Abstract:
A method for automatic parallel processing of the steps involved in composing electronic responses to structured electronic requests where the request and the response contain some common fields of information. The process starts subsequent processing steps before the validation of the request is complete. A structurally complete, but partial response to a request is prepared as soon as it is possible to construct that response structure. The response structure is determined from personalization factors for the requestor, and a response template is created. The personalized response document is a skeleton created with known data from the minimum validation of the request, and with placeholders for data that has not yet been determined. The response is selectively populated with data from the request when the format of the response is determined. As additional information becomes available during the processing of the request, that additional data is placed into the response structure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of PPA Ser. No. 60/642,165, filed Jan. 6, 2005 by the present inventors. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This innovation relates to computer applications, and, more particularly, to automated methods for the composition of electronic responses to electronic requests. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   For speed of communications and cost effectiveness, individuals, businesses, and other organizations frequently exchange electronic data through e-mail, the Internet, and other networks and systems. Often this data comprises electronic requests for information from businesses. To compete effectively in the marketplace, businesses that must compose electronic responses to such electronic requests must process a large number of these transactions quickly. 
   For example, insurance companies may receive electronic requests comprising documents in compliance with the following standards:
         HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)—for requests about health insurance coverage for a patient&#39;s treatment by a health provider; and   ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development)—for requests about automobile and personal insurance coverage for a client.       

   Typically, insurance companies or their representatives use software applications to process these requests automatically, completing each step independently in a required linear sequence, and then compose electronic responses to these requests and send the responses to the requesting parties. 
   Example of a HIPAA Request and Response 
   For example, in the health insurance industry, a health care provider, such as a doctor&#39;s office or hospital, may send an electronic request for insurance coverage, for a patient who needs treatment, to an insurance company. The request may be an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) 270 document in compliance with HIPAA standards. The insurance company receives the request over a network such as the Internet and then employs an application to process the request to determine the patient&#39;s eligibility for coverage and the patient&#39;s exact benefits before sending an ANSI 271 response to the health care provider. As shown in  FIG. 1 , before a response can be sent this processing requires a number of actions to be performed in a set sequence, such as the following:
         Validating the request  610 .
           The application determines whether the request is a readable ANSI 270 document that is in the correct format and contains meaningful data.   
           Decomposing the information in the request  620 .
           The processing application obtains the data contained in the request from the appropriate fields.   
           Fetching response data  630 .
           The application uses the data obtained from the request to determine the patient&#39;s eligibility for the treatment and the patient&#39;s exact benefits coverage.   
           Composing the response  640 .
           The application composes an ANSI 271 response to the request, containing the appropriate information.   
           Validating the response  650 .
           The application determines that the response that has been assembled is a readable ANSI 271 document that is in the correct format and contains meaningful data.   
               

