Patent Publication Number: US-2013231958-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for providing personal health record information

Description:
PRIORITY 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to an application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Mar. 5, 2012 and assigned Serial No. 10-2012-0022367, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a healthcare technology, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing Personal Health 
     Record (PHR) information in which PHR can be managed and provided in a user-oriented (i.e., patient) manner. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Recently, domestically and globally, the aging population and the social cost for senior healthcare are increasing. Additionally, personal and national expenditures for adult obese patient care or chronic disease management are also high. As the interest in personal health increases, individuals spend increasingly more money on personal health. Due to the national financial pressure corresponding to the medical and healthcare costs, the medical service is changing from a treatment-oriented service to a prevention/diagnosis-oriented service. 
     Currently, as part of hospital computerization, information about a clinical history, diagnoses, and treatment details of a patient is converted into an electronic document, as Personal Health Record information (PHR), to be stored and managed. The PHR has been used for various healthcare services. The PHR has been promoted as part of hospital computerization, and is used for medical treatment in hospitals, and the hospitals are now in charge of generation and management of the PHR. 
     However, each medical institution generates and manages PHR separately, and when a patient receives medical treatment in multiple medical institutions, the patient&#39;s personal medical record is distributed over the multiple medical institutions. Therefore, in order to read a patient&#39;s medical records, the patient has to request each medical institution to collect the medical record. If the patient has received medical treatment for the same symptom in different medical institutions, treatment results of the previous medical institution may be difficult to use or refer to. In addition, a medical record is generated in each medical institution, but the medical record is made using information of an individual patient, and management of the individual patient information is also required. However, as each medical institution manages the individual patient, it may arbitrarily share personal medical records with other medial institutions, resulting in an invasion of privacy and inadvertent release of private information. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and to provide at least the advantages below. According to an aspect of the present invention Personal Health Record (PHR) information method and apparatus is provided, in which PHR can be managed and provided in a patient-oriented manner. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing Personal Health Record Information (PHR) in a terminal which stores and manages Virtual Personal Healthcare Record Information (VHR), by receiving a request for a PHR list from a healthcare terminal of a manager, managing a user&#39;s health, providing the PHR list to the healthcare terminal, receiving a request for at least one PHR included in the PHR list from the healthcare terminal and performing authentication such that the healthcare terminal is provided with the at least one PHR. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for a healthcare terminal of a manager, managing user&#39;s health to be provided with Personal Health Record Information (PHR), by transmitting a request for a PHR list to a terminal which stores and manages Virtual Personal Healthcare Record Information (VHR), receiving the PHR list from the terminal, transmitting a request for at least one PHR included in the PHR list to the terminal, performing authentication with the terminal such that the healthcare terminal is provided with the at least one PHR; and obtaining the at least one PHR from a device which stores and manages PHR. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing Personal Health Record Information (PHR), the apparatus comprising a Virtual Personal Healthcare Record Information (VHR) management unit for storing and managing VHR, a PHR providing management unit for providing a PHR list to a healthcare terminal of a manager, managing a user&#39;s health; and an authentication management unit for performing authentication such that the healthcare terminal is provided with the at least one PHR stored inside or outside the healthcare terminal. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a healthcare terminal of a manager, managing a user&#39;s health, the healthcare terminal comprising a Personal Healthcare Record Information (PHR) selector for selecting at least one PHR to be read by the manager from a PHR list provided from a terminal which stores and manages Virtual Personal Healthcare Record Information (VHR), and a PHR reading processor for checking the at least one PHR by using information received through authentication with the terminal. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a system for providing Personal Health Record information (PHR), according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a patient terminal, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a healthcare terminal, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a signal flow diagram illustrating a method for providing PHR, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a PHR list request message used in a method for providing PHR, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a message for sending an authentication certificate, used in a method for providing PHR, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating step  402  for checking PHR in  FIG. 4 , according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating a process of controlling generation of PHR in a method for providing PHR, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a message for requesting generation of a PHR used in a method for providing PHR, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, specific details such as detailed configuration and components are merely provided to assist the overall understanding of the present invention. Further, detailed description of known functions and configurations are omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a system  10 , which is a system for providing Personal Health Record information (PHR) which performs a method for providing PHR, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the PHR providing system  10  includes a patient terminal  11 , a healthcare terminal  13 , and individual PHR management servers  15 - 1 ,  15 - 2 ,  15 - 3 , . . . ,  15 - n  (collectively referred to as an individual PHR management server  15 ). 
