Patent Publication Number: US-2023154588-A1

Title: Methods and systems for managing patient treatment compliance

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This Application seeks priority from Provisional Application No. 61/892,151, entitled “Methods and Systems for Managing Patient Treatment Compliance”, filed Oct. 17, 2013, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure generally relates to patient monitoring. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to methods and systems for monitoring patient behavior and treatment compliance as well as reducing fraud and waste of pharmaceutical and medical products including, e.g., prescribed therapies. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Physicians often ascertain patient compliance with treatment instructions after subsequent patient visits and evaluation. In some cases, failure to comply with physician treatment instructions may lead to prolonged patient illness and/or worsened patient health. In addition, lack of proper compliance may lead to a waste of medical devices, drugs, or other prescribed therapies. This waste, in turn, may lead to increased medical costs, as well as improper feedback of the physician&#39;s treatment plan and/or the efficacy of the prescribed therapy. Further, patient compliance with physician treatment instructions may still fail to provide patients with dynamic information and assistance with managing their disease. 
     Accordingly, a need exists for methods and systems for monitoring patient behavior and treatment, drug and/or therapy usage, compliance, and improved patient compliance. 
     SUMMARY 
     Examples of the present disclosure relate to, among other things, patient monitoring. Each of the examples disclosed herein may include one or more of the features described in connection with any of the other disclosed examples. 
     In one example, a computer implemented method for providing and monitoring patient compliance with a patient healthcare treatment plan may include receiving, from a healthcare provider over a network, application features for generating a patient application including patient instructions for using a medical therapy. The method also may include generating an application for a patient, the application including at least an input for the patient to input data for use in evaluating patient compliance with the patient healthcare treatment plan. The method also may include receiving, from the healthcare provider over the network, a prescription for the application for the patient, activating the application after the patient receives at least one instruction on use of the application, and receiving patient compliance data from the application over the network based on the input. 
     Examples of the method may include one or more of the following features: further comprising a step of providing, via the network, a notification to a dispenser to refill a patient prescription for the medical therapy based on the patient compliance data; the step of activating the application may comprise receiving, over the network, instructions from a patient&#39;s insurance company; the method may further include sending, via the network, a report to the healthcare provider, based on the patient compliance data; wherein the step of generating the application for the patient comprises electronically acquiring a national drug code number from a regulatory entity; wherein the step of receiving patient compliance data may include automatically updating the application based on electronic feedback; wherein the at least one instruction may be conducted online; wherein the step of receiving the application features for generating a patient application may include providing access to an electronic medical record of the patient; further comprising generating a medical profile of the patient based on parsing the electronic medical record of the patient; and further comprising generating electronic feedback to the patient based on electronic processing of the compliance data. 
     In another example, a system for providing and monitoring compliance with a patient healthcare treatment plan may include a data storage device storing instructions for causing computer servers or mobile devices to one of generate or provide the patient healthcare treatment plan and evaluate patient compliance with the patient healthcare treatment plan. The system also may include a processing device configured to execute instructions to perform a method of: receiving, from a healthcare provider over a network, application features for generating a patient application including patient instructions for using a medical therapy; generating an application for a patient, the application including at least an input for patient to input data for use in evaluating patient compliance with the patient healthcare treatment plan; receiving, from the healthcare provider over the network, a prescription for the application for the patient; activating the application after the patient receives at least one instruction on use of the application; and receiving patient compliance data from the application over the network based on the input. 
     In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may be configured for storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to provide and monitor compliance with a patient healthcare treatment plan, the instructions may comprise: receiving, from a healthcare provider over a network, application features for generating a patient application including patient instructions for using medication; generating an application for a patient, the application including at least an input for the user to input data for use in evaluating patient compliance with a treatment plan; receiving, from the healthcare provider over the network, a prescription for the application for the patient; and activating the application after the patient receives training on use of the application; and receiving patient compliance data from the application over the network. 
