient's home). When used in conjunction with
the GPS module 206
(described below), the electronic visit record and care plan module 206 may
receive a
notification that the caregiver's location is close to or the same as the
patient's location, which
can serve as a "transmit initiation" signal indicating that that particular
patient's care plan should
be sent out to the caregiver at that location (as determined by the GPS module
206) (i.e.
"pushed" by the server system 104 to the mobile device 102). In embodiments
lacking the GPS
module 206, the caregiver may simply enter a patient ID to cause that
patient's care plan to be
transmitted (i.e. "pulled from the server system 104"). Alternatively, the
care plan for a
particular patient may be transmitted at a particular time, as maintained by
the scheduling
module 204 (i.e. "pushed" by the server system 104 to the mobile device 102).

In addition, the electronic visit record and care plan module 206 helps to
ensure that the
visit record (the data entered by the caregiver into the fillable form or the
filled form itself)
matches the individualized care plan. As a result, no extra tasks are
performed (saving time and
expense) and no tasks are omitted without reason (promoting the patient's well-
being and saving
extra expenses associated with extra patient visits to complete omitted
tasks). This also helps to
ensure compliance with organizations and packages requiring standardized
formats, such as

24


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

those reporting records required by Medicare and other reimbursing
organizations. Service
codes and billing exceptions and required records (e.g. HHA records) can be
generated
automatically.

Another function that can be performed by the electronic visit record and care
plan
module 206 is to validate data entered by the caregiver. Validation is
basically comparing the
collected (entered) data with built-in user-defined business intelligence
and/or rules that can be
specified by a user, such as a home care administrator or health care
professional. An example
of business intelligence is an allowable range for a blood pressure reading.
Thus, when a high
blood pressure reading is taken, the caregiver may be instructed by the
application on the mobile
device 102 (or through messaging from the server system 104) to call a
particular nurse or to
give patient-specific health and wellness instructions. Thus, while the data
may technically be
the correct type of data (e.g. an integer) as called for by a particular rule,
it may still be acted
upon by the business intelligence to generate an alarm condition (e.g. call
nurse). Rules and
business intelligence can be communicated by metadata, as discussed above with
reference to the
base and mobile framework 202.

Yet another function that may be supported by the electronic visit record and
care plan
module 206 is to interact with telemedicine devices. A telemedicine device may
take and/or
record measurements from a patient and either (1) transmit those measurements
in real-time to
the mobile device 102 or (2) store measurements until a certain condition is
satisfied, such as a
caregiver visit is taking place, before transmitting (non-real-time). A PAN
(Personal Area
Network) technology, such as Bluetooth, may be used for communications between
the
telemedicine device and the mobile device 102. Examples of such possible
devices are scales,
pacemakers, and blood pressure monitors, among others.



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Finally, the electronic visit record and care plan module 206 can be used to
assign or
attach multiple care plans to a single patient. In a sophisticated home care
system, a single
patient may have more than one caregiver. For example, an elderly patient
being treated at home
for a fractured hip caused by a recent fall may be visited by both a nurse and
a physical therapist,
both of which are likely to provide different types of care. These different
care types can
manifest themselves through two different care plans comprising different sets
of tasks selected
to be performed by the caregiver.

GPS tracking and travel management module

The GPS tracking and travel management module ("GPS module") 208 can be
included
in various embodiments of the invention to assist in tracking home care
providers, presenting
actual driving mileage traveled by a caregiver along with a shortest route
indication and shortest
mileage, tracking actual visit times, and alerting missing or delayed visits
as exceptions. In order
to offer this functionality, the mobile device 102 needs to be equipped with a
mechanism for
determining its current location, such as a GPS receiver. Many cell phones
manufactured today
and in recent years include a GPS receiver in them, which can be used for this
purpose. By
transmitting the current location of the mobile device 102 (based on an output
from the GPS
receiver) to the server system 104, the server system 104 will have
information pertaining to the
current location of caregivers in the field, assuming each caregiver has an
associated mobile
device 102.

To provide the home office with information for tracking caregivers, GPS
position
updates could be periodic, such as every 10 seconds, or based on change in
location, such as
whenever the GPS coordinates indicate a change in location of more than one
kilometer, for
example. Other location updating schemes could also be used and are intended
to be within the

26


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

scope of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, the location-
updating period may
depend on the schedule maintained by the scheduling module 204, so that if a
caregiver is at
lunch or on vacation, no GPS updates are transmitted.