     The PHR providing system  10  provides PHR provided by the individual PHR management server  15  to the healthcare terminal  13  through the patient terminal  11 . The patient terminal  11  is a terminal used by a user which PHR concerns, the healthcare terminal  13  is a terminal used by a manager (i.e., a doctor), managing health of the user (e.g., a patient) of the patient terminal  11 , and the individual PHR management server  15  is a server for receiving overall health information of the user, such as a server used by a medical institution like a pharmacy or a hospital, a server used in a fitness center like a health club for managing exercise of the user (e.g., the patient) of the patient terminal  11 , or a server used in an insurance company for managing insurance clauses or insurance application details of the user (e.g., the patient) of the patient terminal  11 . Thus, the individual PHR management servers  15 - 1 ,  15 - 2 ,  15 - 3 , . . . ,  15 - n  are separately provided in a medical institution, a fitness center, an insurance company, and so forth, such that they receives and store PHR of the user (e.g., the patient). 
     The PHR stored in the individual PHR management servers  15 - 1 ,  15 - 2 ,  15 - 3 , . . . ,  15 - n  includes an identifier, owner information, generation/update time and date information, management agency information, an access authority class, detailed information of the PHR, and storage location information. More specifically, the identifier of the PHR may be a PHR ID, the owner information may be information such as a user name, a user ID, or the like, the generation/update time and date information may be information such as time and date on which the PHR is generated/updated, the number of times the PHR is updated, or the like, and the management agency information may be information such as name, contact number, location, information of a person in charge, a medical treatment purpose, or the like. The access authority class is a class of access to the individual PHR management server  15  and include information such as disclosure to an owner, disclosure to a healthcare manager (a doctor, etc.), disclosure to all, disclosure to a particular authorizer, etc. The storage location information may be information such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the individual PHR management server  15  in which the PHR is stored. 
     The PHR providing system  10  includes the individual PHR management server  15 , and the PHR is provided through the individual PHR management server  15 . However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Alternatively, for example, the PHR providing system  10  may further include an integrated PHR management server  17  for collecting PHR of the user (e.g., the patient) from the individual PHR management servers  15 - 1 ,  15 - 2 ,  15 - 3 , . . . ,  15 - n  separately provided in the medical institution, the fitness center, the insurance company, etc., and managing the PHR in an integrated manner. Thus, the integrated PHR management server  17  provides the PHR integrated for the user (e.g., the patient) to the patient terminal  11  or the healthcare terminal  13 , and provides the PHR integrated for the user (e.g., the patient) through a web page or the like. 
     The patient terminal  11  manages authentication required to process management of Virtual Personal Healthcare Record information (VHR), management of a PHR list, and provisioning of PHR. 
     When the individual PHR management servers  15 - 1 ,  15 - 2 ,  15 - 3 , . . . ,  15 - n  store/update PHR, they provide index information of PHR to the patient terminal  11  through authentication of the patient terminal  11 . Thus, the patient terminal  11  generates and manages the VHR including the index information of the respective PHR in a metadata format. Herein, the index information includes some information of the PHR, that is, the PHR identifier, the owner information, the generation/update time and date, the management agency information, the access authority class, the storage location information. The index information may further include authentication information which includes access authority class information and access authority authentication information. The authority authentication information includes information required for authentication used for the patient terminal  11  and the individual PHR management server  15  to provide PHR. The authority authentication information may be shared through prior authentication between the patient terminal  11  and the individual PHR management server  15 , and may use, for example, an X.509 authentication certificate. The authentication certificate may be issued by the individual PHR management server  15  or issued from a separate authentication center which manages the authentication certificate and shared between the patient terminal  11  and the individual PHR management server  15 . The authentication certificate includes authentication key owner information, an authentication certificate identification number, an authentication certificate version, a signature algorithm, an authentication authority, and so forth. 
     The VHR further includes attribute information of the PHR, and the attribute information includes PHR type information indicating a type of the PHR and data format information indicating a data format of the PHR. The type information indicates a type of the PHR and may be information for distinguishing a hospital, a drugstore, a fitness center, an insurance company, and so forth. Since even the same PHR may be in different data formats provided by management agencies, the data format information is information indicating the data format of PHR to identify the data format. 