     Additional objects and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosed embodiments. The objects and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments 
     According to some embodiments, disclosed herein is a process that allows healthcare providers to prescribe computer applications or other software programs/algorithms for behavioral monitoring and treatment of their patients. 
     In one embodiment, the process includes a means where an exemplary application, such as a mobile health (mHealth) application, is used by a patient as part of his/her healthcare treatment plan in order to introduce proactive thinking into health consciousness of the patient. 
     In another embodiment, the process may include a means that may allow the healthcare provider to have an outside system monitor the health of their patient and relieve the burden associated with proactive health care from healthcare providers. 
     Still further, the process may include a means where the prescription event (post hoc treatment of symptoms) becomes event-related to proactive treatment and management of patient disease. 
     In another aspect, it is further contemplated to introduce a mobile health (mHealth) application usage as a service to all entities in a health care system, including pharmaceutical companies, the healthcare providers, patients, retailers, pharmacies, and health insurance companies. 
     In another embodiment, it is contemplated to reduce fraud and abuse by introducing patient compliance with a mobile health (mHealth) application as a parameter for successful treatment of a disease. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of a patient monitoring system configured to provide online monitoring of patient treatment compliance, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a diagrammed series of steps view showing steps of using a system for prescribing a mobile health application to a patient, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of involving entities in a health care system in a mobile health application deployment, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  4    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of developing mobile heath application software, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  5    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of party notification of usage of the mobile health application, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  6    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of creating a preliminary medical profile of the patient&#39;s disease, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  7    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of patient interactions with and management of a disease with the mobile health application, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  8    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of the mobile health support system in managing the patient and mobile health application usage, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  9    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of data transmission from the patient interaction with the mobile health application, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  10    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of smart profile building for personalized management of the patient&#39;s disease, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  11    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of prescription activation, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  12    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of establishing identifying information that can be used to attribute the mobile health application usage to a patient, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  13    is a diagrammed method view showing steps of associating patient monitoring, compliance, and billing, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG.  14    is a functional block diagram of a computer that may be configured as a host server, for example, to function as a break point server. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
     The present disclosure describes systems and methods for monitoring of patient behavior and treatment compliance as well as reducing fraud and waste of pharmaceutical and medical products and/or therapies. 
       FIG.  1    is a block diagram of a patient monitoring system  100  configured to provide online monitoring of patient treatment compliance, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. A patient  8  having an electronic device  19 , such as a mobile device, computer, medical device, or any other electronic device configured to access an electronic network  32 , such as the Internet, may communicate with or otherwise access a mobile health (mHealth) application  1 . The mHealth application may include patient identifying information, treatment regimen, information about treatments and healthcare, and any other relevant information and may be in communication with other entities or networks to send and receive information. A healthcare provider  7 , such as a physician, may prescribe the application. The mHealth application  1  may be tailored to a specific patient and may be activated in person by the patient by visiting a pharmacy  10  or pharmacy practice  9  or other authorized entity. The patient  8  may receive training on using the mHealth application  1  by a mHealth support system  25  and/or application trainer  24 . The mHealth application  1  may include programming  28  of various forms, such as machine learning programming algorithms  26 . 
