Patent Grant
8504382
The present disclosure is directed to connecting consumers with service providers.
Systems have been developed to connect consumers and their providers over the Internet and the World Wide Web. Some systems use e-mail messaging and web-based forms to increase the level of connectivity between a member of a health plan and his assigned health care provider. The consumer sends an e-mail or goes to a website that generates and sends a message (typically an e-mail or an e-mail type message) to a local provider.
These types of services have been broadly referred to as “e-visits.” While generally viewed as an addition to the spectrum of services that may be desired by consumers, the benefits of such services are not clear. One of the concerns associated with offering additional communication channels, such as e-mail, is that it can result in over consumption of services, rather than provide for better coordination.
Until recently, the notion of an electronic encounter was not even coded in the standard financial coding schemes used for submitting medical claims, preventing proper reimbursement of providers for such encounters. This gap has been recently corrected by the introduction of CPT (current procedural terminology) code 0074T, allowing providers to submit a reimbursement claim for an electronic encounter (e.g., e-visit) with their patients. Most plans at this time, however, do not include this service code as a covered service (i.e., a benefit) making it an out-of-pocket expense for members and an unattractive offering for providers (who need to charge members directly for such encounters).
Recently, a number of health plans announced their intention to begin remunerating providers for electronic visits (i.e., paying a certain consideration for claims submitted with a CPT 0074T code). While limited to pilot projects, plans are embracing the notion of consumerism by offering advanced tools for consumers to become informed and acquire medical services. Facilitating timely and more organized communication between the member and their provider is perceived as a natural investment in the new consumer-driven healthcare world. While still at an early stage, interest in e-visits has picked up both in the commercial world as well as in the strategic planning sessions of health plans around the country. Vendors offering health portals for health plans typically now describe their roadmap for the incorporation (or interfacing with) e-visit platforms.
In general, in one aspect, an identification of a trusted second provider is received from a first provider, and the identification of the trusted second provider is provided to a consumer associated with the first provider.
In general, in one aspect, a computer-implemented method includes receiving an identification of one or more trusted medical service providers from a first medical service provider. The method also includes receiving a request from a consumer associated with a first medical service provider to engage in real time with a medical service provider over the Internet. The method also includes in response to the received request, displaying a list of medical service providers to the consumer on a user interface. The method also includes providing an indicator associated with a particular medical service provider in the list of medical service providers if the particular medical service provider is a trusted medical service provider identified by the first medical service provider.
Implementations may include one or more of the following features.
The first medical service provider can be a primary care physician. The method can also include receiving a request from the consumer to engage with the first medical service provider and displaying the list of medical service providers comprises displaying the name of at least one of the one or more trusted medical service providers if the first medical service provider is not available to engage with the consumer. The method can also include receiving a request from the consumer to engage with a medical service provider specializing in a particular area of medical practice and displaying the list of medical service providers comprises displaying the name of at least one of the one or more trusted medical service providers specializing in the particular area of medical practice. The method can also include generating a tree of medical service providers associated with the first medical service provider, the tree including the trusted medical service providers identified by the first medical service provider and medical service providers identified by the one or more trusted medical service providers. The method can also include receiving feedback from the consumer about a particular one of the trusted medical service providers and providing the feedback to the first medical service provider. The method can also include providing compensation to the first medical service provider if the consumer engages with a medical service provider included in the list of trusted medical service providers for the first medical service provider. The method can also include subsequent to an engagement between a consumer and a particular medical service provider, receiving feedback from the consumer related to the engagement, generating a provider rating based, at least in part, on the received feedback, and displaying the provider rating in a provider profile for the service provider, the provider rating reflecting the quality of the provider's interaction with the consumers.
In general, in one aspect, a computer program product resides on a computer readable medium and provides broker services to consumers and service providers. The computer program product includes instructions for causing a computer to receive an identification of one or more trusted medical service providers from a first medical service provider. The computer program product also includes instructions to receive a request from a consumer associated with a first medical service provider to engage in real time with a medical service provider over the Internet. The computer program product also includes instructions to in response to the received request, display a list of medical service providers to the consumer on a user interface. The computer program product also includes instructions to provide an indicator associated with a particular medical service provider in the list of medical service providers if the particular medical service provider is a trusted medical service provider identified by the first medical service provider.
Implementations may include one or more of the following features.
The computer program product can also include instructions to receive a request from the consumer to engage with the first medical service provider and display the list of medical service providers comprises displaying the name of at least one of the one or more trusted medical service providers if the first medical service provider is not available to engage with the consumer. The computer program product can also include instructions to receive a request from the consumer to engage with a medical service provider specializing in a particular area of medical practice and display the list of medical service providers comprises displaying the name of at least one of the one or more trusted medical service providers specializing in the particular area of medical practice. The computer program product can also include instructions to generate a tree of medical service providers associated with the first medical service provider, the tree including the trusted medical service providers identified by the first medical service provider and medical service providers identified by the one or more trusted medical service providers. The computer program product can also include instructions receive feedback from the consumer about a particular one of the trusted medical service providers and provide the feedback to the first medical service provider. The computer program product can also include instructions to provide compensation to the first medical service provider if the consumer engages with a medical service provider included in the list of trusted medical service providers for the first medical service provider. The computer program product can also include instructions to, subsequent to an engagement between a consumer and a particular medical service provider, receive feedback from the consumer related to the engagement, generate a provider rating based, at least in part, on the received feedback and display the provider rating in a provider profile for the service provider, the provider rating reflecting the quality of the provider's interaction with the consumers.
In general, in one aspect, an apparatus includes a processor and a computer program product residing on a computer readable medium for providing broker services to consumers and service providers. The computer program product includes instructions for causing the processor to receive an identification of one or more trusted medical service providers from a first medical service provider. The computer program product also includes instructions for causing the processor to receive a request from a consumer associated with a first medical service provider to engage in real time with a medical service provider over the Internet. The computer program product also includes instructions for causing the processor to in response to the received request, display a list of medical service providers to the consumer on a user interface. The computer program product also includes instructions for causing the processor to provide an indicator associated with a particular medical service provider in the list of medical service providers if the particular medical service provider is a trusted medical service provider identified by the first medical service provider.
Implementations may include one or more of the following features.
The computer program product can also include instructions for causing the processor to receive a request from the consumer to engage with the first medical service provider and display the list of medical service providers comprises displaying the name of at least one of the one or more trusted medical service providers if the first medical service provider is not available to engage with the consumer. The computer program product can also include instructions for causing the processor to receive a request from the consumer to engage with a medical service provider specializing in a particular area of medical practice and display the list of medical service providers comprises displaying the name of at least one of the one or more trusted medical service providers specializing in the particular area of medical practice.
In general, in one aspect, a computer implemented method includes receiving from a first provider an identification of a trusted second provider and providing the identification of the trusted second provider to a consumer associated with the first provider. In some implementations, the method can also include receiving from the trusted second provider an identification of a trusted third provider and providing the identification of the trusted third provider to the consumer associated with the first provider.
