Health management system for patient groups and mobile interactions

Abstract

A health management system for managing the healthcare data of patients, managing interactions with patients, doctors and insurance companies, and managing group messaging and data access from mobile phones of patients and doctors. The health management system facilitates interaction with a plurality of patients. It comprises a patient group management server that is communicatively coupled to a plurality of mobile devices of patients. The patient group management server receives an inquiry from one of the plurality of patients and shares it with at least one member of a patient group in which the one of the plurality of patients is a member. The patient group management server enables communication of at least one of a response message, a coaching and guided activity, a questionnaire and a relevant reference content by another member of the patient group in response to the inquiry.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A health management system that facilitates interaction with a plurality of patients, the health management system comprising:
 a patient group management server that is communicatively coupled to a plurality of mobile devices of patients and is configured to manage a plurality of patient groups and interactions between members of the plurality of patient groups via associated ones of the plurality of mobile devices;   the patient group management server configured to distribute questionnaires and collect user input and feedback via associated ones of the plurality of mobile devices;   the patient group management server configured to distribute, via associated ones of the plurality of mobile devices, coaching material regarding proper habits, diet, medications, and patient care to all the members of one of the plurality of patient groups;   the patient group management server configured to distribute information that a specific one of the plurality of patients seeks or is interested in, in addition to details of activities that a doctor or medical practitioner has provided to the specific one of the plurality of patients;   the patient group management server configured to send reminders to specific ones of the plurality of patients, as necessary, for medications, therapy sessions and appointments made; and   the patient group management server configured to verify that the plurality of patients have followed instructions or coaching provided, taken medications recommended, attended therapy sessions recommended and attended appointments made.   
     
     
         2 . The health management system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 the patient group management server configured to manage message based interactions between patients and other members within each of the plurality of patient groups via associated ones of the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the messages comprise audio and video components captured by the patients on their corresponding ones of the plurality of mobile devices, and wherein each of the plurality of patient groups selectively comprises patients, medical care personnel, doctors, insurance company representatives, lab technicians, nurses, paramedics, hospice employees, chiropractors, physiotherapists, healthcare workers and representatives from insurance companies. 
 
     
     
         3 . The health management system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 the patient group management server configured to distribute technical papers, recipes, relevant reference content, advisory information, reports and results of tests to patients via associated ones of the plurality of mobile devices. 
 
     
     
         4 . The health management system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 the patient group management server configured to collect data from medical devices employed at remote patient premises of one of the plurality of patients via an associated one of the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the one of the plurality of patients is a member of one of the plurality of patient groups, and wherein the data is accessible only by authorized members of the associated one of the plurality of patient groups based on patient preferences and configuration of the associated one of the plurality of patient groups. 
 
     
     
         5 . The health management system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 the patient group management server configured to selectively communicate to a server associated with an insurance service, for each of the plurality of patients, details of services provided, user input and feedback received, data collected from a local medical device associated with the corresponding patient, and information regarding the coaching material and instructions disseminated to the corresponding patient. 
 
     
     
