Abstract:
This invention is a method and a system for accessing medical records of an injured party by an emergency responder through a secure website, utilizing a portable emergency access card provided with at least one item of information of the victim, while offering safeguards for the confidentiality of the victim&#39;s information and records.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to medical record accessing systems, and more particularly to a method and a system for accessing medical records of a user by an emergency responder through a secure website utilizing a portable emergency access card provided with at least one information of the user. 
     DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
     In medical emergencies it is not uncommon for a victim to be incapacitated to the point that they are unable to communicate, due to unconsciousness, with medical first responders. Of immediate concern to emergency medical responders is whether a patient or victim has any pre-existing conditions, allergies, or reactions to medical treatment that may be required. 
     Numerous doctors have recommended that individuals carry a digital smart card, flash memory stick or some other device which carries all their medical information. These devices could be carried on the person at all times, either in their wallet, pocket or in a purse. However, the drawback to this solution lies in losing these devices either through theft or misplacement, and then all the personal health information or data for that person goes with it. The data may not necessarily be lost, since there is most likely a backup at the source of the data, however with the loss of a device there is a loss of personal privacy. There are other situations, where the devices require the user to enter a password or login code to view the information. While this is an important step in security, when the patient is incapacitated, then the device is rendered useless, since access to the information on the device would be denied. 
     A solution is required which allows critical information to be made available to early responders in an emergency. Many responders now have internet access through cell phones or mobile devices which facilitates a solution to the problem of accessing information that might not be carried on the victim of the emergency. Our solution capitalizes on the technologies available as well as the typical habits of individuals in how they carry important items on their person such as cash, ID cards, personal care products, etc. Only by understanding these behaviors can a reasonable solution be designed that ensures effective outcomes in the event of an emergency. Therefore, there is a need for a method and a system for accessing medical records of a user by an emergency responder through a secure site, such as a website, having a private area and an emergency access area wherein the information stored in the private area can be copied into the emergency access area through an emergency access manager module. Further, such a system would include a wallet-sized portable emergency access card that is created by triggering an automatic access number generator which provides at least one information that allows the user and/or emergency responder to access the emergency access area on the website. Such an emergency access card would be printed and easily carried by the user so as to facilitate access to the emergency access area by the emergency responder. Moreover, such a system would include more options for the emergency responder to access the emergency access area using the information printed on the emergency access card. The present invention accomplishes these objectives. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a method and a system for retrieving medical records of at least one user by an emergency responder through a secure website. The secure site, such as a website, comprises a private area having at least one information and the medical records, which are a collection of medical information, data, images or drawings of the at least one user. The site can be accessed by entering a username and a password. The private area further includes an emergency access manager module rendered with an emergency access card and a button-activated interface. The at least one information and the medical records are available at the user&#39;s discretion through an emergency access manager module, that may facilitate the at least one user to copy the at least one information from the private area into an emergency access area that may be “read only”. The at least one information may be security information such as a website with a unique code or number, photograph, voice, biometric identifier or other personal details of the at least one user. 
     The user can register into the secure website by entering at least one information and log in to the website by entering a username and a password. The emergency access manager module facilitates the user to upload and store at least one information to the private area through the emergency access manager module. The user can choose at least one protocol and at least one platform to deliver the at least one information to the emergency access area through the emergency access manager module. The at least one protocol may be selected from a group consisting of MMS, SMS and email. The at least one platform may be selected from a group consisting of website (HTML), PDF report and voice recording. 
     The button activated interface may be activated by a mouse-click for triggering the automatic access number generator to compute a random number, unique bar code, or a unique image of the at least one user which displays another web page that contains a wallet-sized image of the emergency access card. The emergency access card provides at least one information that allows the user to access the emergency access area. The card can be printed and carried by the user so as to facilitate access to the emergency access area by the emergency responder. 
     Initially, the emergency responder may search for the emergency access card that includes the at least one information and the medical records to access the emergency access area. The emergency access area can be accessed by entering the at least one information through at least one mode of operation. The at least one mode of operation may be entering into a secure website with a unique code or number indicated on the emergency access card utilizing a mobile device of the emergency responder. 