   Linear processing of electronic requests, such as in the example given above, may proceed quickly enough to be satisfactory for an individual transaction. But businesses often must process many thousands of requests in short time periods, so that the processing time for such transactions adds up substantially and can cause delays unacceptable to customers and employees. For example, some businesses process 102 or more requests per second, amounting to 367,200 requests per hour. Moreover, delays because of errors located at any step in the process may cause significant bottlenecks that further reduce productivity and increase business costs. 
   To compensate for such problems with processing requests, businesses often employ larger and more capable computers or combinations of linked computers to decrease processing time, which are expensive solutions. 
   Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for automatically composing electronic responses to electronic requests that decreases processing time and reduces potential bottlenecks. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   These and other needs are addressed by the present invention. The following explanation describes the present invention by way of example and not by way of limitation. 
   It is an object of the present invention to provide automatic parallel processing for the composition of electronic responses to electronic requests. In the current invention, the term parallel processing refers to the concurrent execution of tasks. Typically, the tasks are executed on a single computer, but they may be distributed for execution on two or more computers. 
   Some electronic processing guidelines, such as insurance requests, require a complete validation of the format or other features of the request. In the vast majority of these cases, perhaps over 99% of the time, this validation will be satisfied. 
   One aspect of the current invention is that it starts subsequent processing steps before the validation is complete. This aspect is called parallel processing request responses. If the validation fails, then all tasks are abandoned and additional information is requested. However, if the validation is successful, then the overall completion time of the processing is reduced. An analogous practice in computer architecture is branch prediction where the two outcomes for an IF statement are pursued in parallel until the condition is determined and one path is stopped. The branch prediction eliminates stall cycles waiting for the condition to be determined. The present invention is typically more efficient than branch prediction because in most cases the request will be validated, and there is little computation lost in those cases where validation ultimately fails. 
   Another aspect of the current invention is that it prepares a structurally complete, but partial response to a request as soon as it is able to construct that response structure. The commencement of preparing a response before completing the entire validation is called minimum validation of the request. For instance, for insurance requests, HIPAA regulations require a complete validation of all fields in the request, but from a practical perspective only a few of these fields are important to the request. Once those few fields have been validated, processing of the request can continue in parallel with the validation of the remaining fields in the request. 
   Typically the response structure is determined from personalization factors for the requestor. Personalization factors are described in more detail in copending application Ser. No. 11/123,630 filed Apr. 30, 2005. In one embodiment of the current invention, the identity of the requestor is determined at the time that the request is received, the personalization factors are determined for the requestor, and the format of the response is established. This aspect is called predetermining the response document. The personalized response document is a skeleton created with known data from the minimum validation of the request, and with placeholders for data that has not yet been determined. This approach is contrasted with the prior art practice of creating a data string and validating entirely after the composition of the response. 
   Another aspect of the current invention is that some data in the request is typically included in the response. As soon as the format of the response is determined from the personalization factors, this common data is added into the response. This aspect is called selectively populating request responses. The personalization factors are typically created from known trading partner profiles for entities which are expected to make a request. Response templates may be created for these profiles, either created upon the request or recalled from memory or storage. As additional information becomes available during the processing of the request, that additional data is placed into the response structure. 
   In accordance with the present invention, a method is provided for automatic parallel processing of the steps involved in composing electronic responses to structured electronic requests where the request and the response contain some common fields of information. The process starts subsequent processing steps before the validation of the request is complete. A structurally complete, but partial response to a request is prepared as soon as it is possible to construct that response structure. The response structure is determined from personalization factors for the requestor, and a response template is created. The personalized response document is a skeleton created with known data from the minimum validation of the request, and with placeholders for data that has not yet been determined. The response is selectively populated with data from the request when the format of the response is determined. As additional information becomes available during the processing of the request, that additional data is placed into the response structure. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The following embodiment of the present invention is described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a flow chart that illustrates at a high level a linear process for automatically composing an electronic response to an electronic request; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing an operating environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be employed; 
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart that illustrates at a high level a process for using a parallel-processing response application to automatically compose an electronic response to an electronic request; 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart that illustrates at a high level a process for creating a parallel-processing response application; 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart that shows an example of the parallel processing employed by the parallel-processing response application; 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram that illustrates a typical computer system, representing a server on which embodiments of the present invention can be implemented; and 
       FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram illustrating using parallel processing to establish a structurally complete response with partial information. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The following description explains a system and method in accordance with the present invention. The details of this explanation are offered to illustrate the present invention clearly. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the concepts of the present invention are not limited to these specific details. Commonly known elements are also shown in block diagrams for clarity, as examples and not as limitations of the present invention. 
   Operating Environment 
   An embodiment of the operating environment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 2 . One or more programmers at server  1   100  create a parallel-processing response application  200  that uses the method of the present invention explained below. 
   Server  1   100  and server  2   120  can communicate via wired or wireless links  142  and  144  and a wired or wireless network  130 . The servers  1   100  and  2   120  may be personal computers or larger computerized systems or combinations of systems. The network  130  may be the Internet, a private LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless network, a TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) network, or other communications system, and can comprise multiple elements such as gateways, routers, and switches. Links  142  and  144  use technology appropriate for communications with network  130 . 
   Thus, a party or application at server  2   120  can send an electronic request  300  to server  1   100 . Server  1   100  can then use the parallel-processing response application  200  to automatically process the request  300 , using the method of the present invention explained below. The parallel-processing response application  200  then composes an electronic response  400  and sends the response  400  to server  2   120 . 
   In other embodiments, after the creation of the parallel-processing response application  200  on one server, the parallel-processing response application  200  can be transferred to other servers or computing environments for use there. 
   In still other embodiments, elements of the system given above may also be used on one or more different servers, or other computing environments. 
   Process 
     FIG. 3  is a flow chart that illustrates a process for employing parallel processing for the composition of electronic responses to electronic requests in an embodiment. It will be useful to explain these elements briefly from a high level and then to expand them in detail. 
   Step  1000  in FIG.  3 —A party at a server  100  creates a parallel-processing response application  200 . 
   Step  2000  in FIG.  3 —The parallel-processing response application  200  obtains an electronic request  300  that requires an electronic response. 
   Step  3000  in FIG.  3 —The parallel-processing response application  200  automatically processes the request  300  and composes an electronic response  400 . 
   Step  4000  in FIG.  3 —The parallel-processing response application  200  sends the electronic response  400  to the requesting party. 
   Creating a Parallel-Processing Response Application 
   As mentioned above, in an embodiment one or more programmers at server  1   100 , shown in  FIG. 2 , create the parallel-processing response application  200  for use there. In another embodiment, the parallel-processing response application  200  may be created on one server and loaded onto any other server or computing environment for use there. 
   Steps in the Process 
   As shown in  FIG. 4 , a process for creating a parallel-processing response application  200 , in an embodiment, is to design the application to accomplish the following steps:
         Step  1010  in FIG.  4 —Dividing each step in the response process into a minimum level and a complete level, when possible.   Step  1020  in FIG.  4 —In the first step with a minimum level and a complete level, processing the minimum and complete levels in parallel, when possible.   Step  1030  in FIG.  4 —Processing subsequent steps immediately after processing any minimum level in the preceding step and in parallel with any processing of the complete level of the preceding step.       

