Patent Application
20150186999
Software applications are distributed in various ways. Historically, consumer applications were distributed on various physical devices including floppy disk, CD-ROM or DVD for installation on a consumer's computer. Applications are now available for a variety of devices including laptop and desktop computers, tablet computers and smart phones. Applications are still distributed on physical devices, but are also now distributed through application stores that electronically transmit applications to user devices over a computer network, such as the interne.
Some applications have been made available for free by their developers. Other applications cost a one-time or recurring fee to use. For example, free applications can be downloaded from an application store by simply visiting the store. To download a fee based application, a user must enter payment information, such as credit card information and purchase the application before it can be downloaded.
Consumers have a difficult time discovering useful applications and evaluating applications. Consumers may read reviews of applications or view ratings in an application store. However, with millions of applications available across various devices and computing platforms, discovering new, useful applications is difficult.
Additionally, some applications are designed to help users with specific issues. For example, weight loss applications may help a user lose weight. However, the effectiveness of the application is not tracked nor easily discoverable by users. Application developers and others such as doctors and even the users themselves are not able to identify whether a particular application was effective.
This disclosure describes systems and methods for application discovery, subsidy and assessment. In one embodiment, a method of providing subsidized volume application purchases is described. The method includes storing, in a transaction processing system, payment information for a health plan sponsor to subsidize applications for a plurality of health plan members. Stored health plan member information for each of the plurality of health plan members is associated with the health plan sponsor. The transaction processing system stores an indication of an application to be made available to the health plan members associated with the health plan sponsor. The transaction processing system stores a quantity of the application purchased for the health plan members. The transaction processing system stores the duration of application subscriptions purchased for health plan members. At least one health plan member is provided access to the application.
Other embodiments provide a method of collecting payment information for a sponsor to purchase subsidized applications on behalf of eligible users. A transaction processing system stores payment information for the sponsor to subsidize applications. Eligibility information is stored for the sponsor's associated members. The transaction processing system receives parameters from the sponsor for purchases of applications.
Other embodiments describe a method of providing subsidized volume application purchases. A transaction processing system stores payment information for a health plan sponsor to subsidize applications for a plurality of health plan members. Stored health plan member information for each of the plurality of health plan members is associated with the health plan sponsor. The transaction processing system receives an indication of a plurality of applications to be made available to the health plan members associated with the health plan sponsor, and/or where appropriate, the duration of application access for subscription-based applications. The transaction processing system receives a quantity and/or duration for each of the plurality of applications purchased for the health plan members. At least one health plan member is provided a listing of available applications to the at least one health plan member.
Other embodiments provide application recommendations to individuals. The method includes storing, in a discovery processing system, health profile information for a health plan member. The discovery processing system stores application attributes for a plurality of healthcare applications. The discovery processing system stores at least one healthcare application with a health plan member based on the health profile information and healthcare application attributes. The discovery processing system transmits the matched healthcare application to the health plan member.
Additional embodiments provide a method for assessing the efficacy of an application. An efficacy processing system stores a relationship between a user, a health outcome and an application. The efficacy processing system stores relationships between users and health profile data found in health insurance, electronic health record and personal health record data. The efficacy processing system stores survey data to prompt users for self-reported health data and outcomes. The efficacy processing system transmits the survey data to an application. The efficacy processing system receives responses to the survey data. The efficacy processing system groups and/or matches users for cohort analyses. Comparative effectiveness and comparative safety of applications versus a comparison groups is determined. The efficacy processing system processes survey response data on application usage and user health profile and user health outcomes data. The health economic impact data for applications is determined.
Embodiments of the disclosure provide systems and methods for application discovery, subsidy and assessment. The application can be a software application for use on a phone, tablet computer or other mobile device or a computer such as a laptop computer or desktop computer. In some embodiments, the application relates to health and/or well being of a patient or user of the application. Embodiments of the disclosure describe systems and methods for a user to discover applications in an online application store. The applications can be free, paid for by the user, paid for by a subsidy provider or partially paid for by a user and partially paid for by a subsidy provider. Additional embodiments describe a system for evaluating the efficacy of applications, including applications relating to health and/or well being of a patient or user of the application.
