Abstract:
Method for providing doctor&#39;s offices and their patients a communication link at strategic times prior to their doctor&#39;s appointment to avoid unintentionally no-shows or missed appointments. It allows the doctor&#39;s office to do so without extra labor or equipment.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This non-provisional application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/432,105, entitled HIGHLY NON-INTRUSIVE, PRIVATE SECURE METHOD TO ALERT AND REMIND PATIENTS OF THEIR DOCTOR&#39;S APPOINTMENTS filed on Jan. 12, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention is related generally to the method steps of alerting, reminding, confirming, and rescheduling appointments, and in particular to an automated or semi-automated process of confirming patient appointments to reduce or eliminate no-shows. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Doctor&#39;s offices for years have been spending thousands of dollars to reduce “Failure to show” (FTS) or “No show” appointments with their patients. FTS causes the entire office to run ineffectively and consequently lose money. 
         [0004]    Currently, doctor&#39;s office personnel, sometimes several of them, have to set appointment and hope the patient shows up, or call the patient personally to confirm the appointment, or pay for expensive equipment and extra phone lines to have a computer generate a call to the patients. All current methods require personnel and are proven ineffective to reduce or eliminate no-shows. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention are computerized method steps to give doctor&#39;s offices and their patients a communication link at strategic, predetermined times prior to their doctor&#39;s appointment. It allows the doctor&#39;s office to do so without extra labor or equipment. The present invention allows doctor&#39;s offices a more improved method (at least 60 to 70% more efficient) to contact their patients. It is a way to decrease “No Shows” or “Failure to Shows.” In today&#39;s world, mobile phones are owned by over 90% of Americans. Tomorrow&#39;s world will grow even closer toward 100% of Americans owning mobile phones. The present invention anticipates the increased reliance of smart phones by patients to help doctor&#39;s offices non-intrusively contact patients at a much greater rate through the patients&#39; smart phone, which most keep with them everywhere they go and at all times. American&#39;s keep their mobile phones next to their bed, with them while they dress, with them going to visit friends, business trips, at their office, in their purse or car, during church, while they are at a wedding reception, and some are even using their mobile phones as their primary phone at their residents choosing not to have land lines. 
         [0006]    The present invention (also referred to herein as TextMD) needs a user computer with a CD reader to upload operating software from the TextMD CD-rom that contains the programs to link the patients&#39; mobile phone information to the TextMD computer/host platform so the confirming of appointments can be accomplished via text alerts. Alternatively, the operating software can be downloaded from the TextMD web site to the user&#39;s computer after the user has registered and is an authorized user. 
         [0007]    One embodiment of the present invention includes CD start-up and updates that can arrive at the user&#39;s office (for example, a doctor&#39;s office) via USPS (mail) or delivery service (UPS or FedEx). The doctor&#39;s staff will install the CD-ROM into the office computer and upload the TextMD software of the present invention onto their existing computer containing their current scheduling software. The TextMD CD-ROM is programmed to start or launch automatically when the CD-ROM is inserted into the CD drive of the office computer. The TextMD CD-ROM will contain pre-programmed code linking the doctor&#39;s office with the present invention (TextMD) SMS/MMS platform system. This stage can take ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes for the computer system to finish uploading depending on the user&#39;s computer system capabilities. 
         [0008]    After the upload of TextMD operating software is complete and the patients&#39; permission slip is approved and filed, the doctor&#39;s office scheduler will set the appointments as usual while now entering the additional information relating to the patient&#39;s mobile phone thus initiating the alerts and reminders of the present invention. 
         [0009]    The patient&#39;s mobile phone will receive a text alert from the present invention (TextMD) platform SMS/MMS system confirming their appointment without involving the office staff and without using any phone lines from the doctor&#39;s office. The present invention automatically sends an alert via text message to the patient&#39;s mobile phone. The message reads with the patient&#39;s name and reads that the named doctor&#39;s office is confirming their appointment with the actual date and time. It sends the reminder, for example, 48 or 24 hours prior to appointment to confirm the date and time. A final reminder can be sent the morning of the appointment as a backup. The text alert transmission times are chosen and approved by the patient in the permission slip. 
         [0010]    This present invention will include safe guards that comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 (P.L.104-191), which are more confidential than any other patient appointment scheduling system available today. The present invention is also a non-intrusive system. 
         [0011]    The patient receiving the text alert can confirm the appointment by replying “C” and pushing ENTER on their mobile phone. The present invention alerts the doctor&#39;s office scheduling computer automatically when the patient transmits the confirmation. When the doctor&#39;s office staff prints out their appointments for the day (prior to starting and/or prior to finishing the day), the staff will see that the patient confirmed via text alert. 
