Patent Application
20160087800
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
This is directed to a method for capturing the image of a handwritten signature, and associating it with an electronic document. Signatures are required for documents of many types, including contracts, and various business forms. As the shift has been made from paper documents to electronic documents, a number of approaches have been taken to capture handwritten signatures electronically. Most signature capture arrangements have used a touch responsive tablet and a stylus, such as those used in retail settings for the completion of credit card forms and transactions. It will be appreciated that such a system is expensive to install and to maintain. It may also be undesirable in some instances to have dedicated tablet and stylus equipment that is used by a great many people. For example, in a hospital admitting office where a series of patients use the equipment, touching the tablet and the stylus, there is a real possibility of surface contamination and the spread of illness.
As a consequence, systems have been devised that permit electronic documents and forms to be signed by an individual who uses his own tablet computer or smartphone. These systems have typically required that the signer install an application onto the tablet computer or smartphone. Additionally, such systems have typically required that the individual establish an account, with the associated difficulties of creating a new user name and password combination to remember. The attendant complications to using systems of this type make them less than desirable for executing documents. This is especially true of situations where only a few documents will be executed.
A method of capturing the image of a handwritten signature with a portable digital media device for insertion in a document, the portable digital media device being in wireless communication with a first computer, may comprise the steps of using the first computer to access a web application, selecting an electronic document for signature, and entering identification of the portable digital media device. The method further comprises the step of sending a communication wirelessly to the portable digital media device, including a URL address for a webpage. The URL address will function as a working address for only a limited period of time. The URL will contain no information that might identify the signer. The webpage can be accessed with the portable digital media device only during this limited amount of time. The touch responsive screen of the portable digital media device is used to enter the handwritten signature after the identity of the signer is verified.
A method of capturing the image of a handwritten signature for insertion in a document uses a portable digital media device. The portable digital media device is in wireless communication with a first computer. An electronic document for signature is selected with the first computer. The method may comprise the step of receiving a communication with the portable digital media device from the first computer, the communication including a URL address for a webpage. The URL address is a working address for a limited amount of time. The method further includes accessing the webpage with the portable digital media device during the limited amount of time. The method also includes the steps of using the touch responsive screen of the portable digital media device to enter the handwritten signature; and transmitting the handwritten signature from the portable digital media device for association with the document.
This relates to a system and a method for capturing the image of a handwritten signature with a portable digital media device. A wide variety of portable digital media devices with touch responsive displays, such as smart phones and tablet computers, have been adapted and used in information systems to perform various functions, in addition to their operation as cell phones and computers. Such portable digital media devices include, for example, iPhone devices from Apple, Inc., Android devices from Motorola, Inc., iPad and iTouch devices from Apple, Inc., tablet computers from a variety of manufacturers, and other similar devices. These devices all include an associated touch responsive display, and a memory in which are stored application programs that control the flow of information and processing of the information by the device and by remote servers. Portable digital media devices also have wireless communication capabilities, such as cell phone, cellular data, Wi-Fi, and other capabilities, which permit communication between the devices, and remote servers and computer systems.
As stated above, the disclosed method allows for the capture of a handwritten signature using the signer's mobile device without the need for software installation on the mobile device. Because a signer uses his own mobile device, not a public device, confusion as to the operation of the device and the spread of infection are both dramatically reduced in a healthcare setting. Finally, because the method may incorporate signer identity verification, location awareness and time-sensitive signatures, there is no need for the signer to create an online identity in order to sign a document.
An example of this method, as applied in a hospital admitting environment, is as follows:
An important feature of this method is sending a time-sensitive URL via text message or email to the signer's mobile device, combined with the use of a simple web page that is viewed on the mobile device and provides the means of signature capture. This eliminates the need for an installed application on the signer's mobile device, and the need for password protection. If desired, further security may be obtained with the capture of the GPS location information at the time of signature. This insures that the signer must be where he is anticipated being in order for the signature to be accepted as valid. In a hospital admissions setting, this might mean that the signature is captured only if it was created at the hospital. Alternatively, if a pre-admission form is being completed and signed, perhaps with telephone contact between a hospital employee and the patient, this might mean that the signature would be accepted only if it were created at an address that matches an address on the completed form, such as for example the patient's home address.
Reference is made to
Assuming that the process will move forward with a portable digital media device, an obfuscated URL address is then sent to either the hospital's device at 112 or the patent's device at 114 as a part of a text message or an e-mail message. The URL address is the address for a webpage hosted by the second computer 14 with the URL address being a working address only for a limited period of time preset by computer 14. The patient opens the URL in the browser of device 10 at 114, or the staff person opens the URL for the patient if the hospital's device is being used, and hands the device to the patient at 118. At 120, the computer 14 checks to see whether this has taken place within the limited period of time that is preset by computer 14. Advantageously, this limited period of time is relatively short so that the likelihood of an unauthorized individual accessing the webpage is extremely low. The duration of this limited period of time may be defined by the computer 14 such that operation of the process is optimized. The patient is then prompted to verify his identity by entering one or more requested items of information that the patient is likely to know, such as for example his date of birth. When the identity of the patient is confirmed at 126, the patient then selects a form to sign from a displayed list at 130, assuming that the hospital staff person has completed more than one such form. The patient then signs the form by tracing his signature with his finger on the touch responsive screen 12 of device 10 at 134 and 136. Alternatively, if preferred, the patient may use a stylus to input his signature on the touch responsive screen. The handwritten signature is then transmitted from the portable digital media device 10 to the second computer 14 for association with the selected document at 138.
It will be appreciated that using this signature capture method may not always be desired or appropriate. For instance, if neither the patient nor the hospital has a smartphone or other portable digital media device available, resort will be made to an alternative method at 110. Similarly, if the patient cannot be verified after three attempts at 126 and 128, the patient will be prompted to contact an admissions staff person directly.
Compared to other known methods presently in use, this approach increases security without introducing inconvenience. This method also reduces the spread of infection in healthcare settings. Further, this method simplifies the execution process, and reduces the cost for the business obtaining the signature. This approach allows for the capture of handwritten signatures without the additional costs associated with dedicated signature capture devices, without the complexity that would be introduced if the signer were to use someone else's mobile device, and without the concern for infection control that is innate to most signature capture pad scenarios. Additionally, using a portable digital media device that has a built-in GPS receiver adds to the security of the signature capture process. Also, this approach eliminates the requirement for usernames and passwords usually needed to log into a web page. This approach operates in real time, and its security features remove the need for the creation of an online account for the signer. This allows the application running on the computer 14 to be an integrated component of a third-party computer application such as a patient portal which may already require an online account to be created. Finally, the security provided by this system reduces the likelihood of fraud, and makes an attempt at repudiation of the signature less likely, as well.
It will be appreciated that this method has benefits that are desirable across a wide range of venues, beyond hospital admissions departments and other health care settings. This method provides for the use of a device that the signer is most familiar, his own smart phone, in capturing a signature. Further, in any setting, limiting the number of individuals that touch a surface is helpful. Further, in any setting limiting the number of electronic signature devices reduces hardware costs for signature capture systems. Additionally, in any setting the web application's time-sensitive texted or emailed URL increases security. The URL will only work for a few minutes, decreasing the chance of someone else signing the document inappropriately. Finally, the capture of GPS location information from the signer's mobile device provides further security and information regarding the signer's whereabouts at the time of signature. All of this prevents the signer from having to install any software on his mobile device, dramatically reducing the inconvenience, since the signer is not forced to go through a web account creation process.
