Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
Title of the Invention
Personal care management system and method
Cross-Reference to Related Applications
The present application claims the benefits of priority of United States
Provisional Patent
Application No. 62/894,408, entitled "PERSONAL CARE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND
METHOD", and filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office on August
30, 2019, the
content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to medical information storage and retrieval
systems and, more
particularly, to techniques for conveying medical and visit information when a
personal support
worker visits an in-home patient using quick response codes.
Background of the Invention
Home care is becoming more and more a key part of the health care systems
throughout the world as
governments try to deal with the rapidly increasing age of the population and
the associated rising
costs of providing health care services in hospitals and other health care
facilities. The management
and sharing of health information is critically important in home care due to
the involvement of
multiple health professionals including physicians, nurses, physiotherapists,
and other home care
personnel (Koch et al., 2004). This has resulted in the development of
multiple strategies to gather
and manage information in this setting. Electronic health information systems
(EHIS) are integrated,
computer-assisted systems that are able to collect, store, and organize
comprehensive patient
information (World Health Organization, 2005; Stolee et al., 2010). In
addition, governments and
insurers around the world are now grappling with how to track and verify, in
real time, the budgets
allocated for in-home patients care and whether they are actually going for
the services received by
the in-home care patient. The patient-centered medical home has been promoted
as a model of
improved care that addresses many of the failures and delivery gaps within the
current primary care
system (Bates and Bitton, 2010). Unfortunately, there continue to be
limitations in the way home
care organizations manage and use information, which lead to inadequate
provision of services.
Better use and management of information will lead to major benefits for the
health, quality of life,
and independence of older persons receiving home care, while also providing
important system
benefits through decreased costs, more efficient use of resources and avoiding
unnecessary and
expensive institutional placements.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
One major challenge is how to coordinate the delivery of the different
services provided by
healthcare professionals and personal care workers, or personal support
workers (PSWs). Adoption
of electronic health records (EHR), or electronic medical records (EMD) have
the potential to
significantly improve the overall quality of healthcare delivered to in-home
patients by addressing
some of these failures. One major pitfall of current technologies is the lack
of patient involvement in
the process. Opportunities to obtain critical information directly from the
patient, in real-time, about
key parameters such as weight, blood pressure and/or blood sugars using these
technologies are
largely missed. Also, an estimated 12 percent of patients suffer from an
adverse drug event after
being discharged from the hospital (Forster et al., 2003). Communication
technologies targeting in-
home patients can definitely mitigate this risk by integrating prescription
regimens and coordinating
an in-home visit by a health professional such as a nurse. Among the other
pitfalls of existing
technologies are their complexity (not user-friendly), their incompatibly with
existing systems, their
lack of adaptability for changing regulations in the healthcare system and,
most importantly, patient-
confidentiality.
The present invention seeks to solve these issues, among others, while
providing comfort and peace
of mind to the loved ones of an in-home patient that they are receiving the
services the providers
have said they would receive. The present invention provides a fast and easy
means of documenting,
in real-time, patient information that is uploaded and immediately accessible
remotely to other health
professionals involved in the patient care. The present invention comprises a
novel EHR which
integrates a quick response (QR) code tailored for in-home care as well as a
novel medical record
system using a quick response code's functionality targeted to in-home
patients and home-care
providers. Finally, the present invention seeks to ensure patient-
confidentiality by conforming to the
fair information practices (FIPs) principles.4
Summary of the Invention
Various embodiments illustrated herein relate to a system for storing
patients' medical records
electronically and provide a computerized platform, including user-friendly
software applications for
personal computers and mobile devices. The user-friendly software application
is compatible with
most existing systems. The interoperability of the present invention with
existing systems seeks to
provide a smooth and progressive adoption of the invention with minimal risks
associated with high
transition costs and the general reluctance of health professionals to
implement new communication
technologies.
2
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
In one embodiment, the system and method include a patient interface, referred
to herein as the
patient portal.
In another embodiment, the system and method include a health professional
interface, referred to
herein as the provider portal; the health professional including, but not
limited to, primary
physicians, specialized physicians, mental health providers (ex:
psychiatrists, psychologists and
social workers), pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, chiropractors and
researchers.
