Patent Application
20070203854
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of data processing, and, in particular, to methods and apparatuses for facilitating the creation of digital contracts, such as digital health care contracts.
With advances in integrated circuit, microprocessor, networking, and communication technologies, an increasing number of devices, in particular, digital computing devices, are being interconnected. This increased interconnectivity of computing devices has laid the groundwork for a communication infrastructure particularly well suited for digital communications between such computing devices. More specifically, the increased interconnectivity of computing devices has led to the increased adoption of digital documents.
In the past, digital documents, including digital contracts were limited to digital reproductions of paper-based contracts. Over time, however, computer based applications have grown increasingly sophisticated enabling the formation (drafting), and analysis (including editing) of digital contracts.
Embodiments of the present invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way of illustration embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments in accordance with the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
The description is presented, in part, in terms of operations performed by a processor-based device, using terms such as selecting, assembling, receiving, determining, rendering, displaying, and the like, consistent with the manner employed by those skilled in the art. Quantities may take the form of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined and/or otherwise manipulated through mechanical, electrical, and/or optical components of a processor-based device.
Various operations may be described as multiple discrete steps in turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding embodiments of the present invention; however, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent.
For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “A/B” means A or B. For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “A and/or B” means “(A), (B), or (A and B)”. For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “at least one of A, B, and C” means “(A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C)”. For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “(A)B” means “(B) or (AB)” that is, A is an optional element.
The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “in embodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of the present invention, are synonymous.
In various embodiments of the invention, a method and apparatus for composing a digital contract is provided. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a computer system may be employed to facilitate contracting parties such as health care payers (e.g., “users”) in creating digital health care provider contracts. In the case of a digital health care contract, the digital contract may, for example, contain all of the provisions, conditions, and terms of operation of a pension or health or welfare plan. In the following description including the claims, unless further particularized or otherwise noted, the term “digital document” is intended to refer to a broad class of digital document types including but not limited to any file produced by a computer application embodying a contract, whether or not they comprise text, binary, or otherwise encoded form.
In an embodiment of the present invention, contract term selection module 102 may be adapted to facilitate a user in selecting one or more digital contract terms in accordance with one or more digital contract term selection rules 106. Thus, the contract term selection rules 106 may, for example, require one or more digital contract terms to be selected or not selected based on a selection of one or more digital contract terms. In such an embodiment, the selection of one or more contract terms may be dependent on the selection and/or exclusion of other contract term or terms (e.g., a “dependency”). In various embodiments of the present invention the contract term selection rules 106 may be stored in one or more databases.
In various embodiment of the present invention, contract term selection module 102 may be adapted to automatically select one or more digital contract terms based on a user's selection of one or more other digital contract terms. In an embodiment of the present invention, contract term selection module 102 may apply contract term selection rules 106 to automatically select one or more digital contract terms.
In an embodiment of the present invention, contract clause assembly module 108 is equipped to facilitate the user in assembling selected digital contract terms 110 to form digital contract clauses 112. In various embodiments of the present invention, the term “contract clause” is intended to broadly refer to any separate section, distinct article, or provision of a contract. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the selected digital contract terms 110 may be selected by the user. In another embodiment of the present invention, the selected digital contract terms 110 may be automatically selected by contract term selection module 102. In embodiments of the present invention, contract clause assembly module 108 may be provided to assemble selected digital contract terms 110 to form the one or more digital contract clauses 112. Once digital contract clauses 112 are formed, digital document assembly module 114 may be provided to facilitate the user in assembling digital contract clauses 112 to form digital documents 116.
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In an embodiment of the present invention, rate sheet assembly module 210 is provided to facilitate assembling selected digital rates 212 to form one or more digital rate sheets 214. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, digital rate sheets 214 may list accepted fees or established allowances for specified medical procedures. For example, as used in medical care plans, digital rate sheets 214 may represent the maximum amounts a program will pay for specified procedures. In an embodiment of the present invention, digital document assembly module 216 may be provided to assemble the one or more digital contract clauses 112 and the one or more digital rate sheets 214 to form the one or more digital documents 218.
In an embodiment, a digital document may include one or more terms directly, independent of the one or more terms making up one or more clauses. In an embodiment of the present invention, a digital document may include at least one clause or term, wherein the clause may include at least one term. A document may include a rate sheet, which in turn includes at least one rate.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the digital contract terms are assembled to form one or more digital contract clauses (block 504). In an embodiment, one or more digital contract terms may be directly included in a document absent formation into at least one clause.
In an embodiment, the digital contract clauses may be created by assembling user selected and automatically selected digital contract terms. Once the digital contract terms are assembled into digital contract clauses, the digital contract clauses may be assembled to form one or more digital documents (block 506). In a further embodiment of the present invention, the digital documents may then be assembled to form a digital contract (block 508). In one embodiment of the present invention, the digital contract may be a health care provider contract.
In another embodiment of the present invention, one or more digital contract rates are selected from a plurality of digital rates (block 510). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of digital rates may be stored in a database. In another embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of digital rates may be organized into one or more rate spans. In an embodiment of the present invention the selection of digital rates may be governed by digital rate selection rules. In such an embodiment, the selection rules may require one or more digital contract rates to be selected, or not selected, in view of the selection of one or more digital contract terms. Once contract rates have been selected, the user may assemble at least the user selected digital contract rates to form one or more digital rate sheets (block 512).
In another embodiment of the present invention, the digital contract clauses and the digital rate sheets may be assembled together to form one or more digital documents (block 506), which in turn may be assembled to form a digital contract.
Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate that embodiments in accordance with the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of ways. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments in accordance with the present invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
