Systems and methods for providing access to medical information

Abstract

Various aspects and embodiments of the present invention relate to providing a medical application with access to medical information from validated medical information experts. The medical information experts can be validated by scoring attributes of a purported medical information expert, generating a rank based on the score, and comparing the score to a pre-set threshold. The medical information from validated medical information experts can be stored in a knowledge database. A request from a medical application can be received and used to search the knowledge database to generate a response to the request that includes part of the medical information. The response can be provided to the medical application in a format that can be customized by the medical application.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method, comprising:
 receiving attributes of a data source that comprises medical information;   scoring, by a computing device executing code stored on a tangible medium, the attributes to generate a ranking for the data source;   determining, by the computing device, that the data source is a medical information expert data source based on the ranking; and   providing a medical software application with access to medical information from the data source determined to be a medical information expert data source.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the attributes comprise a certification attribute identifying at least one government entity or commercial association that has certified the data source, wherein scoring the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source comprises:
 determining a value for attributes that is based on the at least one government entity or commercial association;   matching the value on a table of attribute values; and   determining a score for the at least one attribute from the table.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the attributes comprise a historical information attribute comprising a first value indicating a length of time that the data source has been providing medical information and a second value indicating an amount of medical information provided over the length of time, wherein scoring the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source comprises:
 comparing the first value and the second value to information about other data sources; and   determining a score based on the comparison, wherein the score is a relative ranking of the data source.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the attributes comprise an identification of a type of medical information that the data source is configured to provide, wherein scoring the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source comprises determining a score based on the type of medical information that the data source is configured to provide. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein determining that the data source is a medical information expert data source based on the ranking comprises:
 comparing the ranking to a threshold; and   determining the ranking exceeds the threshold.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein scoring the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source comprises:
 normalizing a score for each of the attributes to formulate attribute scores;   generating a composite ranking based on the attribute scores; and   wherein the composite ranking is the ranking of the data source.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the medical software application is a medical transcription application. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving attributes of a second data source that comprises medical information;   scoring the attributes to generate a ranking for the second data source;   determining that the data source is not a medical information expert data source based on the ranking; and   refusing to accept medical information from the second data source.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 indexing medical information from the data source and from other data sources that have been determined to be medical information expert data sources based on topics;   storing indexed medical information;   receiving a search request from the medical software application, the search request comprising search parameters and access credentials unique to the medical software application;   validating the access credentials;   formulating knowledge database search parameters based on the search parameters and indexed medical information;   identifying results from a search using the knowledge database search parameters of the indexed medical information that is stored; and   returning the results to the medical software application in a format that is adapted to be customized by the medical software application.   
     
     
         30 . A system comprising:
 a processing device; and   a tangible medium having a portal engine stored on the tangible medium, the portal engine being executable by the processing device to cause the system to:
 receive attributes of a data source that comprises medical information; 
 score the attributes to generate a ranking for the data source; 
 determine that the data source is a medical information expert data source based on the ranking; and 
 provide a medical software application with access to medical information from the data source determined to be a medical information expert data source. 
   
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the attributes comprise a certification attribute identifying at least one government entity or commercial association that has certified the data source, wherein the portal engine is executable by the processing device to cause the system to score the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source by:
 determining a value for attributes that is based on the at least one government entity or commercial association;   matching the value on a table of attribute values; and   determining a score for the at least one attribute from the table.   
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the attributes comprise a historical information attribute comprising a first value indicating a length of time that the data source has been providing medical information and a second value indicating an amount of medical information provided over the length of time, wherein the portal engine is executable by the processing device to cause the system to score the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source by:
 comparing the first value and the second value to information about other data sources; and   determining a score based on the comparison, wherein the score is a relative ranking of the data source.   
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the attributes comprise an identification of a type of medical information that the data source is configured to provide, wherein the portal engine is executable by the processing device to cause the system to score the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source by determining a score based on the type of medical information that the data source is configured to provide. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the portal engine is executable by the processing device to cause the system to determine that the data source is a medical information expert data source based on the ranking by:
 comparing the ranking to a threshold; and   determining the ranking exceeds the threshold.   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the portal engine is executable by the processing device to cause the system to score the attributes to generate the ranking of the data source by:
 normalizing a score for each of the attributes to formulate attribute scores; and   generating a composite ranking based on the attribute scores,   wherein the composite ranking is the ranking of the data source.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the medical software application is a medical transcription application. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the portal engine is further executable by the processing device to cause the system to:
 receive attributes of a second data source that comprises medical information;   score the attributes to generate a ranking for the second data source;   determine that the data source is not a medical information expert data source based on the ranking; and   refuse to accept medical information from the second data source.   
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the portal engine is further executable by the processing device to cause the system to:
 index medical information from the data source and from other data sources that have been determined to be medical information expert data sources based on topics;   store indexed medical information;   receive a search request from the medical software application, the search request comprising search parameters and access credentials unique to the medical software application;   validate the access credentials;   formulate knowledge database search parameters based on the search parameters and indexed medical information;   identify results from a search using the knowledge database search parameters of the indexed medical information that is stored; and   return the results to the medical software application in a format that is adapted to be customized by the medical software application.   
     
     
         39 . A system, comprising:
 a processing device; and   a tangible medium having a portal engine stored on the tangible medium, the portal engine being executable by the processing device to cause the system to:
 receive attributes of a data source that comprises medical information; 
 compare the attributes to information about other data sources; and 
 determine a score based on comparing the attributes to information about other data sources, the score being a relative ranking of the data source. 
 determine that the data source is a medical information expert data source based on the ranking; and 
 provide a medical software application with access to medical information from the data source determined to be a medical information expert data source. 
   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the portal engine is further executable by the processing device to cause the system to:
 index medical information from the data source and from other data sources that have been determined to be medical information expert data sources based on topics;   store indexed medical information;   receive a search request from the medical software application, the search request comprising search parameters and access credentials unique to the medical software application;   validate the access credentials;   formulate knowledge database search parameters based on the search parameters and indexed medical information;   identify results from a search using the knowledge database search parameters of the indexed medical information that is stored; and   return the results to the medical software application in a format that is adapted to be customized by the medical software application.