In another embodiment, the system and method include an administrative
personnel interface,
referred to herein as the administration portal; the administrative personnel
including, but not limited
to, administrative personnel, government agencies, personal support workers,
health insurers, family
and friends.
In another embodiment, each health professional will have access to specific
information in
accordance with fair information practices and the patient's approval of
information sharing between
professionals.
In another embodiment, the medical information electronically stored include,
but is not limited to,
the patient's contact information and emergency contact information,
photograph, age, language(s),
blood type, allergies, immunization record, medical devices used, past
illnesses and surgeries,
chronic conditions, current medical condition, past and current medications
(prescription and over-
the-counter), test results, mental health information and genetic information.
In yet another embodiment, the systems are further enhanced by the use of a
computer system for
generating quick response (QR) codes for each patient.
In another embodiment, a database is connected to a system server that is
connected to a publicly
accessible network such as the Internet.
In yet another embodiment of the current invention, the user-friendly software
is a mobile
application for scanning the QR code located on the patient's EMS 24/7 Medical
ID Card at the
beginning and at the end of a patient visit.
In another embodiment, a speech-to-text functionality is integrated in the
software for the care
provider to easily document details of an in-home visit hands-free.
In another embodiment, an integrated translator function can facilitate
communication when a
language barrier is an issue.
3
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
In another embodiment, a telehealth technology allows the in-home patient to
be monitored at
distance by the healthcare professional.
In one embodiment, coordination between the patient, the healthcare provider
and the health insurer
will be facilitated with claim submissions made via the portal.
Other and further aspects and advantages of the present invention will be
obvious upon an
understanding of the illustrative embodiments about to be described or will be
indicated in the
appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to
one skilled in the art
upon employment of the invention in practice.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will
become more readily
apparent from the following description, reference being made to the
accompanying drawings in
which:
FIG 1. discloses an overview of the elements involved with the present
invention.
FIG 2. discloses an example of a display screen for patients to access their
medical information in
accordance with the present invention.
FIG 3. discloses a second example of a display screen for patients to update
their medical
information that will be available upon scanning of the QR code on the EMS
24/7 Global ID card in
accordance with the present invention.
FIG 4. discloses a medical ID card in accordance with the present invention.
.. FIG 5. discloses an example of a display screen allowing the patient to
modify the sharing
preferences with respect to their medical information accordance with the
present invention.
FIG 6. discloses an example of a display screen allowing the patient to select
the medical
information they wish to share with a chosen contact in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG 7. discloses an example of a display screen for the healthcare
professional to view their
upcoming appointments in accordance with the present invention.
FIG 8. discloses an example of a display screen for administrative staff or
government agency that
tracks the date, time and location of visits by the personal support worker,
in accordance with the
present invention.
4
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
FIG. 9. Discloses an example of a display screen for patients comprising a
calendar to view their
upcoming or past visits, in accordance with the present invention.
FIG 10. discloses an example of a display screen for the patient to view the
details of their assigned
personal support worker in accordance with the present invention.
FIG 11. discloses an example of a display screen once the QR code is scanned
by a QR coder reader.
The barcode reader can be an app on a mobile device such as an iPhone or any
Android-operated
mobile device. By scanning the code using the app, the mobile device only
displays the critical
medical data the patient has chosen, as depicted in FIG 6. and in accordance
with the present
invention.
FIG 12. discloses the Prior Art in accordance with the present invention
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
The novel personal care management system and method (PCMS), also referred to
as the Personal
Care TrackerTm, will be described hereinafter. Although the invention is
described in terms of
specific illustrative embodiments, it is to be understood that the embodiments
described herein are
by way of example only and that the scope of the invention is not intended to
be limited thereby.
The systems and methods described herein incorporate patients, medical care
providers and personal
support workers (PSWs), all of which contribute to a patient visit, personal
care record generation
and revision, and a patient's personal feelings about the visit. The PCMS 100
includes three aspects,
which are referred to herein as portals: 1) a patient portal 200, which allows
patients to interact with
the system; 2) a provider portal 300 which serves as a medium in which
providers and PSWs interact
with the system; and 3) an administration portal 400. The portals may be
accessed by means of a
website, a mobile application, a desktop application or any other application
software suitable for
interfacing with a computer program.