An advantage of tracking location of mobile caregivers is that actual driving
mileage can
be obtained from the transmitted location information. This can help to lessen
or eliminate the
need for caregivers to manually record their mileage and can help to reduce
mileage
reimbursement costs for a home care entity. According to one embodiment, the
system 100 can
also determine a shortest path by including an application on the server
computer 114 that can
access a map database (such as one produced by NAVTEQ or Tele Atlas NV) that
associates
roads and other geographic features with coordinates, such as the latitude-
longitude information
included in a GPS signal. By utilizing known routing software to find a
shortest path between an
origin and a destination, the server computer 114 can determine the shortest
path and compare it,
if desired, to the path taken by the caregiver.

Another advantage provided by tracking caregiver location is the ability to
identify
potential problems, such as when a caregiver is likely to be late for a
scheduled visit, based on
the current location of the caregiver (as determined from the location of the
mobile device 102),
the distance to the patient's location, and possibly other information, such
as the average or
maximum posted speeds for the roads on the shortest path and/or traffic
information, from a
traffic provider, such as Traffic.com or others. Another exception that can be
identified by
tracking caregiver location is detecting that a scheduled event never
occurred, such as due to the
caregiver forgetting or misreading a schedule, for example. This can, in turn,
improve customer
service should the patient contact the home office regarding the missed visit.

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CA 02579081 2007-02-16

In an alternative embodiment, GPS functionality is partly or completely
replaced and/or
supplemented by RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology for tracking
a caregiver's
location. This may be particularly useful in a location such as a nursing home
or assisted living
center, where one or more RFID receivers can be located throughout a facility
to track caregivers
wearing or carrying coded RFID transmitters. The RFID receivers can then
transmit caregiver
location and time information to the server system 104 for tracking purposes.
Other RFID
implementations are also possible, such as RFID triangulation techniques using
several RFID
receivers for more precise positioning.

Finally, the GPS and travel management module 208 can help home care staff
plan
optimized patient visit times depending on the optimized route planning. For
example, a home
care administrator may need to plan a caregiver schedule for five patient
visits during a particular
day. The GPS and travel management module 208 can intelligently calculate the
most economic
visit sequence based on a combination of factors including, without
limitation, patient location,
visit duration, pre-scheduled patients, visit starting location (staff home or
home care office),
visit ending location (staff home or home care office), and places required to
be visited during
the day (e.g. physician office or laboratory). In this embodiment, the GPS
tracking and travel
management module preferably integrates with the workforce management system
described
above, with respect to the point-of-care caregiver scheduling module.

Clinical messaging and notification module

The clinical messaging and notification module 210 allows for real-time
asynchronous
communications, as broadcasts, multicasts, or unicasts, depending on the
nature of the message
to be delivered and its intended recipient list. While typically these may be
initiated from the
home office for announcements and other purposes, they may also be initiated
from a caregiver's

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CA 02579081 2007-02-16

mobile device 102, then related to others via the server system 104. An SMS
text message
delivered to a cell phone is one example of how messaging may be made from the
server system
104 to the mobile device 102.

An example of how the clinical messaging and notification module 210 might be
used is
if there were an epidemic, in which it suddenly became critical to notify all
caregivers
immediately of the situation so that appropriate action and precautions could
be taken. Another
example is a simple notification that paychecks are ready for pickup at the
home office.
Surgical and wound care management module

The surgical and wound care management module 212 allows patient surgical and
wound
conditions to be captured as clinical images for remote clinical observation.
These images can
be transmitted in real-time from the filed to the home office and/or from
aides to skilled nurses to
ensure that appropriate assessment and care are provided to the patient.

The clinical images may be captured by a camera or video camera in the mobile
device
102. Alternatively, the images may be captured by a separate device (such as a
digital camera)
and transferred to the mobile device 102, such as via a Bluetooth connection
or via a physical
memory card transfer. In some embodiments, the caregiver in the field provides
a voice

annotation that can be associated with the image data, such as to indicate the
anatomical location
of the images or other observations, such as unexpected odors, etc.

The surgical and wound care management module 212 addresses a possible
shortcoming
that faces the home care industry - the relative lack of patient observation
by a skilled
practitioner as compared to an in-patient. Of the approximately 42 million
people that undergo
surgical operations in the United States each year, approximately 40% of the
procedures are
accompanied by post-operative complications, such as infections, thrombo-
embolic events,

29


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

respiratory complications, and adverse cardiac outcomes. The surgical and
wound care
management module 212 provides a mechanism for providing clinical observation
without the
negative consequences associated with a prolonged hospital stay.