Overview
The system described below provides an integrated information and communication platform that enables consumers of services to identify and prioritize service providers with whom they should consult and to carry out consultations with such service providers in an efficient manner. Consumers are able to consult on-line with an expert service provider, at a mutually convenient time and place, even when the two parties are geographically separated. This integrated platform is referred to herein as an engagement brokerage service (brokerage).
The computerized system 110 includes an availability or presence tracking module 112 for tracking the availability of the service providers 130. Availability or presence is tracked actively or passively. In an active system, one or more of the service providers 130 provides an indication to the computerized system 110 that the one or more service providers are available to be contacted by consumers 120 and an indication of the mode by which the provider may be contacted. In some examples of an active system, the provider's computer, phone, or other terminal device periodically provides an indication of the provider's availability (e.g., available, online, idle, busy) to the system 110 and a mode (e.g., text, voice, video, etc.) by which he can be engaged. In a passive system, the computerized system 110 presumes that the service provider 130 is available by the service provider's actions, including connecting to the computerized system 110 or registering the provider's local phone number with the system. In some examples of a passive system, the system 110 indicates the provider 130 to be available at all times until the provider logs off, except when the provider is actively engaged with a consumer 120.
The computerized system 110 also includes one or more processes such as the tracking module 112 and a scheduling module 116. The system 110 accesses one or more databases 118. The components of the system 110 and the web server 102 may be integrated or distributed in various combinations as is commonly known in the art.
Using the system 100, a consumer 120 communicates with a provider 130. The consumers 120 and providers 130 connect to the computerized system 110 through a website or other interface on the web server 102 using client devices 122 and 132, respectively. Client devices 122 and 132 can be any combination of, e.g., personal digital assistants, land-line telephones, cell phones, computer systems, media-player-type devices, and so forth. The client devices 122 and 132 enable the consumers 120 to input and receive information as well as to communicate via video, audio, and/or text with the providers 130.
Limited by office hours and other patients, providers struggle with the idea of adding another service commitment to their existing workload. Patients sending queries to their providers can not expect an immediate response and are often asked to schedule an appointment for further evaluation. Providers are, however, often available at times that are not convenient for their patients, for example, in the event of a last-minute cancellation. Providers also may be available for e-visits during otherwise idle times, such as when home, during their commute, and so forth. The brokerage supplements existing provider availability to allow whichever providers are available at any given time to provide e-Visits to whichever consumers need a consultation at that time. Instead of relying on the unlikely availability of a specific provider for any given consumer, the brokerage connects the consumer to all online providers capable of addressing the consumer's needs. The brokerage has distinct features including the ability to engage in live communication with a suitable, selectable provider and the ability to do so on-demand.
One advantage that the brokerage provides is that the brokerage constantly monitors the availability of a provider for an engagement and thus, consumers receive immediate attention to address their questions or concerns, since the brokerage will connect them to available service providers. In order to achieve such a level of availability, the system assimilates the discretionary or fractional availability windows of time offered by individual providers into a continuous availability perception by consumers. Since many of the services offered to consumers are on-demand, consumers have little expectation that the same provider will be constantly available, rather, they expect that some provider will be available.
The computerized system 110 provides information and services to the consumers 120 in addition to connecting them with providers 130. The computerized system 110 includes an access control facility 114, which manages and controls whether a given consumer 120 may access the system 110 and what level or scope of access to the features, functions, and services the system 110 will provide.
The consumer 120 use the system 100 to find out more information about a topic of interest or, for example, a potential medical condition. The computerized system 110 identifies service providers 130 that are available at any given moment to communicate with a consumer about a particular product, service, or related topic or subject, for example, a medical condition. The computerized system 110 facilitates communication between the consumer 120 and provider 130, enabling them to communicate, for example, via a data-network-facilitated video or voice communication channel (such as Voice over IP), land and mobile telephone network channels, and instant messaging or chat. In some examples, the availability of one or more providers 130 is tracked, and at the instant a consumer 120 desires to connect and communicate with a provider, the system 110 determines whether a provider is available. If a particular provider 130 is available, the system 110 assesses the various modes of communication that are available and connects the consumer 120 and the provider 130 through one or more common modes of communication.
The system selects a mode of communication to use based in part on the relative utility of the various modes. The preferred mode for an engagement is for both the consumer 120 and the provider 130 to use web-based consoles, as this allows each of the other modes to be used as needed. For example, consumers and providers may launch chat sessions, voice calls, or video chats from within a web-based console like that shown in
If the provider 130 is not available, the system 110 identifies other available providers 130 that would meet the consumer 120's needs. The system 110 enables the consumer 120 to send a message to the consumer's chosen provider. The consumer can also have the system 110 contact the consumer in the future when the chosen provider is available.
By way of illustration, the system 100 connects members of healthcare plans with providers of healthcare products and services. For example, the service providers 130 may be physicians, and the service consumers 120 may be patients. The service providers and service consumers may also be lawyers and clients, contractors and homeowners, or any other combination of a provider of services and a consumer of services.
The system enables the consumer to search for providers that are available at the time the consumer is searching and enables the consumer to engage a provider on a transactional basis or for a one-time consultation. A consumer is able to engage a world-renowned specialist for a consultation or second opinion, even though the specialist is located too far away from the consumer to become a regular client, patient, or consumer. The consumer can use that specialist's advice when considering services by a local service provider. For example, a patient in a suburban town with a rare condition may consult with a specialist in a distant city, and then, based on that consultation, select a local physician for treatment.
The web page 134 includes various elements to enable the consumer 120 (to input information. These interface elements include buttons 136a and text 136b to enable the consumer 120 to select information and to navigate the website Other standard elements (not shown) can include text boxes to receive textual information and menus (such as drop-down menus) to enable the consumer 120 to select information from a menu or list.
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Providers participating in the brokerage network can have several states of availability over time. States in which the provider may be available may include on-line, in which the provider is logged-in and can accept new engagements in any mode, on-line(busy), in which the provider is logged-in but is currently occupied in a video or telephonic engagement, and scheduled, in which the provider is offline but is scheduled to be online at a designated time-point and can pre-schedule engagements for it. While not online, the provider can take messages as in offline state. Other states may include off-line, in which the provider is not logged in but can take message-based engagements (i.e., asynchronous engagements), out-of-office, in which the provider is not accepting engagements or messages, and standby, in which the provider is offline and can be paged to Online status by the brokerage network if traffic load demands it (in some examples, consumers see this state as offline).
The operating business model for the provider network employs a remuneration scheme for providers that helps assure that the consumers can find providers in designated professional domains (e.g., pediatrics) in the online mode. For example, selected providers can be remunerated for being in the standby mode to encourage their on-line availability in case of low discretionary availability by other -providers in their professional domain. Standby providers are also called into the on-line state when the fraction of on-line(busy) providers in their professional domain exceeds a certain threshold. In some examples, the transition of providers from standby to online and back to standby (in case of over capacity or idle capacity) is an automated function of the system.
The tracking module 112 transfers 154 information about the availability and the communication capability of the consumers 120 and the providers 130 to the scheduling module 116 using, for example, one or more well-known presence protocols, such as Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP).
