Electronic physician referral management system and methods

Abstract

A physician referral management system is provided. The system includes a physician profile database, electronically accessible over at least one network system. The physician profile database stores physician profiles, each of which contain information associated with a physician. The system further includes a physician referral application which is hosted at least partially on a server and electronically accessible over at least one network system to a primary care physician device and a specialist physician device. The physician referral application is configured to facilitate a referral of a patient between the primary care physician device and the specialist physician device, and to allow a user of at least one of the primary care physician device and the specialist physician device to search for physicians based on information contained in the physician profiles. At least a portion of the physician profiles contains information relating to insurance plans accepted by particular physicians.

1 - 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . An electronic records management system, comprising:
 at least one data storage device storing instructions for electronic records management; and   at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a plurality of physician profiles at a physician profile database electronically accessible over at least one network system; 
 displaying an electronic user interface of a physician referral application; 
 receiving, through the electronic user interface of the physician referral application, a search request for physicians based on information contained in the physician profiles; 
 in response to the search request, determining a first group of physicians, from the plurality of physician profiles, based on a first grouping criteria, and determining a second group of physicians, from the plurality of physician profiles, based on a second grouping criteria; 
 determining a rank of the first grouping criteria relative to the second grouping criteria; and 
 displaying, on the online user interface of the physician referral application, the first group of physicians relative to the second group of physicians based on the determined rank of the first grouping criteria relative to the second grouping criteria, wherein the physicians within each group of physicians are displayed in random order relative to other members of the respective group of physicians. 
   
     
     
         31 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the first grouping criteria corresponds to membership in a particular healthcare organization, and the second grouping criteria corresponding to out-of-network physicians who are not members of the particular healthcare organization. 
     
     
         32 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein, in response to receiving a request to perform a search for and referral to an out-of-network physician, the online user interface of the physician referral application displays an electronic message indicating the request is for an out-of-network physician, said electronic message configured to prompt the user to respond with a reason for requesting the search for and a referral to the out-of-network physician. 
     
     
         33 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , the operations further comprising:
 providing a referral data record, associated with a referral to the out-of-network physician, to both an associated primary care physician device and an associated specialist physician device; and   generating, for a specialist physician associated with the associated specialist physician device, analytics data comprising a number and frequency of referrals, and/or compiled statistics on referral providers.   
     
     
         34 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician referral application is located remotely from the physician profile database. 
     
     
         35 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the plurality of physician profiles comprises at least four of: the physician's phone number, gender, age, training, ranking information, education, medical specialty, awards received, malpractice information, administrative referral contact information, and place of business. 
     
     
         36 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician referral application is configured to allow a user of at least one primary care physician device to search for physicians based on whether the physician is a member of a particular healthcare organization. 
     
     
         37 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician profile information comprises information received from users of at least one of a primary care physician device and a specialist physician device. 
     
     
         38 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician referral application is further configured to access at least a portion of patients' electronic health records, and to provide a specialist physician device access to at least a portion of a patient's electronic health records when the patient has been referred to a specialist physician associated with the specialist physician device. 
     
     
         39 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician referral application is further configured to track patient referrals made by and received from at least one of a primary care physician device and a specialist physician device. 
     
     
         40 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician referral application is further configured to provide a primary care physician device and a specialist physician device with access to patient insurance prior authorization information. 
     
     
         41 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician referral application is further configured to transmit a referral communication to a specialist via fax. 
     
     
         42 . The electronic records management system of  claim 30 , wherein the physician referral application is configured to facilitate electronic communication between a primary care physician and a specialist physician devices. 
     
     
         43 . A computer-implemented method for electronic records management, comprising:
 receiving a plurality of physician profiles at a physician profile database electronically accessible over at least one network system;   displaying an electronic user interface of a physician referral application;   receiving, through the electronic user interface of the physician referral application, a search request for physicians based on information contained in the physician profiles;   in response to the search request, determining a first group of physicians, from the plurality of physician profiles, based on a first grouping criteria, and determining a second group of physicians, from the plurality of physician profiles, based on a second grouping criteria;   determining a rank of the first grouping criteria relative to the second grouping criteria; and   displaying, on the online user interface of the physician referral application, the first group of physicians relative to the second group of physicians based on the determined rank of the first grouping criteria relative to the second grouping criteria, wherein the physicians within each group of physicians are displayed in random order relative to other members of the respective group of physicians.   
     
     
         44 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 43 , wherein the first grouping criteria corresponds to membership in a particular healthcare organization, and the second grouping criteria corresponding to out-of-network physicians who are not members of the particular healthcare organization. 
     
     
         45 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 43 , wherein, in response to receiving a request to perform a search for and referral to an out-of-network physician, the electronic user interface of the physician referral application displays an electronic message indicating the request is for an out-of-network physician, said electronic message configured to prompt the user to respond with a reason for requesting the search for and the referral to the out-of-network physician. 
     
     
         46 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 43 , further comprising:
 providing a referral data record, associated with the referral to the out-of-network physician, to both an associated primary care physician device and an associated specialist physician device; and   generating, for a specialist physician associated with the associated specialist physician device, analytics data comprising a number and frequency of referrals, and/or compiled statistics on referral providers.   
     
     
         47 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 43 , wherein the physician referral application is located remotely from the physician profile database. 
     
     
         48 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 43 , wherein the plurality of physician profiles comprises at least four of: the physician's phone number, gender, age, training, ranking information, education, medical specialty, awards received, malpractice information, administrative referral contact information, and place of business. 
     
     
         49 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of at least one computerized device, performs a method of electronic records management comprising:
 receiving a plurality of physician profiles at a physician profile database electronically accessible over at least one network system;   displaying an electronic user interface of a physician referral application;   receiving, through the electronic user interface of the physician referral application, a search request for physicians based on information contained in the physician profiles;   in response to the search request, determining a first group of physicians, from the plurality of physician profiles, based on a first grouping criteria, and determining a second group of physicians, from the plurality of physician profiles, based on a second grouping criteria;   determining a rank of the first grouping criteria relative to the second grouping criteria; and   displaying, on the online user interface of the physician referral application, the first group of physicians relative to the second group of physicians based on the determined rank of the first grouping criteria relative to the second grouping criteria, wherein the physicians within each group of physicians are displayed in random order relative to other members of the respective group of physicians.