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 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method of consultation with a physician, the method comprising:
 a) receiving by a computer system a request from a user for the consultation with the physician;   b) searching a medical database for information relevant to the request, thereby identifying a relevant information, wherein the computer system comprises a processor, and the searching is performed by the processor;   c) providing the request and the relevant information to the physician;   d) receiving a comment from the physician, wherein the comment is in response to the request and wherein the comment comprises medical information; and   e) providing the comment to the user.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the physician is a specialist. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the comment is further in response to the relevant information. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising recommending the user for continuing medical education credit. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the computer system is at a host site, and the physician is geographically remote from the host site. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising retrieving instructional material from the medical database and providing the instructional material to the user. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein: a) further comprises analyzing the request for completeness, and upon finding an incomplete request, returning the request to the user with instructions to complete the request, and upon receiving a complete request, performing b)-e). 
     
     
         28 . A method of consultation with a physician, the method comprising:
 a) providing to a computer system a request for the consultation with the physician, wherein the computer system comprises a processor, whereupon the processor searches a medical database for information relevant to the request, thereby identifying a relevant information, whereupon the computer system provides the request and the relevant information to the physician; and   b) receiving a comment from the physician, wherein the comment is in response to the request and wherein the comment comprises medical information.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the physician is a specialist. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the comment is further in response to the relevant information. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the computer system is at a host site, and the physician is geographically remote from the host site. 
     
     
         32 . A method of consulting a selected specialist, the method comprising:
 a) receiving by a computer system a request for a specialist, wherein the request is associated with a specialty;   b) selecting a specialist associated with the specialty to provide the selected specialist;   c) searching a medical database for information relevant to the specialty, thereby identifying a relevant information, wherein the computer system comprises a processor, and the searching is performed by the processor;   d) providing the request and the relevant information to the selected specialist;   e) receiving a comment from the selected specialist, wherein the comment is in response to the request and wherein the comment comprises medical information; and   f) providing the comment to a user.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the comment is further in response to the relevant information. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the computer system is at a host site, and the selected specialist is geographically remote from the host site. 
     
     
         35 . A method comprising:
 a) receiving a medical record associated with a subject by a computer system;   b) searching based on the medical record by the computer system for a physician having an expertise associated with the medical record to provide a result, wherein the result identifies at least one physician, wherein the computer system comprises a processor, and the search is performed by the processor;   c) selecting based on the result the physician having the expertise associated with the medical record; and   d) reporting to a user the physician having the expertise associated with the medical record.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the physician having the expertise associated with the medical record is a specialist. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising receiving a request from the user and providing the request to the physician. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the computer system is at a host site, and the physician is geographically remote from the host site. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising recommending the user for continuing medical education credit. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising retrieving instructional material from a medical database and providing the instructional material to the user.