Abstract:
The present disclosure describes systems, methods, and mediums to provide centralized access to healthcare information by displaying a page including a plurality of prompts corresponding to a plurality of actions associated with a patient, by receiving a selection of at least one of the plurality of prompts corresponding to at least one of the plurality of actions, displaying of an action page including a plurality of data entry fields corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of actions in response to the selection, and by receiving response data to at least one of the plurality of data entry fields, wherein the plurality of actions includes transmitting a notification that includes a wait time associated with the appointment, remotely checking-in for an appointment, saving an audio recording of the appointment, or reviewing an audio recording of the appointment.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a non-provisional of pending U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/444,528, filed Feb. 18, 2011, all of which is incorporated herein in it&#39;s entirety. 
       COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
       [0002]    © 2010-2011 Mathilde Goldschmidt. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever as permitted under 37 CFR §1.71(d). 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0003]    The present disclosure is related to systems, methods, and mediums to provide centralized access to healthcare information and improve patients&#39; interaction with their healthcare. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0004]    Healthcare providers such as hospitals or clinics use computerized information systems to manage medical, administrative, financial, and/or laboratory data. These known information systems are often not cohesive meaning that the information system managing medical data is distinct from the information system set up to manage administrative or financial data. Often, these known information systems are not coded to share data with varying healthcare providers and facilities. These known information systems are not seamless in that only certain kinds of data is passed from one system to another. These known information systems are often owned by and designed for the benefit of doctors, hospitals or clinics, not patients. As a result, a patient only has access to data, including portions of their personal medical records or medical history, as determined by the doctors, hospitals, or clinics. If a healthcare provider practices at different facilities or hospitals, the provider often cannot seamlessly access systems managed by each of the different facilities or hospitals. Absent executed formal consent documents, a patient is not likely to ever be able to review complete personal medical data for reasons having little to do with the patient&#39;s treatment or care: a patient&#39;s access to personal medical data may be curtailed for reasons of medical liability. Another result is that even if a patient has access to the medical data, the information system is likely to present the data in a manner that is not conducive to having the patient understand his or her medical situation. Rather, the information system presents data to facilitate a doctor&#39;s diagnosis or orders. 
         [0005]    Another disadvantage is the inability of a patient to schedule their own appointments, find their own doctors, communicate directly with medical personnel, and other such functions in an environment that is accessible any time of the day on any day of the week and which avoids the need to interact with live personnel to find suitable dates and times. This and other disadvantages adversely may affect the quality of the resulting medical care and the overall experience of the patient with the medical professionals rendering such medical care. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  depicts an illustration of an exemplary system incorporating systems, methods, and mediums to provide centralized access to healthcare information. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2A  depicts an illustration of an exemplary computing device  102  incorporating systems, methods, and mediums to provide centralized access to healthcare information. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2B  depicts an illustration of a home page  250  associated with an exemplary graphical user interface of the system  100 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3A  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  300  associated with the appointments module  202 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 3B  depicts an illustration of an appointment page  350  associated with appointments module  202 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the check-in module  204 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 5A  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  500  associated with the notifications module  206 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 5B  depicts an illustration of a notification  550  associated with notifications module  206 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  600  associated with the audio/video module  208 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  700  associated with the forms module  210 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the prescriptions module  212 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the financials module  214 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the tests module  216 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the progress module  218 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 12  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the profile module  220 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 13  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the mobile application module  222 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]      FIG. 1  depicts an illustration of an exemplary system incorporating systems, methods, and mediums to provide centralized access to healthcare information. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a system  100  includes a computing device  102  that executes one or more instructions of one or more application programs or modules stored in system memory, e.g., memory  106 . The application programs or modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many of the concepts associated with the systems and methods to provide centralized healthcare information, may be instantiated or implemented as computer instructions, firmware, or software in any of a variety of computing architectures, e.g., computing device  102 , to achieve the same or equivalent result. 
         [0023]    Moreover, a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the systems and methods to provide centralized healthcare information may be implemented on other types of computing architectures, e.g., general purpose or personal computers, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, application specific integrated circuits, and like. For illustrative purposes only, system  100  is shown in  FIG. 1  to include a computing devices  102 , geographically remote computing devices  102 R, tablet computing device  102 T, mobile computing device  102 M, and laptop computing device  102 L. 
