Patent ID: 7996508

Claim:
A system for allowing users to simultaneously contact multiple providers to secure an appointment on short notice, the system comprising: a facilitator that sets up and mediates a communication including a request for an appointment generated from a user and a response generated from at least one provider in response to the request, wherein the facilitator receives the communication and generates a real-time list of at least one provider that meets criteria in the user's communication, presents the list to the user for selecting at least one provider, and transmits the request for appointment to the selected at least one provider whose response may be returned to the facilitator; a monitor that monitors the communication, including checking that the response is generated within a predefined time period and intervenes directly if the response is not generated in the predefined time period; a web application that includes a web site for facilitating interaction with the system, the web site including a translator having at least a medical term and phrase list translated in a plurality of languages of a plurality of countries and a pharmaceutical drug list compiled in each of the plurality of countries, the pharmaceutical drug list including at least formulation information and brand name information of a plurality of pharmaceutical drugs as manufactured or distributed in the plurality of countries, the translator providing cross-referencing between the plurality of countries of the at least formulation and brand name information of the plurality of pharmaceutical drugs, wherein the medical term and phrase list enables communication between users and providers who speak different languages; a provider network for processing information provided by users of the system; and a storage device for storing information processed by the system including the medical term and phrase list.