Abstract:
Ensuring that a user&#39;s demographic data is correct so that billing statements may be sent to a correct address for collecting payment(s) from the user is a challenge many service providers face. Automatic information standardization and verification is provided. When a user&#39;s demographic information is inputted into an information system, address information is standardized into a standard format, a breadth of a verification to perform for the user is determined, and cross-matching the user&#39;s demographic information with information provided by one or more third party data sources is performed. Results may be provided in near real-time so that any inconsistencies may be corrected on the front-end and thus avoid unnecessary operation costs and improving billing and statement delivery.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/547,478 filed Oct. 14, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    In the process of collecting payment from a patient or client, a challenge that a service provider may face is ensuring that the patient or client&#39;s record data is correct so that billing statements may be sent to a correct address. Oftentimes, service providers, such as healthcare providers, receive unopened billing statements that are returned to the service provider because of incorrect patient or client information, such as address information. 
         [0003]    Some service providers may perform an address verification procedure to search a data source, which may be a third party data source, for a patient or client&#39;s address information. If address verification is performed after billing statements are returned to the service provider, the process of researching and identifying correct addresses, reprinting statements, and resending billing statements to the patients or clients may be costly. Additionally, if a service provider performs address verification on the front end before billing statements are sent to patients and clients, searching third party data sources may be expensive and/or time-consuming. 
         [0004]    It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    The above and other problems are solved by providing automatic information standardization and verification. When entering demographic information for a person into an information system, the entered demographic information may be inaccurate either by input error or because of wrong information. Inaccurate demographic information for a person can lead to delivery delays of billing statements, difficulties with bill collection, and unnecessary operational costs. 
         [0006]    Upon receiving entered demographic information for a person, embodiments provide for automatically standardizing received address information into a standard format, determining a breadth of a verification to perform for the person, and cross-matching the user&#39;s demographic information with information provided by one or more third party data sources. Results may be provided in near real-time so that any inconsistencies may be corrected on the front-end and thus avoiding unnecessary operation costs and improving billing and statement delivery. 
         [0007]    The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that the following detailed description is explanatory only and is not restrictive of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a simplified block diagram of a high-level system architecture with which embodiments of the invention may be implemented. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of information standardization and verification. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a simplified block diagram of a system including a computing device with which embodiments of the invention may be practiced. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0011]    As briefly described above, embodiments of the present invention provide automatic information standardization and verification. Embodiments include an integrated and intelligent verification service for providing an automatic standardization of a person&#39;s address information, determining a level of verification needed to validate a person&#39;s demographic data, and cross-matching the person&#39;s demographic data with information received from one or more third party data sources. 
         [0012]    Although embodiments of the present invention are described below with particular reference to a healthcare provider information system, embodiments may be implemented in any information system wherein demographic data may be received and verified with one or more third party data sources. 
         [0013]    These embodiments may be combined, other embodiments may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several figures, embodiments of the present invention and an exemplary operating environment will be described. 
         [0014]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a simplified block diagram of a high-level system architecture  100  with which embodiments of the invention may be implemented is shown. As illustrated, demographic data  105  may be inputted into an information system  110 . According to embodiments, an information system  110  may be associated with various types of service providers, businesses, institutions, etc. An information system  110  may include a database operable to receive and store data (including demographic data  105 ) associated with a recipient of goods, services, education, etc., (e.g., a patient, client, student, etc.) herein referred to as a “user”  130 . For example, an information system  110  may be a healthcare provider patient database. 
         [0015]    Details of a user  130  may be entered by the user  130  or by administrative personnel into an information system  110 . The details of the user  130  may include demographic data  105  such as, but not limited to, the user&#39;s name, address, phone number(s), social security number, date of birth, gender, marital status, emergency contact information, employment status and details, student status and details, insurance information, guarantor information, etc. According to embodiments, demographic data  105  may be utilized for various purposes, which may include identification of a user  130 , determination of an address to which to mail billing statements  115 , verification of a user&#39;s eligibility for services, benefits, etc., and/or for categorization of a user. 
         [0016]    As described briefly above, discrepancies of demographic data  105 , for example, an incorrect or incomplete address either provided by a user  130  or incorrectly entered by administrative personnel, may lead to unnecessary operational costs due to such factors as billing statement  115  delivery delays, difficulties with bill collection, etc. According to embodiments, an information standardization and verification (ISV) engine  120  may be provided for standardizing user demographic data  105  and cross-matching the standardized user demographic data  105  with user  130  data provided by one or more third party data sources  125 . The one or more third party data sources  125  may include, but are not limited to, utility billing records, phone company listings, credit bureaus, the United States Social Security Administration&#39;s death master file, United States Postal Service® change of address records, state drivers license databases; magazine subscription records, moving company records, mobile phone application information, rental agreements, rental applications, etc. The user  130  data provided by the one or more third party data sources  125  may be received by the ISV engine  120  and compared with demographic data  105  in the information system  110 . According to embodiments, standardization and verification of demographic data  105  may be performed in real time or essentially in real time as a user&#39;s  130  demographic data  105  is received by an information system  110 . For example, a user  130  may fill out a registration form at a healthcare provider office. While the user  130  is waiting for his appointment, an administrative person may enter the user&#39;s  130  demographic data  105  into an information system  110 . The demographic data  105  may be received by an ISV engine  120  and compared with user  130  data provided by the one or more third party data sources  125 . If any discrepancies are discovered, an alert may be provided. Accordingly, the healthcare provider may be alerted to incorrect demographic data  105  while the user  130  is still present, allowing the healthcare provider to approach the user  130  and correct any errant demographic data  105 . 