         [0024]    Similarly, a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the systems and methods to provide centralized healthcare information may be implemented in a distributed computing system in which various computing entities or devices, often geographically remote from one another, e.g., computing device  102  and remote computing device  102 R, perform particular tasks or execute particular instructions. For example, the systems and methods may be implemented in a server/client configuration (e.g., computing device  102  may operate as a server and remote computing device  102 R may operate as a client). In distributed computing systems, application programs or modules may be stored in local memory  106 , external memory  136 , or remote memory  134 . Local memory  106 , external memory  136 , or remote memory  134  may be any kind of memory known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. 
         [0025]    The computing device  102  comprises a processing device  104 , memory  106 , device interface  108 , and network interface  110 , all interconnected through bus  112 . The processing device  104  represents a single, central processing unit, or a plurality of processing units in a single or two or more computing devices  102 , e.g., computing device  102  and remote computing device  102 R. The local memory  106 , as well as external memory  136  or remote memory  134 , may be any type memory device including any combination of random access memory (RAM) or read only memory (ROM). The local memory  106  may include a basic input/output system (BIOS)  106 A with routines to transfer data between the various elements of the computer system  100 . The local memory  106  may also include an operating system (OS)  106 B that, after being initially loaded by a boot program, manages all the other programs in the computing device  102 . The local memory  106  may store other routines or programs, e.g., application programs  106 C. The application programs  106 C may make use of the OS  106 B by making requests for services through a defined application program interface (API). The application programs  106 C may include any program designed to perform a specific function directly for a user or, in some cases, for another application program. Examples of application programs include word processors, database programs, browsers, development tools, drawing, paint, and image editing programs, communication programs, specialized application programs as we describe in more detail below, and the like. Users may interact directly with the OS  106 B through a user interface such as a command language or a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on a monitor  122 . 
         [0026]    Device interface  108  may be any one of several types of interfaces. The device interface  108  may operatively couple any of a variety of devices, e.g., hard disk drive  114 , optical disk drive  116 , magnetic disk drive  118 , or like, to the bus  112 . The device interface  108  may represent either one interface or various distinct interfaces, each specially constructed to support the particular device that it interfaces to the bus  112 . The device interface  108  may additionally interface input or output devices  120  utilized by a user to provide direction to the computing device  102  and to receive information from the computing device  102 . These input or output devices  120  may include keyboards, monitors, mice, pointing devices, speakers, stylus, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, printer  124 , scanner, camera, video equipment, modem, monitor, and like (not shown). The device interface  108  may be a serial interface, parallel port, game port, firewire port, universal serial bus, or the like. 
         [0027]    The hard disk drive  114 , optical disk drive  116 , magnetic disk drive  118 , printer  124 , and monitor  122 , or like may include memory  106  such as a computer readable medium that provides non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions of one or more application programs or modules  106 C and their associated data structures. A person of skill in the art will recognize that the system  100  may use any type of computer readable medium accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, cartridges, RAM, ROM, and the like. 
         [0028]    Network interface  110  operatively couples the computing device  102  to one or more remote computing devices  102 R, tablet computing devices  102 T, mobile computing devices  102 M, and laptop computing devices  102 L, on a local or wide area network  130 . The computing devices  102 R may be geographically remote from computing device  102 . The remote computing devices  102 R may have the structure of computing device  102 , or may be a server, client, router, switch, peer device, network node or other networked device and typically includes some or all of the elements of computing device  102 . The computing device  102  may connect to the local or wide area network  130  through a network interface or adapter included in the interface  110 . The computing device  102  may connect to the local or wide area network  130  through a modem or other communications device included in the network interface  110 . The computing device  102  alternatively may connect to the local or wide area network  130  using a wireless device  132 . The modem or communications device may establish communications to remote computing devices  102 R through global communications network  130 . A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that application programs or modules  106 C might be stored remotely through such networked connections. 
