Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
MULTI-APPLICATION HEALTHCARE SMART CARD
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing and
limiting access to
information.
BACKGROUND
A persons medical information can consist of all sorts of information from
relatively
benign information that people are not concerned with being known, such as a
person's name,
etc. to much more sensitive and personal information such as laboratory
results, prescriptions,
etc. In many cases, a person can find it useful to carry all of their
pertinent medical information
around with them so medical health professionals, pharmacists and other people
can have access
to it. Additionally, if there is an emergency and a person is unconscious,
they may want this
medical information with them so that the emergency responders and hospital
staff can have
access to it.
Smart cards and other portable computer readable memory devices allow a lot of
information to now be stored on a relatively small device. However, while
there is some
medical information that a person might not mind freely sharing with others,
some of this
medical information that they would like to carry with them might be too
sensitive to share with
others, even medial responders in an emergency. Conversely, while a person may
not want
others to have free access to all of his or her medical information there may
be times, such as an
emergency situation where the person is not conscious, where it may be
desirable to have some
of this medical information freely accessible to medical personnel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an aspect, a smart card for storing medical information related to a person
associated
with the smart card. The smart card comprises: a memory operative to store
computer readable
data. The memory storing: primary information comprising information
identifying the person
associated with the memory device and non-sensitive medical information
related to the person
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
associated with the smart card, the primary information accessible to a car
reader without
authentication; and secondary information comprising sensitive medical
information related to
the person associated with the smart card, the secondary information
accessible only after
authentication.
In another aspect, a method of using a smart card to provide variable access
to medical
information of a person associated with the smart card. The method includes:
providing the
smart card having a memory operative to store data in a computer readable
form, the memory
storing primary information identifying the person associated with the memory
device and non-
sensitive medical information related to the person associated with the smart
card; and
to secondary information comprising sensitive medical information related
to the person associated
with the smart card; allowing unrestricted access to the primary information
with a card reader;
and after authentication, allowing access to the secondary information using a
card reader.
In another aspect, a method for using a smart card to obtain prescription
medication is
provided. The method includes: providing a smart card having a memory
operative to store data
Is in a computer readable form, the memory storing primary information
comprising information
identifying the person associated with the memory device and non-sensitive
medical information
related to the person associated with the smart card, the primary information
accessible to a car
reader without authentication and secondary information comprising sensitive
medical
information related to the person associated with the smart card, the
secondary information
20 accessible only after authentication: taking the smart card to a health
care provider where the
health care provider -first accesses the primary information on the memory of
the smart card and
then after authentication, writes prescription information to the memory of
the smart card;
taking the smart card to a pharmacy where the pharmacy first accesses the
primary information
and then after authentication accesses the prescription information stored on
the memory of the
25 smart card and issues a prescription in accordance with the prescription
information.
In another aspect, a method for using a smart cud to determine whether a
person is
following a treatment program, The method includes: providing a smart card
having a memory
operative to store data in a computer readable form; taking the smart card to
a health care
provider to have tests performed and having test results obtained from the
tests written to the
2
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
memory of the smart card; and taking the smart card to another location where
the test results
from the memory of the smart card are uploaded to an authority device and a
time stamp
indicating when the test results were uploaded to the authority device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below with
reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a smart card;
Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a data structure;
Figure 3 is a systems diagram;
Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method for having a card issued to a cardholder;
Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method for using a card to obtain a prescription;
Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method for using the card to obtain a
prescription from an
authorized health care provider;
Figure 7 is representative screen shot of personal information obtained from
the card;
Figure 8 is a flowchart of a method for using the card at a laboratory to
obtain laboratory
results;
Figures 9A and 9B are a flowchart of a method for using the card to purchase
prescribed
medication;
Figure 10 is a systems diagram of a system for use with a smart card to
determine if the
cardholder is undergoing their court mandated treatment; and
3
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
Figure Ii is a flowchart of a method for using a card to determine whether a
cardholder
is following his or her court mandated treatment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic illustration of a smart card 10 in accordance
with an aspect
of the present invention. The smart card 10 can include a card portion 20 and
an integrated
circuit chip portion 30 that includes a processing unit 32 and a memory 40.