Supply order fulfillment module

The supply order fulfillment module 214 addresses a common inefficiency
observed in
typical, traditional home care practices - ordering supplies needed in the
field. This module
enables a mobile caregiver to place supply order requests from his or her
mobile device 102 at
the point of need (the patient's home or other location). The supply order
requests are
transmitted to the server system 104, where they can be aggregated at an
application on the
server computer 114 for order fulfillment.

Disease management intelligence module

The disease management intelligence module 216 can provide caregivers with
information and reminders regarding their patients' health conditions, which
may be particularly
useful in post-discharge settings. The server system 104 can maintain a
database of clinical
contents and rules, then send out messages and/or alerts (e.g. through SMS
messages to the
mobile device 102), based on data sent by the caregiver from the mobile device
102 to the server
system 104. For example, a caregiver, upon transmitting a patient's heart rate
from the mobile
device 102 to the server system 104, might receive a message from the disease
management
intelligence module 216 on the server computer 114 indicating that the
measured heart rate is
higher than a predetermined threshold and that the caregiver should remind the
patient to take a
recommended dosage of a prescribed medicine, in order to assist in reducing
the patient's heart
rate. Generally, the disease management intelligence module 216 is an
application on the server
computer 114 that applies a set of clinical contents and rules to data
received from the caregiver



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

and transmits alerts and or recommendations if the received data meets an
alert condition. In a
preferred embodiment, the clinical contents and rules are abstracted from one
or more evidence-
based medical resources. Alternatively, the clinical contents and rules may be
manually entered,
such as by a home office staff person or health care professional.

Administrative center module

The administrative center module 218 is preferably a portal on the server
computer 114
that allows home care administrators and office staff to manage a home care
business operating
the home care administration system 100. In a preferred embodiment, the portal
is a web-based
portal offering anytime/anywhere information access, to that the business can
be managed

virtually. This promotes telecommuting and will generally tend to reduce
timelines associated
with scheduling, approving, and submitting invoices for payment. This, in
turn, can shorten
accounts-receivables timelines, which will typically be a financial benefit
for the home care
business. While the system 100 is pictured as having a single server computer
114 to act as a
web portal, there may instead be multiple server computers 114 at a single
location (for load
balancing and redundancy, for example), or there may alternatively be
different server computers
114 affiliated with regional or local home care offices and having different
web addresses from
one another.

One function support by the administrative center module 218 is managing users
of the
system 100. A home care administrator and/or office staff person can add,
delete, and/or edit
users of the system, such as caregivers and others. In addition, other
properties associated with
each user may be defined, such as roles, permission levels, and authority
hierarchies, for

example. The administrative center module 218 residing on the server computer
114 provides
31


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

for numerous roles that assign different rights to users communicating with
the server computer
114.

A second function relates to tasks that may be performed by a caregiver for a
particular
function. While the electronic visit record and care plan module 206 is the
primary module for
defining a care plan comprised of tasks, the administrative center module 218
can serve as the
interface for selecting, defining, and modifying tasks to be performed.
Correspondence between
tasks in the system 100 and tasks supported by outside reimbursement agencies
(e.g. Medicare)
can also be determined at the administrative center module 218.

Another function of the administrative center module 218 is to manage visits.
In a
preferred embodiment of the invention, six visit types are defined: scheduled
visit, open visit,
pending visit, approved visit, denied visit, and archived visit. Each of these
will now be
summarized in turn. Additional details are set forth with respect to Fig. 3
and its accompanying
description.

A scheduled visit is a visit that has a care plan associated with it and that
has been
scheduled to be performed by a caregiver. An office administrator (admin) or
an appropriate
delegate may be responsible for setting the daily tasks for the caregiver.
This includes creating,
reviewing, and editing task lists that the caregiver is to perform during a
visit to a patient's home.
The admin prepares the patient visits, for example, by using the
administrative center module
218 on the server computer 114. After a patient is entered (or already exists)
on the server
computer 114, the admin creates or edits an individualized patient task list
by checking which
tasks an agent is to perform during a visit. The admin saves patient
information for storage at the
server computer 114. In one example, the admin adds or edits patient
information for database
storage associated with the server computer 114. Information such as the
patient's name,

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CA 02579081 2007-02-16

address, latitude-longitude information, patient medical record number(s),
location (servicing
home-care office), and a corresponding task list may be entered manually.
Alternatively, the
administrative center module 218 provides a method to import patient
information using one or
more techniques (discussed in further detail with respect to Fig. 3). After
the appropriate patient
information is entered in the administrative center module 218, the admin
creates or edits a
patient task list by checking which tasks an agent is to perform during one or
more visits. The
admin saves the patient information for storage in memory.