As noted, the system 100 includes access control facilities 114 that control how consumers 120 access the system and to what extent or level the services provided by the system are made available to consumers. The system 100 also stores and provides access to consumer information (e.g., contact information, credit and financial information, credit card information, health information, and other information related to the consumer and the services purchased or otherwise used by the consumer) and provider information (e.g., physician biographies, product and service information, health related content and information and any information the provider or the health plan wants to make available to members) and the access control facility 114 can prevent unauthorized access to this information. In some examples, the system 100 exports the consumer information for use in a provider's office or other facility.
The system 100 interacts with consumers and available data sources to position and direct their health matters to appropriate care providers. Consumers can use various tools of physician and provider profiling to exercise choice in selecting the providers they wish to interact with. The brokerage facilitates the communication between the consumer and his selected providers, allowing the consumer to follow-up as needed to establish a comfort level in his care. The brokerage supports transfer of these communications and any other results of the eVisit to non-virtual care points if such escalation is needed.
The brokerage can be considered as a first tier of medical care that is made available to consumers at home or at other locations. This first tier precedes typical entry points into a medical care setting, e.g., a physician's office or an emergency room. The brokerage enables consumers to explore concerns on, new or existing medical issues without the need to incur the time, cost, and emotional burden typically associated with the office visits or trips to the emergency room. To deliver such a comfort level, the system provides immediate access to tools that help define health issues, as well as, access to the appropriate automated and human mediated interventions. Consumers can discretionally engage (or escalate) the level of care they need to gain confidence in their management of such issues. The consumers' choices in this area span both the type of credentials of the provider they interact with (e.g., a nurse versus a board certified specialist), as well as the level of intensity (mode and frequency) of their communications (e.g., messages versus full video dialogue). The brokerage can export the information and workup gained during an encounter to a subsequent tier of services, such as a specific medical office or the ER (as well as care management services if offered by the consumer's health plan, hospitals and so forth). As such, the brokerage manages more costly medical service consumption (demand management) and serves as a pervasive tool for impacting basic medical care and follow-up and encourages appropriate health behaviors for the customer population at large.
There are various models for how consumers may gain access to the system. Consumers may purchase access to the system through a variety of models, including direct payment or as part of their insurance coverage. Health plans may provide access to their members as part of their service or as an optional added benefit. In some examples, health plans may receive information about their members' use of the brokerage to allow, for example, better allocation of resources and overall management of member's health care consumption. Employers may purchase access to the brokerage for their employees through whichever health plans the employer offers. Self-insured employers may purchase access for their employees directly with the brokerage. Providers may be compensated in several ways and may offer their services to the brokerage either independently or as part of a framework such as a provider network.
Similarly, there are numerous ways the brokerage can be packaged. As a health plan benefit, the brokerage expands a health plans ability to manage health care service consumption by their members. A health plan may provide access to the brokerage through an existing web portal through which members access benefit information and interact with their health plan. As an employee benefit, the brokerage supplements the employee's health coverage and may be presented, for example, through a human resources web site. In a direct-to-consumer situation, consumers may access the brokerage directly through its own web page. In some examples, the brokerage is implemented as an enterprise software system for a call center, such as one operated by a health care provider. Linked to other institutional users of the system (e.g., other participating providers), this can allow the provider to provide services to its patients that it cannot offer itself, such as 24-hour specialty consultations. The brokerage may also be used by a provider practice to allows its practitioners to provide care to the brokerage's members (and generate revenue) during off-hours or as a preliminary stage to office visits. This may also eliminate the need for an office visit with a primary care physician just to get a referral to a specialist.
The brokerage provides compensation for products and services provided. Access to the system 100 may be provided on a subscription basis, with consumers paying a fee (either directly or indirectly through another party, such as a healthcare plan or health insurance provider) to be provided with a particular level of access to the system. In exchange for providing products or services, the service provider may receive compensation from the consumer or from an organization that pays for the products or services on behalf of the consumer, such as a health plan or a health insurance company. In instances in which the consumer pays directly, the operator of the interface to the system that connected the consumer to the service provider may be compensated. In one embodiment, the consumer pays the operator, which keeps a portion (e.g., a percentage, a flat fee, or a co-pay) and pays the remainder to the service provider. In another embodiment, the consumer or the service provider pays a flat fee or percentage of the fee for the engagement to the operator. Where the service provider's compensation is paid by a health plan or insurance company, the operator may be paid a flat fee or a percentage of the fee for the engagement transaction by the health plan or insurance company. Alternatively, the consumer or the service provider or both may pay a fee (a co-pay or service fee) to the operator for providing the connection.
The Consumer Interface
Initiation of an Engagement
A consumer 120 engages with the brokerage system 100 to access a service provider 130. Several types of engagements may exist. Examples of these are described with respect to flowcharts in
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As an option, a standby list for a provider may provide preferential queuing for some consumers. For example, preferential queuing may be provided based on prior engagements with the provider (e.g., preference is given to follow-up engagements) or based on a service tier (e.g., frequent user status) of that consumer. The brokerage can be configured such that it collects information about the consumer (e.g., answers to initial intake questions) and provides the collected information to the specific service provider prior to initiating any further engagements. For example, a consumer can store information during a consumer-initiated engagement as described above, park the information, and wait to be contacted when the specific selected provider is available.
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Provider Selection
One capability of the brokerage is to extend a retail-like experience to the consumer. Consumers are able to spend time on the system to explore its participating providers whether they are currently available or are expected to be available at some other time. While the system can assist the consumer in identifying the most appropriate providers (see the consumer advisor function, below), it also allows the consumer to filter the provider list based on his preference and access a view of a provider availability matrix that changes as providers go on and off line.
An example of an interface by which consumers can select providers in a variety of ways is shown in
Consumers may select providers according to attributes of the provider, such as a geographical area where the provider is located or which professional organizations have accredited the provider (e.g., whether a doctor has board certification in cardiology). Any metrics within the provider profile (discussed below) can be used to define a list of providers that meet the consumer's preferences.
Once the consumer enters her search criteria 176, the results are shown on the web page 178 in
Providers already associated with the consumer may appear on the consumers' short list. Association may be based on historical engagements and may extend to the health plan's feed of claims (i.e., all providers that submitted claims for the consumer). When reviewing the list of historical engagements, consumers are able to access the engagement audit and the ranking they have attributed to any engagements in the past.
In certain modes of deployment, there are functional attributes that may impact the consumer's selection. In most health-plan distribution modes, consumers may opt (or be limited) to see only providers that are “in-network” according to their insurance coverage product. Selecting an “out-of-network” provider may incur higher out-of-pocket costs. Another example relates to a deployment of the system in disease management and health coaching settings (e.g., a call center). In this case, the plan may require that the consumer can select only nurses that are associated with the disease management program with which the consumer is associated.