The card portion 20 can be a material such as plastic and is typically wallet-
sized such as
the size of a typical credit card. A magnetic strip (not shown) may be
provided on one side of
the card portion 20. However, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that
the magnetic strip
may not be necessary.
The integrated circuit chip portion 30 can be housed within the card portion
20 and can
include a processing unit 32 and a memory 40. The processing unit 32 can be a
microprocessor.
The memory 40 can be a computer accessible memory and can be operatively
coupled to the
processing unit 32.
Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic illustration of a data structure 100 that can
be stored in the
memory 40 of the card 10 and used to implement the methods described herein.
The data
structure can contain: a primary information section 110; a secondary
information section 150: a
tertiary information section 170; and an internal use information section 190.
The primary information section 110 can be used to store information
identifying the
owner of the card 10 and include information that should be readily available
to health
professionals in the event of a medical emergency. In one aspect, the primary
information
section 110 could be provided without any sort of access restrictions allowing
anyone with a
compatible card reader/writer to read and view the information in the primary
identification
section 110. This could allow emergency first responders including EMTs,
police officers,
firefighters, hospital staff, etc. to access the information in the primary
section 110 of the card
10 without requiring that the card be authenticated by the card holder. It can
also allow access
to the information in the primary information section 110 to staff at medical
offices or other
4
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
facilities (e.g. dental, optometry, chiropractic, podiatry, laboratory, etc.)
in order to open a new
patient file or access a file at the office based on the information in the
primary identification
section 110.
In one aspect, the primary information section 110 can include a number of
different
fields for storing information about the owner. A name field 112 can be
provided for storing the
name of the card holder along with an address field 114 and telephone field
116 to store
information regarding the card holder's home address and telephone number,
respectively. A
height field 118 and a weight field 120 can be used to store information about
the card holder's
height and weight, respectively. A birthday field 122 can be used to store
information indicating
a person's birthday and a gender field 124 can be provided to store
information identifying the
user's gender.
The primary information section 110 could also include emergency contact
fields 141,
142, 143 and 144 to allow people accessing the primary information section 100
to get the name
of an emergency contact person for the owner of the card 110 as well as
information to try and
Is contact the emergency contact person.
Additionally, the primary section 110 of the memory 40 can be used to store
sonic
information related to the card holder's health. This would typically be
information that, the
cardholder would like to be readily available to a health care provider should
there be an
emergency situation without requiring the cardholder, who may be unconscious
or incapacitated,
to authenticate the card 10 before this information, can be accessed by the
health care provider or
to be uploaded to a healthcare provider clinic, laboratory or pharmacy
computer on a first visit
as a new patient.
This information regarding the cardholder's health can include various types
of relatively
non-sensitive health information. In one aspect, a personal physician field
126 can be provided
and used to store information identifying the user's person physician.
Additionally, a physician
contact field 128 can be used to store information indicating the name of the
cardholder's
physician. An emergency contact field 132 can be provided to store information
relating to the
5
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
user's emergency contact information such as a telephone number and the name
of the user's
emergency contact.
The primary section 110 of the memory 40 can also contain information
specifically
about the cardholder's health. The primary section 110 of the memory 40 can
include a chronic
illness field 132 for storing information identifying any chronic illnesses
the cardholder may
suffer from. A plurality of allergy fields 134 can be provided for storing
information indicating
any allergies the card holder may suffer from including any allergies to
medication. A drug
interaction field 136 can also be provided for storing any drug interactions
warnings applicable
for the card holder. A blood type field 138 can be provided for storing
information indicating
the blood type of the card owner. A plurality of pregnancy fields 140 can be
provided for
storing information about a pregnancy of the user. This can include a record
of a current
pregnancy such as the due date, any known complications, etc. A religion field
147 could be
provided for storing the religion of the owner of the card 10.
A plurality of medication fields 154 for storing information identifying
medications that
the card holder has been prescribed can also be present in the primary
information section 10.
