Workflow automation through tagging of database records

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to methods and systems for the timely processing of records exchanged between service provider systems and responsible entity systems by a records management and processing system. More specifically, the records management and processing system can maintain a set of rules defining conditions for processing records and associated actions to affect that processing upon satisfaction of or failure to satisfy the conditions of that rule. The records management and processing system can also maintain tags identifying data in a record or processing of a record. The records management and processing system can apply the rules to the records and assign tags to the records based on the conditions defined in the applied rules. The records management and processing system can then process the records according to workflows for processing the records based on the assigned tags and applied rules.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to methods and systems for managing transaction records in a database and more particularly to managing and processing records in a database according to a set of rules to tag records for processing under a set of workflows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments disclosed herein. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that various embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without some of these specific details. The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope or applicability of the disclosure. Furthermore, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the preceding description omits a number of known structures and devices. This omission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scopes of the claims. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should however be appreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific detail set forth herein.

While the exemplary aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations illustrated herein show the various components of the system collocated, certain components of the system can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated system. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of the system can be combined in to one or more devices or collocated on a particular node of a distributed network, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunications network, a packet-switch network, or a circuit-switched network. It will be appreciated from the following description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, that the components of the system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network of components without affecting the operation of the system.

Various additional details of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the figures. While the flowcharts will be discussed and illustrated in relation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occur without materially affecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments, configuration, and aspects.

FIG. 1is a block diagram illustrating elements of an exemplary computing environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. More specifically, this example illustrates a computing environment100that may function as the servers, user computers, or other systems provided and described herein. The environment100includes one or more user computers, or computing devices, such as a computing device104, a communication device108, and/or more112. The computing devices104,108,112may include general purpose personal computers (including, merely by way of example, personal computers, and/or laptop computers running various versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows® and/or Apple Corp.'s Macintosh® operating systems) and/or workstation computers running any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems. These computing devices104,108,112may also have any of a variety of applications, including for example, database client and/or server applications, and web browser applications. Alternatively, the computing devices104,108,112may be any other electronic device, such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone, and/or personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via a network110and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types of electronic documents. Although the exemplary computer environment100is shown with two computing devices, any number of user computers or computing devices may be supported.

The system may also include one or more servers114,116. In this example, server114is shown as a web server and server116is shown as an application server. The web server114, which may be used to process requests for web pages or other electronic documents from computing devices104,108,112. The web server114can be running an operating system including any of those discussed above, as well as any commercially-available server operating systems. The web server114can also run a variety of server applications, including SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) servers, HTTP(s) servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java servers, and the like. In some instances, the web server114may publish operations available operations as one or more web services.

The environment100may also include one or more file and or/application servers116, which can, in addition to an operating system, include one or more applications accessible by a client running on one or more of the computing devices104,108,112. The server(s)116and/or114may be one or more general purpose computers capable of executing programs or scripts in response to the computing devices104,108,112. As one example, the server116,114may execute one or more web applications. The web application may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java™, C, C #®, or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of any programming/scripting languages. The application server(s)116may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, IBM® and the like, which can process requests from database clients running on a computing device104,108,112.

The web pages created by the server114and/or116may be forwarded to a computing device104,108,112via a web (file) server114,116. Similarly, the web server114may be able to receive web page requests, web services invocations, and/or input data from a computing device104,108,112(e.g., a user computer, etc.) and can forward the web page requests and/or input data to the web (application) server116. In further embodiments, the server116may function as a file server. Although for ease of description,FIG. 1illustrates a separate web server114and file/application server116, those skilled in the art will recognize that the functions described with respect to servers114,116may be performed by a single server and/or a plurality of specialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs and parameters. The computer systems104,108,112, web (file) server114and/or web (application) server116may function as the system, devices, or components described herein.

The environment100may also include a database118. The database118may reside in a variety of locations. By way of example, database118may reside on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers104,108,112,114,116. Alternatively, it may be remote from any or all of the computers104,108,112,114,116, and in communication (e.g., via the network110) with one or more of these. The database118may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers104,108,112,114,116may be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, as appropriate. The database118may be a relational database, such as Oracle 20i®, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.