Regulations introduced by the federal government in August, 2006, require all federal bodies offering medical coverage (including Medicare, Medicaid, and military, and federal employee plans) to publish their ratings of health service providers (physicians and hospitals) to the general public. The system can allow the consumer to search such sites automatically for a selected provider prior to an engagement. Other sources of reference data may include state publications on morbidity, mortality, and legal actions against providers, or databases maintained by third parties.
Once a consumer has defined a collection of criteria to filter and find a provider, the system can offer tools to shorten the process in the future. Consumers may be able to save criteria-sets as named searches and benefit from notifications when a search list surpasses a certain level of availability that may encourage the consumer to log in and communicate with a provider.
Modes of Engagement
The brokerage allows consumers to engage provider's e.g., health professionals “on demand” based on provider availability. Engagements can be established in various ways, including:
Interactive Voice Response Engagements
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems allow for the deployment of interactive audio menus over the phone. The caller can navigate between options, listen to data-driven information, provide meaningful input, and engage system functions. IVR engagements extend the reach of the system to the telephone as a portable consumer interface to launch an engagement in addition to the Web-based interface. Consumers select a pin code on the application to authenticate their identity if they call in. Several types of engagements can be carried out through an IVR system using logic like that shown in
The IVR system can also be used proactively to pursue consumers who need a follow-up. At the time of a follow-up, the system recalls the provider with whom the follow-up is desired (or the type of provider in case the follow-up is not restricted to a specific provider), identifies that the provider is available for an engagement, and attempts to contact the consumer over the phone to establish a connection for the engagement. Once contacted, the consumer can decline or ask postpone the call. If the consumer takes the call, the connection is made. When consumers are pursuing an engagement with a provider that is either busy or currently offline (e.g., a specific provider or a type of provider with few participants), the IVR system allows the consumer to park in a standby mode until the provider is available. When the provider is available, the system calls the consumer, identifies the provider to the consumer, and verifies that the consumer is still interested in pursuing the call with the provider. If the consumer is still interested, an engagement is connected.
In addition to launching engagements, the IVR interface allows consumers to interact with other services offered by the brokerage. For example, consumers can instruct the system to fax a transcript of their information to a fax machine that the consumer identifies by keying in or speaking its phone number. Using such a function, a consumer makes key information available to, e.g., emergency room personnel or to a provider in an office visit. without the need to plan, collect, print, and carry the information to that encounter.
IVR hardware is readily available from telecommunication vendors and can be programmed to operate in the context of the brokerage framework. Authentication is provided through a PIN number or by other standard methods.
Engagement Auditing
In some examples, material elements of an engagement are audited by the brokerage to establish a work-up record of the consumer. Such a record of consumer entries, recordings, and provider notes, together with time stamps and identification of registrars, is available to the consumer at any time for future reference. A consumer may choose to share this record with other providers within the brokerage or to export it to an external point-of-care such as a provider office, an emergency room, a care manager, or an external record management system such as a regional health information organization (RHIO) (and to similar entities in non-medical implementations). Auditing may also include various degrees of automated entry of standardized coding to allow effective rule-based moderation of the system based on clinical (for example) insights captured during the engagement. In some examples, the manners of auditing and coding are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Engagement Recording and Transcription
The system 110 allows an engagement conducted using a voice technology, such as telephone, VoIP, or a video call over the web, to be recorded. As the system generates an audio file, it offers consumers services associated with the file. Based on a consumer request or setting to produce a transcript, the system forwards the file to a third party vendor to perform transcription of the file and return a textual representation of the engagement. Such text is incorporated into the consumer's record, communicated to an external party, or used as the basis for future engagements. In some examples, the transcription may be performed by voice recognition software. Transcription services can be bundled with encoding and translation services. The consumer may also request that the audio recording be made available over the phone or as a data file to a third party (e.g., the consumer's personal provider). In some examples, consumers are able to replay the recording from either the web client or a telephone as part of the IVR system.
Engagement Redirection
In some examples, a consumer redirects an active engagement to another provider or provider type. A consumer may also redirect an engagement to employ a different mode of communication with the current provider (e.g., move from a text chat to a phone conversation). The audit of the information and work up established before the redirection becomes the basis for the new engagement. In some examples, a consumer redirects an engagement that concluded in the past as a way to continue follow-up on the same issue.
Consumer Advisor
Another utility in the brokerage, the consumer advisor, assists consumers in determining what actions to take, for example, which types of providers to consult. The consumer advisor acts as a facilitator of engagements between consumers and providers, similarly to the way a nurse might interact with a patient in a health care system. In some examples, the consumer advisor is operated using a rule-driven engine embedded in the system 110 that draws from both consumer intake data and programmed clinical knowledge. The consumer advisor helps the consumer identify issues that the consumer should discuss with a provider in the system, collects data to contextualize and shorten the time needed for the discussion, and helps orchestrate engagements with the appropriate type of providers, presenting the collected intake information to the providers prior to the commencement of the engagement itself.
The consumer advisor walks the consumer through the process of using the brokerage and helps the consumer acquire the appropriate services, minimizing the time spent and cost to the consumer in determining which services to use. In some examples, the consumer advisor packages or formats the information it has collected to export it to a non-virtual provider (e.g., a consumer's primary care physician) for further follow-up, even if the consumer did not end up in an engagement. The consumer advisor operates as an assistant to the provider during an engagement, working directly with the consumer.
The information obtained from the intake stage 282 is analyzed 288 in an analysis stage 286 to determine a list of topics concerning health issues. The consumer advisor presents 290 the list of topics about the consumer's needs to the consumer and allows the consumer to further refine 292 the list by adding or removing topics. In the health care example, generating the list includes codifying the conditions, issues and general state of health and wellness of the patient to allow internal profiling of the patient and to facilitate future engagements. Once a list of topics is defined, the analysis stage 286 determines 294 an engagement action plan or agenda for the consumer, suggesting the type of providers most appropriate to discuss each topic and the relative priorities of such discussions. A web page 296 presenting an example agenda 298 is shown in
The action plan is also output 302 to the scheduler module 116, which locates providers and establishes engagements, as discussed above with regard to
In certain engagements, the provider enhances interaction with the consumer by using a re-assessment process 304 to acquire further information about the consumer's condition. During an engagement 306, the provider invokes 308 the re-assessment process 304 to cause the consumer advisor to interact 310 with the consumer on one or more specific intake assessments or assessment forms. For example, where the initial intake did not determine the possibility of a specific issue or condition, a treating physician, after consultation with the consumer, can ask for a specific intake process to be given or taken again (for example, where the consumer omitted an important symptom). Once the re-assessment is completed, the treating physician or a new physician (in the health care example) can have 306 a new live engagement with the consumer.
This assessment process 304 may be repeated, with the consumer undergoing further assessment or repeating assessments to collect further information for the provider. In some examples, the intake stage 282 determines, based on information provided by a previous provider, for example, that the consumer needs a re-assessment and the nature of the re-assessment, such that when the consumer returns to the intake stage 282, the consumer is prompted as to whether the consumer wants to proceed with the re-assessment or perform intake for a new engagement or different condition or disease.