These medication fields 154 could be further broken down into permanent
medications, recent
medications and over the counter medications.
A number of condition fields 146 can also be provided allowing conditions the
owner of
the card may suffer from to be provided.
The secondary information section 150 can be used to store information that is
more
confidential than the information in the primary information section 110 and
typically contains a
higher level of security, requiring the cardholder to be authenticated before
access is gained to
the information in the secondary information section 150. In one aspect, a
personal
identification number (PIN) must be provided before the information in the
secondary
information section 1.50 is accessible to a person with a card reader/writer.
The secondary information section 150 could contain a personal identification
number
field 152 which can be used to store the user's personal identification number
(PIN) from a
minimum of four (4) alphanumeric characters to a maximum of sixteen (16)
alphanumeric
6
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
characters. The PIN number identified in the personal identification number
field 152 could be
the PIN number that must be input into a card reader before the information in
the secondary
section 150 of the memory 40 is accessible using the card reader/writer.
The secondary information section 150 can include insurance payer fields 192.
These
fields 192 could include information identifying the card holder's medical
insurance prescription
payer and could include the payment amount expressed as a monetary value and
percentage of
the total price. In one aspect, the insurance payer fields 192 could include
information for a link
to allow an online verification service. The insurance fields could also
include further details of
the medical insurance of the owner of the card 10. This could include a
section, class, etc. of the
tO insurance plan the owner of the card 10 has or even a listing of the
benefits they have.
In one aspect, it may be possible that more than one payer is paying for a
portion of the
prescription and therefore the secondary information section 150 could include
a plurality of
additional medical insurance co-payer field 194. These fees could be used to
store information
indicating additional co-payers for the prescription and could include the
payment amount
expressed in a monetary value and the percentage of the total price all to be
calculated at time of
prescription payment including a link to an online verification service.
The secondary information section 130 of the memory 40 can also be used to
store
prescriptions written by a physician. A plurality of prescription fields 156
can be provided
allowing information related to prescriptions that have, been written by an
authorized health care
professional to be stored in these fields 156. This information could include
the medication
prescribed, the amount prescribed and an identification of the prescribing
authorized health care
professional. In one aspect, the prescription fields 156 can contain
information allowing a
person to link to an online verification service so that the prescription
could be verified using the
online verification service.
In a similar manner, immunization fields 160 can be included indicating
immunizations
the owner of the card 10 has had and the date administered.
A coupon field 160 can be provided to store any coupon information related to
the
prescriptions being written to the prescription field 156.
7
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
In one aspect. a plurality of laboratory requisition fields l 58 can be used
to store
information related to laboratory tests that have been requisitioned by an
authorized healthcare
provider.
In one aspect, a physician notes section 195 could be provided in the
secondary section
150 allowing physician's to make notes about the owner of the card 10.
Additionally, the secondary section 150 of the memory 40 could contain other
types of
information such as a list of medicines that are kept behind a pharmacy
dispensary counter that
do not require a prescription, but do require confirmation of some personal
information such as
a name, address, telephone, age, etc.
to
The secondary section 150 of the memory 40 could also contain information such
as
prosthetic or orthotic devices prescribed by a physician or specialist.
The secondary section 150 could store web keys that are used to link to secure
websites
where prescription, dispensing, laboratory, payment and co-payment information
can be
confirmed via secure, encrypted data exchange.
The tertiary information section 170 of the memory 40 could store even more
sensitive
information than the secondary information section 150 with the tertiary
information section 170
requiring a higher level of authentication than the secondary information
section 150. In one
aspect, the tertiary information section 170 could require a PIN in
conjunction with some
biometric data of the owner of the card 10. In another aspect, it may require
a PIN in
conjunction with a physician's personal smart card, PIN or biometric data to
access the tertiary
information section 170 of the memory 40.
In. one aspect, a biometric field 172 can be provided for storing information
that can be
used to biometrically identify the card holder. In one aspect, this can be a
constellation of pixels
representing the cardholder's fingerprint. The information in this biometric
field 172 can be
used to provide an authentication of the cardholder to allow access to the
information stored in
the tertiary information section 170 of the memory 40. The cardholder may have
to provide his
or her finger print for a card reader/writer which will then be matched up
against the
8
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
constellation of pixels representing the cardholder's fingerprint, before the
card reader/writer
can obtain access to the information in the biometric field 172.