An open visit is a visit that is being performed by a caregiver or other
person in the field.
Visits can thus be monitored as they happen. Caregivers perform visits using
the mobile devices
102. The admin is able to view visits that have been started by a caregiver in
real time. The visit
can also be deleted should the visit be abandoned accidentally. The server
computer 114 can
display a visit in at least four different views, according to one embodiment:
open, pending,
approved, and history. When a visit is in the open state an application on the
server computer
114 will query a database, such as a MySQL database, for all appropriate open
visits, such as
open visits tied to the location to which the admin account is linked in a
customer accounts
table. The resulting visits list is displayed on the server computer 114 under
an "open visits"
field. If the role assigned to the admin account has all "open visit"
permissions then the admin
account will be able to delete, complete, or view that open visit. A "delete
visit" function will
completely remove the visit and related visit tasks from the database. A
"complete open visit"
function will update the visit status from "open" to "pending". A "view visit"
function will
display the visit information that includes the visit tasks.

A pending visit is a visit that has been completed by a caregiver (or other
person in the
field) that has not yet been "approved." When a caregiver completes a visit,
the admin is able to
33


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

view the caregiver's finished visit in the "pending visit" section of the
administrative center
module 218. The admin can also edit the pending visit to ensure completeness
of visit
information. This allows the admin to ensure all visit data is correct, and
also allows the admin to
make corrections. This ensures that the visit meets compliance. The visit can
also be deleted
should the visit not meet completeness or compliance. This allows the agent to
be re-scheduled,
if desired. When a visit is in the "pending" state, the administrative center
module 218 will query
a database, such as the MySQL database described above, for all pending visits
tied to the
admin's location, such as the location to which the admin account is linked in
the

customer accounts table described above. The resulting visits list will be
displayed on the server
computer 114 under "pending visits." If the role assigned to the admin account
has all pending
visit permissions then the admin will be able to delete, move to "approved,"
view, or move-all to
"approved." The "delete visit" function will completely remove the visit and
related visit tasks
from the database. The "move to approved visit" function will update a single
visit's status from
"pending" to "approved." The "view visit" function will display the visit
information that
includes the visit tasks, in an html form (or another convenient format) that
enables the admin to
make changes to the visit information to ensure data integrity. The "move all
to approved"
function allows the admin to move all "pending" visits and allows the admin to
update the status
of all the listed visits to "approved" status.

An approved visit is a visit that has approved by the admin. The admin is able
to
determine if a visit is completed properly using the "pending visit"
functionality described
above. In the presently described embodiment, once the admin moves a visit to
"approved visit"
status, that visit can no longer be edited or deleted.

34


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

A denied visit is a visit that has been denied by the admin. The admin is able
to
determine if a visit has not been completed properly using the "pending visit"
functionality
described above. In the presently described embodiment, when the admin moves a
visit to
"denied visit" status, that visit can be edited for accuracy and completeness
and then moved to
"approved visit" status, if appropriate.

An archived visit is a visit that has previously been approved and is to be
saved for
record-keeping purposes. The admin selects visits in the "visit approved"
section for archiving.
The admin may select individual visits, all visits, or a subset of all visits.
Once a visit is moved
to "archive," that visit is no longer active. The "move to archive" function
places the visit into a
holding area, where the visit information can be exported manually through the
administrative
center module 218, or automatically via the methods mentioned in reference to
Fig. 3. Visit
information preferably remains in an archived state within the administrative
center module 218
indefinitely. This allows for future reporting on all visit information.

Enterprise application integration module

The enterprise application integration module 220 may be included in the
system 100 if
the system 100 will be integrated with applications from third parties. The
enterprise application
integration module 220 includes application components that are designed to
communicate with
other home care systems and has features to support multiple communication
protocols,

including, without limitation, HTTP, FTP, and Secure FTP. Possible data
structures that may be
embodied in such communication protocols include HL7, XML, CSV, and other
formats. The
module is flexible to support real-time communication and file batch
communication. The
enterprise application integration module 220 also includes a data mapping
utility that maps



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

incoming data messages from the third party format into its own data format
that the database
server 120 supports.