         6 . A method of operating a health management system by a patient group management server that facilitates interaction with a plurality of patients, the method comprising:
 organizing, by the patient group management server, the plurality of patients into a plurality of patient groups based upon one or more criteria and the medical needs of the plurality of patients;   providing, by the patient group management server, an interface that makes it possible to send the same message, the same instructions or coaching to members of one of the plurality of patient groups, wherein the message, instructions or coaching comprise information on proper habits, diet, medications and patient care;   receiving by the patient group management server an inquiry from one of the plurality of mobile devices and sharing it with the one of the plurality of patient groups;   gathering by the patient group management server, responses to the inquiry provided by members of the one of the plurality of patient groups using their associated ones of the plurality of mobile devices and sharing it; and   sharing, by the patient group management server, information about data collected by the patient group management server from remote medical devices associated with specific ones from the plurality of patients with at least another member of an associated patient group and with an external server associated with an insurance service.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 forwarding, by the patient group management server, the data collected from the remote premises medical devices to appropriate medical personnel and doctors assigned to the specific ones from the plurality of patients and authorized to review the data; and 
 tracking, by the patient group management server, any diagnosis or medical care provided by the appropriate medical personnel and doctors to the specific ones from the plurality of patients based on the data collected from the patient premises medical devices. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 accepting, by the interface, a message provided by a member of one of the plurality of groups, wherein the message comprises a message content, a message category, a message type, and one or more issues identified; and 
 providing followup actions by the patient group management server, based on the message category, the message type, and identified issues for the message. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 monitoring, by a server associated with an insurance service, medical care given to the plurality of patients and the efficacy of such medical care; and 
 facilitating, by the server associated with an insurance service, payment to medical care professionals and doctors, as appropriate, based on the monitoring. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6  wherein gathering comprises conducting at least one of the following activities and assembling appropriate responses based on the activities conducted, to be sent to the one of the plurality of mobile devices associated with the patient making the inquiry:
 collecting a pre-recorded audio or video assisted message that might be appropriate based on inquiry type and patient group; 
 determining an appropriate questionnaire to be communicated to the patient making the inquiry, so as to gather additional information; 
 identifying an interest inquiry form that solicits the patient's interest in available medical care or therapies, as relevant; 
 determining, if available, an appropriate coaching instruction to be shared with the patient making the inquiry; and 
 identifying a patient premises devices data collection command and a reference content, as appropriate. 
 
     
     
         11 . A mobile client application in a mobile device for interacting with a health management system, the mobile client application comprising:
 the mobile client configured to send an inquiry to a patient group management server that is communicatively coupled to the mobile device, wherein the inquiry has a patient provided category, type, and issues identified;   the mobile client configured to receive responses to the inquiry from the patient group management server that is provided by another member of a patient group, in which a user of the mobile device is a member;   the mobile client configured to display the responses to the inquiry for review by the user;   the mobile client configured to cause communication of a data collected electronically from a local medical device, communicatively coupled to the mobile device, to the patient group management server; and   the mobile client configured to receive and display guided activities regarding proper habits, diet, medications, patient care, information a patient is interested in, and activities that a doctor or medical practitioner has designed or recommended for the user of the mobile device.   
     
     
         12 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application displays to the user, as guided by the user, the responses to the inquiry, wherein each of the responses comprises one or more of the following: an audio or video assisted message, a questionnaire for feedback, an interest inquiry form, a patient care related coaching instruction, a patient premises devices data collection command and a reference content. 
     
     
         13 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to receive data over a Bluetooth communication link in the mobile device, a WiFi communication link (802.11b and all 802.11 variations) in the mobile device, or an USB communication link in the mobile device, wherein the data is then communicated to a doctor or medical practitioner in the patient group in which the user of the mobile device is a member, or to a specialist group composed of specialists in a field of medicine. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to facilitate creation of an adhoc group by the user and the selective inclusion of the following type of individuals into the adhoc group created: personnel from clinical trial companies, personnel from pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists from drug stores where the user gets his medications, personnel from laboratories where the patient has tests conducted on blood or body fluids, and health care personnel in MRI centers and X-Ray centers, therapists that the user visits, and physicians that the user visits. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to receive and display alerts and urgent messages sent by doctors and other medical personnel. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to post inquiries and messages created by the user to different patient groups based on the user's interest and needs, wherein the mobile client application employs a group specific list of message categories, issues for those message categories, and message types for each of the different patient groups. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to create video guided activities and audio guided activities when instructed by the user for distribution to one or more patient groups. 
     
     
         18 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to receive, from a content distribution system, and display as necessary, reports, results of tests, advisory information, technical papers, and recipes. 
     
     
         19 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to present on the mobile device detailed information on patient care provided to a user of the mobile device, responses received from other patients to inquiries made by the user, coaching and guided activities provided to patients based on patient group memberships, reports on status of patient care, reports on needs of patients, and status of various problems that the user has reported. 
     
     
         20 . The mobile client application of  claim 11  wherein the mobile client application is configured to support interactions in of a peer-2-peer patient group and in a managed patient group, wherein the peer-2-peer patient group allows every member of a patient group to interact by sending and receiving messages to each other and to the entire group, while the managed group allows only the managers to send messages and inquiries to all the members whereas other members can only receive messages and inquiries sent to them and send their own inquiries and messages to the managers.