         [0012]    The present invention allows doctor&#39;s offices an option to give their patients another option to receive a text alert confirming their appointment in a highly secure, non-intrusive, accurate way. The present invention works with the goal and premise that the office staff can increase efficiency by eliminating the task of making patient reminder phone calls or other communications, and without bottlenecking doctor&#39;s office computers or phone lines. The present invention prevents an awkward and disliked job that a staff member has to do each day calling patients. It increases the moral in the workplace while decreasing the no show appointments, thereby increasing efficiency in the workplace. 
         [0013]    If the patient does not give permission to use their mobile phone to confirm their appointment with the present invention, then doctor&#39;s office must use other systems or methods. 
         [0014]    The present invention is applicable to any field or industry, which plans or sets appointments for business to person or business-to-business. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    For the present invention to be easily understood and readily practiced, the invention will now be described, for the purposes of illustration and not limitation, in conjunction with the following figure, wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic of the network of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are flow diagrams of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary example of a permission slip used by a doctor&#39;s office to obtain permission to contact the patient via text messages; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of an exemplary doctor&#39;s office calendar linked with the present invention or a calendar of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is an illustration of a pop-up screen of the present invention to input patient or client information for use with the alert text of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is an illustration of an alternative pop-up screen of the present invention to input patient or client information for use with the alert text of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of an alert text of the present invention based on the pop-up screen information of  FIG. 4  shown on a patient&#39;s or client&#39;s cell phone or smart phone; 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is an illustration of an alternative alert text of the present invention based on the pop-up screen information of  FIG. 5  shown on a patient&#39;s or client&#39;s cell phone or smart phone; 
           [0024]      FIG. 9  is an illustration of a report to the doctor of the patient&#39;s or client&#39;s appointment status; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 10  is an illustration of an alert text of the present invention of a doctor&#39;s cancellation of the patient&#39;s or client&#39;s appointment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0026]    The present invention will be illustrated with examples of web page screen shots and forms, and it is not intended to limit the present invention to disclosed embodiments. 
         [0027]    Now turning to  FIG. 1  illustrating a schematic of one embodiment of the network  200  of the present invention (referred to herein also as TextMD). Network  200  includes TextMD users  212  (for example, doctors or attorneys) and patients or clients  214  that link or communicate with internet, web-based platform (web site)  215  via the internet  216 . Internet, web-based platform (web site)  215  includes web host server  218  in communication with storage device  220  that contains data base  222  of system files and logic. Reports  223  can be generated by web site  215  and by TextMD users  212  for patient or client appointment status discussed in detail below. 
         [0028]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate the primary elements (such as steps, decisions, etc.) of the present invention. Block  10  illustrates the start of the present invention with Block  12  illustrating a TextMD user staff member presenting a patient or client with a permission slip  60  (see  FIG. 3 ) to sign up for Text alert from the TextMD network  200  (see  FIG. 1 ). While patients are signing in for a doctor&#39;s visit or updating their insurance forms, the office staff will explain the TextMD alert system to contact them prior to future appointments. It will be the patient&#39;s choice to use this method. Doctor&#39;s office will ask current and new patients to fill-out, for example, a 2-ply permission slip. The permission slip with the patient&#39;s original signature will go into the patient&#39;s folder (Block  14 ) and a copy of the permission slip will be given to the patient. Block  16  illustrates that the doctor&#39;s office staff can set up the next appointment by opening a third party scheduling software with an office calendar page or the TextMD calendar  74  page (see  FIG. 4 ) via an the Internet connection  216  (see  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0029]    Now turning to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , once the date  76  has been selected, for example April 12, for patient Jonathan N. Smith, then the calendar page  74  will open a pop-up screen  78  to prompt necessary key entries to start the short message service (SMS), such as name  80 , home number  82 , cell phone  84 , and requested reminder  86 . 
         [0030]    Now turning to  FIG. 2A , Block  22  illustrates that entered data is stored in TextMD data base  222  (see  FIG. 1 ) and SMS platform for processing. Block  18  illustrates that a patient or client can opt out of the text alert system, and Block  20  illustrates that the doctor&#39;s office can periodically ask the patient or client in the future if they would opt in to the service. 
         [0031]    Now turning to  FIG. 3 , permission slip  60  will include all legal notices required under HIPAA and can include information such as name  62 , patient number  64 , address  66 , cell phone number  68 , permission statement  70 , and patient signature  72 . 
         [0032]    Now returning to  FIG. 2A , Block  24  illustrates the automated transmission of the text alert message to the patient&#39;s or client&#39;s cell phone informing of the next appointment. There can be multiple alerts sent at any given time interval including 48 hours, 24 hours, and/or morning of the appointment. The present invention can include pre-selected times or the user can input a custom time interval. 
         [0033]    Block  26  illustrates another embodiment of the present invention that provides the option to include in the text message items for the patient or client to bring with him/her to the appointment, such as x-rays, blood tests, or another or previous doctor&#39;s charts. Now turning to  FIG. 6  illustrating an alternative calendar page that will open a pop-up screen  88  to prompt necessary key entries to start the short message service (SMS), such as name  80 , home number  82 , cell phone  84 , requested reminder  86 , and items to bring to the appointment  90 , such as MRI, X-ray, Cat Scan, Blood Test, and other. 