For example, the billing/accounting system 122 shown in FIG. 1 may be a third-
party
application. The enterprise application integration module 220 would allow
that third-party
application to integrate and interoperate with applications on the server
computer 114 and/or the
database server 120, for example. This may enable administrators and/or other
home office staff
to view integrated and complementary views of financial and billing
information. Other third-
party applications that might be partly or entirely integrated into the system
100 using the
enterprise application integration module 220 are a scheduling and/or payroll
system, a clinical
medicine database application, Medicare compliance applications, and others.
The information
exchanged between the enterprise application integration module 220 and third-
party
applications may be exchanged in real-time or near real-time, for example.

Referring to Fig. 2a, steps related to the application programming associated
with the
mobile device 102 are provided and shown, according to a preferred embodiment.
Part of the
processing related to the system 100 is software which is targeted to mobile
devices 102 (i.e., the
"client"). When an agent, such as a caregiver, enters a home, the agent
launches this specified
application, which begins the following process shown in steps 1-15 of Fig.
2a.

In step 1, Fig. 2a, the agent is first prompted to enter characters
identifying the agent and
patient. With this data, the client software attempts to make contact with the
server computer
114, via an HTTP communication protocol in step 2, Fig. 2a. Upon successful
communication
between the client mobile device 102 and server computer 114 in step 4, the
server computer 114
is able to provide the client mobile device 102 with the tasks that are
associated with the patient.
This indicates the creation of a "visit," along with tasks that are
associated. In step 3, the client

36


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

mobile device 102 requests task data from the server computer 114. The server
computer 114
then provides this information to the client mobile device 102, via an HTTP
response as seen in
step 6, Fig. 2a.

If communication cannot be established between the server computer 114 and
client
mobile device 102 as seen in step 4, the client mobile device 102 falls into a
failsafe mode,
which prompts the user to select which tasks he or she is to perform with this
patient from a
predetermined list, step 5, Fig. 2a. Once the agent has a selection of tasks
that are generated by
the user/agent (step 7, Fig. 2a), the client mobile device 102 then allows the
agent to report the
states of these tasks. The "states" are indicators of the outcome of
performance for the task.
Examples include, but are not limited to: the task was completed as required,
the patient refused
to have the task performed, etc. These task states might have data associated
with them.
Examples would be a numerical number to indicate: the patient's temperature,
the patient's
pulse rate, etc. The application on the client mobile device 102 provides an
interface which
collects this data from in the user/agent as seen in step 8, Fig. 2a.

When the agent has finished entering required data at step 9, Fig. 2a, the
client
application then performs a series of validations on the data, to make certain
that the state of each
task has been reported. Once the data has been verified to be correct, the
application on the
client mobile device 102 prepares the data for transmission, in step 10, Fig.
2a. If the data is
stored, in step 11, the stored data is prepared for transmission. In step 12,
Fig. 2a, a
determination is made as to whether stored data is present. If it is,
processing proceeds to step

11. If the stored data is not present, then the processing moves to step 14,
Fig. 2a, to determine if
the server computer 114 can be reached. If a contact attempt is successful,
the client mobile

37


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

device 102 transmits the data to the server computer 114, which is recorded
and stored at the
server system 104, such as at the database server 120, as seen in step 13,
Fig. 2a.

If however the contact attempt fails to reach the server computer 114 in step
14, the
application on the mobile device 102 will store the data associated with the
visit onto the data
repository of the mobile device 102, as shown in step 15, Fig. 2a. This data
will be held until
such time that the mobile device 102 makes a successful connection with the
server computer
114 with a future visit. If the application on the mobile device 102 detects
that it has stored data
from previous failed transmissions, this data is prepared for transmission on
each subsequent
data transmission attempt as seen in step 10, Fig. 2a.

Referring now to Fig. 3, a flowchart diagram illustrating steps performed in
association
with a web portal server computer 114 of the server system 104 is shown. In
block 16, Fig. 3, an
office administrator (admin) refers to employees at the local office
(Location) level, responsible
for setting the daily tasks for the field personnel agent (such as a home
healthcare service staff
member or caregiver). This includes creating, reviewing and editing task lists
that the agent is to
perform during a visit to the home of the patient(s). Visits are monitored as
they happen (Open
Visits). This further entails reviewing and editing, if necessary, visits that
have been completed
by the agent (Pending Visits) and approving visits (Approved Visit). The web
application
residing on the server computer 114 provides for numerous roles that assign
different rights to
users communicating with the server computer 114. The admin also has the
responsibility of
adding other office users into the web portal computer application and
assigning these roles to
the appropriate users.