The information stored in the tertiary section 170 of the memory 40 could
include
privacy protected condition, mental health conditions, special advisories, lab
results, etc.
A plurality of laboratory test result fields 174 can be provided in the
tertiary section 170
of the memory 40 of the card. The results of lab tests can be stored in these
fields.
Finally, an internal use information section 190 could be provided. This
section could
include audit logging data 196 to be used by the providers of the card 10 for
troubleshooting,
maintenance, etc. As well as a User ID field 198 for use by the card 10
providers to access the
internal use information section 190.
Referring to Fig. 3 a system 300 that can be used with the card 10 is shown.
The system
300 can include: a cardholder device 310; a medical professional device 320; a
laboratory
device 330; a pharmacist device 340 and a remote device 350. The cardholder
device 310, the
medical professional device 320, the laboratory device 330 and the pharmacist
device 340 can
be local computer systems and all be in communication with the remote device
350 through a
network 370.
The cardholder device 310 can be a data processing system such as a personal
computer,
mobile device, etc. that is accessible to the cardholder and allows the
cardholder to access the
remote device 350. The cardholder device 310 can have a program operative for
accessing the
information on the card 10 and updating information on the card 10. In one
aspect,. the
cardholder device 310 can include a card reader/writer 312 that is operative
to read the
information from the card 10 and allow the cardholder to view the information
stored on the
card 10 on the cardholder device 310.
The medical professional device 320 can also be a data processing system, such
as a
computer, etc. that allows a person using it to access the remote device 350
using the medical
professional device 320. Typically, the medical professional device 320 is
located at a medical
services office. The medical professional device 320 can have a program
operative for
9
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
accessing the information on the card 10 and updating information on the card
10. The medical
professional device 320 can have a card reader/writer 322 to allow the
information on the card
to be accessed and obtained by the medical professional device 320 as well as
write new
information to the memory 40 of the card 10. Additionally, the medical
professional device 320
5 can have a PIN pad 324 allowing a person to enter a personal
identification number (PIN) into
the PIN pad 324 and thereby the medical professional device. Alternatively,
the personal
identification number (PIN) could be entered using a standard keyboard
attached to the medical
professional device 320.
The laboratory device 330 can be located at a laboratory site where laboratory
tests can
to be taken of the. cardholder and can be a data processing system such as
a computer, etc. The
laboratory device 330 can have a program operative for accessing the
information on the card 10
and updating information on the card 10. The laboratory device 330 can include
a card
reader/writer 332 to read and write information from and to the card 10. In
one aspect a PIN
pad 334 and a finger print reader 336 can be provided to allow the cardholder
to be
authenticated.
The pharmacist device 340 can be located at a pharmacy where a prescription
can be
issued and can be a data processing system such as a computer, etc. The
pharmacist device 340
can have a program operative for accessing the information on the card 10 and
updating
information on the card 10. The pharmacist device 340 can include a card
reader/writer 342 to
read and write information from and to the card 1.0 and in one aspect can
include a PIN pad .344
and a finer print reader 346 to allow the cardholder and the card 10 to be
authenticated.
The remote device 350 can be operably connected to all of the other devices
310, 320,
330 and 340 over the network 370. The remote device 350 can also be operably
connected to a
database 360. The remote device 350 can be accessible by the patient's
physician, health
provider, hospital physicians, hospital nurses, etc. It can securely store
patient information and
laboratory results related to the patient in the database 360.
The network 370 can be a local internet or even a public network such as the
interne.
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
=
Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an overview of a method of a card holder
obtaining a
card 10. At step 410 the card can be issued. The card can be created by the
provider and a
record stored in the database 360 corresponding to this new card. At step 420
the new card 10
can be sent to the provider who will be providing it to the cardholder.