Turning to
The eligibility and benefits database 104 also stores sponsor and user application requests, application fulfillment parameters, denials and status. In some embodiments the sponsor and user application requests, application fulfillment parameters, denials and status information is stored in a separate database. A parameter can be stored in the database to indicate whether a particular member is eligible to receive a particular application. In this way subsets of members can be given access to particular applications. In some embodiments, a ranked list of members is created. Members gain access to the application based on their placement on the list. For example, if 100 copies of an application were subsidized, the first 100 members on the ranked list would be given access to the application. In this way an application can then be made available to members through a tiered campaign. For example, a first block of members on the ranked list may be provided access to a subsidized application for a set amount of time. If all applications have not been claimed, a second block of members on the ranked list may be provided access to the subsidized application. In some embodiments, an application will be sponsored for a limited time. The eligibility and benefits database 104 stores time period during which the application will be available to health plan members. In alternative embodiments, an application is partially subsidized by the sponsor and the member must pay for a portion of the application.
The eligibility and benefits database 104 interfaces with a volume purchasing system 106. The volume purchasing system 106 enables sponsors to transact procurement of bulk advance purchases and/or commitments to purchase applications. In one embodiment, a sponsor bulk purchases a set number of copies of an application in advance. The volume purchasing system 106 may store various pieces of data, including payment information for the sponsor. As described below, the subsidized application will be made available to users until the purchased number of copies have been downloaded. Inventory data can be calculated and stored based on the number of copies purchased and the number of applications redeemed. The sponsor may be provided redemption data over time and notified that more copies of the application need to be purchased as the number of available copies diminishes to a certain threshold. The sponsor may receive a lower price if a certain threshold number of copies of an application has been purchased. In other embodiments, a sponsor may commit to bulk purchasing of an application. The volume purchasing system 106 may store various pieces of data including payment information for the sponsor. The subsidized application will be made available to users and the number of redeemed applications will be stored. The application vendor may be provided redemption data over time so as to invoice or otherwise request payment for the redeemed applications. In some embodiments, the application seller may provide a sliding scale of incrementally lower payment per application to the sponsor. In other embodiments, the sponsor may purchase an application usage license, allowing a specified number of users to download the application. In alternative embodiments, multiple sponsors may subsidize an application. For example, a first sponsor may sponsor 50% of the application and a second sponsor may subsidize 50% of the application. The application may then be free to a user.
The eligibility and benefits database 104 also interfaces with an eligibility processor 108. The eligibility processor 108 assesses application install requests from users. In one embodiment a healthcare plan sponsor only subsidizes applications for users that are members of a particular healthcare plan. In this embodiment, the eligibility processor 108 interfaces with the eligibility and benefits database 104 to determine if a user requesting a sponsored application is a member of a healthcare plan allowed by the sponsor. Additionally, the eligibility processor 108 interfaces with a request processor 110. In one embodiment, the request processor allows users, healthcare providers, such as doctors, and health plan sponsors to generate requests to make eligible, to invite or to install an application. Additionally, inquiries regarding sponsor subsidy eligibility and availability can be made. Inquiries regarding sponsor subsidy eligibility and availability may be tracked. Sponsors can be notified of highly requested applications so that they have the opportunity to begin sponsoring them.
The eligibility processor 108 also interfaces with the application store 112. In one embodiment, the application store provides users with the ability to download subsidized applications. The eligibility processor 108 provides the application store an indication of whether a user has been approved to download a subsidized application. In some embodiments, a user requests a subsidized application through the application store 112. The application store 112 interfaces with the eligibility processor 108 and the eligibility processor 108 returns a parameter indicating whether the user can obtain the subsidized application. In some embodiments, the user is given the option to purchase an application if the user is not eligible to download the subsidized application. In some embodiments, all users are eligible to download a subsidized application. In some embodiments, users are sent credits redeemable or a redemption code for the application. The member can then use the credit to download the application. In some embodiments, the eligibility processor transmits uniquely-identified users pre-authorized for subsidized applications to the application store, whereby the pricing and subsidy is later rendered locally within the application store system upon request by the user.
In some embodiments, the eligibility processor 108 and eligibility database 104 tracks and stores data relating to application purchase and/or download by users. The data can then be provided to sponsors. For example, the eligibility processor 108 and eligibility database 104 may track users with a redemption code or redeemable credits and provide the sponsor with credit usage data. In other embodiments, the eligibility processor 108 and eligibility database 104 receives and imports user-level redemption and usage data from the application store provider. In other embodiments, the eligibility processor 108 and eligibility database 104 may store and display demographic information for users of the applications or cohorts of users, as explained below. The eligibility processor 108 and eligibility database 104 may store and provide to sponsors, application providers, application stores or other authorized parties a list of subsidized applications for a given user.