In block 17, Fig. 3, "visit" is terminology used in the web portal computer
application to
describe the activity of an agent operating a mobile device 102 in the field.
The agent, for

38


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

example, is responsible for visiting patients in their homes, nursing homes,
hospitals, or
wherever a patient may be located. The web portal computer application tracks
these visits
through the entire visit cycle as the communication device of the agent is
used.

In block 18, Fig. 3, the admin prepares for patient visits using the web
portal computer
application. In block 19, Fig. 3, the admin checks to see if information
exists in the web portal
computer application. After a patient is entered in the web portal computer
application, in block
20, Fig. 3, the admin creates or edits a patient task list by checking which
tasks an agent is to
perform during a visit. The admin saves patient information for storage at the
web portal
computer.

In one example, the admin adds or edits patient information for database
storage
associated with the web portal computer. The web portal computer application
provides a
method to enter patient information manually, including, but not limited to:

= Patient name

= Patient address

= Latitude and longitude information
= Patient Medical Record Number(s)

= Location (Office responsible for patient)
= Task List(s)

(See Fig. 9.) Alternatively, the web portal computer application provides a
method to import
patient information using the following methods, without limitation:

= Remote via SFTP

= Remote via HTTPS
= Local via TCP/IP

39


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

= Formats, csv, xls, dbf, XML, or database connection

After the appropriate patient information is entered in the server computer
114, in block
21, Fig. 3, the admin creates or edits a patient task list by checking which
tasks an agent is to
perform during one or more visits (see Fig. 8). The admin saves the patient
information for
storage in memory or other data storage, such as the database server 120. In
block 21, visits in
process take place. The agents perform visits using the mobile devices 102
operating under the
software program application as described in Fig. 2a.

Block 23 refers to Open Visits. The admin is able to view visits that have
been started by
an agent in real time. The visit can also be deleted should the visit be
abandoned accidentally.
The web portal server computer 114 can display a visit in at least four
different views: Open,
Pending, Approved, and History. When a visit is in the open state the web
computer application
will query a database for all open visits tied to the location that the admin
account is linked to in
a customer accounts table. The resulting visits list is displayed in the
server computer 114 under
"open visits." If the role assigned to the admin account has all open visit
permissions then the
admin account will be able to delete, complete, or view that open visit. A
"delete visit" function
will completely remove the visit and related visit tasks from the database. A
"complete open
visit" function will update the visit status from "open" to "pending". A "view
visit" function will
display the visit information that includes the visit tasks.

Block 24, Fig. 3, relates to Pending Visits. When an agent completes a visit,
the admin is
able to view the agent's finished visit in the Pending Visit section of the
web portal computer
application. The admin can also edit the pending visit to ensure completeness
of visit
information. This allows the admin to ensure all visit data is correct, and
also allows the admin to
make corrections. This ensures that the visit meets compliance. The visit can
also be deleted



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

should the visit not meet completeness or compliance. This allows the agent to
be re-scheduled.
When a visit is in the pending state the web computer application will query
the database for all
pending visits tied to the location that the admin account is linked to in the
customer accounts
table. The resulting visits list will be displayed in the web portal server
computer 114 under
pending visits. If the role assigned to the admin account has all pending
visit permissions then
the admin will be able to delete, move to approved, view, or move all to
approved. The "delete
visit" function will completely remove the visit and related visit tasks from
the database. The
"move to approved visit" function will update a single visit's status from
"pending" to
"approved". The "view visit" function will display the visit information that
includes the visit
tasks, in an html form that enables the admin to make changes to the visit
information for data
integrity. The "move all to approved" function allows the admin to move all
pending visits and
will allow the admin to update the status of all the listed visits to
"approved" status.

Block 25, Fig. 3, relates to visit approval, so that a determination is made
as to whether
the visit is approved or needs editing. The admin is able to determine if a
visit is completed
properly using "Pending Visit". If the Visit is complete, the visit can be
moved to next stage.
Block 26, Fig. 3, relates to "Edit Visit for Compliance". If the visit is not
complete, it can be
edited for completeness and then moved to the next stage, "Visit Approved"
(block 27). When
the admin moves a visit to this stage, the visit can no longer be edited or
deleted.

