Patent ID: 8024406

Claim:
A method of cooperatively processing a care request, the method comprising the steps of: (a) creating, at a requesting end user device in a plurality of end user devices, a care request comprising a set of data related to the requesting end user device from the plurality of end user devices; (b) receiving, at a first end user device in the plurality of end user devices, the care request; (c) utilizing the first end user device to initiate processing of the care request; (d) assembling a set of working data comprising an indication of a first cause which had been examined to determine a first relationship between the first cause and at least one symptom from one or more symptoms indicated by the set of data comprised in the care request; (e) evaluating an option of processing the care request using an additional device, wherein evaluating the option of processing the care request using the additional device comprises determining if the additional device has a capability to determine a second relationship between a second cause and at least one symptom from the one or more symptoms indicated by the set of data comprised in the care request; (f) after utilizing the first end user device to initiate processing of the care request, utilizing a second end user device in the plurality of end user devices to continue processing of the care request; (g) after utilizing the second end user device to continue processing of the care request, determining a response based at least in part on the set of data; and (h) sending the response to the requesting end user device.