At step 430 the card 10 can be personalized. The provider can obtain personal
information from the cardholder, such as his or her name, address etc. and
this information can
be taken and written into the proper fields in the primary section 110. At
this time, the
cardholder can also provide the provider with the name of his or her personal
physician or clinic
to be added to the personal physician field 126 and the physician contact
field 128. In this
manlier, personal information can be stored to the card 10.
Alternatively, the provider can download information from an existing database
such as
an Electronic Health Record or Electronic Medical Record enterprise sized
software system in
advance of providing the card 10 to the cardholder.
At this point the cardholder can be prompted to insert a PIN number which can
then be
stored in the personal identification number field 152 and a finger print or
other bio-metric
indicator can be taken of the cardholder and stored in the biometric field
172. This information
can then be later used to authenticate the cardholder when the card 10 is in
use.
Once the personal information has been stored on the card 10, this information
stored on
the card at step 430 this information can be uploaded to the remote device 350
and the database
360 at step 440 and the method can end,
Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart showing an overview of a method for using the
card 10 to
obtain a prescription. In the method, the card 10 is used to obtain a
prescription and requisition
laboratory tests from a medical professional such as a doctor. Then, with the
prescription and
the lab results, fill the prescription with a pharmacist and pay at least a
portion of the cost of the
prescription.
The method starts and at step 510 the cardholder can take the card 10 to an
authorized
healthcare professional who will provide him or her with a prescription for a
specific
II
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
medication. Referring to Fig. 6 a flowchart is shown illustrating a method for
what occurs with
the card 10 during step 510 of the method shown in Fig. 5. The method begins
with the
cardholder providing his or her card 10 to the authorized health care provider
and the authorized
health care provider authenticates the card 10 at step 610. To authenticate
the card 10, the
health care provider can insert the card 10 in the card reader/writer 332
connected to the medical
professional device 320. Using the card reader/writer 332 and the medical
professional device
320, the health care provider can obtain access to the information stored in
the primary section
110 of the memory 40 of the card 10 by simply using the card reader/writer 332
to view the
contents of the card 10. The information in the primary section 110 can then
be displayed on a
to screen of the medical professional device 320. Fig. 7 illustrates a
representative screen shot of
how the information in the primary section 110 of the memory 40 of the card 10
can be
displayed.
In addition to the information in the primary section 110 of the memory 40 of
the card
10, the authorized health care provider will also have to have access to the
secondary section
150 of the memory 40 of the card 10. In order to authenticate the card holder
and obtain access
to the secondary section 150, the card holder will have to provide access to
this section. In one
aspect, this can be providing the PIN that matches the PIN indicated in the
personal
identification number field 152 of this secondary section 150 of the memory
40. In one aspect,
the PIN can be entered into a PIN pad 324 connected to the medical
professional device 320.
The card 10 will now be authenticated and the authorized health care provider
will have access
to the information in the primary section 110 and the secondary section 150 of
the card 10.
Once the card 10 has been authenticated at step 610, a prescription can be
written to the
card at step 620. The card reader/writer 322 and the medical professional
device 320 can be
used to access the secondary section 150 of the memory 40 of the card 10 and
access one of the
prescription fields 156 in this section. The card reader/writer 332 can then
be used to write
information identifying the prescription being issued by the authorized
healthcare provider to
the prescription field 156. In one aspect, this information could include
medication prescribed,
the amount prescribed and an identification of the prescribing medical
professional.
12
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
At step 630 a laboratory requisition is written to the card. The authorized
healthcare
provider will use the medical professional device 320 and the card
reader/writer 322 to access
the secondary section 150 of the memory 40 of the card 10 and write a
laboratory requisition to
a laboratory requisition field 158. This laboratory requisition can identify
the types of
laboratory tests desired by the medical professional issuing the prescription.
Although step 620
and 630 are shown sequentially in Fig. 6, they could be performed in different
visit to an
authorized health care professional.
In one aspect, the requisition laboratory tests could be diagnostic test using
a biomarker.
After the lab requisition is written to the card at step 630, the method can
end = and
referring to Fig. 5, the method can move on to step 520 with the cardholder
taking the card 10 to
a laboratory to have the laboratory tests performed that were written to the
card 10 in step 510.