     The patient treatment plan may include a prescription (e.g. for a drug, device, and/or therapy), which may be dispensed by the pharmacy  9 . The pharmacy  9  may allow the refill of the prescribed product/therapy after receiving authorization based on the patient&#39;s compliance with his/her healthcare treatment plan. The authorization may be received by the pharmacy  10  by a communication from the application  1 , via the network  32  and various servers  29 . Use of the drug or other medical product/therapy also may be sent to the manufacturer  37  over the network  32  to inform the manufacturer  37  of the amount of medical product or therapy being used by patient  8 . This information may assist the manufacturer  37  in assessing demand and planning supply of the medical product or therapy. The healthcare provider  7  also may receive a report based on the patient information received by the application  1 , and may update the patient treatment plan based on this information. The patient&#39;s electronic medical record  14  also may be automatically electronically updated via the network  32  based on the patient information, which may include electronically transmitted patient feedback on the application, received by the mHealth application  1 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  2   , method  500  may include a first step  501  in which the manufacturer  37  creates an mHealth application  1  for a disease. The application  1  may be any set of instructions for execution by an electronic device  19  having a processor and memory. Examples of the electronic device  19  may include a mobile device, a computer, a personal digital assistant, a tablet, a medical device (e.g., an insulin pen, a patch, an implantable or ingestible chip, or any other suitable electronic device). The healthcare provider  7  (e.g., primary care physician, specialist, or any other medical professional with prescribing authority) may prescribe the mHealth application  1  to the patient  8 , at step  502 . The patient  8  then may use the mHealth application  1  to manage a disease at step  503 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  3   , step  501  in  FIG.  1    may include several sub steps. For example, at step  526 , the manufacturer  37  (e.g. a pharmaceutical company) may implement software development  12  for the mHealth application  1  for a disease 2. The manufacturer  37  also may acquire a national drug code  18  number at step  527 , for example from a regulatory entity, such as the Food and Drug Administration. At step  528 , the manufacturer  37  may acquire a national provider identifier  13  so that healthcare provider  7  can electronically denote the service as a prescription to the patient  8 . The manufacturer  37  may enlist a health insurance company  17  to use the mHealth application  1  as an available treatment for the patient  8  at step  529 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  4   , step  526  shown in  FIG.  3    may further include several sub steps collectively referred to as method  550 . For example, at step  551 , the manufacturer  37  may electronically automatically analyze the nature of the disease 2. In addition, the manufacturer  37  may devise and implement a plan or design for the software  6 , at step  552 . The manufacturer  37  may implement the programming  28  of the software  6 , at step  553 . At step  554 , the manufacturer  37  may test the software  6  and at step  555 , the manufacturer  37  may deploy the software  6 . The manufacturer  37  also may engage in maintenance, updating, and bug fixing of the software  6 , at step  556 . 
       FIG.  5    shows sub steps of step  502  shown in  FIG.  1    as method  575 . In step  576 , the healthcare provider  7  may electronically send the mHealth application  1  prescription information to the patient  8  via the network  32 . The manufacturer  37  may be informed of the prescription of the mHealth application  1  at step  577  via any suitable manner, e.g., email, updating an online database, etc. A third party business  35  may be informed of the prescription of the mHealth application  1  by the healthcare provider  7  or patient  8  at step  578 . At step  579 , the third party business  35  may fill the prescription for mHealth application  1  by providing the patient  8  an activation code  15  or other suitable means known in the art. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  11   , step  576  of method  575  may include sub steps collectively referred to as method  600 . For example, at step  601  the healthcare provider  7  may send the mHealth application  1  acquisition information to a patient  8 . At step  602 , the healthcare provider  7  may instruct the patient  8  to retrieve an activation code  15  for the mHealth application  1  at a third party business  35 , such as pharmacy, healthcare clinic, laboratory, or any other suitable location. 
     Method  625  as shown in  FIG.  12    shows sub steps of step  577 . For example, method  625  includes a step  626  in which the patient  8  may provide identifying information  11  for an mHealth support system  23 . At step  627 , the patient  8  may provide information about their electronic device  19  to the mHealth support system  23 . At step  628 , the healthcare provider  7  may provide an electronic medical record  14  of the patient  8  to an mHealth support system  23  affiliated with the manufacturer  37 , which may create an electronic personal medical profile  21  of patient  8 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , step  628  may include sub steps collectively referred to as method  650 . For example, step  651  may include parsing the electronic medical record  14  into the patient data based on a program  33 . At step  652 , the personal medical profile  21  may be created by comparison of the patient data to an existing template patient profile  22  with a profile-creating program  20 . At step  653 , the personal medical profile  21  and patient data may be stored in a database  30  for reference and modification during mHealth application  1  usage. 