FIG. 2is a block diagram illustrating elements of an exemplary computing device in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. More specifically, this example illustrates one embodiment of a computer system200upon which the servers, user computers, computing devices, or other systems or components described above may be deployed or executed. The computer system200is shown comprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus204. The hardware elements may include one or more central processing units (CPUs)208; one or more input devices212(e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.); and one or more output devices216(e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computer system200may also include one or more storage devices220. By way of example, storage device(s)220may be disk drives, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as a random-access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system200may additionally include a computer-readable storage media reader224; a communications system228(e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, etc.); and working memory236, which may include RAM and ROM devices as described above. The computer system200may also include a processing acceleration unit232, which can include a DSP, a special-purpose processor, and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader224can further be connected to a computer-readable storage medium, together (and, optionally, in combination with storage device(s)220) comprehensively representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing computer-readable information. The communications system228may permit data to be exchanged with a network and/or any other computer described above with respect to the computer environments described herein. Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may represent one or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic disk storage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/or other machine-readable mediums for storing information.

The computer system200may also comprise software elements, shown as being currently located within a working memory236, including an operating system240and/or other code244. It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments of a computer system200may have numerous variations from that described above. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

FIG. 3is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary environment in which a records management and processing system can be implemented according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in this example, the environment300can include a number of different systems. Specifically, the environment300can include a records management and processing system305which can comprise a server or other computing device as described above. The records management and processing system305can be communicatively coupled with a communication network310such as the Internet or any other one or more wired or wireless, local or wide area networks. The environment300can also include a number of service provider systems315A-315C each of which can comprise a server or other computing device as described above and which can also be communicatively coupled with the communication network310. Furthermore, the environment300can include a number of responsible entity systems320A-320C each of which can comprise a server or other computing device as described above and which can also be communicatively coupled with the communication network310. It should be noted that while three service provider systems315A-315C and three responsible entity systems320A-320C are shown here for illustrative purposes, any number of such systems315A-315C and320A-320C can be present in various different implementations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

According to one implementation, the service provider systems315A-315C can represent those servers or other computer systems typically associated with an entity providing a service consumer. In one embodiment, the providers of the services can comprise healthcare providers such as hospital, doctors, physical therapists, counsellors, out-patient and/or urgent care facilities, pharmacies, or other such providers while the consumer can comprise a patient. In such embodiments, the responsible party systems320A-320C can comprise, for example, those servers or other computer systems typically associated with an entity responsible for some duties related to the delivery of and/or payment for those services. For example, responsible parties can include third-party payors including but not limited to insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, and/or other private, governmental, or mixed public/private entities. While described here with reference to healthcare providers and third-party payors such as insurance companies, it should be understood that various embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to such implementations. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are believed to be equally adaptable to and useful in environments and systems which process a large volume of electronic records according to complex rules and regulations, business or financial arrangements, etc.

Regardless of the exact implementation of nature of the entities involved, the records management and processing system305can comprise an intermediary between a plurality of service providers systems315A-315C and the plurality of responsible entity systems320A-320C. As such and as will be described in greater detail below, the records management and processing system305can maintain a set of records related to services provided to a consumer by each or the service providers and for which at least one of the responsible entities is responsible in some way, e.g., granting approval, making a payment, providing some additional information, etc. In the normal course of processing such records and such transactions, the records management and processing system305may experience a delay in the handling of some records. For example, delays can be caused by data anomalies in records provided to the records management and processing system305by the service provider systems315A-315C. In other cases, delays can be caused by a problem or potential problem with the handling of records or the performance of required actions by the responsible entity systems320A-320C. In the example of the healthcare implementation described above, the records can represent, at least in part, payments to be made by the responsible entities to the service providers and thus, can represent accounts receivable for the service providers. As such, the timely completion of handling such records can directly impacts the cashflow of the service providers. Additionally, the longer processing of such records is delayed, the more likely the payments will become contested or otherwise become problematic. In other implementations, the timely processing of records by the records management and processing system305can be equally important for a variety of other reasons.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to methods and systems for the timely processing of records by the records management and processing system305exchanged between the service provider systems315A-315C and the responsible entity systems320A-320C. More specifically, the records management and processing system305can maintain a set of rules defining conditions for processing records and associated actions to affect that processing upon satisfaction of or failure to satisfy the conditions of that rule. The records management and processing system305can also maintain tags identifying data in a record, current status of processing of a record, or other information about the record. The records management and processing system305can apply the rules to the records and assign tags to the records based on the conditions defined in the applied rules. The records management and processing system305can then process the records according to workflows for processing the records based on the assigned tags and applied rules. Additional details of the records management and processing system305and the processes performed therein will be described below.