     The patient terminal  11 , upon receiving a request for PHR provisioning from the healthcare terminal  13 , manages authentication corresponding to the healthcare terminal  13 . More specifically, based on the access authority class information, the patient terminal  11  determines whether the healthcare terminal  13  is of a class which can be provided with PHR. If the healthcare terminal  13  is of a class which can be provided with PHR, then the healthcare terminal  13  temporarily issues an authentication certificate necessary for obtaining PHR, and provides the authentication certificate to the healthcare terminal  13 . 
     The healthcare terminal  13  provides the PHR list to a manager (e.g., a doctor), managing patient&#39;s health, that is, a user who uses the healthcare terminal  13 . The healthcare terminal  13  receives a selection of at least one PHR which may be helpful for making a diagnosis to the patient by referring to a name of PHR included in the PHR list and information about a PHR generation agency from the manager. The healthcare terminal  13  obtains the PHR from the individual PHR management servers  15 - 1 ,  15 - 2 ,  15 - 3 , . . . ,  15 - n  by using information necessary for obtaining PHR from the patient terminal  11  (e.g., a temporary authentication certificate, a Personal Identification Number (PIN) code, etc.). 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the patient terminal  11  according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the patient terminal  11  includes a VHR management unit  201 , a VHR database (DB)  202 , a PHR providing management unit  203 , and an authentication management unit  205 . 
     The VHR management unit  201  performs a function of storing and managing VHR, such that the VHR management unit  201  generates VHR including index information of PHR received from the individual PHR management server  15 , and stores and mages the VHR in the VHR DB  202 . 
     The PHR providing management unit  203 , upon receiving a request for a PHR list from the healthcare terminal  13 , checks the VHR stored in the VHR DB  202 , generates a PHR list included in the VHR, and provides the PHR list to the healthcare terminal  13 . The PHR list includes a name of PHR and information about a PHR generation agency. 
     The authentication management unit  205  performs authentication used in the PHR providing system  10 , and processes authentication required to transmit a request for generation of PHR to the individual PHR management server  15  and authentication required for the healthcare terminal  13  to be provided with PHR. More specifically, the authentication management unit  205 , when transmitting a request for generation of PHR to the individual PHR management server  15 , transmits user information (patient&#39;s ID, etc.) and authentication information (PIN code, etc.) to the individual PHR management server  15  to process authentication corresponding to the request. In order for the healthcare terminal  13  to provide PHR, authentication of whether the healthcare terminal  13  requesting PHR provisioning has access authority is performed based on an access authority class included in the VHR, and the healthcare terminal  13  temporarily issues and provides an authentication certificate required for the healthcare terminal  13  to be provided with the PHR. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating the healthcare terminal  13  according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the healthcare terminal  13  includes a PHR selector  301 , a PHR reading processor  303 , and a PHR updater  305 . 
     In order to be provided with PHR, the PHR selector  301  transmits a request for a PHR list owned by the patient terminal  11  to the patient terminal  11  and receives the PHR list from the patient terminal  11 , and provides the received PHR list to a manager (doctor, etc.) of the healthcare terminal  13 , such that the PHR selector  301  receives a selection of PHR required for medical treatment of the patient from the manager (doctor, etc.). 
     The PHR reading processor  303  transmits a request for an identifier of the selected PHR, information about a location in which the selected PHR is stored, and authentication information required for providing the selected PHR to the patient terminal  11  and receives them from the patient terminal  11 . Thus, the PHR reading processor  303  transmits the authentication information together with the identifier of the selected PHR to the individual PHR management server  15  based on the information about the location in which the selected PHR is stored, and obtains the selected PHR. The PHR reading processor  303  provides the provided selected PHR to the manager. 
     The PHR updater  305 , upon receiving new PHR detailed information from the manager, transmits the received PHR detailed information to the individual PHR management server  15  to update corresponding PHR. The PHR updater  305  may newly generate and store PHR including the received PHR detailed information. To this end, the healthcare terminal  13  may further include a PHR management unit  307  and a PHR DB  308 . When PHR is newly generated, the PHR updater  305  may transmit a request for generation of PHR to the PHR management unit  307 . In response to the request, the PHR management unit  307  generates PHR including the received PHR detailed information, stores the generated PHR in the PHR DB  308 , and provides index information about the generated PHR to the patient terminal  11 . 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the PHR updater  305  of the healthcare terminal  13  receives input of updated PHR for the user who uses the healthcare terminal  13  from the manager (e.g., a doctor), managing health of the patient terminal  11 . The PHR updater  305  updates PHR according to the input of the manager. The healthcare terminal  13  transmits a request for update of PHR in the patient terminal  11  or the individual PHR management server  15  which stores the PHR. 
