The present embodiments relate to a electronic health card (EHC) and related method. More specifically, the present embodiments relate to an EHC, system containing the EHC and a terminal, and method of promoting use of the EHC.
In several health care systems throughout the world, use of Electronic Health Cards (EHC) has just started or will start in the near future. Data can be accessed if doctors or dentists provide proof of their identity with a type of EHC called an electronic Health Professional Card (HPC) and the patient consents by entering a personal identification number (PIN).
The EHC typically contains information about the patient. Implementing the infrastructure for the EHC is costly for health care systems, but also offers a potential for cost savings. These savings may occur, e.g. through electronic transferal, electronic prescriptions, or avoidance of duplicated diagnostic procedures, which are all supported by the EHC.
Such potential benefits are directed to the health care professionals and health care institutions, and little monetary benefit goes directly to the patient. The patent may benefit in other ways, such as better recognition of dangerous interactions between different medications. Yet success of the EHC depends on broad usage. In certain situations, a physician cannot reject an ill patient and refuse treatment for ethical reasons, even when the patient does not present the card. Thus, there is no way to force the patient to carry and use the EHC.
Although the compliance of the patient can be the primary obstacle to successful broad use of the EHC, small physician practices may benefit only in the long run due to investments for the infrastructure (e.g. card reader, Software). These small physician practices may be reluctant to invest and participate in the EHC system. Additional incentives for Health Care Providers and medical professionals may be appropriate to increase the motivation to invest into and to use the EHC.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limited to the accompanying figures in which like references indicate similar elements. Skilled artisans appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. Exemplary embodiments will be explained in the following text with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
A method and apparatus are presented to increase usage of Electronic Health Cards (EHC) by patients and physicians who may otherwise not use the EHC system. To increase usage, various benefits and services are available and may be personalized to a patient who uses the EHC. Other benefits and services may be available to a physician who uses a HPC and the EHC system.
Each of the components may be implemented as separate circuits, or may be integrated into a single element. The microprocessor 102 can be any type of microprocessor suitable for controlling transmission of data into and from any of the components and/or providing desired functionality of the EHC 100. The memory 104 contains administrative information about the patient or physician. For example, the information contained in the memory 104 of the EHC can include personal identification, demographic data, medical insurance, emergency medical data, prescription information, medical history, test results, diagnoses, or authorization rights for health care providers. In addition, benefits available to the patient by using the EHC, such as those provided below, may be contained within the memory 104.
The contactless transmitter/receiver 106 and the contacts 108 provide mechanisms for the information in the memory 104 or other components to be provided to an external entity. The contactless transmitter/receiver 106 can contain either or both a transmitter and a receiver. The contactless transmitter/receiver 106 may transmit/receive radio-frequency (RF) signals or infrared (IR) signals to provide a communication link between the EHC 100 and the external entity to permit data to be provided from/to the external entity to/from the EHC 100.
The contacts 108 may be formed from the same material as the wiring 112, or may be formed from different material. The contacts 108 and/or the wiring 112 may contain layer(s) of one or more elements including, for example, Cu, Au, Ag, Pt, or Sn. If the EHC 100 has multiple layers, the wiring 112 and/or contacts 108 may be on the same layer or a different layer as the other components. The contacts 108 provide physical contact between the EHC 100 and the external entity to permit data to be provided from/to the external entity to/from the EHC 100. The contacts 108 are thus exposed and extend from the protective layer 150. The contacts 108 can be traces that are exposed as shown in
The indicator 110 may contain one or more indications of information in the memory 104 or processes occurring in the microprocessor 102, the contactless transmitter/receiver 106 or the contacts 108. The indicator 110 can include, for example, a display containing light-emitting diodes of the same or different colors. Different rates, colors, combinations or other variation may be used to indicate different processes.
The kiosk 202 may be connected, for example through a local network or other network 250, to other computer systems, peripheral devices, or databases. Communications between the kiosk 202 and the network 250 may be implemented in accordance with any standard and protocol known in the art, for example, using the Internet or other packet switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP), WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.
In one embodiment, shown in
An output 240 may also be provided in the kiosk 202. The output 240 may provide physical material, such as a map to a particular physician or benefit information, and/or other feedback, such as an auditory feedback to indicate that connection to the EHC 100 has been established or terminated.
The kiosk 202 may be located in a physician's office, hospital, pharmacy, insurance office, or any other location in which information regarding the patient's medical information may be useful.
In other embodiments, such as shown in
Providing incentives to the patient may be useful in convincing the patient to retain the card on their person. Similarly, due to costs of the EHC system, other incentives may be useful in convincing physicians to invest and participate in the EHC system. The incentives may overcome the cost of a physician purchasing the equipment used in the EHC system.
Such incentives may be selectable by the patient or predetermined, and may be individual incentives or bundled into packages of incentives. The incentives may be dependent on, e.g., the patient, the health care provider, health insurance institution, government agency, time of initial activation or present usage of the EHC. A patient may only have access to the incentives when he or she carries and uses the EHC. The authorization and identification information contained on the EHC is used to unlock and/or activate data, information and services from which the patient can benefit and in which he or she has an interest. Additional service-specific personal identification numbers and passwords may be stored on the EHC, which permit new offerings to be accessible to the patient only when he or she carries his EHC with him. Alternatively, data is communicated from the kiosk 202 or EHC to another location to provide one or more benefits or incentives provided in response to use of the EHC.