Referring to Fig. 8, a flowchart of a method is shown for using the card 10 to
obtain
laboratory results requested by an authorized health care provider. The method
can start and at
step 810 the card 10 can be authenticated. Personnel at the laboratory can
insert the card 10 into
the card reader/writer 330 of the laboratory device 332. Without any
authentication, the
laboratory device 330 can access the information stored in the primary section
110 of the
memory 40 of the card 10. To access the information in the secondary section
150 of the
memory of the card 10 (where the laboratory requisition is stored), the card
holder will have to
provide a PIN or other authenticating information to allow access to the
information in the
secondary section 150 of the memory 40 of the card 10. In one aspect, this PIN
could be entered
by inputting it into a PIN pad 334 connected to the laboratory device 330.
Because the results of the laboratory results can be saved in the tertiary
section 170 of
the memory 40, the authentication of the card holder and the card 10 at step
810 may require
additional authentication for access to the tertiary section 170 to be
obtained by the laboratory
device 340. In one aspect, this additional authentication could require the
card holder to provide
his or her fingerprint on the fingerprint reader/writer 336 connected to the
laboratory device 330.
The finger print obtained can be matched to the constellation of pixels in the
biometric field 172
13
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
of the tertiary section 170 and, if it matches, grant the laboratory device
330 access to the
tertiary section 170 of the memory of the 40 of the card 10.
Once the card 10 and card holder are authenticated at step 810, the laboratory
requisition
stored in the laboratory requisition fields 158 in the secondary section 150
of the memory 40 of
the card 10 can be accessed by personnel at the laboratory using the
laboratory device 330 and
the types of laboratory tests requisitioned by the authorized healthcare
provider can be
determined at step 820.
At step 830 the payer information for the tests can be determined from the
card 10. The
information in the insurer payer field 192 can be accessed and this
information used to
i 0 determine which parties are paying for the laboratory tests and how
much is being covered. If
there are one or more co-payers, this information can also be obtained from
the insurance co-
payer fields 194.
At step 840 payment for the laboratory tests can be authorized using the payer
and co-
payer information obtained from the card 10 at step 830.
Once the payment is authorized, the laboratory can proceed to perform the
tests outlined
in the laboratory requisition read off the card 10 at step 820 and the
necessary or requested
laboratory tests performed on the cardholder by the laboratory. In one aspect,
these tests can be
diagnostic tests to determine the presence or levels of a biomarker in the
body of the cardholder.
Once the laboratory tests have been peiformed, if the results are obtained
relatively
quickly, at step 850 the test results can be written to the test result fields
174 in the tertiary
section 170 of the memory 40 of the card 10 if the cardholder and the card 10
are still present at
the laboratory.
At step 860 the test results can be uploaded to the remote device 350. The
test results
can be transmitted from the laboratory device 330 over the network 370 to the
remote device
350. At the remote device 350 these laboratory results can be saved to the
database 360. These
files could be encrypted when they are sent. In one aspect, the laboratory
test results could be
14
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
transmitted to the medical professional device 320 for viewing by the
authorized medical
professional.
Once the lab results are uploaded to the remote site 350, the method can end.
Referring again to Fig. 5, once the cardholder has used his or her card 10 at
the
laboratory at step 520 to obtain the requisitioned laboratory tests, the
cardholder can take the
card 10 to a pharmacy and use it to obtain and pay for the prescribed
medication at step 530.
Fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method of the card 10 being used at a
pharmacy to obtain a
prescribed medication.
Method starts and at step 910 the card 10 of the cardholder can be
authenticated. The
pharmacist can insert the card 10 into the card reader/writer 342 of the
pharmacy device 340.
Because the information about the prescription is saved in the secondary
section 150 of the
memory 40 of the card 10 and the laboratory results may be saved in the
tertiary section 170 of
the memory 40 of the card 10, the authentication of the card 10 at step 910
can require the card
holder to provide both his or her PIN and a fingerprint to allow both of these
sections of the
IS memory 40 to be accessible to the pharmacy device 340.