     The at least one mode of operation may be taking at least one photograph of a bar code and/or unique identifier suggested on the emergency access card with a camera phone and sending the photograph using at least one protocol and at least one platform to an electronic address or number indicated on the emergency card. The at least one mode of operation may be taking a photograph of any number of cards such as insurance card, driver&#39;s license, PAN card or other identification mentioned on the emergency access card and sending the photograph using at least one protocol and at least one platform to an electronic address or number indicated on the emergency card. The at least one mode of operation may also be using a biometric identifier, such as fingerprints, retinal scans or tattoos, indicated on the emergency access card to access the emergency access area. The at least one information may be sent to a server through the at least one mode of operation, wherein the server includes a recognition program that deciphers the at least one information and matches it to the emergency access area. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more complete appreciation of the invention will be readily obtained by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a high level flow diagram of the management functionality of the emergency access area and codes according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of the general access to the emergency access area according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings, a preferred embodiment illustrates a method and a system for retrieving medical records of at least one user by an emergency responder (not shown) through a secure site  100  and generally indicated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The secure site  100  comprises a private area  110  having at least one information and medical records, which is a collection of medical information, data, images and/or drawings of the at least one user. The site  100  can be accessed by entering a username and a password. The private area  110  further includes an emergency access manager module  120  rendered with an emergency access card  150  and a button-activated interface  130 . 
     The at least one information and the medical records are available at the user&#39;s discretion through an emergency access manager module  120 , that may facilitate the at least one user to copy the at least one information from the private area  110  into an emergency access area  160  that may be “read only”. The at least one information may be security information such as a website with a unique code or number, photograph, voice, biometric identifier or other personal details of the at least one user. The user can register into the secure website  100  by entering at least one information and log in to the website  100  by entering a username and a password. 
     The emergency access manager module  120  facilitates the user to upload and store at least one information to the private area  110  through the emergency access module  120 . The user can choose at least one protocol and at least one platform to deliver the at least one information to the emergency access area  160  through the emergency access manager module  120 . The at least one protocol may include multimedia messaging service (MMS), short message service (SMS), and email. The at least one platform may be include website (HTML), PDF report and voice recording. 
     The button-activated interface  130  may be activated by a mouse-click for triggering the automatic access number generator  140  to compute a random number, unique bar code, or a unique image of the at least one user which displays another web page or a PDF file that contains a wallet-sized image of the emergency access card  150 . The emergency access card  150  provides at least one information that allows the user to access the emergency access area  160 . The card  150  can be printed and carried by the user so as to allow the emergency responder (not shown) to gain access to the emergency access area  160 . The emergency access card  150  provides instructions to the user on how to access the emergency access area  160  or repository of the medical information by providing the required at least one information that was created through the emergency access manager module  120 . The at least one information may be available as is or with modification, for example a social security number may be truncated to show only the last 4 digits, or an address may be reduced to only a zip code. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a flow diagram of access to the emergency access area  160  of the at least one user by an emergency responder  200 . Initially, the emergency responder  200  may search for the emergency access card  150  that includes the at least one information to access the emergency access area  160 . The emergency access area  160  can be accessed by entering the at least one information through at least one mode of operation. The at least one mode of operation  210  may be entering into the secure website  100  with a unique code or number indicated on the emergency access card  150  utilizing a mobile device of the emergency responder  200 . The code may be sent to a server that includes a recognition program  260  that deciphers the code and matches it to the emergency access area  160 . 
     The at least one mode of operation ( 220  or  230 ) may be taking one or more photographs of a bar code and/or unique identifier, and/or any number of cards such as insurance card, driver&#39;s license, PAN card, etc., mentioned on the emergency access card  150 , with a camera phone and sending the photograph using at least one protocol and at least one platform, as previously described, to an electronic address or number indicated on the emergency access card  150 . The photograph(s) may sent to the server that includes a recognition program  260  that deciphers unique numbers or bar codes from the photographs and matches these numbers to the emergency access area  160  that contains the authorized information. 
     As a further variation  240 , the server may request a second form of identification, which may be a photograph of a biometric identifier such as fingerprints, retinal scans or tattoos  250 , as indicated on the emergency access card  150 , to access the emergency access area  160 . In this variation, the server will include a recognition program that can recognize and identify such biometric identifiers. 
     The present invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of, any element of the various parts or features of the invention, and their equivalents as described herein. Further, the present invention illustratively disclosed herein may be practiced in the absence of any element, whether or not specifically disclosed herein. Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. 
     Plainly, this invention is applicable to the access of private medical records. While this invention was conceived to address pressing needs in the medical field, it can be seen that it is readily adaptable to other arenas in which entities require limited or full access to any such online record, application, document or image. Thus, while the descriptions herein have focused on medical applications, they can all be seen to have their analogs in other applications and fields of endeavor.