Integrated medical software system with enhanced portability

1. A computer program product, embodied on a computer-readable medium, providing instructions for a processor to implement an integrated system for management of a healthcare provider, the system comprising computer code for:

a scheduling module that

schedules at least one of a plurality of patients and at least one of a clinician, staff member, and resource at the healthcare provider, and

translates associated scheduling data into a normalized data format;

a registration component that

captures patient data for the plurality of patients during a check-in or registration process, the patient data including demographic information and payor information for the plurality of patients, and

translates the patient data into the normalized data format;

a clinical module that

builds one or more sections in a user-defined template that include one or more fields where at least a portion of the demographic data for a specific patient will be subsequently and automatically populated during a subsequent encounter with that specific patient, the specific patient being a patient from among the plurality of patients,

creates an electronic document by compiling the one or more sections from the user-defined template into the electronic document and automatically populating the one or more fields with the corresponding portion of demographic data for the specific patient,

captures clinical data for the specific patient in the electronic document during the encounter with that specific patient, the clinical data including at least one of a diagnosis, a procedure, and a prescription for that specific patient, and

automatically associates the at least one of a diagnosis, a procedure, and a prescription with a specific billing code as the at least one of a diagnosis, a procedure, and a prescription is captured,

translates the clinical data into the normalized data format;

an account management module that

determines an allowed claim amount from the payor information captured for the specific patient and the billing code associated with the at least one of a diagnosis, a procedure, and a prescription captured for that specific patient,

automatically generates a claim for the specific patient by automatically populating an electronic claim form with at least a portion of the demographic data for the specific patient, the at least one of a diagnosis, a procedure, and a prescription captured for that specific patient, and the allowed claim amount; and

a framework module that electronically transmits the claim to a claims clearinghouse after the claim is generated by the account management module,

wherein the computer-readable medium is portable such that it can be removed from a processing device and operated by the processing device without installing the instructions on the processing device.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , further comprising an access module, enabling access to the integrated system only when correct login information is provided to the access module.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the integrated system is in communication with a central storage device, remote from the processor, and said scheduling module, registration component, account management module, and clinical module access the central storage device to store and retrieve information in the normalized data format.

4. The computer program product of claim 3 , wherein information captured by any one of said scheduling module, registration component, account management module, and clinical module can be retrieved by any other one of said scheduling, account management, and clinical modules or component.

5. The computer program product of claim 3 , wherein the integrated system integrates data captured by the modules with data stored on the central storage device in the normalized data format.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the resources comprise human resources.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the resources comprise equipment.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the electronic document is one of a progress note, history and physical note, and triage note.

9. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the system is web-based.

10. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein said scheduling module uses the patient data captured by the registration component to support scheduling encounters with the specific patient.

11. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the portable computer-readable medium comprises a flash memory data storage device.

12. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the portable computer-readable medium comprises a universal serial bus (USB) thumb drive.

13. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the portable computer-readable medium comprises a portable hard drive.

14. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein

financial data includes at least one of account balance, account information, and insurance claims;

scheduling data includes at least one of time, date, and location for the at least one of a plurality of patients and the at least one of a clinician, staff member, and resource;

clinical data includes at least one of a symptom, observation, treatment, assessment, diagnostic, and therapeutic information for the specific patient; and

demographic data includes at least one of a name, address, date of birth, social security number, and sex for the specific patient.

15. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling module further includes functionality for the user to define rules templates that control available appointment times for resources.