FIG. 4is a block diagram illustrating elements of an exemplary records management and processing system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in this example, the records management and processing system305as described above can comprise a set of records maintained in a database405or other repository. As noted above, each record of the set of records in the database can comprise a record of a service provided to a consumer by a service provider and can identify at least one required action by at least one responsible entity of a plurality of responsible entities. Also, as described above, the records management and processing system305can comprise an intermediary between systems of the plurality of service providers and systems of the plurality of responsible entities.

The records management and processing system305can also maintain one or more rules410for managing and processing the records of the database405. Generally speaking, a rule can comprise a definition of one or more conditions and an associated one or more actions to be performed upon satisfaction, or failure to satisfy, the conditions of that rule. Accordingly, each rule410maintained by the records management and processing system305can comprise one or more conditions for processing one or more records of the set of records405and at least one associated action to affect processing of the one or more records upon satisfaction of or failure to satisfy the one or more conditions of the rule410. The conditions defined in some of these rules410can comprise conditions to be satisfied by one or more of the responsible entities320A-320C described above. For example, one or more rules can define timing or other conditions a payment by a third-party payor, e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, an insurance company, etc., for a service rendered by the service provider, e.g., a hospital, doctor, pharmacy, etc., to the consumer/patient. Additionally, or alternatively, conditions defined in some of the rules410can define parameters for data in the record. For example, rules410can be defined for performing checks on the values of various fields of data in the records405such as comparing different fields, e.g., a value of total charges relative to a value of total adjustments, etc.

To facilitate definition of the rules410, the records management and processing system305can further comprise a rules definition module415. Generally speaking, the rules definition module415can comprise one or more applications executed by the records management and processing system305and which provide a rules definition interface420. The rules definition interface420can include, for example, one or more webpages or other, similar interfaces providing elements through which an authorized user, such as an administrator or manager, can select or otherwise input conditions and corresponding actions for a new or modified rule. Once defined in this manner, the new or modified rule can be saved in the set of rules410and made available for application by the records management and processing system305.

The records management and processing system305can also maintain a set of tags425for managing and processing the records405. Generally speaking, these tags425can comprise a flag, metadata, or other information used to describe, explain, mark, or otherwise identify records in the set of records405. For example, the tags425can include, but are not limited to, tags used to identify data in a record405, a current status of processing of the record405, or other information about the record. As will be described, these tags425can be used to identify records405that merit additional attention and/or processing and thus, the absence of tags associated with a record can implicitly indicate that additional attention or handling is not needed for that record.

To facilitate definition and use of the tags425, the records management and processing system305can further comprise a tag definition and assignment module430. Generally speaking, the tag definition and assignment module430can comprise one or more applications executed by the records management and processing system305and which provide a tag definition and assignment interface435. The tag definition and assignment interface435can include, for example, one or more webpages or other, similar interfaces providing elements through which an authorized user, such as an administrator or manager, can select or otherwise input definitions of new or modified tags. Once defined in this manner, the new or modified tag can be saved in the set of tags430and made available for application by the records management and processing system305.

The records management and processing system305can also comprise a rules engine440. Generally speaking, the rules engine can comprise one or more applications executed by the records management and processing system305and which can read and apply the rules410to the records405. That is, the rules engine440can compare the records stored in the database405to the conditions for the rules410and, upon finding records that satisfy, or fail to satisfy as the case may be and depending upon how the condition is defined, can perform or cause to be performed the action associated with the satisfied or failed condition. These actions can include, for example, applying one or more of the tags425to the identified records405or presenting the identified records to a user and receiving an indication of the tag(s) to be applied. The tag(s)425applied to a record can identify or mark that record for further attention to advance the processing of that record. Thus, records that are not tagged do not require additional attention or processing outside of normal processes since they are in a condition as defined in the rules as being normal or acceptable, e.g., within defined deadlines or other time limits etc. In other words, processing can be applied to one set of records based on the tags applied while processing of another set of records can be postponed or delayed so that the first set of records can be given more attention and resources.

The rules engine440can apply the rules410to the records405periodically, on demand, or upon the occurrence of predefined event or the satisfaction of one or more predefined conditions. For example, the rules engine440can apply the rules410as part of a routine process performed each day, week, month, or other period, and/or may be initiated or kicked off upon request by an authorized user of the system such as a manager or supervisor. As noted above, applying the rules410can include tagging one or more records based on the applied rules410. Additionally, or alternatively, tags can be applied to one or more records based on a user selection or input. For example, a user viewing a set of records can select records from that set and apply one or more tags to those selected records based on conditions the user perceives and which may or may not be defined in the rules. Thus, tagging of records can be driven by the applied rules or based on input from a user and the tags applied in either way can influence the further handling of those tagged records.

