Health information exchange system and method

Abstract

A health information exchange (HIE) system and related methods for sharing patient medical data among a plurality of users. In one embodiment, the HIE system includes a processor executing a software application and one or more databases. Medical data may be downloaded by a first user to the system in a source file format. The system converts and stores the medical data in a data record such as an object having a different type of data structure. Upon receiving a request from a second user for the medical data in a specified destination file format, the system retrieves and converts the object containing the medical data into the specified destination file format, and sends the destination file to the second user. The source and destination file formats may be the same or different. In one embodiment, users may access and communicate with the HIE system via the Internet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer processor implemented method for exchanging patient medical data, the method comprising:
 a processor of a health information exchange system receiving a first medical data file containing medical data in a first file format;   the processor automatically retrieving a conversion algorithm operable to convert the first medical data ilk into a medical object;   the processor converting the first medical data file into the medical object using the conversion algorithm to deconstruct the first file format and extract file information from the first medical data file, the extracted information then being reorganized into the medical object having a format different than the first file format; and   the processor storing the medical object in a database.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the conversion algorithm is a file-to-object conversion algorithm. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the algorithm retrieving step further includes:
 the processor identifying the first file format;   the processor sending a request for the conversion algorithm based on the first file format to a file exchange service;   the file exchange service retrieving the conversion algorithm from a database; and   the file exchange service sending the conversion algorithm to the processor.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical object comprises a medical object definition which defines the medical data content of the medical object. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical object includes a set of attributes, a set of properties, and actual medical data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical object includes methods to manipulate the information in the medical object. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first medical data file is received by the processor through the Internet. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical object includes patient identifying data associated with the medical data. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein medical data stored in the medical object includes at least one of an X-ray, MRI, lab results, continuity of care document, or continuity of care record. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the processor receiving request from a user for medical data contained in the medical object;   the processor retrieving the medical object from the database;   the processor converting the medical object into a destination file containing the requested medical data in a second file format; and   the processor sending the destination file to the user.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the processor uses an object-to-file conversion algorithm to convert the medical object into the destination file. 
     
     
         12 . A computer processor implemented method for exchanging patient medical data, the method comprising:
 a processor of a health information exchange system receiving a source file containing medical data in a first file format;   the processor converting the source file into the medical object using a file-to-object conversion algorithm, the medical object containing file information and the medical data from the source file organized in a different way than in the source file;   the processor storing the medical object in a database;   the processor receiving request from a user for medical data contained in the medical object;   the processor retrieving the medical object from the database;   the processor converting the medical object into a destination file using an object-to-file conversion algorithm, the destination file containing the requested medical data form the medical object in a second file format; and   the processor sending the destination file to the user.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the processor automatically retrieving the file-to-object conversion algorithm from a database containing a plurality of file-to-object conversion algorithms. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the processor automatically retrieving the object-to-file conversion algorithm from a database containing a plurality of object-to-file conversion algorithms. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the processor automatically retrieving the object-to-file conversion algorithm from the database containing the plurality of file-to-object conversion algorithms. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the processor converts the source file into the medical object using the file-to-object conversion algorithm to deconstruct the source file format and extract the file information including the medical data from source file, the extracted file information then being reorganized and saved into the medical object having a data structure format different than the first file format. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the medical object includes a set of attributes, a set of properties, and the medical data extracted from the source file. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the processor converts the medical object into the destination file using the object-to-file conversion algorithm to extract the file information and medical data from the medical object, the extracted file information then being reorganized and saved into the destination file having a data stricture format different than the medical object. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the request for medical data includes patient demographic information and the destination file type. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein upon receiving the request for medical data, the processor checks the patient demographic information against records in a database to confirm that the patient is registered in the health information exchange system. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein access to the health information exchange system by the user is controlled by an authentication process. 
     
     
         22 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions of a software application which, when executed by a processor of a health information exchange system, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:
 receiving a source file containing medical data in a first file format;   converting the source file into the medical object using a file-to-object conversion algorithm, the medical object containing file information and the medical data from the source file organized in a different way than in the source file;   storing the medical object in a database;   receiving request from a user for medical data contained in the medical object;   retrieving the medical object from the database;   converting the medical object into a destination file using an object-to-file conversion algorithm, the destination file containing the requested medical data form the medical object in a second file format; and   sending the destination file to the user.   
     
     
         23 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 22 , wherein the processor converts the source tile into the medical object using the file-to-object conversion algorithm to deconstruct the source file format and extract the file information including the medical data from source file, the extracted file information then being reorganized and saved into the medical object having a data structure format different than the first file format. 
     
     
         24 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 22 , wherein the processor converts the medical object into the destination file using the object-to-file conversion algorithm to extract the file information and medical data from the medical object, the extracted file information then being reorganized and saved into the destination file having a data structure format different than the medical object. 
     
     
         25 . A health information exchange system comprising:
 a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a software application;   a first processor executing the software application;   a medical object database comprising a plurality of medical objects each containing medical data, the first processor being operable to store and retrieve medical objects from the database; and   a file exchange database comprising a plurality of object-to-file and file-to-object conversion algorithms, the first processor being operable to retrieve the algorithms from the database;   wherein the first processor converts medical data files downloaded by a user to the health information exchange system into medical objecting using the file-to-object algorithms; and   wherein the first processor converts the medical objects back into medical data files when requested by a user using object-to-file algorithms.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25 , further comprising a patient database including a plurality of patient profiles. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the health information exchange system is in communication with a plurality of users through the Internet. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the users each have an access terminal running software applications which communicate with the first processor of the health information exchange system through an application program interface to download patient medical files and upload patient medical files.