.. In certain embodiments, the provider portal 300 may be accessible by PSWs
or healthcare
professionals including, but not limited to, primary physicians, specialized
physicians, mental health
providers (ex: psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers), pharmacists,
nurses, physiotherapists,
chiropractors and researchers. Similarly, the administration portal 400 may be
made available to the
administrative personnel including, but not limited to, administrative
personnel, government
agencies, personal support workers, health insurers, family and friends. In a
preferred embodiment,
5
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
access to the provider portal 300 and administration portal 400 will be
granted in accordance with
fair information practices and the patient's approval of information sharing
between professionals.
In certain embodiments, the PCMS 100 includes a plurality of personal computer
systems and
mobile applications for a plurality of healthcare providers, administrative
staff and the patient. The
computer systems may comprise computers (PCs), handheld devices/personal
digital assistants
(PDAS), or other browser-enabled appliances or devices. In the example
embodiment depicted in
Fig.1, the PCMS 100 includes a remote server computer system 110 linked by the
internet 115 or
other communication channels to the other computer systems. In other
embodiments, the PCMS 100
may comprise multiple remote servers 110. The PCMS 100 may further allow
connections between
one or more computer systems consisting of any combination of one or more
patient applications
130, health care provider system 140, health care agency system 150 and/or
personal care worker
system 160.
The computer systems are known to include processors running operating
systems, storage mediums,
input devices and an outputs, the interfaces of which are illustrated in
figures 2-3, 5-11 as the user
interfaces, or portals. The PCMS 100, as depicted in Figure 1, allows medical
information to be
integrated from all computer systems. The computer systems may further
communicate with the
remote server 110 via the world wide web using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP) whereas
the remote server 110 gives users access to encrypted and password/biometric-
protected files. Files
can be in different text, graphic, audio and video format using the well-known
page description
language Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).
In certain embodiments, the files uploaded and/or stored on the remote server
110 consist of patient
medical data 120 thereby allowing access to the patient medical data 120 by
means of any of the
aforementioned portals. The remote server 110 may therefore allow
synchronization between
computer systems and automatic software updates, in the background, without
any required actions
by the user. The patient medical data 120 may be read-only to protect both the
patient and the
healthcare professional from alterations in order to prevent unauthorized
modifications. In addition,
the PCMS 100 may be configured to record modifications, whether authorized or
unauthorized, with
a log of the time and source of the modification.
Moreover, the patient medical data 120 consisting of paper files which are
uploaded may be
converted into digital form to make them content therein searchable by a user
and documents may be
sorted and indexed appropriately for easy retrieval. The classification fields
may include, but are not
limited to, date, healthcare provider, location, reason of visit, CPT (billing
code), type of record, type
6
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
of test, current and past prescriptions. Moreover, all patient medical data
120 may be encrypted
using an encryption algorithm. In other embodiments however, patient medical
data 120 may be
selectively exempt from encryption. Such patient medical data 120 may include
contact information
and emergency contact information, photograph, age, language(s), blood type,
allergies,
immunization record and medical devices used.
It may be appreciated that the present invention may provide patients an ease
with consulting a
secondary physician and obtaining a second opinion related to their diagnostic
and treatment strategy
without the burden of having to ask their primary care provider to transfer
the patient medical data
120 to the second physician.
The PCMS 100 may additionally be configured to selectively limit access to the
personal medical
data 120 of a patient. Thus, a PSW will not have access to the patient medical
data 120 as the
primary physician of the patient who will likely have access to all, or almost
all, of the patient
medical data 120. Similarly, a pharmacist will have access to certain patient
medical data 120
relevant to his practice such as information on the disease state and
medication history. Among the
information uploaded to a central database, or remote server 110, and filtered
onto the patient portal
200 is the patient's current medical condition, past and current medications
(prescription and over-
the-counter), test results, mental health information and genetic information.
The patient medical
data 120 being less sensitive such as the patient's contact information and
emergency contact
information, photograph, age, language(s), blood type, allergies, immunization
record and medical
devices used will likely be available to all healthcare care providers and
administrative staff
In a preferred embodiment, the user/patient and the PSW are registered on the
PCMS 100. To that
end, the user/patient is issued a username and temporary password and logs
into the PCMS 100. The
user/patient accesses the patient portal 200 and can populate their own
information within the PCMS
100.