   Step  1010  in FIG.  4 —Dividing each step in the response process into a minimum level and a complete level. 
   The present invention can be employed under two conditions:
         1. The request and the response must contain some common fields of information; and   2. The process for validating the request must be segmentable into
           A minimal level, and   A complete level.   
               

   The minimum and complete levels may be defined as is useful. For example, in an embodiment the minimal level may comprise validating the structure of the request, such as the required format. The complete level would then comprise processing the data in the request. 
   In another embodiment, the minimal level may comprise validating the structure of the request and also processing data from a specified set of fields in the request. The complete level would then comprise processing the data from the fields of the request not in the minimum level set. 
   Example of a HIPAA Request and Response Transaction 
   The following lines of code are an example of segments of a HIPAA request and response transaction, comprising
         An ANSI 270 request for patient eligibility and benefits coverage; and   A corresponding ANSI 271 response.       

   In this example important fields that are common between the request and the response are underlined for clarity. The example also illustrates the structural format required for HIPAA for such a transaction. 
   ANSI 270 Request 
   ISA*00* *00* *ZZ*WEBIFYSE *ZZ*00123 
   *041210*1956*U*00401*000783397*0*P*:˜ 
   GS*HS*WEBIFYSE*058916206POC*20041210*1956*1*X*004010X092A1˜ 
   ST*270*112780˜ 
   BHT*0022*13*11836412*20041210*1956˜ 
   HL*1**20*1˜ 
   NM1*PR*2* PAYER X *****PI* 123456 ˜ 
   HL*2*1*21*1˜ 
   NM1*1P*2* PROVIDER Y *****FI* 333666999 ˜ 
   HL*3*2*22*1˜ 
   NM1*IL*1* DOE*JANE ****MI* XXX123456789 ˜ 
   HL*4*3*23*0˜ 
   TRN*1*1.183641.2*8877988*Y˜ 
   NM1*03*1* DOE*JOHN *˜ 
   N3* 1234 SMALL LN ˜ 
   N4* AUSTIN*TX*12345 ˜ 
   DMG*D8* 19810911*M ˜ 
   DTP*472*D8*20041210˜ 
   EQ*30***GP˜ 
   SE*17*112780˜ 
   GE*1*1˜ 
   IEA*1*000783397˜ 
   ANSI 271 Response 
   ISA*00* *00* *ZZ*00123 *ZZ*WEBIFYSE 
   
       
       *041210*1955*U*00401*000783397*0*P*:˜
 
GS*HB*058916206POC*WEBIFYSE*20041210*1955580*1*X*004010X092A1˜
 
ST*271*112780˜
 
BHT*0022*11*11836412*20041210*19555800˜
 
HL*1**20*1˜
 
NM1*PR*2* PAYER X *****PI* 123456 ˜
 
HL*2*1*21*1˜
 
NM1*1P*2* PROVIDER Y *****FI* 333666999 ˜
 
HL*3*2*22*1˜
 
NM1*IL*1* DOE*JANE ****MI* XXX123456789 ˜
 
HL*4*3*23*0˜
 
TRN*2*1.183641.2*8877988˜
 
NM1*03*1* DOE*JOHN ****MI*XXX123456789˜
 
N3* 1234 SMALL LN ˜
 
N4* AUSTIN*TX*12345 ˜
 
DMG*D8* 19810911*M ˜
 
INS*N*19˜
 
EB*1***IN*PLAN XYZ˜
 
DTP*636*D8*20041209˜
 
DTP*307*RD8*20040701-99991231˜
 
SE*19*112780˜
 
GE*1*1˜
 
IEA*1*000783397˜
 
     
  