         [0029]    We may describe some portions of the systems, methods, and mediums to provide centralized access to healthcare information using algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a memory, e.g., memory  106 . A person of skill in the art will understand these algorithms and symbolic representations as most effectively conveying the substance of their work to others of skill in the art. An algorithm is a self-consistent sequence leading to a desired result. The sequence requires physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, but not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. For simplicity, we refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or like. The terms are merely convenient labels. A person of skill in the art will recognize that terms such as computing, calculating, determining, displaying, or like refer to the actions and processes of a computing device, e.g., computing device  102 . The computing device  102  may manipulate and transform data represented as physical electronic quantities within a memory into other data similarly represented as physical electronic quantities within the memory. 
         [0030]      FIG. 2A  depicts an illustration of an exemplary computing device  102  incorporating systems, methods, and mediums to provide centralized access to healthcare information. Referring to  FIG. 2A , the computing device  102  includes a processing device  104  that may execute one or more instructions of one or more application programs or modules  106 C stored in system memory  106  as we detail above. The processing device  104  may receive data from or transmit data to other computing devices  102  or application programs  106 C through the network interface  110  or the device interface  108 . The network interface  110  or the device interface  108  may include or work cooperatively with a graphical user interface (not shown) displayed on a monitor  122 . The application programs  106 C may use elements from the graphical user interface, e.g., menus, buttons, scroll bars, images, wizards, and the like, that are included with the operating system and add their own graphical user interface elements and ideas. 
         [0031]    The processing device  104  may execute instructions stored in the memory  106  that are associated with the application programs  106 C. The processing device  104  may execute instructions for a plurality of application programs  106 C, including instructions associated with appointments module  202 , check-in module  204 , notifications module  206 , audio/video module  208 , forms module  210 , prescriptions module  212 , financials module  214 , tests module  216 , progress module  218 , profile module  220 , and mobile application module  222 . These modules may include instructions that, when executed by the processing device  104 , cause display of or operate cooperatively with the graphical user interface associated with the computing device  102 . The graphical user interface is configured to graphically display information to and capture data from a user  140  ( FIG. 1 ) that the interface provides to the processing device  104  executing the application programs or modules  106 C. 
         [0032]      FIG. 2B  depicts an illustration of a home page  250  associated with an exemplary graphical user interface of the system  100 . The home page  250  may have various sections or panels to display various aspects of the system  100 . In particular, the home page  250  may include a user image panel  252  including an icon, an avatar, or a photograph of the user  140 . A user information panel  254  identifies a name of the user  140 , as well as other information or links pertinent to the user  140 &#39;s medical care, e.g., contact information  256 , insurance information  258 , appointment scheduling information  260 , upcoming appointments  262 , medical record  264 , doctor&#39;s notes and sound bites  266 , prescriptions  268 , internal messaging  270 , forms  272 , and billing  274 . The user  140  may actuate any of the links on the information panel  254  to access pages specific to the actuated link as we describe in more detail below. The home page  250  may include other panels related to the user  140 &#39;s medical, e.g., health information panel  276  that describes various health related issues. The home page  250  may further include a task bar  278  with links to the various panels pertinent to the user  140 &#39;s medical care. 
         [0033]      FIG. 3A  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  300  associated with the appointments module  202 . Referring to  FIG. 3A , the user  140  may access a website associated with the appointments module  202  and log in to a user account at  302 . The user  140  may select the scheduling page at  304  by any means known to a person of skill in the art, e.g., by actuating an associated link on the home page  250 . The user  140  alternatively may select the scheduling page by selecting a choice from a pull down menu or click on a representative icon on home page  250 . At  306 , the method  300  may query the user  140  to determine whether the user  140  has previously saved a preferred medical provider. If so, the method  300  may query the user  140  for a zip code associated with a proximate geographic region in which the user  140  wants to schedule the appointment at  308  and may query the user  140  at  310  for a desired distance from the zip code to facilitate scheduling the appointment at a medical facility located nearby. At  314 , the method  300  may query the user for a desired medical specialty and/or a cost or cost range associated with the appointment, e.g., in the case that the user  140  does not have medical insurance, desires the knowledge of specific costs incurred regardless of medical insurance coverage, or wishes to pay for the cost of the appointment with out of pocket money. At  316 , the method  300  may display a list of doctors that meet the various criteria, i.e., geographic location as defined by the zip code, proximate distance, medical specialty, and cost. At  318 , the method  300  may prompt the user  140  to select a medical provider from a list provided at  316 . The method  300  may display user feedback or ratings associated with at least one of the medical providers on the list. The method  300  may display a network or group to which at least one of the medical providers in the list belongs. The method  300  may display a list of appointment types at  320  that are available for the particular medical provider chosen at  316  and may prompt the user  140  to select an appointment type at  322  from the list displayed at  320 . The method  300  may present available appointments at  324  and may prompt the user  140  to select the desired appointment type at  326 . The method  300  immediately may send, via email, text, or other known means, a notification to the user  140  at  328  indicating details associated with the appointment. The method  300  may additionally allow the user  140  to set reminders at a preferred frequency, time of day, days before appointment, and the like at  328 . The method  300  may send out the reminder notifications to the user in advance of the appointment. The reminder notifications may be sent out in any manner known to a person of reasonable skill in the art, including email, text, voicemail, and the like. The method  300  may transmit an electronic reminder file capable of being incorporated into calendaring applications such as Outlook (e.g., an Outlook appointment). 
