Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Single Entry Combined Functionality”, for Approval (USPTO 20200160337)

2020 JUN 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Washington, D.C., NewsRx journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Fasoli, Dave (Stamford, CT); Gurr, Clarinda (Stamford, CT); Gadhavi, Erin (Stamford, CT); Larsen, Boo (Stamford, CT); Larsen, Kendra (Stamford, CT); Urbansky, Craig (Stamford, CT); Yang, Sally (Stamford, CT); Johnson, Bete (Stamford, CT), filed on November 14, 2019, was made available online on May 21, 2020.

The patent’s assignee is Synchrony Bank (Stamford, Connecticut, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present invention is related to application functionality. More specifically, the present invention is related to single entry combined functionality.

“Presently, data entered into a system is often associated with a single functionality. For example, swiping a payment card can perform the singular function of applying an amount of funds (e.g., from a line of credit, other financial account, or insurance account) to a corresponding charge. In some situations, for example, a medical appointment, may require both an application of insurance (e.g., to pay for some or all of the medical appointment), and an application of credit (e.g., to pay for the deductible or for the appointment entirely). Indeed, sometimes an insurance account or health savings account can include available funds that can be applicable to the cost of a medical appointment, but some present systems require payment of the medical bill in full followed by a request for reimbursement, which can be cumbersome.

“For example, when a consumer completes a medical appointment, they may use health insurance and one or many forms of payment including cash, check, debit, HSA/FSA or credit/financing. When applying insurance to healthcare-related costs, this process can involve first paying the healthcare bill in full on the day of service, then at a later date, submitting an insurance claim requesting reimbursement for the treatment. Full or partial post-transaction insurance reimbursement may be issued in the form of a physical check to the consumer, which is subsequently deposited by the consumer back into their bank account, which may then be used to replenish or pay off credit borrowed. This process is cumbersome and there are several opportunities to improve upon this process.

“There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved systems and methods that are capable of cross-referencing data and concurrently performing more than one functionality based upon a single data entry (e.g., typed entry, scanned entry, swiped entry, etc.).”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “The first improvement is at the point-of-sale on day of service. Presently, a consumer card is associated with singular functionality--consumer has one card for utilizing insurance and separate card(s) for balance payment. Some embodiments seek to combine these cards by providing ‘one swipe’ technology to (1) identify account(s), (2) simultaneously enable multiple functions (e.g. insurance and balance payment) and (3) allow user to select among payment sources available to the account holder. The ‘swipe’ can be, but is not limited, to a swipe of a card via a terminal. It can also involve manual account entry, chip insert, card scan/tap, mobile payment technology, or any other means to identify the account number(s) being used.

“In some embodiments, ‘one swipe’ technology will eliminate system silos between insurance and payment functions, enabling data-sharing across platforms. This infrastructure change will allow for a seamless user experience from (1) account(s) identification to (2) insurance adjudication to (3) payment to (4) relevant automatic reimbursements--all in a single transaction.

“In some embodiments, by elimination of such silos, the infrastructure presented above will facilitate real-time, cross-database machine learning and artificial intelligence to drive more efficient, accurate, real-time insurance adjudication, reduce the number of manual reviews required, offer cardholders access to find treatment options with higher insurance coverage, and provide customized financial advice to help the cardholder maximize savings and budget for their healthcare expenses.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving information corresponding to a transaction, wherein the information is received one time; determining two or more functions associated with the information; and concurrently and automatically executing the two or more functions without additional interaction.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the two or more functions are executed in real-time as the information is received.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the two or more functions are executed after the information is received.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein data resulting from the execution of the two or more functions is stored for use in executing additional future functions.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a database is automatically updated after the execution of the two of more functions.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the two of more functions include accessing one or more databases.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information one time includes receiving the information by swipe, key stroke, or scan.

“8. A system, comprising: one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including: receiving information corresponding to a transaction, wherein the information is received one time; determining two or more functions associated with the information; and concurrently and automatically executing the two or more functions without additional interaction.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the two or more functions are executed in real-time as the information is received.

“10. The system of claim 8, wherein the two or more functions are executed after the information is received.

“11. The system of claim 8, wherein data resulting from the execution of the two or more functions is stored for use in executing additional future functions.

“12. The system of claim 8, wherein a database is automatically updated after the execution of the two of more functions.

“13. The system of claim 8, wherein the two of more functions include accessing one or more databases.

“14. The system of claim 8, wherein receiving the information one time includes receiving the information by swipe, key stroke, or scan.

“15. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method comprising: receiving information corresponding to a transaction, wherein the information is received one time; determining two or more functions associated with the information; and concurrently and automatically executing the two or more functions without additional interaction.

“16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the two or more functions are executed in real-time as the information is received.

“17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the two or more functions are executed after the information is received.

“18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein data resulting from the execution of the two or more functions is stored for use in executing additional future functions.

“19. The computer-readable storage medium claim 15, wherein a database is automatically updated after the execution of the two of more functions.

“20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the two of more functions include accessing one or more databases.”

For additional information on this patent application, see: Fasoli, Dave; Gurr, Clarinda; Gadhavi, Erin; Larsen, Boo; Larsen, Kendra; Urbansky, Craig; Yang, Sally; Johnson, Bete. Single Entry Combined Functionality. Filed November 14, 2019 and posted May 21, 2020. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220200160337%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20200160337&RS=DN/20200160337

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