SIGNAPPS™ METHOD, SYSTEM AND FUNCTIONS FOR DEFINING, DETERMINING AND ALLOCATING BILLABLE INTERACTIONS / MESSAGES / DATA AND MANAGING AND MEASURING THE MOBILE INTERACTIONS / MESSAGES / DATE ATTACHED TO MARKED OR IDENTIFIED HEALTHCARE CRITICAL CASES IN A HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENT AND BEYOND

摘要

The World Healthcare Organisation (WHO) classifies Telemedicine Into the following categories1: 1. Consultations between remote client and healthcare provider 2. Remote monitoring of client health or diagnostic data by healthcare provider 3. Transmission of medical data to healthcare provider 4. Consultations for case management between healthcare providers) As telemedicine is increasingly becoming a method and medium for coordinating healthcare care activities with their associated costs, a need has arisen to determine what type of healthcare interactions (text, voice, video and any form of data transfer) in virtual spaces are billable interactions and bill them accordingly. In addition, value based care models use billing models that take account of the combination of services provided to patients by providers of care as well as the outcomes for the patient of receiving said healthcare services. This need to bill virtual interactions has become particularly important in situations where the health care team is of a multi-disciplinary nature, in this case the costs of having every member of the care team physically interacting with the patient and/or members of the care team is prohibitive to delivering multi-disciplinary care. Creating virtual environments in which multi- disciplinary care teams can coordinate the care of a patient has become essential. This IP application focuses on Category 4 WHO definition or use case for Telemedicine which is: Consultations for case management between healthcare provider(s). Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) is a form of 2-way communication using mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets, etc) that allows users to electronically and instantly exchange information with parties. Information exchange can be in the form of text, voice, video or other electronic media. These MlM exchanges are also called interactions. Mobile Instant Messaging products are increasingly being used by healthcare providers to coordinate care of patients in a virtual environment. MIM can have one-to-one, one-fo-many, or a many-to-many configuration, meaning that messaging can be exchanged between two individuals, within a group where everyone in the group can see what everyone else is sending, or a specific one-to-many communication. Instant Messaging is characterized by its interactive nature, i.e. users can engage in conversations to exchange messages in near real-time and their content can be of critical or non-critical nature. In the healthcare environment critical messages should be flagged for escalation. A Mobile Instant Messaging system with a healthcare critical flag on specific messages will drive how groups, involved in the management of the healthcare of a patient, function and flow. Healthcare critical message flags require the presence of enablers to provide a more compelling and efficient user experience, drive predefined healthcare workflows for critical situations and improve outcomes for patients.