         [0034]      FIG. 3B  depicts an illustration of an appointment page  350  associated with appointments module  220 . Referring to  FIG. 3B , the appointment page  350  includes the user image panel  252 , the user information panel  254 , or the task bar  278  that we describe above in relation to  FIG. 2B . The appointment page  350  may also include a zip code field  352  associated with a geographic region in which the user  140  wants to schedule the appointment and a proximity field  354  to enable the user  140  to specify the desired distance from the zip code to facilitate scheduling the appointment at a medical facility located nearby. The appointment page  350  may further include an appointment type field  356  configured to enable the user  140  to enter an appointment type and a doctor field  358  configured to enable the user  140  to enter a specific doctor&#39;s name or a medical specialty. The appointment page  350  may still further include other fields, e.g., a cost field (not shown) to enable display of a cost associated with the appointment. The appointment page  350  may include a search activation button or link  360  and a calendar  362  to display the availability of appointments that meet the particular search criteria entered by the user  140 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 4  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the check-in module  204 . Referring to  FIG. 4 , the check-in module  204  may allow the user  140  to automatically check-in for a medical appointment using, e.g., an application program  106 C. In one example, the check-in module  204  may allow the user  140  to set up and enable the use of the mobile computing device  102 M to automatically check-in at  402 . In one example, the user  140  may enable the mobile computing device  102 M at  406  to transmit a check-in signal to the processing device  104  that, in turn, automatically checks-in the user  140  for the scheduled appointment. The mobile computing device  102 M may transmit the check-in signal to the processing device  104  when the user  140  is within a predetermined distance from the location of the medical facility in which the appointment is scheduled, e.g., upon arrival to the parking lot of the medical facility. The mobile computing device  102 M may transmit the check-in signal using known transmission means, including wireless, WiFi, and the like. The user  140  may alternatively check-in for the appointment using an application program  106 C operating on the mobile computing device  102 M in response to manual instructions or actions from the user  140 . The user  140  may alternatively check-in for the appointment by scanning a bar code at  404  either displayed on the mobile computing device  102 M or printed on a sheet of paper using a bar code reader available at the medical facility. In an embodiment, the check-in module  204  accelerates a speed at which a patient will be seen at a medical facility by associating a patient&#39;s medical information with the mobile computing device  102 M, e.g., with a bar code displayed on the display of the mobile computing device  102 M that is read at any particular station in the facility or by accepting a signal from the mobile computing device  102 M when the patient&#39;s comes within a predetermined distance of the medical facility. In another embodiment, the medical provider may monitor information received from the mobile computing device  102 M regarding the patient, e.g., a wireless weight scale, a wireless blood pressure monitor, and a wireless thermometer associated with the mobile computing device  102 M may transmit information regarding the patient&#39;s weight fluctuations, blood pressure, and temperature, respectively, to the provider via the facility&#39;s system. If these devices are provided by the facility, the patient can then take their vitals and have their chart updated with their current vitals as they wait to be seen. In an embodiment, the check-in module  204  may include an ability to upload such information to the medical facility&#39;s system. The mobile computing device  102 M may communicate with the facility&#39;s system to automatically update the patient&#39;s profile. 