     The PHR management unit  307  and the PHR DB  308  may be provided inside the healthcare terminal  13  or may be included in the individual PHR management server  15  to be provided in a remote place and may be connected with the healthcare terminal  13  over a communication network. 
     Moreover, the PHR providing system  10  may be applied to a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) device architecture. 
     More specifically, the VHR management unit  201  included in the patient terminal  11  may function as a UPnP Control Point (CP) for receiving index information of PHR from the individual PHR management server  15 , and the VHR DB  202 , the PHR providing management unit  203 , and the authentication management unit  205  may function as UPnP servers for providing the PHR list, the identifier of the selected PHR, the information about the location in which the selected PHR is stored, and the authentication information required for providing the selected PHR to the healthcare terminal  13 . 
     The PHR selector  301 , the PHR reading processor  303 , and the PHR updater  305  included in the healthcare terminal  13  may function as UPnP CPs for transmitting a request for the PHR list, the identifier of the selected PHR, the information about the location in which the selected PHR is stored, and the authentication information required for providing the selected PHR to the patient terminal  11  and receiving them from the patient terminal  11 . The PHR selector  301 , the PHR reading processor  303 , and the PHR updater  305  may function as UPnP CPs for transmitting a request for PHR to the individual PHR management server  15  and receiving them from the individual PHR management server  15 . The PHR management unit  307  and the PHR DB  308  may function as UPnP servers for storing and managing PHR. 
       FIG. 4  is a signal flow diagram illustrating a method for providing PHR according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     First, the method provides PHR to the healthcare terminal  13  from the patient terminal  11 . The healthcare terminal  13  transmits a request for providing a PHR list to the patient terminal  11  in step  401 . In step  401 , a PHR list request message transmitted from the healthcare terminal  13  to the patient terminal  11  may be as shown in  FIG. 5 . For example, the PHR list request message may carry a patient ID, PHR type information, and a manager ID to request provisioning of a PHR list corresponding to the PHR type information of a patient. 
     In step  402 , the patient terminal  11  checks VHR stored therein to find a PHR list which is stored in the VHR and corresponds to the PHR type information. The patient terminal  11  transmits the PHR list to the healthcare terminal  13  in step  403 . The PHR list contains an identifier of at least one PHR included in the VHR, a name of the PHR, and information about a PHR generation agency. 
     In step  402 , the patient terminal  11  may filter the PHR list of the at least one PHR included in the VHR to provide the PHR list. For example, the patient terminal  11  provides the PHR list of the at least one PHR included in the VHR to the user, receive a selection of PHR to be included in the PHR list from the user, generate the PHR list of the selected PHR, and transmit the PHR list to the healthcare terminal  13 . 
     In step  404 , the healthcare terminal  13  receives and checks a manager&#39;s selection of the PHR included in the PHR list received from the patient terminal. To check if the PHR is helpful to the manager to make an accurate diagnosis on the patient by using reliable and various information, the healthcare terminal  13  provides the PHR list to the manager (e.g., the doctor) and receives a selection of PHR. Thus, the manager (e.g., the doctor) selects and inputs at least one PHR which is helpful to make a diagnosis on the patient by using the name of the PHR included in the PHR list and the information about the PHR generation agency. In step  405 , the healthcare terminal  13  requests provisioning of the selected PHR by using the identifier of the selected PHR. 
     In step  406 , the patient terminal  11  checks authentication information of the selected PHR, especially, access authority class information including a class of access to the PHR included in the authentication information, to determine whether the healthcare terminal  13  satisfies the access authority class. If the healthcare terminal  13  satisfies the access authority class, the patient terminal  11  issues an authentication certificate required for the healthcare terminal  13  to be provided with the selected PHR and provides the issued authentication certificate to the healthcare terminal  13 . The issued authentication certificate required to be provided with the selected PHR is a temporary authentication certificate, and includes an authentication certificate which is set for the healthcare terminal  13  to be provided with the selected PHR once. For example, a message for transmitting the authentication certificate may be as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     Although in an embodiment of the present invention, authentication is performed corresponding to the healthcare terminal  13  by using the access authority class and the temporary authentication certificate in step  406 , the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the patient terminal  11  may perform authentication based on a user&#39;s input. More specifically, upon receiving the request for providing the selected PHR, the patient terminal  11  determines whether provisioning of the selected PHR is approved. Approval of provisioning of the selected PHR may be determined automatically according to preset information which is preset in the patient terminal  11  by the user in response to the request for providing the selected PHR. Alternatively, approval of provisioning of the selected PHR may be determined according to user&#39;s direct input. That is, by using an identifier of the healthcare terminal  13  and an identifier of the selected PHR, the healthcare terminal  13  notifies the patient terminal  11  that the healthcare terminal  13  requests the selected PHR, and requests input of whether provisioning of the selected PHR is approved. The patient terminal  11  provides the selected PHR according to a result which is inputted from the user. That is, if the input of the selected PHR is approved from the user, then the patient terminal  11  provides information required to be provided with the selected PHR, e.g., a PIN code corresponding to the selected PHR to the healthcare terminal  13 . 