According to one embodiment and as illustrated here, the records management and processing system305can also comprise a workflow engine445and a set of predefined workflows450. Generally speaking, a workflow450can comprise a set of one or more steps to be performed on or related to a record. These steps can be wholly machine executable or may, in some cases, rely on some degree of human intervention. For example, these steps can range from presenting data from a tagged record in a user interface to a human operator, such as a collector, for an action to be performed by the operator, e.g., calling a payor or performing some other follow-up action, to a completely automated process such as sending an automatically generated communication to a payor system or combinations of various such human and machine actions. The workflow engine445can comprise one or more applications executed by the records management and processing system305and which, during execution, can read the predefined workflows450and implement or perform the steps defined therein. The workflows450can comprise a set of predefined, executable steps directed to advancing the processing of the records405identified by the rules405and tagged as described above. The workflow engine445can execute the workflows450by selecting a workflow450based on the tags425for a record405and executing the selected workflow450using the information from that record and, in some cases, based on further application of one or more rules410related to the tags425applied to that record405. Thus, the conditions and associated actions defined in the rules410can also be applied by the workflow engine445as it executes the workflows450. The workflow engine445can also provide a workflow user interface450for viewing and managing one or more workflows for processing records.

Therefore, the rules engine440can apply one or more of the rules410to the records saved in the database405to identify those records which should be further processed or given further scrutiny and mark those records with one or more tags425. In this way, those records found to be within normal or acceptable conditions according to the applied rules need not be subjected to further scrutiny and/or processing thus saving resources such as human effort, processing overhead, etc. In other words, processing of one set of records can be performed in an expedited or priority manner while processing of another set of records can be de-prioritized or postponed based on the tags applied to the records which is in turn based on the rules or input from a user.

One or more predefined workflow processes450can then be selected, e.g., based on the applied tags, initiated, and executed by the workflow engine445to further process those tagged records. The workflows450can be initiated automatically, e.g., triggered by the rules engine445upon completion of applying the tags425, upon the occurrence of certain conditions, e.g., as defined in one or more rules410, at a predetermined or pre-scheduled time, upon request, or in a variety of other ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Processing the tagged records405by the workflow engine445can comprise performing the steps defined in the workflows450, which can include applying the selected or additional rules410to the records being processed, in order to advance the handling of those records405by the records management and processing system305, e.g., move an account towards payment or other resolution. Additional details of processing the records405by the workflow engine445based on the applied rules410and tags425according to various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below.

FIG. 5is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for managing and processing records according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in this example, managing and processing database records can comprise maintaining505a set of records in a database. Each record of the set of records can comprise a record of a service provided to a consumer by a service provider of a plurality of service providers and can identify at least one required action by at least one responsible entity of a plurality of responsible entities. As described above, the system managing and processing the database records can comprise an intermediary between systems of the plurality of service providers and systems of the plurality of responsible entities.

One or more rules can be defined510for managing and processing the records. Each rule can comprise one or more conditions for processing one or more records of the set of records and at least one associated action to affect processing of the one or more records upon satisfaction of or failure to satisfy the one or more conditions of the rule. In some cases, the one or more conditions defined in at least one rule can comprise conditions to be satisfied in the processing of the record, e.g., a due date, an allowable time since a last action, etc. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more conditions defined in at least one rule can define or identify data in the record provided by the service provider. For example, one or more rules can define checks to be performed on various fields of data in the record provided by the service providers such as defining proper form and/or content for descriptions, comparing different fields such as total charges relative to total adjustments, etc.

A plurality of tags can also be defined515for managing and processing the records. Each tag of the plurality of tags can comprise information identifying data in a record, current status of processing of a record, or other information about a record of the plurality of records. That is, each tag can comprise a flag, metadata, or other information to be added to or associated with a record to indicate a status or state of the data or a status or state of processing the record that merits additional attention and/or processing, e.g., a condition or result has occurred while processing a given record that is defined by a rule or rules as indicating an exception or condition with the record or the processing of that record that merits additional attention or further handling. By doing so, those records that are not tagged can be implicitly identified as not requiring further attention or handling and therefore, the processing of those records can be de-prioritized or postponed while resources are dedicated to processing or the records that do merit additional attention or further handling.

