Health care management system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for facilitating and managing health care between a medical provider and a patient. In one aspect, the system and method includes providing a patient having a first criteria, which includes a medical symptom. The system and method also include selecting a subset of medical providers having expertise in treating the medical symptom, generating a care request to obtain a treatment proposal for the medical symptom of the patient, and updating the care request with medical information associated with the medical sympton. The system and method further include receiving at least one treatment proposal of the medical symptom from the medical providers and selecting a treatment proposal of the medical symptom from the medical providers.

1 . A method for managing health care requests comprising:
 providing a patient having a first criteria, including a medical symptom, from a plurality of patients;   selecting a subset of medical providers having expertise in treating the medical symptom from a plurality of medical providers;   generating a care request to obtain a treatment proposal for the medical symptom of the patient;   updating the care request with medical information associated with the medical symptom;   receiving at least one treatment proposal of the medical symptom from the medical providers; and   selecting a treatment proposal from at least one of the treatment proposals.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 transmitting each treatment proposal to each medical provider to enable modifications by each medical provider; 
 receiving a treatment proposal from each medical provider; and 
 transmitting each treatment proposal to the patient. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising having a time period at which the treatment proposals can be accepted. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the generating a care request further comprises generating a care request by one of the patient, an insurer, a physician treating the patient, a medical director of the insurer, and a staff member. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing a comparative report of each received treatment proposal to the patient. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first criteria further comprises one of insurance coverage, other means of payment, and a specified level of complexity required to treat the medical symptom. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising selecting the subset of medical providers based on at least one of cost, medical experience, number of procedures treating the medical symptom that have been performed, amount of expertise related to the medical symptom, amount of education, and reputation. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising using a large scale communications network to communicate at least one of the care request, the treatment proposal, and the comparative report. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the large scale communications network is a secure large scale communications network. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the medical information is analytically developed information based on the care request. 
     
     
         11 . A method for managing health care requests comprising:
 receiving care requests from a plurality of patients;   selecting one of the plurality of patients having a first criteria, the first criteria including a medical symptom;   selecting a subset of medical providers having expertise in treating the medical symptom;   generating a care request by the patient to obtain a treatment proposal for the medical symptom;   updating, by a medically trained individual, the care request with medical information associated with the medical issue of the patient;   providing the care request to the subset of medical providers;   receiving a treatment proposal of the medical symptom from at least one of the medical providers;   providing a comparative report of the treatment proposals;   transmitting each treatment proposal to each medical provider to enable each medical provider to modify their treatment proposal;   receiving a final treatment proposal from each medical provider;   transmitting each final treatment proposal to the patient; and   receiving a selection of one of the final treatment proposals associated with at least one of the medical providers from the patient.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising informing one of the medical providers of the selection of the treatment proposal. 
     
     
         13 . A health care management system comprising:
 a patient-client interface for providing a patient having a medical symptom;   a provider-client interface for providing a medical provider having expertise in treating the medical symptom; and   a server in communication with the provider-client interface for receiving a treatment proposal of the medical symptom and in communication with the patient-client interface for receiving a care request corresponding to the medical symptom, the server communicating the treatment proposal to the patient-client interface, and receiving a selection of a treatment proposal from the patient-client interface.   
     
     
         14 . The health care management system of  claim 13  further comprising a secure large scale communication network between the patient-client interface and the server. 
     
     
         15 . The health care management system of  claim 13  further comprising a secure large scale communication network between the server and the provider-client interface. 
     
     
         16 . The health care management system of  claim 13  further comprising a database to provide information on one of the medical providers to the server. 
     
     
         17 . A method of consulting a medical specialist, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving a consultation request requesting that a specialist be consulted from a treating physician via a telecommunications system;   retrieving medical information relevant to but independent from the consultation request from an information data base accessible by a computer, the relevant medical information being retrieved by a medical information expert;   providing the relevant medical information and the consultation request to the medical specialist via the telecommunications system, the medical information expert being neither the treating physician nor the medical specialist;   receiving a comment made by the specialist in response to the consultation request and the relevant medical information;   providing at least the comment to the treating physician; and   providing continuing medical education credit for the treating physician based at least on the consultation request and the comment.   
     
     
         18 . The method of consulting a medical specialist set forth in  claim 17  wherein the step of providing continuing medical education credit further comprises the steps of:
 retrieving instructional material relevant to the comment and the consultation request from the information data base and 
 providing the instructional material to the treating physician, 
 
       the step of retrieving instructional material being performed by the medical information expert. 
     
     
         19 . The method of consulting a medical specialist set forth in  claim 18  wherein the step of providing continuing medical education credit further comprises the steps of:
 providing an examination based on at least the instructional material; 
 receiving answers for the examination from the treating physician; 
 grading the received answers; and 
 if the treating physician passes the examination, providing the continuing medical education credit. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of consulting a medical specialist set forth in  claim 17  wherein the step of providing continuing medical education credit further comprises the steps of:
 providing an examination based on at least the comment to the treating physician; 
 receiving answers for the examination from the treating physician; 
 grading the received answers; and 
 if the treating physician passes the examination, providing the continuing medical education credit.