   The underlined fields in the example above may be characterized in the following way: 
   
     
       
             
             
             
           
         
             
                 
             
             
                 
                 
               Structural Format 
             
             
               Field Name 
               Data in Example 
               Required for Data 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
               Payer Name 
               PAYER X 
               Alphanumeric 1-35 Characters 
             
             
               Payer ID 
               123456 
               Alphanumeric 2-80 Characters 
             
             
               Provider Name 
               PROVIDER Y 
               Alphanumeric 1-35 Characters 
             
             
               Provider Tax ID 
               333666999 
               Alphanumeric 2-80 Characters 
             
             
               Subscriber Name 
               JANE DOE 
               Alphanumeric 1-25, 
             
             
                 
                 
               1-35 Characters 
             
             
               Subscriber ID 
               XXX123456789 
               Alphanumeric 2-80 Characters 
             
             
               Patient Name 
               JOHN DOE 
               Alphanumeric 1-25, 
             
             
                 
                 
               1-35 Characters 
             
             
               Patient Street 
               1234 SMALL LN 
               Alphanumeric 1-55 Characters 
             
             
               Address 
             
             
               Patient 
               AUSTIN TX 12345 
               Alphanumeric 2-30/2/Valid ZIP 
             
             
               City/State/ZIP 
             
             
               Patient 
               19810911 
               CCYYMMDD 
             
             
               Date of Birth 
             
             
               Patient Sex 
               M 
               F/M 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   In an embodiment, the minimum level for the example above would be to validate that the data in the request is in the correct structural format. For example, the code for the payer name should be in the following format:
         NM1*PR*2* PAYER X *****PI* 123456 ˜
 
with the payer name field containing 1-35 alphanumeric characters. The complete level would be to process the data in each field, such as “PAYER X”.
       

   In another embodiment, the minimum level would be to validate that the data in the request is in the correct structural format and also to process the data in the set of fields shown in the example, which are common to both the ANSI 270 request and the ANSI 271 response. The complete level would be to process the data in the fields not in the minimum level set, which are not shown in the above example and might amount to hundreds of lines of code. 
   Step  1020  in FIG.  4 —In the first step with a minimum level and a complete level, processing the minimum and complete levels in parallel, when possible. 
   The next step is to process the two levels in parallel. For example,  FIG. 5  shows a scenario where the first step in composing a response, validating the request  710 , can be divided into a minimum level  712  and a complete level  714 . To follow the example of an ANSI 270 request and an ANSI 271 response from above, the minimum level  712  may comprise validating the structure of the code. The complete level  714  would then comprise processing the data in the fields within the code. 
     FIG. 7  is a schematic illustrating the parallel processing to establish a structurally complete response with partial information. At step  800  an electronic request is received. In this case, the request is a 270 document. 
   At step  810  the validation of the request is completed to a minimum level. In this example, the validation includes data elements A, B, C, and D which are a subset of the data in the request. In other examples, the validation may be only of the structure of the request. 
   At step  820  the validation of the request is completed. In parallel with step  820 , at step  830  the response structure is predetermined. In this example, the response is a 271 document. In other embodiments, the structure is a response template which is predetermined by personalization factors of the requesting party. The response template may be created upon receipt and partial validation of the request, or it may be recalled from memory or storage. 
   At step  840  the response document is prepopulated with data common to the request and the response. In this case, the data elements A, B, C, and D are common to the request and the response, but will typically not be in the same positions in the request and the response. 
   At step  850  the response document is filled in as subsequent processing determines additional data for the response. 
   In this example, the parallel processing permits the response structure to be determined and partially filled in while the validation and subsequent processing are being conducted. This parallel processing permits a shorter response time for the request. 
   Step  1030  in FIG.  4 —Processing subsequent steps immediately after processing any minimum level in the preceding step and in parallel with any processing of the complete level of the preceding step. 
     FIG. 5  shows how the processing may proceed after Step  1020 . After processing the minimum level  712  of validating the request  710 , the parallel-processing response application  200 , shown in  FIG. 2 , proceeds to the next step, decomposing the information in the request  720 , shown in  FIG. 5 . 
   In parallel, processing the complete level  714  of validating the request  710  continues. 
   After decomposing the information in the request  720 , fetching the response data  730  is accomplished. 
   After fetching the response data  730 , processing begins on the minimum level  742  of composing the response  740 , comprising creating the structure of the response. 
   After processing the complete level  714  of validating the request  710 , processing begins on the complete level  744  of composing the response  740 , comprising filling in the data of the response. 
   After processing the minimum level  742  of composing the response  740 , processing begins on the minimum level  752  of validating the response  750 , comprising validating the structure of the response. 
   After processing the complete level  744  of composing the response  740 , processing begins on the complete level  754  of validating the response  750 , comprising validating the data in the fields contained in the responses. 
   Because the above processing is accomplished in parallel, overall processing time can be decreased significantly. Although the decrease may only be measured in seconds for an individual transaction, saved seconds mount up over the hundreds of thousands of transactions that a business may require in an hour. 
   Computer System Overview 
     FIG. 6  is a block diagram that illustrates an example of a typical computer system  1400 , well known to those skilled in the art, representing a server on which embodiments of the present invention can be implemented. This computer system  1400 , shown in  FIG. 6 , comprises a network interface  1402  that provides two-way communications through a wired or wireless link  147  to a wired or wireless communications network  130  that uses any applicable communications technology. For example, the network  130  can comprise a public telephone network, a wireless network, a local area network (LAN), and any known or not-yet-know applicable communications technologies, using correspondingly applicable links. The network  130  in turn provides communications with one or more host computers  150  and, through the Internet  1424 , with one or more servers  103 . 
   The network interface  1402  is attached to a bus  1406  or other means of communicating information. Also attached to the bus  1406  are the following:
         a processor  1404  for processing information;   a storage device  1408 , such as an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, or a magnet disc, for storing information and instructions;   main memory  1410 , which is a dynamic storage device such as a random access memory (RAM) that stores information and instructions to be carried out by processor  1404 ;   a bios  1412  or another form of static memory such as read only memory (ROM), for storing static information and instructions to be carried out by processor  1404 ;   a display  1414 , such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or cathode ray tube (CRT) for displaying information to user of the computer system  1400 ; and   an input device  1416 , with numeric and alphanumeric keys for communicating information and commands to processor  1404 . In another embodiment a mouse or other input devices can also be used.       