In some examples, the consumer advisor includes a health improvement function to assess a consumer patient's current overall health and wellness state, a specific area of the health and wellness state, or treatment for a specific condition, issue or symptom. A profiling operation 312 is performed using the data collected by the intake stage 282 to form a profile of the patient. This data include the consumer's goals, where the consumer wants the consumer's health state to be in the future, and desired changes in the consumer's overall health and wellness state or in a specific area of the consumer's health and wellness state (e.g., body weight, BMI, cholesterol level, etc.), or treatment for a specific condition, issue or symptom. After developing 314 the profile and analyzing 316 it, the consumer advisor lists 318 the actions that the consumer should take to achieve these goals and incorporates 320 the actions into the consumer's action plan. In addition to recommending treatment, the health improvement function also promotes actions in the area of education, including static content and active engagements.
The health improvement function also determines a regimen for the consumer to follow to achieve the goals. Where necessary, the consumer can be directed to the scheduler module 116 to connect the consumer with a provider to assist in developing the regimen. For example, the consumer can meet with dietician to assist in the development of a dietary regimen or a personal trainer for the development of an exercise regimen. The consumer can periodically interact with the health improvement function to track her progress toward her goal. The information about the consumer's progress and updates as to the consumer's profile information are collected using the intake stage 282.
The steps of the process 280 may be implemented in a single module or in several functional components or modules including an intake module and an advisor module. The consumer advisor may be implemented as a module within the server 110, similarly to the tracking module 112 or the scheduling module 116, or it may be a self-contained module. The scheduling may be carried out by the scheduling module 116 through an interface to the modules carrying out the advisor process. To provide continuity to consumers, the interface may be implemented as part of the interface shown in
The consumer information collected by the intake process may be stored in the databases 118 as part of the overall brokerage. In some examples, the consumer information is protected and secured from unauthorized access and in compliance with the various legal requirements for storing private consumer information (for example, HIPPA governs access to an individual's health care information). The database 118 may also the process logic and rules data including the business logic of an application or rules for a rules engine that implements the consumer advisor module.
The system 110 keeps track of where the consumer 120 is in any of the processes so that the consumer 120 can log out and, upon his return, be taken to the same point where he left. After the consumer 120 has completed a section of his action plan, for example, after a patient has been successfully treated for a condition, the system 110 archives the related data and stores it as part of a virtual consumer record system in the databases 118. In some examples, a virtual patient record system is used as a source of data for various health assessment and health risk studies. Patient data can be accessed anonymously, for example, so that researchers can study patient data without obtaining the identify of any of the patients.
Auxiliary Services
Other services can be incorporated into the overall brokerage. Such auxiliary services extend the completeness of the service's offering or allow for advanced functions that can improve the end-user experience in a substantial way. The brokerage architecture allows incorporation of such auxiliary services either as part of the brokerage framework or as plug-ins using 3rd party vendor components. Such auxiliary services may be positioned inside the brokerage console to facilitate a consolidated user experience independently of who ultimately provides them.
A consumer data repository includes collection of parametric and non-parametric data. In addition, the repository holds consumer information, such as health and wellness information. For prescription filling, a provider prescribes medications to a patient over the web and submits the prescription to a local pharmacy for pick up. Such services may include components of prescription clearinghouses like SureScript™ or RxHub™. Where appropriate, the system is designed to interface with such services. There are, of course, legal constraints on such offerings.
In targeted self-help programs, a provider may advise a consumer to engage in a certain action plan that uses only intermittent provider involvement and is primarily focused on ongoing interaction by the consumer with computerized modules. The brokerage may offer information regarding a consumer's current eligibility for services or benefits as well as general information on offerings, programs, and enrollment in special products offered by, for example, a health plan that is providing the brokerage to its members. This information may also come from employer-operated benefit services. If consumers are enrolled in health-related financial products like health spending accounts, various updates on current standing are be presented through the console. This information is updated, linked to, or summarized by the plan, the employer, or an affiliated financial institution managing the consumer's account. Similarly, retirement plans or brokerage accounts might be linked, for example, if the brokerage is provided by the consumer's employer or bank to provide financial planning advice. Consumers may be given access to relevant and targeted clinical content from packages that are included in a specific service subscribed to by or on behalf of the consumer. These may include packages related to clinical, health, wellness (e.g. diet and exercise), preventive medicine, medication, coaching, mental health, and other disciplines.
Information Portability
The brokerage extends the result of any engagement to a physical point of care or service provider to allow continuation or escalation of services beyond those provided in the electronic encounter. For example, a textual transcript of an engagement is forwarded to a desired provider. If the provider is a participant in the brokerage, the provider accesses the transcript directly. If the provider is not a participant, other modes of access to the transcripts may be used, such as e-mail or fax or temporary access may be given to the non-subscribing provider. In some examples, the service may compensate a provider for reviewing a summary of his client's on-line engagement with another provider. This keeps the primary provider informed, leading to better service for the consumer, and making the eVisit system more palatable to the primary provider.
The brokerage may also supplement the record of the engagement with additional information, such as pointing out to a physician what treatment options the patient's health plan would prioritize for an illness noted in the record, or what preventative treatments the patient may be due for.
A consumer may opt to receive or forward his entire record on the brokerage's system for either safekeeping or as part of a record transfer to another service, for example, if the consumer changes health plans. In some examples, the brokerage allows consumers to request such a transcript to be transmitted in electronic form or to be loaded onto a selected medium. Outbound communications can be explicitly approved by the consumer, for example, to conform to HIPAA requirements for managing protected health information (PHI) or other consumer privacy policies or regulations.
Assuring Treatment Continuity
Consumers are more likely to use the brokerage if they perceive it as a valid tier in their relationships with their service providers, which is more likely if there is continuity between engagements, whether live or on-line. The workup performed on the brokerage facilitates the consumer's non-virtual relationship (rather than being redundant or contradictory) and thus encourages participation by both consumers and providers. The brokerage provides several features to achieve this goal. In some examples, the brokerage engages concierge practices in key geographic locations to provide non-virtual care to consumers who are otherwise managed only through brokerage-based engagements.
A service guarantee is provided to the consumer that any workup performed on the system is made available to his local service provider (e.g., his primary care physician) or requested point of care within a set number of business days electronically and another number of business days by paper statement. The consumer can also receive, for his own safekeeping, an assurance in the form of transcripts of each transaction.
For providers who do not participate in the brokerage, a referral guarantee is provided to the consumer's local service provider (e.g., his primary care physician) that her role in coordinating the care to the consumer will not be harmed. As such, the system acknowledges the local service provider's role visually to both the consumer (e.g., while in engagement with another provider) and to any participating providers with whom the consumer interacts. The designation of a certain local service provider as, for example, the PCP of the consumer, automatically triggers a behavior in the system that continues to update that local provider on the activity around “her” consumer. Another function that can further cement the role of the local service provider is an automated referral in which the participating provider can refer the consumer to an office visit only with that local service provider if additional workup is needed. This allows the local service provider to increase her visibility and receive more traffic merely by cooperating in her customers' use of the brokerage.
