Method and apparatus for obtaining and storing medical history records

Abstract

A system and method for taking a medical history uses a questionnaire database in which answers to questions are correlated with subsequent questions. The answers given for the medical history provide a path through the database and a compact form for storage of the medical history. A computerized system is used to access the database for creating or retrieving a medical history.

1 . A method of producing and utilizing a personal profile, comprising: 
 presenting a user with a questionnaire including questions with each of the questions including question text;    receiving selections from the user corresponding to the questions, wherein the selections are stored in a personal profile without the question text;    storing, in the personal profile, questionnaire version information including a questionnaire version identifier and a question sub-version identifier for each question presented to the user;    storing at least one personal profile processing algorithm, wherein the questionnaire version information is necessary for the execution of the personal profile processing algorithm;    producing a personal profile report from a combination of at least one of the selections in the personal profile and the at least one personal profile processing algorithm.    
   
   
       2 . The method of producing and utilizing a personal profile according to  claim 1 , wherein the selections are ordered; and wherein storing the selection includes storing order information corresponding to the order of the selections from the user.  
   
   
       3 . The method of producing and utilizing a personal profile according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 retrieving the selections stored in the personal profile; and    determining the questionnaire and the question text associated with the selections in the personal profile.    
   
   
       4 . The method of producing and utilizing a personal profile according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 linking at least one of the selections from the user with additional information; and    providing the additional information to the user in response to the at least one selection being made.    
   
   
       5 . The method of producing and utilizing a personal profile according to  claim 4 , further comprising determining a category for the user; and wherein the additional information is applicable to the category of the user.  
   
   
       6 . The method of producing and utilizing a personal profile according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 associating at least one link with at least one of the selections from the user; and    recommending that the user review the link in response to the at least one of the selections from the user being made.    
   
   
       7 . The method of producing and utilizing a personal profile according to  claim 1 , further comprising presenting subsequent questions based upon the previous selections.  
   
   
       8 . A system for storing information, comprising: 
 at least one storage device;    a display device; and    a processor programmed to: 
 present a user with a questionnaire having a plurality of questions and associated available responses, wherein each of the associated responses dictates a subsequent question and each of the questions includes question text;  
 receive actual responses, from the available responses, from the user;  
 present subsequent questions based upon the actual responses;  
 store on the at least one storage device a set of values representing the actual responses, without storing the associated question text with the set of values, a version value representing the particular questionnaire, a sub-version value for each question presented to the user, a personal profile report generator; and  
 initiate the personal profile report generator, wherein the report generator receives as an input the version value representing the particular questionnaire, the sub-version value for each question presented to the user, and at least one value in the set of values representing the actual responses, and outputs a personal profile report.  
   
   
   
       9 . The system for storing information according to  claim 8 , wherein the responses associated with each of the plurality of questions are ordered; and wherein the set of values corresponds to the order of the responses.  
   
   
       10 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising: 
 presenting a user with a questionnaire including questions with each of the questions including question text;    receiving selections from the user corresponding to the questions, wherein the selections are stored in a personal profile without the question text;    storing, in the personal profile, questionnaire version information including a questionnaire version identifier and a question sub-version identifier for each question presented to the user;    storing at least one personal profile processing algorithm, wherein the questionnaire version information is necessary for the execution of the personal profile processing algorithm;    producing a personal profile report from a combination of at least one of the selections in the personal profile and the at least one personal profile processing algorithm.    
   
   
       11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further having computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising: 
 retrieving the selections stored in the personal profile; and    determining the questionnaire and the question text associated with the selections in the personal profile.    
   
   
       12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further having computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising: 
 presenting the questionnaire to the user, and receiving selections from the user through an Internet browser; and    presenting the personal profile report through the Internet browser.