Methods and systems for managing distributed digital medical data
A network for mediating the peer-to-peer transfer of digital patient medical data includes a plurality of distributed agents each associated with a health care provider and connected to a central system. Periodically the agents collect local information relating to patient medical files and/or data streams, for example diagnostic images and associated reports, and process that information into metadata files acting as pointers to the original files. The metadata files are transmitted to the central system where they are parsed and the attributes are stored on the central system in patient records with records from the same patient grouped together whenever possible. Registered users can search the central system, even in the absence of a unique identifier, to identify patient records pointing to the remote patient medical files. Upon finding a patient medical file, the invention provides a streamlined process for communicating access authorization from the patient to the hospital or facility storing the medical files. Once patient authorization is received, secure processes are provided for transferring the data in its entirety to or for viewing by the user in a peer-to-peer fashion.
1. A method operable on a computer for managing distributed medical files, comprising the steps of:
receiving, on a central computer, a request by a user to access a patient medical file stored on a remote medical information system;
authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
determining a remote agent computer having access to the remote medical information system;
transmitting, from the central computer to the remote agent computer, a request to provide the patient medical file to a specified device of the user;
retrieving, by the remote agent computer, the patient medical file;
transmitting, by the remote agent computer, the patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and
receiving from the remote agent computer at the central computer a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the remote medical information system to the specified device.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the central computer stores identifying information for a plurality of remote agent computers, each agent computer having access to at least one medical information system.
3. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein;
each of the plurality of remote agent computers stores identifying information for the plurality of remote agent computers; and
the request including a request for a first remote agent computer to transmit the patient medical file to a second remote agent computer.
4. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the specified device includes a device on which the patient medical file is viewable by a human user.
5. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the request includes a request to provide the patient medical file directly to the specified device.
6. A system for managing distributed medical files, comprising:
a remote agent computer comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions for controlling the operation of the agent computer;
a central computer comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions for controlling the operation of the central computer to perform the steps of:
receiving a request by a user to access a patient medical file stored on a remote medical information system;
authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
determining the remote agent computer having access to the remote medical information system;
transmitting to the remote agent computer, a request to provide the patient medical file to a specified device of the user;
the agent computer operative to perform the steps of:
retrieving the patient medical file;
transmitting, by the remote agent computer, the patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and
transmitting to the central computer a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the remote medical information system to the specified device.
7. A system in accordance with claim 6 wherein the central computer stores identifying information for a plurality of remote agent computers, each agent computer having access to at least one medical information system.
8. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein;
each of the plurality of remote agent computers stores identifying information for the plurality of remote agent computers; and
the request including a request for a first remote agent computer to transmit the patient medical file to a second remote agent computer.
9. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the specified device includes a device on which the patient medical file is viewable by a human user.
10. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the request includes a request to provide the patient medical file directly to the specified device.
11. A system for managing distributed medical files, comprising:
means for receiving, on a central computer, a request by a user to access a patient medical file stored on a remote medical information system;
means for authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
means for determining a remote agent computer having access to the remote medical information system;
means for transmitting, from the central computer to the remote agent computer, a request to provide the patient medical file to a specified device of the user;
means for retrieving, by the remote agent computer, the patient medical file;
means for transmitting, by the remote agent computer, the patient medical file directly to the specified device without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and
means for receiving from the remote agent computer at the central computer a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the remote medical information system to the specified device.
12. A method operable on a computer for managing distributed medical files, comprising the steps of:
receiving, on a central computer, a request by a user to obtain a remotely stored patient medical file;
authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
determining, by the central computer, a remote first agent computer having access to the medical information system storing the patient medical file;
transmitting, by the central computer to the remote first agent computer, a request to obtain the patient medical file and to transmit the patient medical file directly to a specified device of the user without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and
receiving, at the central computer from the remote first agent computer, a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the medical information system directly to the specified device.
13. A method in accordance with claim 12 wherein the central computer stores identifying information for a plurality of remote agent computers, each agent computer having access to at least one medical information system.
14. A method in accordance with claim 13 wherein:
each of the plurality of remote agent computers stores identifying information for the plurality of remote agent computers; and
the step of transmitting a request including a request for the first remote agent computer to transmit the patient medical file to a second remote agent computer.
15. A method in accordance with claim 12 wherein the step of transmitting a request including a request for the first remote agent computer to transmit the patient medical file to a device on which the patient medical file is viewable by a human user.
16. A system for managing distributed medical files, comprising:
a processor;
a memory connected to the processor and storing instructions for controlling the operation of the processor to perform the steps of:
receiving a request by a user to obtain a remotely stored patient medical file;
authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
determining a remote first agent computer having access to the medical information system storing the patient medical file;
transmitting to the remote first agent computer a request to obtain the patient medical file and to transmit the patient medical file directly to a specified device of the user without passing the patient medical file through the processor; and
receiving from the remote first agent computer a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the medical information system directly to the specified device.
17. A system in accordance with claim 16 wherein the memory stores identifying information for a plurality of remote agent computers, each agent computer having access to at least one medical information system.
18. A system in accordance with claim 17 wherein;
each of the plurality of remote agent computers stores identifying information for the plurality of remote agent computers; and
the step of transmitting a request including a request for the first remote agent computer to transmit the patient medical file to a second remote agent computer.
19. A system in accordance with claim 16 wherein the step of transmitting a request including a request for the first remote agent computer to transmit the patient medical file to a device on which the patient medical file is viewable by a human user.
20. A method operable on a computer for managing distributed medical files, comprising the steps of:
receiving, at a central computer, a request by a user to obtain a remotely stored patient medical file;
authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
determining, at the central computer, a remote first agent computer having access to the medical information system storing the patient medical file;
the central computer transmitting, to the remote first agent computer, a request to obtain the patient medical file and to transmit the patient medical file directly to a specified device of the user without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and
the central computer receiving, from the remote first agent computer, a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the medical information system to the specified device.
21. A system for managing distributed medical files, comprising:
means for receiving, on a central computer, a request by a user to obtain a remotely stored patient medical file;
means for authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
means for determining, by the central computer, a remote first agent computer having access to the medical information system storing the patient medical file;
means for transmitting, by the central computer to the remote first agent computer, a request to obtain the patient medical file and to transmit the patient medical file directly to a specified device of the user without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and
means for receiving, on the central computer from the remote first agent computer, a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the medical information system directly to the specified device.
22. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having control instructions stored thereon that when processed by a processor cause said processor to manage distributed medical files by causing the processor to perform the steps of:
receiving, on a central computer, a request by a user to obtain a remotely stored patient medical file;
authenticating that the user is authorized by the patient to access the patient medical file;
determining, by the central computer, a remote first agent computer having access to the medical information system storing the patient medical file;
transmitting, by the central computer to the remote first agent computer, a request to obtain the patient medical file and to transmit the patient medical file directly to a specified device of the user without passing the patient medical file through the central computer; and
receiving, on the central computer from the remote first agent computer, a notice that the patient medical file has been transferred from the medical information system directly to the specified device.