       FIG.  7    shows sub steps of step  503  shown in  FIG.  2   . The sub steps of step  503  are collectively referred to as method  675 . The steps may include the patient  8  acquiring the mHealth application  1  on the patient&#39;s electronic device  19  via a computer network  32 , such as the Internet at step  676 . The patient  8  may use the activation code  15  received from the manufacturer  37  to activate the mHealth application  1  at step  677 . At step  678 , the patient  8  may learn how to use the mHealth application  1  via instructional information received from the patient&#39;s electronic device  19  connected to the network  32 . The instructional information may be in any suitable form. For example, a text message (SMS or any other form), video tutorial, slide show, animation, or any other manner. At step  679 , the patient  8  may interact with the mHealth application  1  using their electronic device  19  to manage their disease 2. At step  680 , the manufacturer  37  may monitor the use of the mHealth application  1  by the patient  8  by sending and receiving data from the patient&#39;s electronic device  19 . 
       FIG.  8    shows method  700  showing sub steps of step  678 . For example, at step  701 , the mHealth support system  23  may be notified when the mHealth application  1  is activated. Further, the mHealth support system  23  may schedule an in person visit or any other meeting (e.g., via phone or video conference, etc.,) with the patient  8  for demonstrating, instructing, and/or verifying proper usage of the mHealth application  1 , at step  702 . The patient  8  may be visited or otherwise contacted by an application trainer  24  who may teach the patient  8  how to use the mHealth application  1 , at step  703 . The patient  8  subsequently may use online support  25  for additional training if needed, at step  704 . 
     Step  679  shown in  FIG.  6    may have several sub steps shown in  FIG.  9    as method  725 . For example, step  726  may include a patient  8  entering data into the mHealth application  1  related to disease 2 on a regular or otherwise periodic basis. At step  727 , the mHealth application  1 , which may use a client server model  34 , may send data through a computer network  32 , which may then be analyzed on the server side  31  and processed in order to monitor the health of the patient  8  relative to the disease 2. At step  728 , patient  8  may receive feedback on the mHealth application  1  by communication through the network  32 . 
       FIG.  10    shows sub steps of step  727  as method  750 . Method  750  includes sub step  751  of the mHealth application  1  sending data to the server  29 , and at step  752  the program  33  processes the data and compares the data to the existing personal medical profile  21 . Step  753  includes examining data and the personal medical profile  21  to assess whether an intervention  27  is warranted. At step  754 , if an intervention  27  or general feedback is warranted, information may be sent to the patient  8 , caregiver or healthcare provider as needed. The personal medical profile  21  may further be tailored to the patient at step  755  by using programs  33  having machine learning algorithms  26 . The newly modified personal medical profile  21  may be stored in a database  30  for future access and reference, at step  756 . 
       FIG.  13    shows method  775 , which includes sub steps of step  680 . The steps included in method  775  may include step  776  of the manufacturer  37  billing the health insurance company  17  through the third party business  35  if the patient  8  uses the mHealth application  1  successfully. Step  777  includes the manufacturer  37  ensuring the patient&#39;s compliance and outcomes and reporting compliance to the insurance company  17 , if required. 
     The disclosure comprises numerous terms that may be necessary to define the scope for purposes of interpretation. The definition of these terms allows numerous embodiments that may arise, rather than just the preferred embodiment. The terms are as follows: the mHealth application  1 , disease 2, chronic disease 3, software development  12 , the computer network  32 , software  6 , healthcare provider  7 , patient  8 , pharmacy practice  9 , pharmacy  10 , identifying information  11 , national provider identifier  13 , electronic medical record  14 , activation code  15 , pharmaceutical company  16 , health insurance company  17 , national drug code  18 , electronic device  19 , profile creating program  20 , personal medical profile  21 , template patient profile  22 , mHealth support system  23 , application trainer  24 , online support  25 , machine learning  26 , intervention  27 , programming  28 , server  29 , database  30 , server side  31 , computer network  32 , program  33 , client server model  34 , third party business  35 , retail store  36 , and the manufacturer  37 . 