         [0036]      FIG. 5A  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  500  associated with the notifications module  206 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , the notifications module  206  may determine the timeliness of the scheduled appointment at  502 . The notifications module  206  may automatically determine the scheduled appointment late by analyzing the timeliness of completed appointments at predetermined scheduled periods during the day. The notifications module  206  may alternatively determine the scheduled appointment late in response to an entry by, e.g., a receptionist or a medical assistant at the medical facility, that indicates the expected delay based on experience with the circumstances that have developed or are present at any given time, e.g., patient emergencies or doctor&#39;s availability. If the appointment is on time as determined at  502 , the notifications module  206  may so notify the user  140  at  504 . The notifications module  206  may notify the user  140  of the timeliness of the scheduled appointment time by any known means, e.g., text message to the mobile computing device  102 M or the tablet computing device  102 T, email message, pre-recorded voice message, automated phone call, and the like. The notifications module  206  may notify the user  140  that the appointment is on-time responsive to a wait time being less than a predetermined time, e.g., 10 minutes, from the scheduled appointment time. 
         [0037]    In response to a determination that the scheduled appointment is late at  502 , the notifications module  206  may so notify the user  140  at  508 . The notifications module  206  may determine that the appointment is delayed in response to a wait time being greater than the predetermined time, e.g., 10 minutes, from the scheduled appointment time. If the appointment is delayed, the processing device  104  may determine whether the user  140  wants to keep the scheduled appointment at  512 . If so, the notifications module  206  may allow the user  140  to maintain the appointment at  518 . If not, the notifications module  206  may provide the user  140  the option of rescheduling or canceling the appointment at  522  by, e.g., notifying the user  140  of such options and directing the user  140  to log on to the user account to make the desired changes. 
         [0038]    In response to a determination that the scheduled appointment is late at  502 , notifications module  206  may query the user  140  at  516  to determine whether the user  140  wishes to see the medical provider at an earlier time, in response to the computing device  102  determining that such an option exists. The processing device  104  may allow the user  140  to maintain the appointment or move the appointment up to an earlier time at  522  by, e.g., notifying the user  140  of such options at  522 , directing the user  140  to log on to the user account to make the desired appointment changes, or, alternatively, automatically redirecting the computing device  102  to the appointments module  202 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 5B  depicts an illustration of a notification  550  associated with notifications module  206 . The notification  550  is shown displayed as a text message  552  sent by the system  100  to a mobile computing device  102 M. 
         [0040]      FIG. 6  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  600  associated with the audio/video module  208 . Referring to  FIG. 6 , the audio/video module  208  may record audio or video associated with an appointment at  602 . The audio/video module  208  may record audio or video associated with the appointment using any means known to a person of skill in the art, e.g., using audio/video equipment installed in the examination room or using such capabilities in a mobile computing device  102 M brought into the examination room by the user  140 . The audio/video module  208  may record audio and video associated with the appointment onto any storage medium, e.g., memory  106 , using any format known to a person of skill in the art. For example, the audio/video module  208  may record audio associated with the appointment to the memory  106  of the mobile computing device  102 M as an MP3 audio file. 
         [0041]    The audio/video module  208  may upload to the remote memory  134  ( FIG. 1 ) for later access and review by the user  140  at  604 . The audio/video module  208  may also associate the recorded audio or video with an account of the user  140  at  606 . At  608 , the audio/video module  208  may transcribe the recorded audio using any means known to a person of skill in the art, e.g., using automated transcription software. 
