Patent Application Titled “Secure User-Controlled Personal Health Records” Published Online (USPTO 20230187038): AT&T Intellectual Property I L.P.

2023 JUL 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventors Cui, Zhi (Sugar Hill, GA, US); Khan, Sameena (Peachtree Corners, GA, US); Lee, Bo (Alpharetta, GA, US), filed on December 13, 2021, was made available online on June 15, 2023.

The assignee for this patent application is AT&T Intellectual Property I L.P. (Atlanta, Georgia, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Health data is considered one of the most sensitive types of data about an individual, and under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) in the United States, this data must be protected with confidentiality. Currently, an individual may share personal identifying data (e.g., name, physical address, telephone number, email address, social security number, and the like) and health data (e.g., pre-existing condition(s), medications, personal medical history, family medical history, genetic predispositions, and the like) with multiple health care providers, such as doctors, nurses, radiography technicians, pharmacists, and the like. In this manner, an individual may have little to no control over what data is shared and how the data is stored. Moreover, an individual cannot easily delete their data once they decide to stop using a particular health care provider or facility, including, for example, scenarios in which the individual moves to a different location, must change providers for insurance reasons, or desires to change for other reasons such as a bad experience.

“While hospitals and other medical facilities may use walled gardens to control access to patient health data, a more recent approach is to allow health care providers access to patient health data that has been anonymized. After patient health data are anonymized and can no longer be linked to a specific patient, the patient health data may be rendered useless to a malicious attacker. However, access to patient health data is crucial in emergency situations, and the anonymity of patient health data may prove troublesome if the patient is unable to provide identification when they require immediate treatment. Certain health data may be vital for first responders or for doctors to provide an immediate, accurate diagnosis and proper treatment. While the need for accurate health data for care is clear, threats from identity theft and lawsuits have made it critical to protect the personal data of patients throughout the diagnostic and treatment processes.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to secure user-controlled personal health records (“PHRs”). According to one aspect disclosed herein, a patient device can launch a PHR wallet device application. The patient device can connect, via the PHR wallet device application, to a PHR server that stores a PHR associated with a patient. The patient device can define, via the PHR wallet device application, an access level to be applied to the PHR. The patient device can initiate, via the PHR wallet device application, a transfer of the PHR from the PHR server to a health care provider. The health care provider can be permitted to access the portion of the PHR in accordance with the access level.

“In some embodiments, the PHR includes personal identifying data and health data. The access level can permit access to at least a portion of the health data, at least a portion of the personal identifying data, or at least a portion of the health data and at least a portion of the personal identifying data.

“In some embodiments, the patient device can define, via the PHR wallet device application, a policy that specifies a plurality of access levels and a condition under which each access level of the plurality of access levels is to be applied. The plurality of access levels can include the access level. The condition can define a type of health care provider, a time period, and/or a trigger event. In some embodiments, the policy can be assigned to a profile. The profile can include multiple policies.

“In some embodiments, the patient device can receive a notification identifying new health data to be added to the PHR. The new health data can be provided, for example, by the health care provider or a new health care provider.

“In some embodiments, the patient device can disable, via the PHR wallet device application, access to the PHR by the health care provider. The patient device can reenable access to the PHR as needed.

“It should be appreciated that the above-described subject matter may be implemented as a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer-readable storage medium. These and various other features will be apparent from a reading of the following Detailed Description and a review of the associated drawings.

“This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method comprising: launching, by a patient device comprising a processor, a personal health record wallet device application; connecting, by the patient device, via the personal health record wallet device application, to a personal health record server that stores a personal health record associated with a user; defining, by the patient device, via the personal health record wallet device application, an access level to be applied to the personal health record; and initiating, by the patient device, via the personal health record wallet device application, a transfer of the personal health record from the personal health record server to a health care provider, wherein the health care provider is permitted to access a portion of the personal health record in accordance with the access level.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal health record comprises personal identifying information and health data.

“3. The method of claim 2, wherein the access level permits access to at least a portion of the health data.

“4. The method of claim 3, wherein the access level further permits access to at least a portion of the personal identifying information.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein defining, by the patient device, via the personal health record wallet device application, the access level to be applied to the personal health record comprises defining, by the patient device, via the personal health record wallet device application, a policy that specifies a plurality of access levels and a condition under which each access level of the plurality of access levels is to be applied, wherein the plurality of access levels comprises the access level.

“6. The method of claim 5, wherein the condition defines a type of health care provider, a time period, or a trigger event.

“7. The method of claim 5, further comprising assigning the policy to a profile.

“8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the patient device, a notification identifying new health data to be added to the personal health record, wherein the new health data is provided, at least in part, by the health care provider.

“9. The method of claim 1, further comprising disabling, by the patient device, via the personal health record wallet device application, access to the personal health record by the health care provider.

“10. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: launching a personal health record wallet device application; connecting, via the personal health record wallet device application, to a personal health record server that stores a personal health record associated with a user; defining, via the personal health record wallet device application, an access level to be applied to the personal health record; and initiating, via the personal health record wallet device application, a transfer of the personal health record from the personal health record server to a health care provider, wherein the health care provider is permitted to access a portion of the personal health record in accordance with the access level.

“11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the personal health record comprises personal identifying information and health data.

“12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the access level permits access to at least a portion of the health data.

“13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the access level further permits access to at least a portion of the personal identifying information.

“14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein defining, via the personal health record wallet device application, the access level to be applied to the personal health record comprises defining, via the personal health record wallet device application, a policy that specifies a plurality of access levels and a condition under which each access level of the plurality of access levels is to be applied, wherein the plurality of access levels comprises the access level.

“15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the condition defines a type of health care provider, a time period, or a trigger event.

“16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise assigning the policy to a profile.

“17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a notification identifying new health data to be added to the personal health record, wherein the new health data is provided, at least in part, by the health care provider.

“18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise disabling, via the personal health record wallet device application, access to the personal health record by the health care provider.

“19. A patient device comprising: a processor; and a memory having instructions of a personal health record wallet device application stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising connecting to a personal health record server that stores a personal health record associated with a user, defining an access level to be applied to the personal health record, and initiating a transfer of the personal health record from the personal health record server to a health care provider, wherein the health care provider is permitted to access a portion of the personal health record in accordance with the access level.

“20. The patient device of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a notification identifying new health data to be added to the personal health record, wherein the new health data is provided, at least in part, by the health care provider; accepting the new health data to be added to the personal health record; and disabling access to the personal health record by the health care provider.”

For more information, see this patent application: Cui, Zhi; Khan, Sameena; Lee, Bo. Secure User-Controlled Personal Health Records. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230187038, filed December 13, 2021 and posted June 15, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230187038)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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