     Next, in step  407 , the healthcare terminal  13  transmits a request for providing the PHR to the individual PHR management server  15  in which the selected PHR is stored, by using the temporary authentication certificate (or PIN code) provided form the patient terminal  11 . 
     Thus, the individual PHR management server  15  checks an identification number of the selected PHR, and first checks if the temporary authentication certificate (or PIN code) corresponding to the selected PHR is effective for the user (patient). If the temporary authentication certificate (or PIN code) is effective for the user (patient), the individual PHR management server  15  provides the selected PHR to the healthcare terminal  13  in step  408 . 
       FIG. 7  is a detailed diagram illustrating step  402  in  FIG. 4 , in which the PHR is checked. Referring to  FIG. 7 , the PHR list is checked as follows. First, the patient terminal  11  checks if the VHR exists in the patient terminal  11  in step  701 . If the VHR exists (YES in step  701 ), the patient terminal  11  checks a PHR list included in the VHR and provides the PHR list in step  702 . On the other hand, if the VHR does not exist (NO in step  701 ), the patient terminal  11  initializes the VHR in step  703 . That is, the patient terminal  11  sets a field for the PHR included in the VHR to a null state. 
     Next, the patient terminal  11  generates an initial PHR list, that is, the initialized PHR list from the VHR set to the null state, and transmits the generated initial PHR list to the healthcare terminal  13  in step  704 . 
     The patient terminal  11  may control generation of the PHR stored and managed in the individual PHR management server  15 . 
       FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating a process of controlling generation of PHR in a method for providing PHR according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In step  801 , the patient terminal  11  transmits a request for generating PHR to the individual PHR management server  15 . The request for generating the PHR may be generated by user&#39;s input or automatically generated according to a predefined rule. For example, the patient terminal  11  receives an identifier indicating a management agency which manages the individual PHR management server  15  from the individual PHR management server  15 , and if the management agency is a predetermined institution, e.g., a hospital, a drugstore, or the like, the patient terminal  11  may automatically request generation of PHR without a separate input from the user. A message for requesting generation of PHR may be as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     In step  802 , the patient terminal  11  performs authentication with the individual PHR management server  15  in response to generation of the PHR. More specifically, the patient terminal  11  transmits user information (for example, an ID of the patient or the like) and authentication certificate information (for example, a PIN code or the like) to the individual PHR management server  15 . 
     Thus, the individual PHR management server  15  compares the previously stored user information (the ID of the patient or the like) and the authentication certificate information (the PIN code or the like) with the received information to determine whether the received information is effective information. If the received information is effective information, the individual PHR management server  15  receives detailed information of the PHR from outside, generates index information of the PHR, and provides the generated index information to the patient terminal  11 . Hence, the patient terminal  11  receives the index information of the PHR in step  803 . In step  804 , the patient terminal  11  reflects the received index information to update the VHR. 
     Step  801  may be electively performed. For example, the individual PHR management server  15  may generate the PHR to transmit a request for authentication to the patient terminal  11 , without separately receiving the request for generating the PHR from the patient terminal  11 . In this case, the patient terminal  11  may be notified from the individual PHR management server  15  that the PHR is generated and perform authentication for generation of the PHR, without performing step  801 . 
     According to the present invention, various personal health records distributed over multiple management agencies are integrated and managed in a patient-oriented manner, thus being helpful for tracking a patient&#39;s personal clinical history. 
     Moreover, as personal health records are managed in a patient-oriented manner, inadvertent release of personal health records such as medical records may be prevented. 
     Furthermore, by easily providing various personal health records managed in a patient-oriented manner to a manager such as a doctor, effective treatment and diagnosis are possible based on the personal health records and an accurate diagnosis and an effective treatment can be made. 
     While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.