Patient health management portal

1 . A secure online patient health management portal comprising:

a payer/provider portal providing means for patient management; and

a patient portal providing means for personal health management.

2 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the payer/provider portal comprises means for accessing a plurality of patient accounts, and wherein each patient account comprises a task manager and decision support manager for the patient.

3 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 2 , wherein each patient account further comprises reminders to the patient, educational materials and media of relevance to the patient, news of relevance to the patient and a file manager.

4 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the task manager comprises electronic forms and surveys to be completed by the patient at appropriate stages of treatment.

5 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the electronic forms and surveys include an assessment survey, patient history, physical, a satisfaction survey and an outcomes assessment.

6 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the task manager comprises means for obtaining dynamic informed consent from the patient.

7 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the means for obtaining dynamic informed consent comprises means for presenting to the patient the medical condition, treatment options, risks and benefits, and means for electronically capturing and storing the signature of the patient.

8 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the decision support manager comprises:

means for presenting to the patient the medical condition and treatment options;

means for presenting to the patient clinical data associated with each treatment option;

means for obtaining from the patient a rating of the importance of factors associated with the treatment options;

means for obtaining from the patient identification and rating of specific concerns associated with a condition; and

means for calculating a score associated with each treatment option based on the patient input.

9 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 2 , and further comprising means for creation of medical condition templates by the payer or provider including options for treatment associated with medical conditions and risks and benefit factors associated with each option.

10 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 2 , and further comprising an outcomes reporting and tracking tool comprising means for generating reports for a specific patient, means for generating aggregate reports by medical condition and means for generating custom aggregate reports.

11 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the outcomes reporting and tracking tool further comprises dynamic transcription means for generating a report by selecting categories of data that should be included in the report.

12 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the patient portal comprises a reminder and task manager and a decision support tool.

13 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the reminder and task manager comprises means for confirming that a prescription was obtained; means for completing surveys; and means for completing informed consent forms.

14 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the decision support tool comprises:

means for reviewing medical condition and treatment options;

means for reviewing clinical data associated with each treatment option;

means for rating importance of factors associated with the treatment options;

means for identifying and rating specific concerns associated with a condition; and

means for calculating and displaying a score associated with each treatment option based on the patient input.

15 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the patient portal further comprises means for downloading a patient's health care records.

16 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the patient portal further comprises a messaging system that includes means for sending a message to a medical team member, and means for requesting an appointment.

17 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the patient portal further comprises means for managing and tracking drug prescriptions.

18 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the patient portal further comprises means for managing healthcare-related finances.

19 . A patient health management portal as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the means for managing healthcare-related finances comprises means for entering, tracking and managing medical and prescription costs, costs paid by insurance company, costs paid by patient, deductibles and co-payments.

20 . A secure Internet-based method for managing healthcare comprising:

providing payer/provider access to a plurality of patient accounts;

providing electronic forms and surveys to be completed by a patient at various stages of treatment;

informing the patient of a medical condition, treatment options, risks and benefits and electronically capturing and storing a signature of the patient indicating the patient's consent;

assisting the patient with a treatment decision by obtaining ratings of importance of benefits, risks and concerns associated with each treatment option and calculating a score for each treatment option;

generating patient, medical condition and custom aggregate reports;

providing means for a patient to download his/her health care records;

providing means for a patient to manage and track drug prescriptions; and

providing means for a patient to manage and track healthcare-related expenses.