Systems, methods, and apparatus for use in gathering and providing healthcare information

Abstract

A method for presenting a favored treatment includes querying, via an electronic device, a patient regarding a healthcare issue; providing, to the patient via the electronic device, information regarding a favored treatment for the healthcare issue; receiving, from the patient via the electronic device, an indication of a preferred treatment; and effecting printing of a document based on information input by the patient via the electronic device. The document includes an identification of the preferred treatment of the patient.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for presenting a favored treatment, the method comprising:
 (a) querying, via an electronic device, a patient regarding a healthcare issue;   (b) providing, to the patient via the electronic device, information regarding a favored treatment for the healthcare issue;   (c) receiving, from the patient via the electronic device, an indication of a preferred treatment; and   (d) effecting printing of a document based on information input by the patient via the electronic device;   (e) wherein the document includes an identification of the preferred treatment of the patient.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preferred treatment of the patient is the favored treatment. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises a step of effecting printing of a prescription for the preferred treatment of the patient. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of providing, to the patient via the electronic device, information regarding a favored treatment for the healthcare issue comprises presenting a video to the patient via the electronic device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises a step of presenting, to the patient via the electronic device, other treatments. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preferred treatment of the patient is not the favored treatment, and wherein the document includes an identification of the favored treatment. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the document further includes information regarding one or more disadvantages of the preferred treatment of the patient. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more disadvantages were identified based at least in part on information input by the patient via the electronic device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the document further includes information regarding one or more advantages of the favored treatment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises steps of:
 (a) querying, via the electronic device, a patient regarding information for calculating third party benefit information;   (b) determining third party benefit information for the patient; and   (c) presenting determined third party benefit information to the patient.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the document includes information regarding counseling for the healthcare issue. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the document includes information regarding billing for counseling for the healthcare issue. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the document comprises a checklist including information regarding counseling for the healthcare issue. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the document includes an indication of an amount of time to spend discussing a certain healthcare issue with the patient. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the document is configured for use in billing. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further includes a step of updating a medical record of the patient based on information input by the patient via the electronic device. 
     
     
         17 . A system for a healthcare environment comprising:
 (a) one or more electronic devices disposed in a healthcare environment, each electronic device including software loaded thereon configured to,
 (i) allow a user to input information associated with a visit to a healthcare service provider, and 
 (ii) present to a user a favored treatment in response to information input by a user indicating the existence of a particular healthcare issue; and 
   (b) a base station configured to,
 (i) receive information from the one or more electronic devices, and 
 (ii) effect printing of a document based on information received from the one or more electronic devices. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the base station is configured to effect printing of a prescription based on information received from the one or more electronic devices. 
     
     
         19 . A method for advertising a treatment comprising:
 (a) configuring, by a party, one or more electronic devices for use in electronic check-in in a healthcare environment, the configuring including configuring the devices to favor a treatment associated with the party and to present information associated with such favored treatment to a user in response to an indication of a particular healthcare condition; and   (c) providing the one or more electronic devices to a second party, the second party being a healthcare service provider.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the favored treatment is a drug.