With the cardholder and the card 10 authenticated at step 910, at step 920 the
prescription information can be obtained from the card 10 by the pharmacist.
Using the
pharmacist device 340 and the card reader/writer 342 the prescription fields
156 can be accessed
in the secondary section 150 of the memory 40 of the card 10. This information
can then be
used to show the pharmacist the type of medication to provide, the amount of
medication to
provide and the authorized healthcare provider who made the prescription.
Optionally, if the prescription fields 156 include information indicating a
link to a site to
have the prescription authorized, the pharmacist device 340 can use the link
and the information
in the prescription fields 156 to authenticate the prescription. The links can
be links to the
remote device 350 which can be used to authenticate the prescription.
At step 930 the payer information is obtained from the card 10. The pharmacist
device
340 can access the secondary information section 150 of the memory 40 of the
card 10. The
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
information in the insurance payer field 192 can be accessed and this
information used to
determine which parties are paying for the laboratory tests and how much is
being covered. If
there are one or more co-payers, this information can also be obtained from
the co-payer fields
194,
At step 940 the pharmacist device 340 can access the related information.
These could
be contra-indications for the medication on the card 10, allergies listed in
the allergy fields 134,
etc. This related information can be stored on the card to allow the
pharmacist a single source of
information to see if there are any particular reasons on the card that would
suggest the
prescription not be issued.
io At
step 950 the lab results can be obtained to allow the pharmacist to ensure
that the
medication indicated by the prescription can be issued. The pharmacy device
340 and the card.
reader/writer 342 can access the tertiary section 170 of the memory 40 and
obtain the lab results
stored in the laboratory test results field 174. With these lab results, the
pharmacist can
determine if there is anything in the lab results that would make him or her
not issue the
prescription at step 955. If the laboratory tests were .for a biomarker, the
pharmacist can
determine whether or not the test results for the biornarker indicate that the
medication should be
prescribed.
If at step 955 it is determined that the test results indicate that the
medication indicated
by the prescription can be issued, then the method can move on to step 960 and
obtain any
comments on the prescription made by the authorized healthcare provider.
After step 960, the method can move on to step 970 and the payment and co-
payment
calculations can be initiated. The payer and co-payer information obtained at
step 930 can be
used and applied to the price of the medication to fill the prescription. For
the payer and each
co-payer, the amount each payer and co-payer will pay of the total price of
the medication being
purchased can be calculated using the information in the insurance payer field
192 and the
insurance co-payer field 194,
At step 980 payment authorization can be obtained for the medication from the
insurance
payer and co-payer,
16
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
With the payment of the prescribed medication, the pharmacist can provide the
medication to the card holder and at step 990 the issuance of the prescription
can be reported by
the pharmacist. To report the issuance of the prescription, the pharmacist
device 340 can
transmit the issuance of the prescription to the remote device 350 so that the
health care
professional, the card holder and other interested parties can log on to the
remote device 350 and
see that the prescription has been issued.
Referring again to step 955, if at this step it is determined that the
laboratory test results
do not support the prescription issued by the medical health professional, the
method can then
move on to step 965. If the laboratory tests are for a biomarker, the test
results may find that the
to biomarker is not present or is absent, indicating that the prescribed
medication is not a good
match for the cardholder.
At step 965 the pharmacist can contact the authorized medical provider with
care
alternatives. In this manner, the method can prevent medication from being
issued to the
cardholder that may not be ideal or even hazardous based on the test results
that may not have
Is been available to a pharmacist simply filling written prescriptions.
After step 965 has been completed the method can end without the pharmacist
prescribing a medication which may not be ideal or could even be harmful to
the cardholder. -
In a further aspect of the present invention, the smart card 10 could be used
in
conjunction with a court mandated treatment program. it is common for
substance abusers to be
20 required by a court to undergo some form of mandated treatment program.
These programs
typically require the person to either abstain from taking an illegal or other
substance during a
probationary period. Alternatively, the person could be required to undertake
some sort of
medication or vaccination program as part of their treatment. For example,
there are sOme
vaccinations now available that prevent the effects of some substances, such
as heroin, from
25 affecting a person who has undergone the vaccination program.