Application attribute database 306 stores information relating to various applications according to the application's focus. Application profiling algorithm 308 develops a profile for applications based on the data stored in the application attribute database 306. For example, the application profiling algorithm 308 may determine an application is focused on women with diabetes or overweight men. Matching algorithm 310 assesses a fit between users and applications based on the user profiling algorithm 304 and the application profiling algorithm 308. For example, the matching algorithm 310 may match women with diabetes or overweight men with applications focused on women with diabetes or overweight men respectively. In one embodiment, statistical matching is performed for cohort analyses to determine comparative effectiveness and comparative safety of applications versus a control and applications versus each other. Propensity score matching via linear regression and/or logistic regression may be used for the statistical matching for comparative analyses. In some embodiments, a user is prompted to provide information relating to their favorite applications, owned applications and most used applications. This prompt may be in the form of a survey. A profile can be generated from the responses for use by the user profiling algorithm 304 and matching algorithm 310. The matching algorithm 310 can also use data such as user application requests and user navigation history in making a match. For example, a user that has requested weight loss applications and navigated to weight loss applications may be matched with weight loss applications in the future.
After the matching algorithm 310 assesses a fit between users and applications, the discovery fulfillment component 312 notifies users of a match. The fulfillment component may push a recommendation 314 by, for example, sending a notification, text message, email message, through a web application, mobile push message, telephone call or traditional mailing. The notification may include various messages including the name of the application, a summary of the application and/or information relating to the sponsor of the application. A user may initiate a request 316 for a recommendation by, for example, using an application, sending an email, sending a text message or making a telephone call. A sponsor, such as a health plan sponsor, may initiate a recommendation 318 for members. Additionally, a health provider may initiate a recommendation 320 for users. Recommendations can be filtered by member device and/or computing platform or operating system. In some embodiments, a ranked list of matched applications can be provided to a user. For example, the application with the best match may be listed first; the application with the second best match will be listed second and so on. Additionally, as a user is an application store 112, similar applications may be displayed to the user. In this way, a user immediately receives suggestions for applications.
The efficacy component 414 assesses and quantifies the effect of applications for a population based on statistical analysis. The analysis may include, for example, Gower measures and k-means clustering. In some embodiments, the system gathers data sets of independent and dependent variables based on users eligible, invited, installing and using applications. The efficacy component 414 then analyzes the data against linked effectiveness and safety data derived from externally-derived data (e.g. medical data as in insurance claims and/or electronic health records) and user-generated data (e.g. self-reported survey-based metrics). Results are then statistically analyzed for effects on outcomes of interest including safety and effectiveness. Aggregate data are then generated for multiple purposes including aggregate health outcomes reporting, app-level effectiveness ratings, and safety reports for regulatory filings. The aggregate data is compiled in the results component 416. The data may be provided on a de-identified basis to preserve user anonymity. The results component may be used for aggregate reports, application discovery by, for example, interfacing with the system described in
In some embodiments, credits redeemable or a redemption code for the application are generated and transmitted to the member. The member can then use the credit to download the application. In some embodiments, the system notifies members of the subsidized application as shown in
At step 606, the discovery processing system matches at least one healthcare application with the health plan member based on the health profile information and healthcare application attributes. The matching system may use statistical clustering to identify profile types appropriate to specific healthcare applications based on an analysis of healthcare application usage data from a plurality of users who have used the healthcare application. Gower measures and k-means clustering may be used. Additionally, the matching algorithm may analyze outcomes data for the plurality of healthcare applications. The outcomes data may include application engagement for users of the application, process measures, and healthcare utilization rates attributable to use of the healthcare application. More effective applications are then more likely to be recommended. The outcomes data may be gathered using the system shown in
At step 608, the discovery processing system transmits the matched healthcare application to the health plan member. In some embodiments, the sponsor is notified of the matched healthcare application.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and “at least one” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of the term “at least one” followed by a list of one or more items (for example, “at least one of A and B”) is to be construed to mean one item selected from the listed items (A or B) or any combination of two or more of the listed items (A and B), unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