         [0017]    According to embodiments, automated address standardization may be provided. The ISV engine  120  may be operable to standardize a user&#39;s address by using United States Postal Office® standards. Standardized address information has been jointly developed by the Postal Service and the mailing industry to enhance the processing and delivery of mail in an effort to reduce undeliverable-as-addressed mail. An example of a United States Postal Office® standard includes a requirement for all letters in a postal address to be capitalized. As another example, oftentimes street suffix names (e.g., avenue) are provided using commonly used street suffixes or abbreviations (e.g., AV, AVEN, AVENUE, etc.). The United States Postal Office® recommends using official Postal Service standard suffix abbreviations (e.g., AVE). Standardizing users&#39;  130  address information according to United States Postal Office® standards may help increase deliverability time, increase a percentage of successful billing statement  115  deliveries, and may aid in cross-matching address information with address information provided by one or more third party data sources  125 . 
         [0018]    According to an embodiment, the ISV engine  120  may be operable to determine a breadth of a verification search for a given user  130 . Some third party data sources  125  may provide information for free or for a minimal charge, while other third party data sources  125  may be charge more. It may not make financial sense for a service provider, business, or institution to conduct a full verification using a large number of third party data sources  125 , especially expensive third party data sources  125 , for all users  130 . Embodiments provide for determining a risk level associated with a user  130 , and performing a verification search based on the determined risk level. The risk level may be determined based on a probability that the received demographic data  105  may be inaccurate (e.g., information and/or identifications provided by the user  105  have inconsistent information) and/or a value associated with an unpaid bill (non-payment by user  130 ) (e.g., is the user responsible for the full bill or is a payor, such as an insurance company, responsible for a portion of the bill; what is the cost/value of services; etc.) For example, in a healthcare environment, a determination may be made that a risk level for an uninsured patient (user  130 ) with a condition requiring a costly treatment may be higher than that of an insured patient (user  130 ) with various forms of matching identification. Accordingly, a determination may be made that a more in-depth verification may be warranted for the higher risk patient while alternatively, a determination may be made that an exhaustive verification may not be warranted for the lower risk patient. For example, a determination may be made that only an undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) address verification may need to be performed for the lower risk patient. Various factors may be considered for determining a risk level which may include, but is not limited to, a type of service to be provided, the type and amount of information  105  provided by a user  130 , whether information  105  provided by a user  130  is consistent, if in a healthcare environment, whether a user  130  is insured, etc. 
         [0019]    Having described a system architecture  100 ,  FIG. 2  is a process flow diagram illustrating a method  200  of providing information standardization and verification according to an embodiment. Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the method  200  starts at OPERATION  205  and proceeds to OPERATION  210  where user demographic data  105  is received. User demographic data  105  may be inputted into an information system  110  and may include information such as, but not limited to, the user&#39;s name, address, phone number(s), social security number, date of birth, gender, marital status, emergency contact information, employment status and details, student status and details, insurance information, guarantor information, etc. 
         [0020]    The method  200  proceeds to OPERATION  215  where address information is standardized. According to embodiments and as described above, address information may be standardized according to United States Postal Service® standards. For example, if a user&#39;s address is “100 Main Street” and the address is input into an information system  110  as “100 main street,” the address information may be standardized into a format such as, “100 MAIN ST”. 
         [0021]    The method  200  proceeds to OPERATION  220 , where a risk level associated with a user  130  is determined. The risk level may be determined according to various factors which may include, but is not limited to, a type of service or goods the user  130  is seeking to be provided, the type and/or amount of information  105  provided by the user  130 , whether information  105  provided by a user  130  is consistent, if in a healthcare environment, whether a user  130  is insured, etc. Based on the risk level determined for a user  130 , a determination may be made as to the breadth of verification to perform. For example, a more extensive verification utilizing a number of third party data sources  125  may be performed for a higher-risk user  130  than for a lower-risk user  130 . 
         [0022]    At OPERATION  225 , one or more third party data sources  125  may be searched for consistencies/inconsistencies of user demographic data  105 . The number of and types of third party data sources  125  to be searched may be determined according to the risk level determined at OPERATION  220 . According to an embodiment, an address verification may be performed for determining if a standardized address may be undeliverable as addressed (UAA). For example, a determination may be made that a “100 MAIN ST” in the city, state, and zip code provided does not exist. If an address is determined to be UAA, a determination may be made to perform further verification checks with other third party data sources  125 . The address verification for determining if a standardized address may be UAA may be performed at OPERATION  220  as illustrated, or alternatively, according to another embodiment, may be performed prior to determining a risk level associated with a user  130 . Further verification checks with other third party data sources  125  may include searching for such information as previous and current addresses, published phone number(s), a social security number, date of birth, etc. 
