Community based managed health kiosk and prescription dispensement system

Abstract

The present invention is directed to systems and methods that provide community based managed health kiosks and prescription drug dispensing systems, and more particularly to facilitating automated drug dispensement by a kiosk system following authorization by a remotely located health care professional who can monitor and communicate with a patient via the kiosk system.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A kiosk system for dispensing prescription drugs, comprising:
 one or more inputs for receiving one or more pieces of health information from diagnostic devices and user input devices;   a real-time communication system configured to communicate with a health care professional remote to a user, the health care professional being able to issue prescriptions, the real-time communication system comprising a camera, a microphone, a speaker, and a video screen for real-time communication between the user and the health care professional; and   a drug dispenser configured to dispense a drug upon verification of a prescription from the health care professional for the drug, the drug dispenser further configured to dispense a prescribed amount of the drug in a consumer container, the prescription being based at least on the one or more pieces of health information and the real-time communication with the user.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the drug dispenser further comprises a supply of widely prescribed drugs. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a payment system configured to receive a payment from the user. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the prescription from the health care professional is stored in a personal health record associated with the user. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the real-time communication system is further configured to display the one or more pieces of health information to the health care professional and to receive prescriptions written by the health care professional. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more pieces of health information are sufficient to enable the health care professional to diagnose a medical condition of the user that corresponds to the prescription. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the real-time communication system is further configured to provide an output to the health care professional sufficient to enable the health care professional to diagnose a medical condition of the user that corresponds to the prescription. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an emergency release mechanism configured to enable automatic performance of one or more of releasing the user from a blood pressure cuff and opening a privacy screen. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more user input devices are a mouse, a keyboard, voice recognition software, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the computer further includes a translator for translating user input responsive to the health assessment questionnaire in a first language to a second language. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an audio speaker configured to emit audio that obstructs sound emanating from the user. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a video display located outside of the kiosk and configured to provide information to persons other than the user. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a mechanism operable to receive invasive test results and transmit the invasive test results to the health care professional. 
     
     
         14 . A kiosk system for providing prescription drugs, comprising:
 a computer configured to present a health assessment questionnaire to a user of the kiosk system, the computer including one or more input devices configured to receive user input responsive to the health assessment questionnaire;   a real-time communication system configured to communicate with a health care professional remote to the user, the real-time communication system comprising a camera, a microphone, a speaker, and a video screen;   a prescription issuance mechanism configured to transmit a set of diagnostic information to the health care professional, the set of diagnostic information including audio information and video information from the real-time communication system, a personal health record associated with the user, and the user input responsive to the health assessment questionnaire, the prescription issuance mechanism further configured to receive a prescription issued by the health care professional based on the set of diagnostic information; and   a drug dispenser configured to dispense a prescribed amount of the drug in a consumer container upon verification of the prescription issued by the health care professional.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the computer further includes a translator for translating user input responsive to the health assessment questionnaire in a first language to a second language. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising an audio speaker configured to emit audio that obstructs sound emanating from the user. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a video display located outside of the kiosk and configured to provide information to persons other than the user. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising one or more inputs for diagnostic devices. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a mechanism operable to receive invasive test results and transmit the invasive test results to the health care professional. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the drug dispenser further comprises a supply of widely prescribed drugs. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a payment system configured to receive a payment from the user. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the prescription issued by the health care professional is stored in a personal health record associated with the user. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the real-time communication system is further configured to display the one or more pieces of health information to the health care professional and to receive prescriptions written by the health care professional. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the one or more pieces of health information are sufficient to enable the health care professional to diagnose a medical condition of the user that corresponds to the prescription. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the real-time communication system is further configured to provide an output to the health care professional sufficient to enable the health care professional to diagnose a medical condition of the user that corresponds to the prescription. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising an emergency release mechanism configured to enable automatic performance of one or more of releasing the user from a blood pressure cuff and opening a privacy screen. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more input devices are a mouse, a keyboard, voice recognition software, or a combination thereof.