The EHC may store personal information of the patient. This personal information may include age, gender, education, allergies, demographic data, medical insurance data, emergency medical data, prescription information, or authorization rights to Electronic Health Records. Such information can be used to tailor information and services specifically to the user. The authorization and identification data stored on the card may enable access to distributed sources of personal health records. The health record data then can be used to enhance and improve the offered information and services to the particular patient. For example, discounts on drugs frequently prescribed for a particular patient are offered for use the EHC.
Besides providing discounts for prescriptions or physician services, other specialized services may be offered. For example, one such service may be to translate a physician's transferal letter (possibly stored on the EHC) such that it is better understood by the patient by tailoring the wording to the patient's personal and medical background. In this case, data on the EHC and/or additional data accessible through the authorization mechanism on the EHC may be used to prepare the translated referral letter.
Another service may be used to create a personalized electronic information leaflet for a prescribed medication. For example, the information on the medicament can be better understandable to the patient by cutting it down to what is relevant for the patient and tailoring the wording to the patient's background. For example, the information provided to a patient who is a physician may be more complex than the information provided to a patient who is less knowledgeable. As above, data on the EHC card and/or additional data accessible through the authorization mechanism on the EHC may be used to prepare the personalized electronic information leaflet. This service can be offered in connection with each electronic prescription, test or diagnosis stored on the card through a card reader terminal in the pharmacy where the prescribed medication is bought or other medical facility. Both of these services permit potentially complicated instructions and directions regarding a patient to be simplified as desired.
Another service that may be used to provide particularized data for a patient may be that of an optimized diet for weight loss or other health issues. This diet may be optimized with respect to the medical history of the patient in which the medical history data are accessible through the EHC. This permits tailoring of the diet to the individual needs of the patient and, if the diet is stored on the EHC, allows this diet to be viewed and modified as desired.
The EHC may permit remote or automatic scheduling for physician appointments. This may include automatic reminders of appointments sent to a location or device. For example, a user may schedule a periodic checkup and have a reminder sent to an email account, a text message, or automatic phone call when the time for the appointment is within a predetermined period or when a related EMC usage occurs. Bluetooth or other wireless protocol or a connector may be used to communicate the request for an appointment to a telephone or home computer, and then to a physician.
The EHC may additionally permit access rights to services which offer background information on diseases or support in chronic disease management. Such services may be certified by an official public health care institution, such as a health care agency or ministry, a public or private health care institution, or a public or private health insurance institution.
Similar mechanisms can be used to offer valuable information, data banks or services to the health care provider or medical professional for motivating him or her to use the HPC. The authorization and identification mechanisms for access stored on the HPC may be used to give the health professional access to services such as remote courses/facilities, discounts on medical equipment, or shortened time periods to receive payments from government agencies for services rendered to patients.
If the kiosk 202 contains a display 230, then one screen or a series of screens can be displayed, if desired. The screens can be personalized to the particular patient, standard screens independent of the patient, or a combination of both in block 418. If an input device is not present or is present but an input is not sensed in a predetermined amount of time, a particular screen can be displayed on the display 230 requesting continuation of the interaction, or the interaction can be automatically terminated and the EHC 100 updated in block 412, as above. If an input device is present and an input is provided in block 420, the input is received in block 422. The validity of the input received may be tested in block 424. If the input is invalid, an error message may be shown on the display 230 in block 426 and the system may wait until another input is sensed. If the input is valid, the display 230 may be updated and new information displayed in block 428. The input can be the selection of a particular key on a keypad, a location on a touch screen, or mouse input, for example. The selection can be, for example, guidance to a particular screen or updating of patient or doctor information on the EHC.
The benefit(s) associated with the particular patient or physician may be automatically provided after a predetermined event occurs, such as when a specific set of data is transferred between the EHC and the kiosk. Alternatively, the benefits may be provided only after a trigger is provided from an external entity, such as a governmental agency, a health care institution, or a health insurance institution. If, for example, a patient visits a physician and uses their EHC, either or both the patient and the physician (or other entity, such as a pharmacy or hospital in which the kiosk is located) may receive a benefit after the initial transfer of data from the EHC to the kiosk, after the patient has entered a predetermined input on the kiosk, the patient and/or physician has completed a predetermined set of tasks, or either or both the EHC and databases are updated. In
Of course, in any embodiment, as the information contained or elicited by the EHC may be highly personal, known electronic security measures may be taken to secure the information during usage and transmission. Such security measures may include passwords for accessing information on the EHC and/or databases as well as various security protocols for transmission and reception of information between the EHC, the databases, and the kiosk. Finger print or other personal identification devices may be used.
Although the EHC is described as one embodiment of a personalized access and authorization medium to health care data and health care networks, other technical solutions for carrying such information are possible. Similar information may be stored in various well-accepted portable electronic devices or technologies yet to find wide acceptance. For example, instead of a dedicated EHC, the EHC may be data stored in the memory of a cell phone memory, personal data assistant, laptop computer, electronic passport, or other electronic device having the capability to store the information. The data may be stored in a RF ID tag implanted in the patient. The health care networks may be part of a private health care system or may be established as part of a public governmental health care system.
It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention. Nor is anything in the foregoing description intended to disavow scope of the invention as claimed or any equivalents thereof.