         [0034]    Block  28  illustrates that once the text alert message is sent to the patient or client (Block  24 ) and received by patient or client (Block  34  of  FIG. 2B ), then the TextMD users  212  (see  FIG. 1 ) receive a “delivered” receipt from the present invention (Block  58  of  FIG. 2B ) to confirm that the patient or client did receive confirmation and the TextMD data base reflects that the system is “Waiting for Response” (Block  28  of  FIG. 2A ) until the patient or client responds, discussed in detail below. 
         [0035]    Now turning to  FIG. 2B , the patient or client has many options upon receipt of the alert text message  92  (see  FIG. 7 ),  98  (see  FIG. 8 ). The patient or client can ignore the alert (Block  40 ) and not respond to the alert. The present invention will continue to send alerts until a final alert is sent and not responded to (Block  48 ). At this stage, the TextMD user  212  (see  FIG. 1 ) will need to implement alternative backup procedures to ascertain whether the patient or client will be keeping the appointment. The patient or client can call the TextMD user or doctor&#39;s office to confirm, change, or cancel the appointment (Block  38 ). Block  54  illustrates that the present invention will loop back to Block  16  of  FIG. 2A  to set up another appointment and the process will continue from there. 
         [0036]    Now turning to  FIG. 7 , the patient or client can use her/her cell phone  120  to reply to the received text alert  92 , for example send “C”  94  to confirm, “R”  96  to reschedule, or select a reschedule date (not shown) when “R” had been sent in a previous reply. Block  36  of  FIG. 2B  illustrates the step of the process of the patient&#39;s or client&#39;s reply. 
         [0037]    Now turning to  FIG. 8  that illustrates the received text alert  98  of the alternative embodiment  88  (see  FIG. 6 ) with instructions to bring items (e.g. MRI) to the appointment. As discussed above for  FIG. 7 , the patient or client can use her/her cell phone  120  to reply to the received text alert  92 , for example send “C”  94  to confirm, “R”  96  to reschedule, or select a reschedule date (not shown) when “R” had been sent in a previous reply. Block  36  of  FIG. 2B  illustrates the step of the process of the patient&#39;s or client&#39;s reply. 
         [0038]    Now returning to  FIG. 2B , Block  42  illustrates that the patient or customer reply will be sent to the TextMD data base  222  (see  FIG. 1 ) to update the patient client record and the TextMD user  212  (see  FIG. 1 ) will be notified of the reply. Blocks  50  and  52  illustrate that the TextMD users  212  can receive reports (see  FIG. 9 ), for example daily reports, to view how many texts were sent, delivered, not delivered, confirms, reschedules, and opt-outs. The present invention can color code each entry, such as confirmations are red, for easy visual recognition by the doctor&#39;s office staff.  FIG. 9  illustrates a TextMD report  100  to the TextMD user  212  showing the latest status  102  of the patient&#39;s or client&#39;s appointment. The report  100  also can contain other pertinent information fields such as, but not limited to, appointment time  104 , patient&#39;s name  106 , patient&#39;s identification number  108 , appointment type  110 , patient&#39;s telephone number  112 , type of phone  114 , and date of birth  116 . 
         [0039]    In the case of requesting to reschedule the appointment (Block  36  of  FIG. 2B ), TextMD rescheduling software will intelligently go into the doctor&#39;s third party or TextMD calendar  74  (see  FIG. 4 ) and search for closest available appointment parameters, such as time of day and days of week. The doctor&#39;s office calendar controls many of the parameters and the TextMD system  200  cross references parameters and matches the doctor&#39;s office parameters with the patient preference profile, such as routine days off, work schedule, planned vacation or personal days). After the matching process is completed by the TextMD system  200 , a text message  92  (see  FIG. 7 ),  98  (see  FIG. 8 ) is sent to the patient or client with a list of alternative dates and times. The patient or client can select one of the alternative dates and times and send the reply back to the TextMD system  200  for coordination with the doctor&#39;s office as explained above. Alternatively, the patient or client selects the option that none of the dates and times are acceptable and requesting a staff member from the doctor&#39;s office to call the patient or client to schedule the appointment (Block  46  of  FIG. 2B ). Once the new appointment date is input to the calendar system  74 , the text alerts will be initiated again for reminders to be sent out to the patient or client. 
         [0040]    In the case of the doctor canceling the appointment (Block  56  of  FIG. 2B ), TextMD provides the doctor&#39;s and patients with a few options. One option is for the doctor to request that the patient to call the doctor to reschedule the appointment (see  118  of  FIG. 10 , Block  44  of  FIG. 2B ). Another option is for the doctor&#39;s office to call the patient or client to schedule the new appointment (Block  46 ,  FIG. 2B ). The other option is the same as the TextMD system rescheduling software discussed above. 
         [0041]    While the disclosure has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover the modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.