         [0042]      FIG. 7  depicts a flowchart for an exemplary method  700  associated with the forms module  210 . Referring to  FIG. 7 , the forms module  210  may make all type of forms necessary for the provision of medical care available to the user  140 . The forms may include patient information forms, medical condition information, patient financial forms, medical insurance forms, medical record sharing consent forms, living wills, end of life directives, and the like. The forms module  210  may make the forms available to the user  140  by initially displaying the types of available forms on a monitor at  702 . The user  140  may select one of the forms on the list at  704  by clicking on the name, icon, or other graphical representation associated with the particular form of interest. The forms module  210  may determine if the form requires information from the user  140  at  706  and, if so, the forms module  210  may prompt the user for the information at  710 . The forms module  210  may determine that the form is filled out or that the form does not require further information from the user  140  at  706 , and, if so, the forms module  210  may prompt the user  140  to submit the form to the computing device  102  for storage in a memory  106  at  708 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 8  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the prescriptions module  212 . Referring to  FIG. 8 , the prescriptions module  212  may keep a list of currently prescribed medications for the user  140  at  802 . For each of the listed currently prescribed medications, the prescriptions module  212 , at  806 , may include instructions for taking the medication, e.g., dosage. The prescriptions module  212  may include a link to a document, file, or page with complete information about the currently prescribed medication at  808 . The prescriptions module  212 , at  810 , may also facilitate submission of a refill request for one or more of the listed medications. For example, the prescriptions module  212  may display a form fillable by the user  140  to request a refill of a particular medication at a particular pharmacy or location. In an embodiment, a patient may have the option to scan a bar code on their medication or manually enter the prescription number to update their chart or to request a prescription refill. The prescriptions module  212  may allow the user  140  at  812  to indicate that information associated with the medication not be printed at the pharmacy on pick up. Any number of pharmacies may be linked to prescriptions module  212 . If a prescription is refillable, the user could click on their prescription they would like to refill and have it refilled to their preferred pharmacy automatically. The collaboration with various pharmacies would enable the user, doctor, and pharmacy to be in full streamlined communication. The pharmacies that collaborate with the system will facilitate the prescription process and earn retention from customers. 
         [0044]    The prescriptions module  212  may also keep a list of previously prescribed medications at  804 . For each of the listed previously prescribed medications, at  814 , the prescriptions module  212  may include the instructions previously given for taking the medication, e.g., dosage. The prescriptions module  212  may include a link to a document, file, or page with complete information about the previously prescribed medication at  816 . In an embodiment, the prescriptions module  212  may provide for alerts or notifications to the user of when to take a certain medication or when the prescription is running low in response to the dosage prescribed by the doctor. These alerts or notifications may take the form of email, text message, automated voicemail, and the like and occur at a predetermined time before the prescription runs out as set by the user. The prescriptions module  212  may direct the user to a location on the module where the user may request a refill, which, in turn, automatically forwards the refill request to the prescribing doctor or pharmacy or both. The prescriptions module  212  may transmit a notification to the user or patient indicating the availability of the prescription for pick up. 
         [0045]    In an embodiment, the prescriptions module  212  may send prescription notifications via email to the user. Such an email may include a link to enable automatically submitting a refill request to the user&#39;s pharmacy of choice. In another embodiment, the prescriptions module  212  may send prescription notifications through text message in which a “no” reply will serve to indicate that the user does not wish to submit a refill request and a “yes” reply will serve to automatically transfer the refill request to the user&#39;s pharmacy of choice. In yet another embodiment, the prescriptions module  212  may send prescription notifications through automated voicemail message. In such a case, the prescriptions module  212  may prompt the user for information associated with the refill request through an automated system, e.g., “press 1 if you would like to send a refill request to your doctor, press 2 for other prescriptions questions”. The prescriptions module  212  may then automatically transmit the refill request to the prescribing doctor who may then transmit the refill to the user&#39;s pharmacy of choice, in response to the doctor&#39;s refill approval. 
         [0046]      FIG. 9  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the financials module  214 . Referring to  FIG. 9 , the financials module  214  may enable the user  140  to make any number of payments associated with medical services. The financials module  214  may enable the user  140  to pre-pay a co-payment at  902 , to pre-pay an appointment fee at  904 , or to review and pay medical bills at  906 . The financials module  214  may enable the user to make the payments using any number of electronic or other known payment mechanisms, such as by entering a credit or debit card, by accessing the user  140 &#39;s PayPal account, by accessing Google Easy Checkout, using electronic checks, or the like. 
         [0047]      FIG. 10  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the tests module  216 . Referring to  FIG. 10 , the tests module  216  may display information about any tests associated with the user  140 . The tests module  216  may display tests ordered for the user  140 , tests scheduled to be taken by the user  140 , or tests performed on the user  140 , and their associated results. At  1002 , the tests module  216  may enable a testing entity performing the test to upload and record the test results to the user  140 &#39;s account for easy retrieval by the user  140 . At  1004 , the tests module  216  may display the test results. The tests module  216  may display all kinds of test results in any form known to a person of skill in the art including using numbers, texts, 2- or 3-dimensional graphical representations, and the like. The tests module  216  may display imaging tests such as x-rays, CAT scans, magnetic resonance scans, and the like. The tests module  216  may enable the user  140  to request printed a printed copy of the test results at  1006 . The printed copy of the test results may be certified as a true copy by the testing entity. At  1008 , the tests module  216  may provide the user  140  with the means to send a copy of the test results to others, e.g., a second doctor for a second opinion. The means to send the copy of the test results may include any means, electronic or otherwise, known to a person of skill in the art, e.g., email, fax, or the like. At  1010 , the tests module  216  may provide the ability to track changes in results from one test to another using any of a variety of numerical or graphical means, including tables, graphs, and the like. 