Block 27, Fig. 3, relates to visits approved and visits archived. The admin
selects visits in
the "visit approved" section for Archiving. The admin may select individual
visits, or select all
visits. Once a visit is moved to Archive, the visit is no longer active. The
"move to Archive"
function places the visit into a holding area, where the visit information can
be exported
manually through the web portal computer application, or automatically via the
methods

41


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

mentioned in relation to block 13. Visit information remains in an archived
state within the web
portal computer application indefinitely. This allows for future reporting on
all visit information.
Block 28, Fig. 3, relates to visits archived for export and reporting. When a
visit is in the

approved state, the web application will query the database for all approved
visits tied to the
location that the admin account is linked to in the customer accounts table.
The resulting visits
list will be displayed in the web portal under "approved visits". If the role
assigned to the admin
account has all approved visit permissions, then the admin account will be
able to move all to
history, move to history, or view approved visits. The "move all to history"
function will move
the database entry from the "visits" table to the "history visits" table and
it will move the visit
tasks from the "tasks" table to the "history tasks" table for all approved
visits displayed. The
"view visit" function will display the visit information and all related tasks
with status. The
"move to history" function will move the database entry from the "visits"
table to the "history
visits" table and it will move the visit tasks from the "tasks" table to the
"history tasks" table for
the selected visit only.

Referring to Fig. 4, the steps related to a field service agent (e.g. a
caregiver) using the
mobile device 102 during the process of a field visit, according to one
embodiment, are shown.
In block 41 the field service agent interacts with the mobile device 102 and
initiates a first visit
component associated with the software-based client application of the mobile
device 102. In
block 42, Fig. 4, it is determined if the mobile device 102 is in coverage for
telephonic and/or
data communication. If the mobile device 102 is not in coverage, then in block
43, a manual task
list is displayed listing the tasks to be accomplished by the field agent
using the mobile device
102. Processing then proceeds to block 45, in which the field service agent
completes tasks and
records results.

42


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

If the mobile device 102 is in coverage, then in block 44, Fig. 4, a patient
task list is
transmitted from the server system 104 to the mobile device 102 operated by
the agent in the
field. In block 45, the field service agent completes tasks and records
results. In block 46, the
field service agent completes the visit and in block 47 the visit data
gathered and obtained is
transmitted by mobile device 102 for receipt by the server computer 114 of the
server system
104. Throughout this process, in block 48, the GPS application records visit-
to-visit mileage and
continues to provide updates of the GPS coordinates of the location of the
mobile device 102 to
the server system 104.

As seen in Fig. 5, a representation model illustrating an example of
relationships
between the agents using the mobile devices 102, the patients, and the visits
and tasks performed
is shown. An "agent" refers to a user. For the purposes herein, this user may
be the field

personnel staff member (e.g. caregiver) which goes to a particular patient to
perform tasks. A
"patient" may refer to an individual that the agent will service.

A "task" is a duty that is to be performed on a patient. Examples of tasks
could be, but
not limited to: taking a patient's temperature, recording the date of the
patient's last bowel
movement, washing the patient's hair, etc. There is therefore, a one-to-many
relationship
between patients and tasks. Each patient might have several, if not dozens of
tasks that can be
assigned to them. A "visit" may refer to a particular instance of an agent
performing a set of
tasks. A visit preferably has a one-to-one relationship with a patient. A
visit may selectively
only correspond to one patient. Note, however, that one patient might have
several visits
associated with them (i.e. the relationship between patients and visits is one-
to-many) as seen in
Fig. 5.

43


CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Figs. 6A- 19 illustrates representative screen shots for the applications and
modules
described above for the mobile device 102 and the server system 104. These
screen shots are
merely examples, and other alternative implementations are also intended to be
included within
the scope of various embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 6A shows pictorial representations of a display screen for a mobile
device 102,
showing an initialization procedure, according to one embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 6B shows pictorial representations of a display screen for a mobile
device 102,
showing data inputs to complete tasks and a conclusion procedure, according to
one embodiment
of the invention.

Fig. 6C shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a map-based tracking application, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 7 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a patient database, according to one embodiment of the
invention.
Fig. 8 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server

computer 114, showing a task-list editing application, for designing a
patient's care plan,
according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a patient record editing interface, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 10 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a staff scheduling application, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

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CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Fig. 11 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a login screen according to one embodiment of the
invention.
Fig. 12 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server

computer 114, showing a visit status summer screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 13 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing an "open visits" summary screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 14 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing an "open visit" details screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 15 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a "pending visits" summary screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 16 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a "pending visits" details screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.

Fig. 17 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing an "approved visits" screen, according to one embodiment
of the
invention.

Fig. 18 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a "patient reports" summary screen, according to one
embodiment of the
invention.



CA 02579081 2007-02-16

Fig. 19 shows a pictorial representation of a display screen for a web portal
server
computer 114, showing a sample patient report, according to one embodiment of
the invention.
It should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are examples only and
should

not be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention. The claims should
not be read as
limited to the described order or elements unless stated to that effect.
Therefore, all
embodiments that come within the scope and spirit of the following claims and
equivalents
thereto are claimed as the invention.

46

Representative Drawing
A single figure which represents the drawing illustrating the invention.
Administrative Status

For a clearer understanding of the status of the application/patent presented on this page, the site Disclaimer , as well as the definitions for Patent , Administrative Status , Maintenance Fee  and Payment History  should be consulted.

Administrative Status

Title Date
Forecasted Issue Date Unavailable
(22) Filed 2007-02-16
(41) Open to Public Inspection 2008-04-24
Examination Requested 2009-05-20
Dead Application 2016-04-06

Abandonment History

There is no abandonment history.

Payment History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Amount Paid Paid Date
Registration of a document - section 124 $100.00 2007-02-16
Application Fee $400.00 2007-02-16
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 2 2009-02-16 $100.00 2009-02-03
Request for Examination $800.00 2009-05-20
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 3 2010-02-16 $100.00 2010-02-05
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 4 2011-02-16 $100.00 2011-02-01
Advance an application for a patent out of its routine order $500.00 2011-08-01
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 5 2012-02-16 $200.00 2012-01-31
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 6 2013-02-18 $200.00 2013-02-13
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 7 2014-02-17 $200.00 2014-01-31
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 8 2015-02-16 $200.00 2015-02-16
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 9 2016-02-16 $200.00 2016-02-05
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
CELLTRAK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Past Owners on Record
KABOFF, ANDREW W.
WEGNER, STEVEN A.
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
Documents

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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Abstract 2007-02-16 1 28
Description 2007-02-16 45 1,932
Claims 2007-02-16 9 275
Representative Drawing 2008-03-27 1 20
Cover Page 2008-04-16 2 65
Abstract 2010-10-04 1 24
Claims 2010-10-04 13 423
Claims 2011-11-29 5 145
Drawings 2011-11-29 22 1,629
Description 2012-03-16 45 1,932
Claims 2012-03-16 18 471
Claims 2012-04-17 17 480
Claims 2012-09-06 5 148
Claims 2013-12-30 5 147
Description 2013-12-30 46 1,978
Correspondence 2007-03-23 1 26
Assignment 2007-02-16 3 80
Assignment 2008-02-22 4 141
Correspondence 2008-04-28 2 22
Prosecution-Amendment 2008-06-20 2 74
Prosecution-Amendment 2009-05-20 2 56
Prosecution-Amendment 2010-10-04 19 671
Prosecution-Amendment 2011-08-05 1 15
Prosecution-Amendment 2011-08-01 2 66
Correspondence 2011-08-01 3 83
Prosecution-Amendment 2011-08-31 3 87
Prosecution-Amendment 2011-11-29 12 452
Prosecution-Amendment 2011-12-02 2 30
Prosecution-Amendment 2011-11-29 22 1,454
Prosecution-Amendment 2012-01-04 4 161
Prosecution-Amendment 2012-03-16 51 1,657
Prosecution-Amendment 2012-04-17 45 1,453
Prosecution-Amendment 2012-07-09 6 261
Prosecution-Amendment 2012-08-21 2 29
Prosecution Correspondence 2012-07-27 2 71
Fees 2015-02-16 1 59
Prosecution-Amendment 2012-09-06 30 1,001
Prosecution-Amendment 2012-11-29 9 425
Fees 2013-02-13 1 163
Prosecution-Amendment 2013-02-27 14 684
Prosecution-Amendment 2013-10-02 9 559
Correspondence 2013-12-10 4 114
Correspondence 2013-12-17 1 33
Correspondence 2013-12-17 1 13
Prosecution-Amendment 2013-12-30 22 940
Prosecution-Amendment 2014-01-31 3 162
Prosecution-Amendment 2014-02-20 5 229
Prosecution-Amendment 2014-02-25 17 681
Prosecution-Amendment 2014-03-06 1 16
Prosecution-Amendment 2014-03-06 1 12
Prosecution-Amendment 2014-04-03 2 43
Prosecution-Amendment 2015-03-12 7 284
Prosecution-Amendment 2015-04-15 6 343
Prosecution-Amendment 2015-01-23 7 295
Prosecution-Amendment 2016-04-06 22 731