Referring now Figs. 2-3 and 5-11, example embodiments of software
applications, or portals, of the
PCMS 100 are now shown. The portals seek to integrate easy to use and
intuitive functionalities
allowing for minimal training on the part of health professionals while
encouraging consistent use by
patients.
More specifically and with reference to Figures 2, 3, 5 and 6, an example
embodiment of the patient
portal 200 operating as part of the patient application 130 is shown. In this
example embodiment, the
portal 200 offers the patient a platform to access their medical information,
their prescriptions,
upcoming appointments and any other relevant data. The patient portal 200 may
comprise an
7
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
enhanced interface tailored to the patient's needs. For example, the patient
portal 200 may include a
voice recognition function to allow a patient to document their current
symptoms, in real-time,
hands-free. In other embodiments, the patient portal 200 may be prompt the
user to input
information regarding their status or condition. These prompts may
additionally be personalized
based on the patient's medical history such that only relevant questions
related to their disease state
are presented. For example, if a patient is diabetic, the patient portal 200
will ask to log their weight,
activity levels, frequency of urination, liquid and food intake as well as
overall feelings of fatigue,
thirst and hunger. Using input data and regularly updated medical information,
the patient portal 200
may be able to predict, based on the patient's history and real-time symptoms,
if a change in
treatment strategy or an emergency visit from a nurse is necessary or, as a
last resort, if
hospitalization would be the better option.
In certain embodiments and as shown in Figure 5, the patient portal 200 may be
configured to allow
a patient to also decide what patient medical data 120 is made available to
each healthcare provider.
The patient can choose to share additional data from the patient medical data
120 with the
professional if they choose to. It may be appreciated that this personal
engagement may provide the
patient with a sense of empowerment and control over the care they receive.
Referring now to Figure 9, the patient portal 200 may additionally comprise a
calendar configured to
allow patients to setup or view appointments (past or upcoming). In certain
embodiments, the patient
application 130 may comprise notifications for upcoming appointments,
reminders to take
medications and a checkbox to keep track of medications taken. Other
notifications will take the age
of the patient and the last screening exam and notify the patient and health
professional when
another exam is due for scheduling an appointment.
The computer systems consisting of health care provider systems 140 may have
access to the
provider portal 300 tailored to them so as to make the relevant information
easily accessible and
minimize the burden of sorting through irrelevant details, in addition to
protecting patient
confidentiality as per the FIPs. As such and as shown in Figure 7, the
provider portal 300 may offer
health care provider systems 140 the ability to uploading and
downloading/viewing patient medical
data 120.
In certain embodiments, the administrative portal 400 may serve as a medium in
which the health
care agency systems 150 and the personal care worker systems 160 interact with
each other and the
patient. Figure 8 illustrates an embodiment of an administrative portal 400
allowing for the
scheduling of appointments, practitioners, tasks or access any other required
data. The administrative
8
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
portal 400 may additionally provide users statistical data regarding
individual patients or global
trends thereby allowing government agencies or health organizations to derive
in depth healthcare
information.
Although not described in detail herein, the PCMS 100 may comprise additional
portals allowing
access to other forms of administrative support staff, personal support
workers, family, friends and
health insurers. Since research shows a reluctance on the part of patients to
share sensitive
information with their health insurers, the patient medical data 120 included
in these portals may be
limited by default (Caine & Hanania, 2013).
The PCMS 100 may be further enhanced by the use of an automatic identification
tag to allow PSW,
healthcare professionals or any other users to easily and quickly identify and
authenticate a patient.
In certain embodiments, the automatic identification tag may comprise a quick
response (QR) code,
an NFC tag, a keycard or any other suitable means of automatic identification.
In other
embodiments, the automatic identification tag may comprise a biometric
measurement of the patient.
For example, the biometric measurement may comprise a fingerprint reading, a
retinal scan, a facial
scan, a DNA scan or any other suitable biometric measurement.
In the present embodiment, the automatic identification tag comprises a QR
code 500. A prior art
example of a QR code 500 is shown in Figure 12. To that end, the PCMS 100 may
comprise a
computer system for generating quick response (QR) codes 500 for a patient.
The scanning of the
QR code 500 by a PSW or healthcare professional using an application of the
PCMS 100 allows for
tracking of the date, time of arrival, time of departure and location of the
visit with the patient.