     The term mHealth application  1  is broadly thought to include, but not limited to, an application on an electronic device  19 , for use with medicine and public health. Some embodiments may use an mHealth disease and epidemic outbreak tracing/tracking application  38 , an mHealth education application  39 , an mHealth diagnostic and treatment support application  40 , a mHealth communication and training for healthcare workers application  41 , an mHealth remote monitoring application  42 , or an mHealth remote data collection application  43  instead of the mHealth application  1 . The term disease 2 is thought to encompass, but is not limited to, a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs which may also be a chronic disease 3. The term chronic disease 3 is thought to encompass, but is not limited to, a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long lasting in its effects (when the course of the disease lasts for, e.g., more than three months). In some embodiments the chronic disease may include (but is not limited to) Diabetes, Asthma, Cancer, Mental illness, COPD and/or Hypertension. In most embodiments, it is thought that the healthcare provider  7  may be a doctor  65 ; however, it is possible that in the future an advanced practice registered nurse  66 , physician&#39;s assistant  67 , or any other suitable healthcare professional could fill this role. The term patient  8  is thought to encompass, but is not limited to, a recipient of health care services. In some embodiments, one can contemplate that the patient  8  also may be an inpatient  68 , an outpatient  69 , a health care consumer  70 , a health consumer  71 , or an assisted living resident  72 . 
     The term software development  12  is thought to encompass, but is not limited to, the activity of computer programming, which is the process of writing and maintaining the source code and includes all that is involved between the conception of the desired software through to the final manifestation of the software in a planned and structured process. The term computer network  32  is broadly thought to include, but is not limited to, a telecommunications network that allows computers to exchange data. In some versions, functionally, the computer network  32  could be either a personal area network  120 , a wireless personal area network  121 , a near-me area network  122 , a local area network  123 , a wireless local area network  124 , a wireless mesh network  125 , a wireless metropolitan area network  126 , a wireless wide area network  127 , a cellular network  128 , a home area network  129 , a storage area network  130 , a campus area network  131 , a backbone area network  132 , a metropolitan area network  133 , a wide area network  134 , an enterprise private network  135 , a virtual private network  136 , an intranet  137 , a cloud network, a social network, an extranet  138 , a Internetwork  139 , or an Internet  140 . The term software  6  is thought to encompass a collection of computer programs and related data. 
     In other embodiments, not just the preferred, the term third party business  35  may include, but is not limited to, a company or business concern other than the manufacturer  37 , patient  8 , healthcare provider  7  or health insurance company  17  that bills for services and refills the mHealth application  1 . In some embodiments, this may be a pharmacy  10  or a retail store  36 . One or more pharmacies, retail stores, insurance companies, and/or physicians may access interconnected servers for sending and retrieving data related to one or more patient. The mHealth application  1  may process the requests and exchange of patient information/data, and may regulate the dispensing of pharmaceuticals, medical therapies, medical devices, or other suitable healthcare related products based on access to patient data. 
     The drug or other prescribed medical product may only be refilled if (e.g. the pharmacy (e.g., third party business, etc.,) receives notification regarding authorization to refill) per the application, it is determined that the patient has used all or a pre-determined amount of the originally prescribed amount of medical product or therapy. In this manner waste, fraud, and/or off-label use of medical products or therapy may be deterred or avoided. Further, the disclosed methods may determine a minimum effective dose or amount of a medical product/therapy, thereby further reducing waste and healthcare related costs as well as avoiding potential side effects, increased de-sensitivity and other potential harms involved with overuse of drugs. 