In some examples, a quid-pro-quo feature extends the treatment continuity offered to the consumer beyond forwarding engagement information to a non-virtual service provider. It allows consumers to continue a virtual engagement (or follow up on one) with a participating provider operating a real-world practice. Because participating providers have access to the brokerage's online interface, transitions between on-line and live providers are more informed. The consumer benefits from being able to pick up where he left off in the on-line engagement and assure continued documentation of his non-virtual visit in his service-based records.
Consumer Incentives
In some examples, health plans or other entities offering the brokerage to their customers incorporate automated incentives. Such incentives reward consumers for activities that yield favorable health outcomes (in the example of a health-plan-provided service). Incentives are provided to encourage consumers to, for example, become educated about the nature of a chronic condition with which the consumer has been diagnosed, engage in a conversation that yields advanced detection of a major health issue, perform online follow-up on conditions that warrant it (e.g., coronary artery disease or Diabetes), and participate in engagements that yield higher drug regimen compliance in select medical conditions. The system allows such incentives to be distributed automatically and promoted to appropriate consumers to encourage, for example, desired health behavior and medical management.
Interface with External Data Sources
To facilitate engagements between the consumer and the provider, the system acquires information from available systems automatically and uses the information to prepare providers at the beginning of an engagement. Such interfaces include both synchronous (e.g., web services) and batch updates from, in the example of health care, eligibility data, claims data, Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) information, predictive modeling, provider feeds relevant for consumer referrals, other standard-coding feeds using, e.g., ICD, CPT, HCPCS, NDC, SNOMED, or LOINC, formulary information relevant for Rx drug choice determination and preference, Customer Relations Management systems (CRM), and external messaging systems and queues (e.g., MyYahoo!, personalized RSS feeds).
Management and Analysis of Raw Data Inputs
In some examples, the brokerage accepts raw data inputs such as claims, pharmacy data, and lab data, from a variety of sources typically used by large clients (e.g., health plans, care management companies). The system validates the correlation between incidental entries in the raw data and the profile of the consumer. To do this, the system applies customizable analytic rules that tag a consumer as diabetic, for example, based on lab results, rather than flagging a consumer as a diabetic merely because he had a test to exclude diabetes (e.g., where the ICD code for the text doesn't indicate its outcome).
Service Providers
Provider Enrollment
Service providers are the individuals responding to consumers queries and participating in engagements. For example, in a health care setting, service providers include doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. Such providers participate in the brokerage while maintaining their affiliations they may have with any sort of professional engagement in the non-virtual world (e.g., a hospital appointment, a clinic or a private practice, partnership in a law firm). Providers on the brokerage network are verified to hold their claimed credentials prior to being permitted to accept engagements with consumers. Once verified, providers agree to the terms of the brokerage, such as payment for their time in performing engagements, the protocol of conduct desired, and the ramification and distribution of liability in case of violations of that protocol. These are similar to the agreements providers would make when joining a group practice or a hospital in the non-virtual world. An example web page 330 for one stage in the enrollment process is shown in
Prior to joining the brokerage network, a provider establishes a profile that allows consumers to select him as the target service provider of an engagement. Providers are profiled using verifiable information from provider registries (e.g., the American Medical Association (AMA) for physicians or the American Bar Association (ABA) for lawyers) as well as by a self-statement. The profile is used for several purposes, including determining the relative cost of the provider's time to either the consumer or the brokerage sponsor (e.g. a health plan that is paying for the service), and providing consumers with information that may be relevant to their choice to engage one provider versus another. Some information about the provider is verified by the brokerage (e.g., Tax ID, education, professional certification, demographics, and contact information), and some is acquired during the provider's participation on the brokerage. Such data may include length of service, number of engagements, consumer satisfaction, projected availability, etc. A provider may also provide a general introductory note, a picture, and voice and video welcome snippets. Providers may also add other information they deem relevant for consumers (e.g., a list of publications and honorary appointments) A table 340 in
Providers participating in the brokerage may come from one or more networks of service providers. Individual service providers are also able to register and enroll with the system. Individual service providers may be independent service providers not affiliated with a provider network, or service providers affiliated with a provider network that is not itself affiliated with the brokerage. This allows service providers (or other service provider networks) outside of a selected service provider network to participate in the system.
Provider Introduction
As part of the provider selection process described above, consumers benefit from access to introductory material from the provider. As consumers search for providers to meet their needs, they can select to view only providers where such material is available, producing an incentive for providers to take advantage of such capability. The example page 330 in
Provider Certification
In some examples, the system certifies service providers (or networks of service providers) to enroll and participate in the system. This may use certification standards established by outside agencies, such as the AMA or ABA. A provider wishing to become enrolled in the system registers with the system and provides his credentials, such as board certifications, years in practice, employment history, residencies, and education. The system confirms this information and evaluates the provider as a potential provider in the system. In addition, the system may also contact existing providers in the system, such as those with the same specialty or board certification or who have worked with or attended school with the candidate provider, and ask them to provide a peer review rating of the candidate provider. In some examples, the certification process is provided by a third party organization or by the same organization that provides the system for connecting service providers and consumers.
In some examples, the certification process considers load balancing of available or participating service providers in order to encourage service providers of specialties that have low average availability or are in high demand with respect to the consumer marketplace to enroll and participate in the brokerage. The brokerage may also limit the enrollment of service providers in specialties that have high average availability or are in relatively low demand to service providers with credentials that meet or exceed the credentials of service providers already participating in the system. The system maintains information about the specific needs of the consumers and the availability of service providers specializing in areas that can meet the needs of the consumers. Using this information, the system identifies which areas of specialization would benefit from additional service providers and which areas are underutilized and possibly in need of reducing the number of service providers or adding additional consumers. Because the system can connect service providers and consumers who are separated by great distances and who may not normally interact in person, the system allows service providers who are underutilized in their current location to make up for a shortage in another location.
Provider Ratings
To further improve the ability of consumers to choose appropriate service providers, the brokerage includes a utility for rating the products and services provided by the service providers or by a service provider network. The consumers provide feedback (positive and negative) to the system about the products and services provided by a particular service provider. For example, in a healthcare system, the patients can provide an evaluation of the quality of treatment or bedside manner provided by a physician. In addition, the service providers provide feedback and evaluations of the products and services provided by other service providers. For example, a primary care physician can provide an evaluation of the products and services provided by a specialist to which he referred one of his patients.
In some examples, this information is used to reconsider the certification of service providers participating in the system. Periodically, the system perform a re-evaluation process on each of the service providers participating in the system and eliminates or locks out service providers that do not meet certain criteria or a minimum level of performance with respect to consumer and peer evaluations. Newer service providers are enrolled to participate in the system for a probationary period where they are allowed to continue only if the evaluations of their products and services are satisfactory or are above a predefined threshold for performance.