Referring now to Figure 4, a patient's medical ID card 170 is shown. In this
example, the medical ID
card 170 comprises the QR code 500 which serves as the automatic
identification tag.
In practice, an in-home visit of the patient may be initiated by a health care
provider system 140 or a
health care agency system 150. The patient application 130 and personal care
worker system 160
may subsequently receive an appointment confirmation of the in-home visit. The
notification may
indicate the date, time and location of the appointment. The appointment
confirmation may comprise
an email, a notification or any other suitable confirmation.
In certain embodiments, a PSW or healthcare professional may log into a
provider portal 300 on the
personal care worker system 160 and view all assigned patients and the
corresponding visit calendar
that is initiated by the health care provider system 140. The PSW may use the
application of the
PCMS 100 to scan the QR code 500 located on the patient's EMS 24/7 medical ID
card 170. The QR
code 500 may be scanned once the PSW or healthcare professional arrives at an
appointment, at the
9
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
the end of a visit of a patient visit or at any other suitable time. Referring
now to Figure 11, the
provider portal 300 may illustrate the relevant medical data 120 when the QR
code 500 is scanned.
In certain embodiments, the personal care worker system 160 comprises
integrated support tools.
These integrated support tools may be accessible on a mobile device to assist
the health care
provider in making decisions regarding treatment strategies. Moreover, the
support tools may
integrate all the patient medical history and improve over time as the patient
enters more data such
as objective physiological input, for example blood pressure, heart rate,
weight as well as their
biochemistry results following blood tests. In addition, patient medical data
120 consisting of
subjective input data such as feelings of overall well-being and pain
assessment will be recorded
.. over time and will be able to propose causes and solutions to deteriorating
conditions. This may help
the health care provider to consider all relevant variables and ensure that
none are forgotten.
In certain embodiments, the PCMS 100 mobile application will issue to the
personal care worker
system 160 timed messages to verify that the PSW is still with the patient and
may automatically
close or end the visit should the PSW move once predetermined conditions are
met. For example, the
visit may be closed or ended once the PSW is geolocated outside a
predetermined area away from
the initial scan (i.e. 100 m2) or if the personal care worker system 160
detects a traveling speed being
above a predetermined threshold (i.e. above 3 km/h).
In yet another embodiment, the patient medical data 120 may be made available,
anonymously, to
researchers. This may be especially relevant for pharmaceutical companies who
can monitor, using
these large datasets, the safety and efficacy as well as any adverse events
related to a medication
dosage regimen together with the patient's personal information, putting
safeguards to prevent full
disclosure of the patient's identity.
It may be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments provide multiple
benefits, including a fully
accountable centralized, real-time electronic record of the patient visit to
which a patient, a patient's
caregivers, the health care provider and the Government health agencies can
gain access from any
web-enabled computer.
While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have
been described in
detail hereinabove, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be
otherwise variously
embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be
construed to include such
.. variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.
References
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
Bates, D.W. and Bitton, A. (2010) The future of health information technology
in the patient-
centered medical home. Health Affairs, 29(4) 614-621.
Caine, K. & Hanania, R. (2013) Patients want granular privacy control over
health information in
electronic medical records. J Am Med Inform Assoc, 20, 7-15.
Forster AJ, Murff HJ, Peterson JF, Gandhi TK, Bates DW. The incidence and
severity of adverse
events affecting patients after discharge from the hospital. Ann Intern Med.
2003;138(3):161-7.
Koch, S., Hagglund, M., Scandurra, I., & Mostrom, D. (2004). Towards a virtual
health record for
mobile home care of elderly citizens. Studies in Health Technology and
Informatics, /07(Pt. 2), 960-
963.
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, & U.S.
Department of
Health and Human Services. Nationwide Privacy and Security Framework For
Electronic Exchange
of Individually Identifiable Health Information. 2008. Retrieved from
http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/healthit_hhs_gov privacy __
security_framewor
k/1173
Stolee, P., Steeves, B., Glenny, C. & Filsinger, S. (2010) The use of
electronic health systems in
home care. Home Healthcare Nurse, 28(3), 167-181.
World Health Organization. (2005). Bulletin of the World Health Organization
(BLT), 83(8), 561-
640.
11
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-08-31
