Computer system and method for increasing patients compliance to medical care instructions

Abstract

The Electronic Compliance Promoter is a computer system for increasing a patient's compliance with medical post-care treatment instructions. The system permits the patient to review the treatment instructions that have been entered into a treatment instructions database by medical personnel at the time of the examination. The system includes a patient-client computer interface, a medical person-client interface, a treatment instructions database, and a compliance-server program. The database contains the post-visit care instructions and other types of information that the patient should have to understand and follow those instructions. The database also has treatment guideline information to assist the doctor in formulating the post-care treatment instructions. The patients client-computer interface provides a knowledge-based means for the patient to review interactively the Doctor's after care instructions, and measures compliance by tracking a patients' use of the specific designated diagnosis related resources. The medical personnel client-computer interface provides a knowledge-based means to designate the post-care medical visit instructions the patient is to follow. The compliance-server program tracks patients compliance and can send messages to patients reminding them to review the post-care treatment instructions. The Electronic Compliance Promoter system provides a means to significantly increase a patient's compliance with medical care instructions.

1 - 18 . (canceled)  
     
     
         19 . A method of increasing patient compliance, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) receiving treatment information for a patient; and    (b) outputting the treatment information for display.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising the step of measuring compliance of the patient to treatment.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of outputting to the patient a measure of compliance of the patient to treatment.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said step of outputting a measure of compliance is performed for each of a plurality of office visits made by the patient.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said receiving step (a) includes the substep of inputting treatment instructions from medical personnel for the patient in response to a patient office visit.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said outputting step (b) includes the substeps of: 
 determining a patient language preference; and    outputting the treatment information for display in accordance with the language preference determined.    
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein said outputting step (b) includes the substep of outputting treatment information in the form of treatment instructions for display to the patient, wherein said outputting substep includes outputting for display a grid ordered according to a sequence and time order in which the treatment instructions are to be followed by the patient.  
     
     
         26 . An electronic compliance promoter for use in promoting patient compliance with treatment instructions comprising: 
 a medical personnel client, wherein said medical personnel client inputs from medical personnel diagnosis and treatment information regarding a patient following a medical appointment with the patient;    a treatment server computer, wherein said treatment server computer receives diagnosis and treatment information from said medical personnel client;    a treatment instructions database, wherein said treatment instructions database stores the diagnosis and treatment information received from said treatment server computer; and    a patient client, wherein said patient client accesses said treatment server computer over a network and views the diagnosis and treatment information corresponding to the patient.    
     
     
         27 . The electronic compliance promoter as set forth in  claim 26 , wherein, in response to accessing said treatment server computer over a network in the form of the Internet, said patient client displays information including at least one of: 
 diagnosis information for the patient in the form of a list of links to Web sites that have relevant diagnosis information;    treatment information for the patient in the form of a list of links to Web sites that have relevant treatment information;    a list of alerts in the form of patient symptoms that would require immediate medical attention; and    a list of medical followup medical appointments to be scheduled with medical personnel to continue medical treatment of the patient.    
     
     
         28 . An article of manufacture for use in monitoring patient compliance with prescribed treatment, the article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable storage medium having stored therein indicia of a plurality of machine-executable control program steps, the control program comprising the steps of: 
 (a) entering treatment information;    (b) determining access of the treatment information by a patient; and    (c) monitoring compliance of the patient based on access of the treatment information made by the patient in said determining access step (b).    
     
     
         29 . The control program as recited in  claim 28 , wherein said entering step (a) includes entering treatment information in the form of detailed instructions of the treatment to be followed by the patient.  
     
     
         30 . The control program as recited in  claim 29 , wherein said entering step (a) further comprises accessing recommended treatment guidelines to be included as the treatment instructions.  
     
     
         31 . The control program as recited in  claim 28 , wherein said entering step (a) includes entering treatment information in the form of a list of resources containing information relevant to the treatment.  
     
     
         32 . The control program as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the list of resources includes a list of Web sites containing information relevant to the treatment generated by a remote database server.  
     
     
         33 . The control program as recited in  claim 28 , wherein the access to the treatment information is made by the patient using a personal computer over the Internet.  
     
     
         34 . The control program as recited in  claim 32 , wherein said monitoring step (c) is performed by measuring a length of time that the patient reviews information on a given resource.  
     
     
         35 . The control program as recited in  claim 28 , wherein said monitoring step (c) is performed by measuring a rate at which the patient reviews treatment information.  
     
     
         36 . The control program as recited in  claim 28 , further comprising: 
 (d) issuing a reminder to the patient based on the compliance of the patient monitored in said monitoring step (c).    
     
     
         37 . The control program as recited in  claim 36 , wherein said entering step (a) is performed by medical personnel; and wherein said issuing step (d) is performed by contacting the patient using at least one of: e-mail, mail, phone, beeper, and cable TV.