     Moreover, the disclosed methods may improve patient compliance with healthcare professional recommendations and treatment plans by providing patients with frequent and real-time information regarding the patient&#39;s treatment and effectiveness of the treatment plan. In addition, the interconnectivity of healthcare provider, pharmacy, user application, and other entities may provide improved and quicker access, feedback, and treatment for patients while reducing waste and healthcare costs. 
     The term manufacturer  37  is thought to encompass, but is not limited to, a person or business concern that creates the mHealth application  1 . In some embodiments, manufacturer  37  may include a pharmaceutical company  16 . The term retail store  36  is thought to encompass a store that practices the sale of goods and services from individuals or business to a consumer. For examples, a retail store  36  may purchase goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers directly or through a wholesaler, and then sell or resell smaller quantities to the consumer for a profit. The term pharmacy practice  9  is broadly thought to include a practice linking the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs to the practice of the health sciences. The term pharmacy  10  is thought to encompass, but is not limited to, an establishment where pharmacy practice  9  is performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the pharmacy  10  may be a community pharmacy  73 , a retail pharmacy  74 , a hospital or internal pharmacy  75 , a clinical pharmacy  76 , an ambulatory care pharmacy  77 , a compounding pharmacy  78 , a consultant pharmacy  79 , an internet pharmacy  80 , a nuclear pharmacy  81 , or a military pharmacy  82 . The term pharmaceutical company  16  is thought to encompass a company who develops produces, and markets, devices, therapies, drugs, and/or pharmaceuticals for use in managing disease 2. The term health insurance company  17  is broadly thought to include a company in the business of issuing insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. 
     The term identifying information  11  is broadly thought to include, but is not limited to, information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. In some versions, the identifying information  11  could be a name, finger print, retina scan, DNA signature, voice profile, biometric profile, email address or user ID, date of birth, home telephone number, cellular telephone number, home address, work address, age, gender, country, or state or other location. An alert may be provided to the healthcare provider, manufacturer, or any other relevant entity, via the network  32 , if an unauthorized user is attempting to use the medical product or access the application in an unauthorized manner. The alert may have any suitable form, such as an SMS message, phone voice message, email message, etc. 
     The term national provider identifier  13  is broadly thought to include, but is not limited to, a National Provider Identifier or NPI, which is a unique 10-digit identification number issued to healthcare providers in the United States by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The term electronic medical record  14  is broadly thought to include electronic health information and may be a representation of all a patients&#39; health related information data that would be typically found in the traditional paper-based records. The term national drug code  18  may include a unique 10-digit, 3-segment numeric identifier assigned to each medication listed under Section  510  of the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 
     The term computer memory  95  is broadly thought to include the physical devices used to store programs (sequences of instructions) or data (e.g., program state information) on a temporary or permanent basis for use in a computer or other digital electronic device. In some embodiments, it is thought that the electronic device  19  also may be a desktop computer, a car information service, a game console, a laptop, a notebook, a palmtop, a tablet, a smartphone, or a smart book. The electronic device  19  may include four or more components respectively defined as the computer central processing unit (CPU), the computer memory, the computer operating system  96 , and the computer graphical user interface. The term computer operating system  96  is thought to encompass, but is not limited to, a collection of software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs. The term computer graphical user interface may include a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation. The term profile-creating program  20  is thought to encompass a program  33  that creates intervention  27  related parameters based on incoming data from a patient  8 . The term personal medical profile  21  is broadly thought to include, but is not limited to, a model generated from a machine learning algorithm  26  based on patient data that has been collected over time. The term template patient profile  22  may include a model generated from a machine learning algorithm  26  based on primary patient data and general knowledge of how the data parameters indicate health or illness as reported by the patient over time. 