The problem with these programs is it is usually necessary to monitor the
person and
ensure they are either abstaining from the substance or are taking the
necessary vaccinations,
medications, etc. This usually requires the person to show up at a specific
location to be testsed
17
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
for the presence or lack of the substance in question. The card 10 can be used
to record and
report these tests results.
Fig. 10 illustrates a system 1000 for implementing a method of testing and
monitoring
whether a cardholder is complying with a court mandated treatment program. The
system 1000
comprise a laboratory device 1010, a plurality of kiosk devices 1020 and an
authorities device
1050.
The laboratory device 1010 can be located at a laboratory site where
laboratory tests can
be taken of the cardholder. The laboratory device 1010 can be a data
processing system such as
a computer, etc. The laboratory device 1010 can include a card reader/writer
1012 to read and
W write information from and to the card 10 and in one aspect can include a
PIN pad 1014 and a
finger print. reader 1016 to allow the cardholder to be authenticated.
The plurality of kiosks 1020 can be government controlled data processing
systems that
are provided in government buildings or other public areas that are relatively
accessible to the
cardholders. Each kiosk can have a card reader/writer 1022 for accepting the
card 10 of the
cardholder and a PIN pad 1024 to allow the cardholder to be authenticated. The
plurality of
kiosks 1020 can he in communication with the authority's device 1050 over a
network 1070
such as the int-met.
Fig. 11 illustrates a method for determining whether a cardholder is
maintaining his
court mandated therapy. The method can start with the cardholder taking the
card 10 to a
laboratory for court-mandated tests at step 1110. These laboratory tests could
be urinalysis, etc.
Once the necessary tests are performed, i.e. the test results can be written
to the memory 40 of
the card 10. In one aspect, these test results can be encrypted when they are
stored in the
memory 40 of the card.
After the cardholder has visited the laboratory and the laboratory test
results have been
stored to the memory 40 of the card 10 at step 1120, the cardholder can visit
one of the kiosks
1020 at step 1130. The cardholder can insert his or her card 10 into kiosk
1020 and authenticate
themselves.
18
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
Once the card 10 has been authenticated the time and location of the access to
the kiosk
1150 can be determined at step 1140. The time stamp and location indicator
will store can be
stored in the memory 40 of the card 10 and uploaded to the authorities device
1150 to be stored
in a database 1060. In this maimer, the time and location where the cardholder
has accessed a
kiosk 1050 can be stored for the proper authorities to view.
At step 1150 the laboratory tests stored on the card 10 can be accessed and
obtained by
the kiosk 1150.
At step 1160 the laboratory test results can be analyzed to determine whether
the
cardholder has passed or failed the tests. If the purpose of the laboratory
tests were to determine
U) whether a substance was present in the body of the cardholder that was
not supposed to be there
(i.e. an illegal substance) than this would be a failure of the tests.
Alternatively, if the tests were
to ensure the cardholder was taking a specific medication or vaccination, the
lack of .this
substance showing up in the tests could be a failure.
If at step 1160 it is determined that the cardholder has failed the tests,
then the method
can move onto step 1180 and the test results can be written to the memory of
the card 10 and
uploaded to the authorities device 1050 to be saved in the files related to
the cardholder in the
database 1060. An alert can also be added to the cardholder's files and a
message will appear on
the kiosk computer screen advising the cardholder to contact a specified
agency for more
information. The alert may be upgraded within an agency's IT system to
immediately advise a
specific person or office. Once this alert has been issued at step 1180, the
method can end.
However, if at step 1060 it is determined that the cardholder has passed the
tests (i.e. no
illegal substance are present or the required substance is present). then the
method can move on
to step 1070 and the approval of the test results and the time stamp can be
saved to the memory
of the card 10 and the method can end.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the
invention.
Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those
skilled in the art,
it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and
operation shown and
19
CA 02790777 2012-09-21
described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or modifications in
structure or operation
which may be resorted to are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed
invention.
=