Once the rules and tags have been defined510and515, the one or more rules can be applied520and one or more tags of the plurality of tags can be assigned525to one or more records of the set of records based on the conditions defined in the applied520one or more rules. That is, each record in the set of records can be checked against the conditions defined in the rules and an appropriate tag can be assigned to one or more of the records according to those rules and the record's satisfaction of or failure to satisfy the conditions. Applying520the rules can be performed periodically, on demand, or upon the occurrence of predefined event or the satisfaction of one or more predefined conditions. For example, applying520the rules can be performed as part of a routine process performed each day, week, month, or other period, and/or may be initiated or kicked off upon request by an authorized user of the system such as a manager or supervisor. Other implementations of how and when the rules application520can be initiated are contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure. According to one embodiment, assigning525tags to one or more records can additionally or alternatively comprise receiving an input from a user indicating a selected one or more records and an indication of one or more tags to be applied to the selected records and saving the indicated tags associated with the selected records. Thus, assigning525tags to one or more records can be driven by the applied520rules or can be based on input from a user.

After the rules have been applied520and the records have been tagged525, the one or more tagged records of the set of records can be processed530according to one or more workflows. The one or more workflows can process the records based on the tags assigned or applied525to each record of the set of records and actions defined in the applied520one or more rules associated with conditions satisfied by the one or more records. That is, once records which should be addressed have been locating by applying520the rules and those records have been identified by applying525tags to them to indicate the processing to be performed, etc., one or more predefined workflow processes can be initiated to further process530those marked/tagged records or expedite the processing of those records. Conversely, processing of those records identified as not meriting additional or expedited processing can be de-prioritized or postponed while resources are dedicated to handling of the first set of records.

The workflows can be initiated automatically upon completion of applying525the tags, upon the occurrence of certain conditions, e.g., as defined in one or more rules, at a predetermined or pre-scheduled time, upon request, or in a variety of other ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The workflows can comprise a set of predefined, executable steps directed to correcting the potential problems or anomalies in the records identified by the rules or otherwise facilitating and/or expediting the further processing of those records. The steps defined in each workflow can comprise a set of automatic, machine executed steps and/or steps relying on some degree of human interaction. Executing the workflows can comprise selecting a workflow based on the tags for a record and executing the selected workflow using the information from that record and, in some cases, based on further application of one or more rules related to the tags applied to that record. Thus, the conditions and associated actions defined in the rules can also be applied by the workflow as it executes.

For example, and as noted above, applying520the one or more rules can comprise determining the defined conditions for the data of at least one record provided by the service provider are not satisfied. In such cases, applying525at least one tag to the at least one record can comprise applying a tag that identifies this condition. Processing530the one or more records can then comprise executing steps defined in a workflow related or directed to a handling this condition. In some cases, the workflow can further apply the related rule, i.e., the one applied520and which identified the condition, to perform actions defined therein and directed to further handling of the record.

In some cases, processing530the one or more records according to the one or more workflows can comprises assigning, by the workflow and perhaps based on one or more applied rules, a deadline for performing the actions directed to furthering the processing of the record. This deadline can be assigned, for example, in absolute terms as a particular date and/or time or in relative terms as an amount of time from initiation of the processing or the record. This deadline can be used, for example, to schedule further actions, define performance metrics, trigger the generation of alarms and/or reports on or after the deadline and if processing of the record has not been completed, or in a variety of other ways contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

Additionally, or alternatively, processing530the one or more records according to the one or more workflows can comprises assigning, by the workflow and perhaps based on one or more rules, a priority level to processing of the one or more records. So, for example, the applied rules can identify conditions for processing of the records such as due dates, time since last handling or the record, etc. Based on the conditions or the applied rule(s), the rule(s) can indicate a level, i.e., a severity or significance relative to other records. Similarly, in some cases, records having a same assigned priority level can then be ranked by the workflow based on the one or more rules. This ranking may be based, for example, on the data of the record itself such as a dollar amount due, an amount of time the record has been pending, an expected relative ease or difficulty to resolve the identified anomaly or potential problem, etc. According to one embodiment, assigning the priority level to the processing of the one or more records based on the one or more applied rules can comprise de-prioritizing processing of one or more records satisfying the conditions of the applied rules. De-prioritizing the processing of the one or more records can comprise delaying or postponing the processing of the one or more records, hiding the one or more records from view in a user interface presenting records for processing, or rerouting the record to another collector and/or automated process, etc. Once assigned, these levels and rankings, if any, can be used by the workflow, for example, to schedule processing of the records, assigned due dates, generate reports, etc. Other variations are contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.