     In one or more other embodiments, the term mHealth support system  23  may include, but is not limited to, a system with a range of patient services to assist patients in the correct use of a mHealth application  1 . It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, compatibility, and upgrading of the mHealth application  1 . The mHealth support system  23  may or may not be affiliated with the manufacturer  37 . The term application trainer  24  is thought to encompass a person knowledgeable of the disease 2 and the mHealth application  1  who assists the patient  8  in learning its uses. The term online support  25  is thought to encompass support structures that provide on-line libraries and tools for self-help and easy troubleshooting solutions to automatically and precisely diagnose and resolve problems and incidents. Alternatively, the online support  25  may be self-support automation or also assisted support automation in some embodiments. The term intervention  27  is broadly thought to include an attempt by the mHealth application  1  to notify one or more entities e.g., the patient  8 , healthcare provider  7 , or caregiver of a presumptive problem with the management of the disease 2. 
     In other embodiments, not just the preferred, the term programming  28  may include the comprehensive process that leads from an original formulation of a computing problem to executable programs. The term server  29  is thought to encompass a system (software and suitable computer hardware) that responds to requests across a computer network. The term database  30  is thought to encompass an organized collection of data with a software system designed to allow the definition, creation, querying, update, and administration of databases. The term server side  31  may include operations that are performed by the server in a client—server relationship in computer networking. 
     In other embodiments, not just the preferred, the term program  33  may include a sequence of instructions, written to perform a specified task with a computer that is executed by the computer central processing unit  94 . The term client server model  34  may include structure in computing that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. The term machine-learning algorithm  26  is broadly thought to include a series of systems or programs that can learn from data without having to be explicitly programmed e.g. a neural network. 
     Alternatively, in other embodiments, the machine learning may be a decision tree learning  109 , an association rule learning  110 , an artificial neural networks  111 , an inductive logic programming  112 , a support vector machines  113 , a clustering  114 , a Bayesian networks  115 , a reinforcement learning  116 , a representation learning  117 , a similarity and metric learning  118 , or a sparse Dictionary Learning  119 . 
       FIG.  14    provides a functional block diagram illustration of general-purpose computer hardware platforms.  FIG.  14    illustrates a network or host computer platform  900 , as typically may be used to implement a server, such as the server  29 . It is believed that those skilled in the art are familiar with the structure, programming, and general operation of such computer equipment and as a result, the drawings should be self-explanatory. 
     A platform for a server or the like  900 , for example, may include a data communication interface for packet data communication  960 . The platform also may include a central processing unit (CPU)  920 , in the form of one or more processors, for executing program instructions. The platform typically includes an internal communication bus  910 , program storage, and data storage for various data files to be processed and/or communicated by the platform such as ROM  930  and RAM  940 , although the server  900  often receives programming and data via network communications  970 . The hardware elements, operating systems, and programming languages of such equipment are conventional in nature, and it is presumed that those skilled in the art are adequately familiar therewith. The server  900  also may include input and output ports  950  to connect with input and output devices such as keyboards, mice, touchscreens, monitors, displays, etc. Of course, the various server functions may be implemented in a distributed fashion on a number of similar platforms, to distribute the processing load. Alternatively, the servers may be implemented by appropriate programming of one computer hardware platform. 
     Program aspects of the technology may be thought of as “products” or “articles of manufacture” typically in the form of executable code and/or associated data that is carried on or embodied in a type of machine-readable medium. “Storage” type media include any or all of the tangible memory of the computers, processors or the like, or associated modules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives, disk drives and the like, which may provide non-transitory storage at any time for the software programming. All or portions of the software may at times be communicated through the Internet or various other telecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enable loading of the software from one computer or processor into another, for example, from a management server or host computer of the mobile communication network into the computer platform of a server and/or from a server to the mobile device. Thus, another type of media that may bear the software elements includes optical, electrical and electromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces between local devices, through wired and optical landline networks and over various air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such as wired or wireless links, optical links, or the like, also may be considered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unless restricted to non-transitory, tangible “storage” media, terms such as computer or machine “readable medium” refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution. 
     The many features and advantages of the disclosure are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the disclosure which fall within the true spirit and scope of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. 
     Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.