As part of the provider profile (and as a way for consumers to limit their search), the system continuously updates each provider's profile with metrics reflecting the quality of his or her interaction with consumers. The metrics are updated at the conclusion of every engagement to allow providers immediate feedback as to their level of service. In some examples, all searches for providers on the system are sorted by provider rating by default, promoting higher-quality providers. Example parameters to be updated and taken into account in setting the rating include consumers' overall ranking of the provider's engagement quality, the number of engagements made by this provider in the last 30 days or overall, the number of returning engagements as a fraction of all engagements for that provider, the number of redirected engagements from this provider to another, and the average turnaround time for messaging while not “out-of-office.” In addition to the ratings each provider on the system has a Provider Statistic Manifest stating operational statistics that may interest consumers, such as that provider's availability for phone conferences over the last 30 days.
Consumers are asked to rank a provider at the end of the engagement as part of the process of disconnecting. To encourage consumers to provide such feedback, charges for the engagement continue to accrue until the consumer completes the ranking. Such a process helps encourage provider engagements to end with a ranking entry, promoting a higher quality of service to the brokerage's consumers.
The Provider Console
Providers interact with consumers through a provider console web page 350, shown in
Messaging tools allow providers correspond with consumers in message-based engagements. The console also allows the provider to participate in chat engagements where the consumer and the provider communicate back-and-forth in real-time by typing, such as the chat 358 in
The console allows the provider to hold a voice conference engagement with the consumer when the consumer is using either her computer or a telephone. The provider can use the console to redirect his end of the conference to a phone, for example, if bandwidth or other considerations indicate it or simply based on personal preference. The console also allows the provider to engage in video conferences with consumers. Audio may be served via the console or be may redirected to a telephone. To verify a provider's identity when using the telephone for a voice engagement, the system provides the provider with a PIN number through the provider console. When the provider calls into the system, or answers the phone when called by the system, the provider enters the PIN to confirm that the person on the phone is the same person who is logged into the console. This method is also used to leave secure voice message. When a provider wants to leave a message for a consumer, the provider tells the console and receive a PIN. The provider then receives a call from the system, enters the PIN, and leaves a message. The message is then delivered to the consumer with assurances that it was left by the provider.
At any time during an engagement, the provider may add notes to either the consumer engagement audit (consumer record) or to his own audit of the engagement. The audit trail allows the provider to review a complete audit of his consumer interactions via the console. This audit may include the content and timing of past engagements and related credits that the provider is due for the engagements.
In versions of the brokerage for fields, such as health care, that rely on detailed coding of work performed or analyses made, an encoder feature is provided throughout the engagement. The encoder allows the provider to add clinical codes describing the findings of the engagement. The codes can be used to further characterize the consumer as well as the basis for outbound communication to the follow-on points of care or interfaced clinical systems. The encoder can support, for example, coverage for disease, drug and procedure classifications.
The system may allow provider to provider interaction either in the context of a consumer (e.g., consultation or referral) or without a consumer context (e.g., provider forums, discussion boards, etc.). In a health care context, depending on the license of the provider to prescribe medications to an engaged consumer, the console allows the provider to use electronic prescription and refill services. Assuming it is authorized, the provider may instruct the system to forward transcripts of engagements or other information to another recipient outside the brokerage. Such exporting may include various modes of communication, such as electronic (e.g., fax, e-mail, SMS) or non-electronic (e.g., print, mail).
The provider is able to review his account status, system settings, and preferences. The provider can also access his profile and user satisfaction and statistics as they are available to consumers. The console also connects to financial services associated with the provider's participation in the brokerage. This includes status of charges, submission of plan claims (e.g., for CPT code 0074T for eVisits in a health care setting) and claim processing status. In some examples, depending on the mode of deployment of the brokerage from the health plan standpoint, real-time claim information may be available.
The brokerage offers providers the ability to redirect messages or requests for appointment to SMS-compatible cellular phones. In this mode, the provider associates a cell phone number with his account and establishes the type of information that the system can send to the mobile device. Such information may include engagement-related notifications as well as system-related notifications (e.g., an announcement about a high-traffic state asking providers to make themselves available and offering a higher fee to do so).
Open Access Forum
In some examples, the system includes an open forum that supports freeform engagements on different topics between all constituents. The open forum allows a consumer to anonymously post any of the issues identified by the consumer advisor or to manually post questions into a publicly-accessible forum. While the consumer posts his issues anonymously, responses or threads developing as other users provide answers or discuss the issues are forwarded to the consumer that posted the original issue. In some examples, the system monitors the identity of those who respond to a posting and differentially informs the consumer if a user known to be a provider posts a response. In some examples, the brokerage pays providers to post responses to entries they think are significant on the open forum. Unlike consumer entries, provider entries are identified and allow a consumer to start engagements with providers whose answers he finds informative or beneficial. The open forum also serves as a vehicle for providers to publicize themselves to consumers.
In some examples, a consumer posts the audit of one or more engagements onto the open forum for the benefit of other consumers. The brokerage strips any data that identifies the participants (i.e., it annonymizes the data) and offers the consumer the ability to review the anonymized data prior to posting it.
Sample Use Cases in the Medical Field
Generally Well Consumer
In one example, a consumer logs on to the system to explore a benefit that was promoted to him by his employer. The consumer is advised that use of the platform to increase her understanding of managing her health can be rewarded through an incentive program offered by the employer-provided health plan. The consumer advisor engages the consumer and undertakes a “no-reported-problem” assessment. At the end of the assessment, the consumer is surprised to find several areas where she can benefit from engagements. In this example, these areas include missing key cancer screening tests, improper gynecological follow-up, unattended family risk factors and a collection of lifestyle issues that both impose increasing risks and noticeably increase her stress and sleep quality issue levels. The brokerage lists and sequentially connects the consumer to an Ob/Gyn provider and a nurse coach, each already knowledgeable about the respective gaps identified. A summary report with a detailed appointment request is forwarded to the consumer's registered primary care physician to schedule the tests and referrals. The consumer receives educational material on the specific tests and risk factors that were identified.
Parents of a Newborn
In another example two parents are concerned with a rash developing on their child's left buttock. The parents are connected to a pediatric nurse who walks them through the characterization of the rash and determines it is a diaper-rash that can be managed by simple moisturizing ointment. The parents are advised that such a rash typically subsides in 2-3 days without treatment. In this example, the parents opt for further reassurance via pediatrician counseling. A connected pediatrician provides confirmation of the nurse's diagnosis and advise after reviewing the online notes. The parents follow-up with their regular pediatrician the following week, after the documentation of the event has been faxed to the pediatrician office.
A Chronic Diabetic Patient with Mobility Restrictions
In another example, a patient is a chronic overweight diabetic that is home bound. The patient develops pain in his shin above the ankle and engages the brokerage which directs him to an internal medicine specialist. The patient chooses to engage over the phone and connected with the specialist through the brokerage switchboard. The specialist questions the patient to identify a possible location of a developing leg ulcer and directs the patient to exercise extreme hygiene and heated compresses in the affected area. The specialist advises the patient not to wait for the pain to possibly subside. The patient's provider and his health plan's care manager are notified of the engagement and next-day admission for investigation and debriedment is scheduled. The early stage ulcer identified by the specialist during the telephone engagement is managed, thus preventing a life-threatening deterioration of the patient's condition.