         [0048]      FIG. 11  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the progress module  218 . Referring to  FIG. 11 , the progress module  218  may display progress associated with the user  140 &#39;s medical care. The progress module  218  may display progress in any form known to a person of ordinary skill in the art including using numbers, texts, 2- or 3-dimensional graphical representations, and the like. In one example shown at  1102 , the progress module  218  may display a line graph showing height to weight fluctuations that may be helpful to aid the medical provider or the user  140  to adjust medications or other regiments accordingly. In another example shown at  1104 , the progress module may display a line graph showing blood pressure and pulse records over predetermined periods. 
         [0049]      FIG. 12  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the profile module  220 . Referring to  FIG. 12 , the profile module  220  may allow the user  140  to provide the system with contact information, notification preferences, and the like. In one example shown at  1202 , the profile module  220  may allow the user  140  to set personal preferences regarding the types and frequency of notifications, e.g., new lab results, health visuals, sound bites, community feedback on posts made, new medical bills, and the like. The profile module  220  may provide the user with the ability to chose which notifications to receive (at  1204 ) and may provide the user  140  with the ability to chose the preferred type or means of notification, e.g., text message, email, automated phone call, and the like (at  1206 ). The profile module  220  may enable the identification of the user in case of an emergency or in case the user is rendered unconscious by linking, e.g., an identification tag physically worn by or otherwise associated with the user, to the user&#39;s profile. The user&#39;s profile may include a list of prescribed medications, medical conditions, medical allergies, and the like. 
         [0050]    In an embodiment, the user may have the option of allowing or enabling a third party to view his profile, in full or in part. The profile module  220  may enable the user to give the third party a separate login name and password to view the user&#39;s profile. The user may set options associated with the third party&#39;s access to his profile, including which information the third party may view. For example, the user may allow the third party to view only a list of prescriptions but not a list of medical conditions. Although parents or guardians have legal access to a minor or incapacitated person&#39;s medical information, the profile module  220  may limit that access once the minor reaches adulthood or once the incapacitated person is no longer incapacitated. 
         [0051]      FIG. 13  depicts an illustration of exemplary capabilities associated with the mobile application module  222 . Referring to  FIG. 13 , the mobile application module  222  may execute on the mobile computing device  102 M to allow the user  140  mobile remote access to the system  100  at  1302 . The mobile application module  222  may provide a seamless manner in which to access and execute application programs  106 C, including the appointments module  202 , check-in module  204 , notifications module  206 , audio/video module  208 , forms module  210 , prescription module  212 , financials module  214 , test module  216 , progress module  218 , profile module  220 , and mobile application module  222 . The mobile application module  222  may also provide the ability of the user to check-in automatically at  1304 , as we describe in more detail above. 
         [0052]    A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the processing device  104  may execute one or more instructions of one or more application programs or modules  106 C stored in system memory  106  to be a source for health news, medical and life tips, exercise tips and healthy nutritional tips for all ages. The user may be provided with access to resources to aid them in determining if their symptoms necessitate a doctor&#39;s visit. In an embodiment, these resources may be segmented by age. Medical resources for the home and the like would be easily attainable through the site. The centralized aspect of this system may provide opportunities for potential partnerships with various commercial entities, including other websites dedicated to providing patient resources, e.g., WebMD, medicinenet, and the like. 
         [0053]    In an embodiment, the user may also be able to send a message or note to their provider through an internal message system (not shown). The message or note exchanged may be privileged and confidential. In an embodiment, the user may be billed for any such message or note in excess of a predetermined number of messages, e.g., ten, at the discretion of the medical provider and their associated team of nurses. 
         [0054]    A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that they may make many changes to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles.