Patent Publication Number: US-2011077966-A1

Title: Allergy electronic medical record system and method

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This application relates generally to a method and apparatus for maintaining and presenting patient information, and more specifically to a computerized method and apparatus for associating a patient with antigen information and presenting said information to ensure reliable immunotherapy treatment of the patient. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Conventional immunotherapy treatment involves a patient visiting an allergist in response to experiencing what the patient believes to be an allergic reaction. The patient identifies the suspected antigen to the allergist that the patient suspects of causing the allergic reaction. The patient is then given a series of doses of the suspected antigen at gradually-increasing doses in an attempt to strengthen the patient&#39;s tolerance to the antigen in question. 
     However, notes and records kept in conjunction with immunotherapy treatments have traditionally been hand written, and stored as hard copies. The hard copies require significant storage space in a medical office, and are difficult to backup to safeguard against losses of such hard-copy documents. Further, maintaining and updating hard-copy documents, as well as making the hard-copy documents available to physicians and others at the medical office during appointments with the patients is labor intensive. The hard-copy documents are also limited to containing certain types of information, and are susceptible to pitfalls such as poor penmanship by the author of the hard-copy documents&#39; author(s). 
     Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and system of maintaining information to be used in the performance of immunotherapy treatment of patients. Such a method and system may allow for the inclusion of confirmation information to provide a secondary confirmation of a patient&#39;s identity during immunotherapy treatments, and may employ a computer-readable interface such as a barcode system, for example, to minimize the time required to enter and/or retrieve information into/from the system. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     According to one aspect, the subject application involves a method of managing information related to immunotherapy treatment in a computer system is provided. The computer system includes an input peripheral system for reading a computer-readable code and inputting the computer-readable code into the computer system. An antigen having a predetermined concentration is associated with a master code that is computer readable to at least identify the antigen and the concentration of the antigen associated with the master code. An antigen recipe to be administered to the patient during immunotherapy treatment is associated with an antigen recipe code that is computer readable to identify each antigen included in the antigen recipe that is to be administered to the patient. In response to receiving the master code read by the input peripheral system in communication with the computer system, the antigen and the concentration of the antigen are associated with the antigen recipe code. 
     According to another aspect, the subject application involves a method of managing information related to immunotherapy treatment of a patient in a computer system. The computer system includes an input peripheral system for reading a computer-readable code and inputting the computer-readable code into the computer system. The method includes associating a patient account with a patient code that is computer readable, and receiving the patient code via a portion of the input peripheral system operatively connected to the computer system at an immunotherapy treatment facility. In response to receiving the patient code, a notification indicating arrival of the patient at the immunotherapy treatment facility is transmitted to a remotely-located communication device in communication with the computer system. The notice is presented to alert a technician that the patient is available to receive immunotherapy treatment. In response to receiving the patient code, a picture of the patient is displayed to the technician to allow the technician to confirm an identity of the patient prior to administering the immunotherapy treatment. The method also includes receiving an antigen recipe code read by a portion of the input peripheral system operatively connected to the computer system. The antigen recipe code is associated with an antigen composition administered to the patient during immunotherapy treatment. And the antigen recipe administered during immunotherapy treatment is associated with the patient code. 
     The above summary presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the systems and/or methods discussed herein. This summary is not an extensive overview of the systems and/or methods discussed herein. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of such systems and/or methods. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts, embodiments of which will be described in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows an illustrative embodiment of master vials used to create an antigen composition of various concentrations in patient vials; 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  show illustrative embodiments of a front and back side of a patient ID card; 
         FIG. 3  shows an illustrative embodiment of a computer system for performing an embodiment of a method described herein; 
         FIG. 4  shows an exemplary flow diagram describing a method of managing information relating to immunotherapy treatments described herein; and 
         FIG. 5  shows an exemplary flow diagram describing another method of managing information relating to immunotherapy treatments described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention. Relative language used herein is best understood with reference to the drawings, in which like numerals are used to identify like or similar items. Further, in the drawings, certain features may be shown in somewhat schematic form. 
     It is also to be noted that the phrase “at least one of”, if used herein, followed by a plurality of members herein means one of the members, or a combination of more than one of the members. For example, the phrase “at least one of a first widget and a second widget” means in the present application: the first widget, the second widget, or the first widget and the second widget. Likewise, “at least one of a first widget, a second widget and a third widget” means in the present application: the first widget, the second widget, the third widget, the first widget and the second widget, the first widget and the third widget, the second widget and the third widget, or the first widget and the second widget and the third widget. 
     During allergy immunotherapy treatments, gradually increasing doses of a suspected antigen are subcutaneously administered to a patient, thereby gradually building up the immunity of the patient to the antigen over time. The hope is that routine exposure to gradually increasing antigen concentrations will improve the patient&#39;s immunity to the antigen. 
     To begin immunotherapy, a patient initially visits a medical office in response to experiencing an allergic reaction that the patient believes was triggered by a particular substance to which the patient was exposed. The patient identifies to someone at the medical office the particular substance(s) suspected as having caused the allergic reaction. In response, a physician, physician&#39;s assistant, nurse, or other person at the medical office (collectively referred to herein as a “technician”) will conduct what will be referred to herein as a “vial test” on the patient. The vial test is used to determine whether the suspected antigen is actually the cause of the allergic reaction, and the concentrations of that antigen the patient can tolerate without a severe allergic reaction requiring medical intervention to address. 
     During the vial test, and based on the patient&#39;s description of the severity of the allergic reaction experienced, a suitably low concentration of the antigen is subcutaneously applied to the patient, who is then monitored for a reaction. If the patient exhibits a severe allergic reaction to the concentration administered, it can be determined that a lower concentration is an appropriate initial concentration for future immunotherapy treatments. Similarly, if the patient exhibits a very minor reaction to the antigen administered during the vial test, a greater concentration than that applied during the vial test can be used as the initial concentration of the antigen for purposes of performing future immunotherapy treatments. 
     The vial test can also serve to confirm and eliminate suspected antigens from those believed to have possibly caused the allergic reaction experienced by the patient that led to the visit to the medical office. If a patient exhibits no reaction to a suspected antigen, then it can be eliminated from future consideration during subsequent immunotherapy treatments. Thus, the vial test can be utilized to create what allergists refer to as a recipe that includes one or more antigens, and the respective concentration of each antigen, that are to be combined into an antigen composition that is to be subcutaneously administered to the patient during immunotherapy treatments. The antigen composition based on this recipe is stored at gradually decreasing concentrations in a set of patient vials  14  as shown in  FIG. 1 . A range of antigen composition concentrations are selected for the immunotherapy treatments. For the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  the concentration of the antigen composition in patient vial  14   a  storing concentration number “4” is greater than the concentration of the antigen composition in patient vial  14   b  storing concentration number “5”. Likewise, the concentration of the antigen composition in patient vial  14   b  storing concentration number “5” is greater than the concentration of the antigen composition in patient vial  14   c  storing concentration number “6”, and so on. To clearly describe the invention herein, and for the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , it has been determined to administer the antigen composition beginning at concentration number “7” and then gradually increase the antigen concentration administered during immunotherapy treatments by progressing on to concentration number “6” once the administration of concentration number “7” has been completed. The administration of the antigen at concentration number “7” can be complete when all of the antigen composition in patient vial  14   d  has been used, when the patient has shown a desired tolerance improvement to the antigen concentration at concentration number “7” relative to the patient&#39;s tolerance at the beginning of the administration of concentration number “7”, or as otherwise determined by the technician involved with the immunotherapy treatments. 
     Once the suspected antigen(s) and their respective concentrations have been determined, the patient vials  14  storing the desired range of concentrations of the antigen composition are to be prepared. One embodiment of preparing the patient vials  14  includes extracting each antigen in the recipe to be added to the patient vials  14  from the proper master vials  10  storing that antigens at the desired, predetermined concentration called for by the recipe. The master vials  10  store various different concentrations of antigens purchased from a vendor and kept in stock by the medical facility. The master vials  10  themselves can be filled by placing a known quantity of antigen concentrate obtained from a vendor and diluting the known quantity of antigen concentrate to the predetermined concentration for that particular master vial  10 . Master vials  10  containing lower concentrations can then be filled by extracting the diluted antigen from the first master vial  10  and further diluting the diluted antigen, or by independently filling the next master vial  10  with a known quantity of the antigen concentrate and diluting just as with the previous master vial  10 , but with a greater amount of diluent. 
     Each master vial  10  can be provided with a computer-readable master code, shown as a one-dimensional barcode  12  in  FIG. 1 , which represents information about the diluted antigen contained within that master vial  10 . Although shown in  FIG. 1  and referred to herein as a barcode  12 , the master code can be any type of computer-readable form of data that, when read, allows a computer system to identify data associated with the diluted antigen in the master vial  10  to which the master code is provided. For example, other suitable forms of master codes can include a two-dimensional barcode, RFID tag, magnetic storage medium, wireless transmitter module, or any other suitable code that can be interrogated by a computer system  40  ( FIG. 3 ) to allow the computer system  40  to identify information about the master vial to which it is provided and the contents of that master vial  10 . The information that can be identified by reading the barcode  12  can include any information relating to the diluted antigen stored in the associated master vial  10 , such as the source of the antigen concentrate, lot number, expiration date of the antigen concentrate and/or diluted antigen in the master vial  10 , date of manufacture of the antigen concentrate, identity of the antigen, any other information about the antigen concentrate and/or diluted antigen in the master vials  10 , or any combination thereof. 
     The diluted antigens stored in the master vials  10  can then be used as ingredients in preparing the recipes of several different patients. Each patient is likely to require the administration of a unique antigen recipe that includes a combination of different antigens at different concentrations compared to other patients. Thus, unlike the master vials  10  the patient vials  14  store antigen compositions created from recipes that are specific to the patient. The antigen compositions according to the antigen recipe for each patient are prepared by combining the appropriate amounts of diluted antigens having the desired predetermined concentrations from the master vials  10  in a set of patient vials  14 . According to one embodiment, the most concentrated of the antigen compositions in the range shown in  FIG. 1  to be administered to the patient can be prepared in the patient vial  14   a . A portion of that antigen composition can then be extracted from patient vial  14   a  and placed in the next patient vial  14   b  in the range along with a diluent to achieve the desired antigen composition concentration for the next patient vial  14   b . This process can be repeated by combining a portion of the antigen composition from the patient vial  14   b  and a suitable diluent in the next patient vial  14   c  to achieve the desired concentration for that patient vial  14   c , and so on until the entire range of concentrations has been prepared for the patient. Other embodiments include combining a suitable amount of diluted antigen from the master vial  10  with a suitable amount of diluent for each of the patient vials  14  individually. 
     Each patient vial  14  can also be provided with an antigen recipe code, such as barcode  16  shown in  FIG. 1 . Like the barcode  12  provided as the master code to the master vials  10 , the antigen recipe code represents information about the antigen composition contained within its respective patient vial  14 . Although shown in  FIG. 1  and referred to herein as a barcode  14 , the antigen recipe code can be any type of computer-readable form of data that, when read, allows a computer system  40  to identify data associated with the antigen composition in the patient vial  14  to which the antigen recipe code is provided. For example, other suitable forms of antigen recipe codes can include a two-dimensional barcode, RFID tag, magnetic storage medium, wireless transmitter module, or any other suitable code that can be interrogated by a computer system  40  to allow the computer system  40  to identify information about the patient vial  14  to which it is provided and the contents of that patient vial  14 . The information that can be identified by reading the barcode  16  can include any information relating to the antigen composition stored in the associated patient vial  14 , such as the: 
     master vial  10  from which each diluted antigen was added to the patient vial  14 , 
     preparation date of each master vial  10  from which each diluted antigen was added to the patient vial  14 , 
     the identity of the person who prepared the master vial  10  from which each diluted antigen was added to the patient vial  14 , 
     source of the antigen concentrate in the master vial  14  from which each diluted antigen was added to the patient vial  14 , 
     lot number of the antigen concentrate in the master vial  10  from which each diluted antigen was added to the patient vial  14 , 
     expiration date of the antigen concentrate, diluted antigen and/or antigen composition, 
     date of manufacture of the antigen concentrate in the master vial  10  from which each diluted antigen was added to the patient vial  14 , 
     identity of each antigen in the patient vial  14 , 
     the recipe from which the antigen composition is made, 
     any other information about the antigen concentrate, diluted antigen and/or antigen composition in the patient vials  14 , or 
     any combination thereof. 
     For the embodiments including master and antigen recipe codes in the form of barcodes  12 ,  16 , respectively, the barcodes  12 ,  16  can be printed onto a label by a technician in the medical office using a printer as described below and the labels applied to their respective vials  10 ,  14 . Use of the barcodes  12 ,  16  as the master and antigen recipe codes allows the medical office to create the master and antigen recipe codes locally, without requiring additional hardware that is not commonly found in medical offices. 
       FIG. 2A  illustrates an embodiment of a front side  18  of a patient ID card  20  that can be given to the patient and used to identify the patient when the patient visits the medical office for future immunotherapy treatments. As shown, the front side  18  of the patient&#39;s ID card  20  includes information about the patient such as the patient&#39;s name  22 , the patient&#39;s date of birth,  24 , a photograph  26  of the patient, and a patient code in the form of a barcode  28 . The patient&#39;s ID card  20  can be associated with a user account stored by, or at least accessible by the computer system  40  such as that described below, and barcode  28 , when read by a suitable input peripheral included in an input peripheral system operatively connected to the computer system  40 , allows the computer system  40  to retrieve information specific to the patient. For example, a barcode  28  can represent an account number for the patient account that, when read, returns a main page of a graphical user interface, such as a website for example, of the patient account to provide details of the patient&#39;s treatment. An alphanumeric display  30  of such an account number, patient ID number, etc. . . . represented by the barcode  28  can also optionally be provided to the patient ID card  20  as a safeguard to ensure proper identification of the patient in the event the barcode  28  is damaged. The alphanumeric display  30  is human readable without the assistance of the computer system  40 . 
       FIG. 2B  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a patient code in the form of a magnetic strip  32  provided to a rear side  34  of the patient ID card  20  that can be read by an input peripheral device operatively connected to the computer system  40  enter the patient code into the computer system  40  from the patient ID card  20 . Again, like the master code and the antigen recipe code, the patient code can be embodied in any desired computer-readable form. For example, the patient code can be embodied not only as a barcode  28  or magnetic strip  32 , but also, or instead of, a wireless transmitter module, a RFID tag provided to the patient ID card  20 , or in any other suitable computer-readable form. 
     Alternate embodiments can optionally utilize a magnetic strip provided to an existing form of identification already carried by the patient instead of, or in addition to a dedicated patient ID card  20 . For example, many states require driver licenses to include such a magnetic strip. The patient account can optionally be associated with information that can be read by an input peripheral device from the magnetic strip provided to the existing form of identification. Examples of other types of identification according to such embodiments can include a credit card or any other card bearing a magnetic strip that can store computer-readable information. 
       FIG. 3  shows an illustrative embodiment of a computer system  40  for implementing a method of managing information relating to immunotherapy treatments as described herein. The computer system  40  can be viewed as including an administrative side  42  and a clinical side  44 . The administrative side  42 , or at least a portion thereof, can be disposed at a reception area where patients arriving at the medical office are greeted and await permission to enter a portion of the medical office where immunotherapy treatments are performed. The administrative side  42  and clinical side  44  and not necessarily physically separated from each other, but serve different purposes. The administrative side  42  is primarily concerned with processing patient information, managing financial matters relating to medical treatment of the patient, and gathering and updating patient information in preparation for providing the immunotherapy treatments. 
     In contrast, the clinical side  44  is primarily focused on the actual subcutaneous administration of the instant compositions to the patient and other medical care offered to the patient during a visit. Thus, personnel working on the administrative side  42  will primarily handle clerical matters while the technicians working on the clinical side  44  will primarily handle the provision of medical care and immunotherapy treatments to the patient. 
     The portion of the computer system  40  on the administrative side  42  can include one or more computer terminals  46  operatively connected via a network  48  to other portions of the computer system  40 . The network  48  includes conventional networking hardware and software such as routers, switches, hubs, wireless transmitters, modems, and any other conventional networking equipment for facilitating communication between computer terminals as is known in the art. 
     An input peripheral such as a card reader  50  that can read the barcode  28 , magnetic strip  32 , or any other form of patient code, or combination thereof provided to the patient ID card  20 . The card reader  50  is shown operatively connected to the local computer terminal  46  via a wired communication channel  52  represented by a solid line. However, alternate embodiments of the computer system  40  can optionally include a network card reader  50  operatively connected via a communication channel  54 , indicated by the broken line, to other portions of the computer system  40  via the network  48  instead of, or in addition to the local, hardwired connection. The card reader  50  can optionally be positioned at a location from where it is accessible to patients in a waiting area or entrance of the medical office. Patients can insert their patient ID card  20  into the card reader  50  upon arriving at the medical office. The card reader  50  reads the barcode  28  or other embodiment of the patient code and, in response, transmits a signal indicating the arrival of the patient at the medical office and the patient&#39;s availability to receive immunotherapy treatment. 
     Other embodiments of the peripheral input device such as a RFID tag reader can optionally read the patient code from an RFID tag provided to the patient ID card  20  or otherwise carried by the patient without requiring the patient to take any affirmative actions. For example, an RFID reader can be positioned adjacent to an entrance to the medical office and can wirelessly interrogate the RFID tag provided to the patient ID card  20  as the patient walks through the entrance. According to such embodiments, the transmission range of the RFID tag reader should be short enough to limit the undesirable interrogation of RFID tags carried by patients outside of the entrance area. 
     The administrative side  42  of the computer system  40  can also optionally include a printer  56 . Like the card reader  50 , the printer  56  can be locally connected to the computer terminal  46  via a communication channel  58 , connected to other portions of the computer system  40  (including the computer terminal  46 ) through the network  48  via a communication channel  60  instead of the communication channel  58 , or a combination thereof. The printer  56  can be used by personnel on the administrative side  42 , and optionally the clinical side  44  of the computer system  40  to print the patient ID card  20  including the barcode  28 , and optionally the labels including the master code  12  for the master files  10  and the barcode  16  for the patient vials  14 . 
     The clinical side  44  of the computer system  40  includes at least a barcode scanner  62  or other input peripheral operatively connected to the computer system  40  for reading the particular form of master code and antigen recipe code employed by the medical office. The barcode scanner  62  can be connected locally to a computer terminal  64  provided to the clinical side  44  of the computer system  40  via a communication channel  66 , can be network connected to other portions of the computer system  40  as a shared resource via communication channel  68  represented by the broken line, or a combination thereof. The printer  70  on the clinical side  44  can likewise be locally connected to the computer terminal  64  via communication channel  72 , connected to the computer terminal  64  in other computer system resources via communication channel  74 , or combination thereof. The computer terminal  64  itself can be connected to other computer system resources via the network  48  by communication channel  76 , and can optionally communicate with an optional server  78 , which includes a computer-readable medium as a centralized storage location for the various types of information managed by the methods discussed herein. The server  78  can optionally store portions of content to be served to other devices included in the computer system  40 , such as computer terminals  46 ,  64 , for example to generate the displays discussed herein. The clinical side  44  can also optionally include a portable communication terminal  80  that can communicate with other resources connected to the network  48  via a wireless commute teaching channel  82 . 
     In use, the computer system  40  is operable to perform a method best understood with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . A technician can fill the master files  10  with their respective antigens as needed by creating a record in a database stored by the server  78  for that master vial  10 . The technician can dilute the antigen concentrate down as described above and can generate a label to be applied to the master vial  10 , wherein the label comprises a barcode  12  indicative of the contents, and optionally the source of the contents of that master vial  10 . Thus the antigen having a predetermined concentration within the master vial  10  is associated by the computer system  40  with the master code  12  applied to that master vial  10  at step  100 . The master vials  10  can be filled as needed when their supply dwindles. 
     The results of the vial test lead to the creation of a recipe for a particular patient. The recipe can optionally be stored in electronic format by a computer-readable medium included within the computer system  40 . For such an embodiment, the electronic recipe can be transmitted to the computer terminal  64  where it is to be displayed or otherwise presented at step  105  to a technician for preparation of the patient vials  14 . According to alternate embodiments, presentation of the electronic recipe can be performed by printing the recipe with the printer  70 , e-mailing the recipe to the technician, or simply displaying the recipe on a display device such as that provided to the portable communication terminal  80  or the computer terminal  64 , for example. 
     As the technician selects the master vials  10  having the antigen concentration called for by the recipe to be added to the patient vial  14 , the technician presents to the barcode scanner  62  the barcode  12  on each master vial  10  from which an antigen is to be withdrawn and added to the patient vials  14 . The barcode scanner  62  reads the barcode  12  on the master vial  12  at step  110  and transmits a signal indicative of the antigen associated with that barcode  12  at step  120  to indicate the addition of that antigen to the patient vial  14 . 
     For embodiments where the computer terminal  64  presents the recipe to the technician via the computer terminal  64 , the signal transmitted by the barcode scanner  62  causes the computer system  40  to compare the antigen associated with the scanned barcode  12  with the recipe at step  125  to determine if a proper antigen master vial  10  has been selected by the technician. If so, the computer terminal  64  can provide an audible, visible, or an audible and visible confirmation to the technician that the antigen selected is correct, and the antigen associated with the barcode  12  is associated with the antigen recipe code to be applied to the patient vial  14  at step  140 . For example, the computer terminal  64  can mark the antigen associated with the barcode  12  as having been added to the patient vial  14  by placing a check mark next to that entry of the displayed recipe. The antigen, and optionally the concentration of the antigen and other information relating to the antigen associated with the barcode  12  is to be associated with an antigen recipe code  16  to be provided to the patient vial  14  at step  130 . 
     If it is determined at step  125  that an improper master vial  10  containing an antigen not included in the recipe has been selected by the technician, the computer terminal  64  can optionally present the technician with an audible, visible, or audible and visible notice that the antigen associated with the scanned barcode  12  is not listed in the recipe to be added to the patient vial  14 , or is of an incorrect concentration. Such a situation can occur if the technician inadvertently selects the wrong master vial  10  when intending to select another master vial  10  listed in the recipe. This notice can alert the technician to the situation and possibly prevent the incorrect addition of the wrongly selected antigen before such an error occurs. 
     Once all of the antigens included in the recipe and added to the patient vial  14 , the label including antigen recipe code  16  can be printed using the printer  70  provided to the computer system  40  and applied to the corresponding patient vial  14 . When the patient account is created, the technician or other person associated with the medical office can access a patient&#39;s account and select an option enabling the antigen recipe code  16  to be associated with the patient account, as well as the patient code in the form of the barcode  28 . According to one embodiment, this can be accomplished by scanning the antigen recipe code  16  following selection of the option in the patient account that enables the association of the barcode  16  with the barcode  28 . Thus, when the barcode  28  is subsequently read by the peripheral input device such as card reader  50 , all antigen recipe codes associated with that barcode  28  can be readily accessed via a computer system  40 . Further, subsequent scanning of the antigen recipe code  16  provided to the patient vial  14  causes the computer system  40  to retrieve and present the information relating to the antigen composition disposed of in that patient vial  14 . 
     After the patient account has been updated to include an association with each of the antigen recipe codes on their respective patient vials  14 , the patient having arrived at the medical office can insert the patient ID card  20  into the card reader  50  at step  200  of  FIG. 5 . In response to reading the barcode  28  from the patient ID card  20 , the card reader  50  transmits a signal at step  205  that provides notice of a patient&#39;s arrival at the medical office for immunotherapy treatment. The scanning of the patient ID card  20  by the card reader  50  can optionally replace the formal check-in procedures common to most medical offices. The notice of the patient&#39;s arrival at the medical office can optionally be automatically presented by the computer system  40  locally to a staff member on the administrative side  42 , to a remotely located communication device included on the clinical side  44  such as the computer terminal  64 , the portable communication terminal  80 , or both. 
     The computer system  40  can also check internal records stored electronically on a computer readable medium such as that provided to the server  78 , for example, to determine whether there exists information that should be brought to the patient&#39;s attention. For instance, at step  210  it can be determined whether the patient&#39;s account has an unpaid balance owed to the medical office for a previous visit. If so, the existence of this unpaid balance can be brought to the attention of a staff member on the administrative side  42  to be conveyed to the patient at step  215 . If not, the method can proceed without displaying such notice to the administrative side  42 . 
     Also in response to, or at least subsequent to reading the barcode  28  from the patient ID card  20 , an image of the patient can be displayed to enable confirmation of the identity of the patient at step  220 . For instance, the image of the patient can be a digital photograph stored on the computer-readable memory of the server  78 . The digital photograph can be retrieved and transmitted to be displayed on the computer terminal  64 , the portable communication terminal  80 , or both, to be viewed by the technician that is to administer the antigen during immunotherapy treatment. Thus, two patients with similar names will be unlikely to receive subcutaneous application of the wrong antigen. 
     For example, the patient vials  14  shown in  FIG. 1  list J. Smith as the patient&#39;s name. The first initial J. may stand for John, but it can also stand for Jennifer. Further, there could be two patients, one male and one female, each with the same unisex name. If the image of a patient displayed in response to reading the barcode  28  is that of the male patient but the technician has brought the patient vials  14  for the female patient of the same name, the technician will be able to readily determined that those patient vials  14  are not intended for the male patient simply by looking at the displayed image of the patient. 
     With the patient&#39;s identity confirmed, the technician can scan the barcode  16  using the barcode scanner  62  at step  230  and subcutaneously administer the antigen composition within that patient vial  14  as part of the immunotherapy treatment. In response to reading the barcode  16  from the patient vial  14 , the computer system  40 , at step  240 , associates the antigen composition in the patient vial  14  with the barcode  28 , and adds an entry in the user account indicating the administration of the antigen composition on the date of the immunotherapy treatment. If, at a later date, it is desired to review the immunotherapy treatment history of a particular patient, the barcode  28  can be read by a card reader  50  or the patient code manually entered to retrieve the records detailing previous immunotherapy treatments of the patient at step  250 . The details retrieved can include one or more of: the dates on which each previous immunotherapy treatment was administered, the concentration of the antigen composition administered, the amount of the antigen composition administered, notes describing the reaction exhibited by the patient in response to the subcutaneous administering of the antigen composition, or any other information relevant to the immunotherapy treatment of the patient. 
     Illustrative embodiments have been described, hereinabove. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above devices and methods may incorporate changes and modifications without departing from the general scope of this invention. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.