Home Health Point-of-Care and Administration System

Abstract

A home health point-of-care and administration system and method that has at least one mobile device that is adapted to establish bi-directional communication with a server system is provided. Tracking and data communication software are associated with the mobile device in various embodiments. One or more input components of the mobile device allow for input of information from a user (such as a visiting home healthcare staff member) and the mobile device is adapted for receipt of instructional and other information from the server system to build a dynamic visit record. The record provides detailed information related to off-site visits such as tasks performed by the visiting staff member using the mobile device. Start and finish times of the visit may also be recorded. A global positioning system (GPS) application operating in conjunction with the communication device and server system may be employed to monitor the actions of the visiting staff member. Such information is provided in individual visit records transmitted to the remote server system and may be used for administrative purposes.

1 . A home care administration system, comprising:
 a. a server system accessible via a communication network and comprising at least one application module for designing patient-specific, visit-specific care plans comprising tasks to be performed;   b. a plurality of mobile devices configured to bidirectionally communicate with the server system via the communication network, wherein the plurality of mobile devices are associated with a respective plurality of caregivers assigned to visit respective patients, wherein the server system transmits the care plans to the mobile devices so that the associated caregivers receive information regarding tasks to be performed on the patients, and wherein the mobile devices are used by the caregivers to transmit information regarding performed tasks back to the server system.   
     
     
         2 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of mobile devices comprises at least one application for rendering a fillable form based on a particular patient-specific, visit-specific care plan transmitted by the server system to the mobile device, wherein the caregiver enters data into the fillable form, and wherein a representation of the entered data is transmitted by the mobile device to the server system. 
     
     
         3 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , wherein communications between the server system and the plurality of mobile devices are encrypted. 
     
     
         4 . The home care administration system of  claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of mobile devices comprises data storage for temporarily storing the entered data if the mobile device is temporarily unable to communicate via the communication network, and wherein the temporarily stored entered data is transmitted to the communication network at a time when the mobile device is again able to communicate via the communication network. 
     
     
         5 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of mobile devices is a cell phone and wherein the communication network is a cellular network. 
     
     
         6 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of mobile devices includes a GPS receiver so that the location of the mobile device can be tracked, and wherein the location is transmitted from the mobile device to the server system. 
     
     
         7 . The home care administration system of  claim 6 , wherein the server system tracks the location of the caregiver associated with the mobile device using the transmitted location. 
     
     
         8 . The home care administration system of  claim 7 , wherein tracking the location of the caregiver allows the server system to determine a route traveled by the caregiver and an amount of time conducting a visit at a patient location. 
     
     
         9 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , further comprising a point-of-care caregiver scheduling module to provide flexible scheduling for the caregivers. 
     
     
         10 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , further comprising an electronic visit record and care plan module to (a) collect and store information pertaining to visits conducted by caregivers based on the transmitted care plans, and (b) accept a selection of tasks to be performed in a care plan for a particular patient. 
     
     
         11 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , further comprising a clinical messaging and notification module so that messages may be broadcast to the plurality of mobile devices. 
     
     
         12 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the mobile devices comprises an imaging device, wherein the mobile device transmits at least one image of a patient to the server system, and wherein the transmitted images may be used to remotely assess a condition of the patient. 
     
     
         13 . The home care administration system of  claim 12 , wherein the caregiver associated with the mobile device records an annotation to accompany the at least one transmitted image. 
     
     
         14 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile devices accept supply orders from the caregivers and transmit the supply orders to the server system for fulfillment. 
     
     
         15 . The home care administration system of  claim 1 , further comprising a disease management intelligence module for applying rules to entered data transmitted from the mobile devices to the server system to determine whether additional action should be taken. 
     
     
         16 . The home care administration system of  claim 15 , wherein the additional action comprises transmitting medical advice from the server system to the mobile device associated with the caregiver performing the visit from which the entered data originated. 
     
     
         17 . The home care administration system of claim wherein the server system includes an enterprise application integration module for integrating with a third-party application. 
     
     
         18 . The home care administration system of  claim 17 , wherein the third-party application is selected from the group consisting of a billing system, a payroll system, and a scheduling system. 
     
     
         19 . A method of administering home care, comprising:
 a. determining tasks to be included in a care plan for a particular patient;   b. identifying a caregiver to perform a visit for the particular patient, wherein a mobile device is associated with the caregiver;   c. transmitting a representation of the care plan across a communication network to the mobile device;   d. receiving a data transmission across the communication network from the mobile device, wherein the data transmission includes data entered by the caregiver responsive to the care plan; and   e. storing the received data as a visit record for the particular patient.   
     
     
         20 . A method for providing home care services, comprising:
 a. receiving at a mobile device a data transmission across a communication network from a server system, wherein the data transmission includes a representation of tasks defined by a patient-specific care plan associated with a patient;   b. rendering a fillable form on a display on the mobile device;   c. accepting data inputs from a caregiver performing a visit for the patient, wherein the data inputs correspond to the tasks in the patient-specific care plan; and   d. transmitting the data inputs across the communication network to the server system.