   The computer system  1400  is used to implement the methods of the present invention in one embodiment. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to specific software and hardware configurations. Computer system  1400  can receive data from computer  150  and server  103  through a network  130  such as the Internet, and appropriate links  147 , such as wired or wireless ones, and its network interface  1402 . It can of course transmit data back to computers over the same routes. 
   Computer system  1400  carries out the methods of the present invention when its processor  1404  processes instructions contained in its main memory  1410 . Another computer-readable medium, such as its storage device  1408 , may read these instructions into main memory  1410  and may do so after receiving these instructions through network interface  1402 . Processor  1404  further processes data according to instructions contained in its storage device  1408 . Data is relayed to appropriate elements in computer system  1400  through its bus  1406 . Instructions for computer system  1400  can also be given through its input device  1416  and display  1414 . 
   “Computer-readable medium” refers to any medium that provides instructions to processor  1404 , comprising volatile, non-volatile, and transmission media. Volatile media comprise dynamic memory, such as main memory  1410 . Non-volatile media comprise magnetic, magneto-optical, and optical discs, such as storage device  1408 . Transmission media comprise a wide range of wired and unwired transmission technology, comprising cables, wires, modems, fiber optics, acoustic waves, such as radio waves, for example, and light waves, such as infrared, for example. Typical examples of widely used computer-readable media are floppy discs, hard discs, magnetic tape, CD-ROMs, punch cards, RAM, EPROMs, FLASH-EPROMs, memory cards, chips, and cartridges, modem transmissions over telephone lines, and infrared waves. Multiple computer-readable media may be used, known and not yet known, can be used, individually and in combinations, in different embodiments of the present invention. 
   ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS 
   It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that different embodiments of the present invention may employ a wide range of possible hardware and of software techniques. For example the communication between servers could take place through any number of links, including wired, wireless, infrared, or radio ones, and through other communication networks beside those cited, including any not yet in existence. 
   Also, the term computer is used here in its broadest sense to include personal computers, laptops, telephones with computer capabilities, personal data assistants (PDAs) and servers, and it should be recognized that it could include multiple servers, with storage and software functions divided among the servers. A wide array of operating systems, compatible e-mail services, Web browsers and other communications systems can be used to transmit messages among servers. 
   Furthermore, in the previous description the order of processes, their numbered sequences, and their labels are presented for clarity of illustration and not as limitations on the present invention.