         [0023]    The method  200  proceeds to OPERATION  230  where the information from the one or more third party data sources  125  may be received as data elements. At OPERATION  235 , the received information may be compared with the user&#39;s  130  demographic data  105 . The comparison may include finding consistencies and inconsistencies in data elements, determining how recent a data element is, from what data source  125  a data element is received, and associated a confidence level with data elements to determine a most-likely accurate demographic data element. 
         [0024]    At OPERATION  240 , a response is provided. The response may be provided to the user  130 , for example, if the user is entering his demographic data  105  into a kiosk in a registration/check-in process. If the user&#39;s address is determined to be UAA or if the social security number he entered matches a social security number of a deceased person, the user  130  may be prompted to correct the information before he can proceeds with the registration/check-in process. If an administrative person is entering a user&#39;s demographic data  105 , an alert may be provided to the administrative person that there are discrepancies in the entered information. The administrative person may be able to verify that the user&#39;s  130  demographic data  105  was entered correctly or if the user  130  gave incorrect information. When discrepancies exist, return results may be provided and may include confidence levels associated with the return results. The user  130  or administrative person may be able to select correct demographic data  105  from the provided return results. The method ends at OPERATION  295 . 
         [0025]    Embodiments of the invention may be implemented via local and remote computing and data storage systems. That is, each of the systems and devices illustrated in  FIG. 1  may be implemented as one or more local or remote memory storage and processing units. Such memory storage and processing units may be implemented in a computing device, such as computing device  300  of  FIG. 3 . Any suitable combination of hardware, software, or firmware may be used to implement the memory storage and processing unit. For example, the memory storage and processing unit may be implemented with computing device  300  or any other computing devices  318 , in combination with computing device  300 , wherein functionality may be brought together over a network in a distributed computing environment, for example, an intranet or the Internet, to perform the functions as described herein. Such systems, devices, and processors (as described herein) are examples and other systems, devices, and processors may comprise the aforementioned memory storage and processing unit, consistent with embodiments of the invention. 
         [0026]    With reference to  FIG. 3 , a system consistent with embodiments of the invention may include one or more computing devices, such as computing device  300 . The computing device  300  may include at least one processing unit  302  and a system memory  304 . The system memory  304  may comprise, but is not limited to, volatile (e.g. random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile (e.g. read-only memory (ROM)), flash memory, or any combination. System memory  304  may include operating system  305 , one or more programming modules  306 , and may include an information standardization and verification (ISV) engine  120 , wherein the ISV engine  120  has sufficient computer-executable instructions, which when executed, performs functionalities as described herein. Operating system  305 , for example, may be suitable for controlling computing device  300 ′s operation. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may be practiced in conjunction with a graphics library, other operating systems, or any other application program and is not limited to any particular application or system. This basic configuration is illustrated in  FIG. 3  by those components within a dashed line  308 . Computing device  300  may also include one or more input device(s)  312  (keyboard, mouse, pen, touch input device, etc.) and one or more output device(s)  314  (e.g., display, speakers, a printer, etc.). 
         [0027]    Although embodiments of the present invention have been described as being associated with data stored in memory and other storage mediums, data can also be stored on or read from other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or a CD-ROM, a carrier wave from the Internet, or other forms of RAM or ROM. Further, the disclosed methods&#39; stages may be modified in any manner, including by reordering stages and/or inserting or deleting stages, without departing from the invention. 
         [0028]    The computing device  300  may also include additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG. 3  by a removable storage  309  and a non-removable storage  310 . Computing device  300  may also contain a communication connection  316  that may allow device  300  to communicate with other computing devices  318 , such as over a network in a distributed computing environment, for example, an intranet or the Internet. Communication connection  316  is one example of communication media. 
         [0029]    Program modules, such as the ISV engine  120 , may include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that may perform particular tasks or that may implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, embodiments of the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable user electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
         [0030]    Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may be practiced in an electrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing a microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced using other technologies capable of performing logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including but not limited to mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. In addition, embodiments of the invention may be practiced within a general purpose computer or in any other circuits or systems. 
         [0031]    Embodiments of the invention, for example, may be implemented as a computer process (method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readable media. The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). In other words, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. A computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0032]    Embodiments of the present invention, for example, are described above with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. For example, each of the  FIGS. 1-3  and the described functions taking place with respect to each illustration may be considered steps in a process routine performed by one or more local or distributed computing systems. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. 
         [0033]    While the specification includes examples, the invention&#39;s scope is indicated by the following claims. Furthermore, while the specification has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, the claims are not limited to the features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example for embodiments of the invention. 
         [0034]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or variations may be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. 
         [0035]    All rights including copyrights in the code included herein are vested in and the property of the Applicant. The Applicant retains and reserves all rights in the code included herein, and grants permission to reproduce the material only in connection with reproduction of the granted patent and for no other purpose.