A 46 Year Old Banking Executive Female
In another example, a consumer logs on and takes the health risk assessment. The system recognizes that the consumer has questions about certain cosmetic procedures. The system formulates the questions that should be addressed and offers to connect the consumer with a plastic surgery resident. The consumer receives a list of the names and nature of the procedures she may want to explore for her cosmetic concerns. Links to reference information on each procedure are added to her record. Links that assist the consumer in comparing costs and possible providers in her geographical area who perform the procedures are also added.
Identifying Trusted Providers
As described above, the brokerage system 100 allows a consumer to select a service provider he/she desires to engage with. In some embodiments, the brokerage system provides a consumer with a list of providers that are trusted by the consumer's primary care physician or that are trusted by another provider with which the consumer has previously engaged. Providing a list of trusted providers can help the consumer feel comfortable engaging with a different service provider for the first time.
As shown in
In some embodiments, the list of trusted providers for a particular provider can be expanded to include multiple tiers of providers associated with the particular provider.
The tree generation can continue by expanding the tree to include providers identified by each provider in a particular tier of the multi-tiered tree. As such, with each tier, the association between provider 372 (e.g., the root node of the tree) and a particular provider in the tree becomes more attenuated. A consumer and/or provider may set a limit on the number of tiers which will be searched and identified to a consumer as a trusted provider.
In some embodiments, the tree of trusted providers 370 includes recursive paths where a trusted provider for a particular provider is included in a higher level of the multi-tiered tree of trusted service providers 370. If a provider is included in a higher level of the tree, the provider is not included a second time at a lower level in the tree. For example, provider 376 is included in the first tier of the multi-tiered tree of trusted service providers 370 for provider 372. Provider 378 is included in the list of trusted providers for provider 376 and is also included in the list of trusted providers for provider 372. Since provider 378 is already included in the first tier of the tree of trusted providers for provider 372, provider 378 is not included a second time in the second tier of the tree 370 with providers 382, 384, and 386. In another example, provider 384 is included in the second tier of the multi-tiered tree of trusted service providers 370 for provider 372. Provider 378 is included in the list of trusted providers for provider 384 and is also included in the list of trusted providers for providers 372 and 378. In general, a provider is included only in the highest tier of the tree that is appropriate (e.g., the tier closest to the root node). In this case, provider 378 is included in the first tier since provider 378 is a trusted provider for provider 372. Further, since provider 378 is already included in the tree of trusted providers for provider 372, provider 378 is not included in the third tier of the tree 370 with providers 388, 390 and 392.
The brokerage system uses the multi-tiered tree of trusted service providers 370 to provide recommendations of service providers to a consumer. For example, if provider 372 is unavailable when a consumer 371 desires to speak with provider 372, the system recommends that the consumer 371 speak with another general practice provider trusted by provider 372 such as provider 374 or 376. If none of the general practice providers in the first tier of the provider's multi-tiered tree of trusted service providers 370 are available, the system searches for general practice providers in the second tier of the multi-tiered tree of trusted service providers 370 (e.g., providers identified as trusted providers by the trusted providers identified by provider 372), and so forth. For example, if both provider 374 and provider 376 are unavailable, the system recommends that the consumer speak with provider 382 who was identified as a trusted provider by provider 376.
In another example, if the consumer 371 desires to speak with a provider having a particular specialty, the system recommends that the consumer speak with a specialist included in the provider's the multi-tiered tree of trusted service providers 370. For example, if the consumer 371 has questions related to pregnancy and desires to speak with an OBGYN, the system can recommend that the consumer 371 engage with provider 378. In some examples, the first tier of a provider's multi-tiered tree of trusted providers may not include a provider having the desired specialty. If a provider having the desired specialty is not included in the first tier, the system searches for providers in the second tier of the multi-tiered tree 370 (e.g., providers identified as trusted providers by the trusted providers identified by provider A), the third tier, and so forth. For example, if consumer 371 desires to engage with a cardiologist, the system recommends provider 388 to the consumer.
Providing a network of trusted providers can provide various advantages to both the consumers and the providers. For example, providing a list of trusted providers allows providers to make sure their members are talking to providers they know and trust rather than any provider and allows the provider to recommend providers that they trust. The list of recommended providers can be a short list of providers who shall be presented to the member in the event that the provider himself is not available.
To further improve the ability of consumers to choose appropriate service providers, the brokerage includes a utility for rating the products and services provided by the service providers or by a service provider network (e.g., as described above). Consumers can use these ratings in addition to the list of“trusted” providers to pick a provider with which to engage. The consumers provide feedback (positive and negative) to the system about the products and services provided by a particular service provider. In addition, the service providers provide feedback and evaluations of the products and services provided by other service providers, e.g., providers included in their list of “trusted” providers. For example, a primary care physician can provide an evaluation of the products and services provided by a specialist to which he referred one of his patients.
As part of the provider profile (and as a way for consumers to limit their search), the system continuously updates each provider's profile with metrics reflecting the quality of his or her interaction with consumers. The metrics are updated at the conclusion of every engagement to allow providers immediate feedback as to their level of service. In some examples, all searches for providers on the system are sorted by provider rating by default and/or by providers included in the consumer's primary care physician's list of trusted providers, promoting higher-quality providers and providers having an association to the consumer's primary care provider.
In order to generate the provider ranking, consumers are asked to rank a provider at the end of the engagement as part of the process of disconnecting (e.g., as described above). In some embodiments, the feedback provided by the consumer can be shared with the provider. In addition, if the provider was recommended as a trusted provider by a provider associated with the consumer (e.g., the consumer's primary care physician), the feedback can be sent to the provider who recommended the provider with which the consumer engaged. For example, if a primary care physician is unavailable and the consumer engages with a different primary care physician included in the list of trusted providers for the consumer's primary care physician, the consumer's primary care physician receives a copy of any feedback about the other primary care physician with which the consumer engaged. Allowing a provider to see feedback from consumers about providers included in their list of trusted providers allows the provider to make informed decisions about which providers to keep in their list of trusted providers and which providers to remove from their list of trusted providers.
In some embodiments, a referral fee can be paid to a provider when a consumer engages with a provider in the provider's trusted provider list. For example, if the provider is unavailable, compensation can be provided to a provider if a consumer initiates an interaction with a different provider included in the list of trusted providers. Providing such a referral fee encourages providers to generate and maintain their list of trusted providers.
Embodiments can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations thereof. Apparatus of the invention can be implemented in a computer program product tangibly embodied or stored in a machine-readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor; and method actions can be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output. The invention can be implemented advantageously in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. Each computer program can be implemented in a high-level procedural or object oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the language can be a compiled or interpreted language.
Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. Generally, a computer will include one or more mass storage devices for storing data files; such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD_ROM disks. Any of the foregoing can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).
Other embodiments are within the scope and spirit of the description claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described above can be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.
This application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) to provisional U.S. Patent Application 60/997,215, filed on Oct. 2, 2007, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
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