“System And Method For Healthcare Security And Interoperability” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20230118275): Patent Application

2023 MAY 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Lee, Jessica (Edison, NJ, US); Morimura, Jun (Tokyo, JP); Moschetti, Michael (Montville, NJ, US); Quesada, Marvin (Princeton, NJ, US); Thomson, Andrew (Robbinsville, NJ, US); Vig, John (Irvine, CA, US), filed on December 15, 2022, was made available online on April 20, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Healthcare information systems face compliance challenges that limit interoperability. For example, stored information may be subject to various privacy regulations such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Privacy rules under HIPAA establish national standards to protect individual medical records and other personal health information when health care transactions are conducted electronically. These regulations may cover privacy (e.g. which entities have access to information), content (what information an authorized entity may access), security (how the information is protected from unauthorized access when stored and during electronic communication), information sharing (the types of information that entities may share), and integrity (the accuracy and authenticity of information). In addition, commercially valuable information may be protected under an organizational policy that may limit sharing of the information with third parties (e.g. as trade secrets, and/or for business or commercial reasons). Regulations such as the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and state regulations may also impact information collection, storage, sharing, and communication. These regulations have affected information sharing practices between healthcare marketplace participants and led to the creation of organizational “data silos,” where information available to an entity is isolated, even when it could be useful systemically (e.g. to another non-competitive entity). Such compartmentalization of information has led to increased difficulty in selecting appropriate patients for participation in clinical trials and decreased efficiencies in conducting clinical trials. For example, patient pre-screening may involve manual screening by health care provider, manually contacting patients individually for approval, further screening by a clinical trial review board, patient selection, patient consent, etc. all prior to the actual clinical trial. These inefficiencies can have negative consequences when trials are conducted in the midst of a health emergency and/or approved medical products need to be deployed quickly and effectively. In addition, these data silos also increase systemic costs (e.g. by limiting information available to a patient or medical provider when considering the costs of treatment alternatives, treatment locations, etc.), and/or raise patient risk (e.g. from drug interactions, prescription abuse, etc.), and/or limit the efficacy of outcome based approaches to medical treatment or remediation (e.g. making it more difficult and expensive to determine when a desired outcome has been achieved or compare metrics in approaches that achieve similar outcomes). Systems and techniques to address one or more of the above issues that would help facilitate healthcare information security while promoting interoperability between marketplace participants are therefore desirable.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “In some embodiments, a processor-implemented method may comprise: obtaining a first set of health parameters and collective demographic information associated with one or more population segments; receiving one or more encrypted first Electronic Health Record (EHR) sub-blocks decryptable by the first entity, wherein the one or more first EHR sub-blocks comprise: (a) patient profile information corresponding to one or more patients, and (b) corresponding patient medical histories for the one or more patients; determining, from the one or more patients, a subset of candidate patients eligible for at least one treatment based on a comparison of information in the one or more EHR sub-blocks with corresponding eligibility criteria for the at least one treatment, wherein the corresponding eligibility criteria are based on one or more of: the first set of health parameters, or the collective demographic information; transmitting, one or more encrypted first sub-blocks decryptable by one or more corresponding second entities, wherein each transmitted first sub-block comprises at least one candidate patient profile and medical information associated with the at least one treatment; and, augmenting, in response to a received transaction block with a transaction confirmation, a multi-dimensional blockchain, wherein the multi-dimensional blockchain is augmented with a multi-dimensional block formed by linking: (i) the transaction block comprising treatment deployment related information associated with the at least one treatment, (ii) A Drug-Device Information (DIR) block comprising the medical information associated with the at least one treatment, and (iii) an EHR block comprising the at least one candidate patient profile information, corresponding candidate patient medical history for the at least one candidate patient, and prescription information for the at least one treatment.

“In another aspect, a computing device for a first entity may comprise: a memory, a communications interface, and a processor coupled to the memory and the communications interface. In some embodiments, the processor may be configured to: obtain a first set of health parameters and collective demographic information associated with one or more population segments; receive one or more encrypted first Electronic Health Record (EHR) sub-blocks decryptable by the first entity, wherein the one or more first EHR sub-blocks comprise: (a) patient profile information corresponding to one or more patients, and (b) corresponding patient medical histories for the one or more patients; determine, from the one or more patients, a subset of candidate patients eligible for at least one treatment based on a comparison of information in the one or more EHR sub-blocks with corresponding eligibility criteria for the at least one treatment, wherein the corresponding eligibility criteria are based on one or more of: the first set of health parameters, or the collective demographic information; transmit, one or more encrypted first sub-blocks decryptable by one or more corresponding second entities, wherein each transmitted first sub-block comprises at least one candidate patient profile and medical information associated with the at least one treatment; and augment, in response to a received transaction block with a transaction confirmation, a multi-dimensional blockchain, wherein the multi-dimensional blockchain is augmented with a multi-dimensional block formed by linking: (i) the transaction block comprising treatment deployment related information associated with the at least one treatment, (ii) A Drug-Device Information (DIR) block comprising the medical information associated with the at least one treatment, and (iii) an EHR block comprising the at least one candidate patient profile information, corresponding candidate patient medical history for the at least one candidate patient, and prescription information for the at least one treatment.

“In a further aspect, an apparatus may comprise: means obtaining a first set of health parameters and collective demographic information associated with one or more population segments; means for receiving one or more encrypted first Electronic Health Record (EHR) sub-blocks decryptable by the first entity, wherein the one or more first EHR sub-blocks comprise: (a) patient profile information corresponding to one or more patients, and (b) corresponding patient medical histories for the one or more patients; means for determining, from the one or more patients, a subset of candidate patients eligible for at least one treatment based on a comparison of information in the one or more EHR sub-blocks with corresponding eligibility criteria for the at least one treatment, wherein the corresponding eligibility criteria are based on one or more of: the first set of health parameters, or the collective demographic information; means for transmitting, one or more encrypted first sub-blocks decryptable by one or more corresponding second entities, wherein each transmitted first sub-block comprises at least one candidate patient profile and medical information associated with the at least one treatment; and means for augmenting, in response to a received transaction block with a transaction confirmation, a multi-dimensional blockchain, wherein the multi-dimensional blockchain is augmented with a multi-dimensional block formed by linking: (i) the transaction block comprising treatment deployment related information associated with the at least one treatment, (ii) A Drug-Device Information (DIR) block comprising the medical information associated with the at least one treatment, and (iii) an EHR block comprising the at least one candidate patient profile information, corresponding candidate patient medical history for the at least one candidate patient, and prescription information for the at least one treatment.

“In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may comprise executable instructions to configure a processor to: obtain a first set of health parameters and collective demographic information associated with one or more population segments; receive one or more encrypted first Electronic Health Record (EHR) sub-blocks decryptable by the first entity, wherein the one or more first EHR sub-blocks comprise: (a) patient profile information corresponding to one or more patients, and (b) corresponding patient medical histories for the one or more patients; determine, from the one or more patients, a subset of candidate patients eligible for at least one treatment based on a comparison of information in the one or more EHR sub-blocks with corresponding eligibility criteria for the at least one treatment, wherein the corresponding eligibility criteria are based on one or more of: the first set of health parameters, or the collective demographic information; transmit, one or more encrypted first sub-blocks decryptable by one or more corresponding second entities, wherein each transmitted first sub-block comprises at least one candidate patient profile and medical information associated with the at least one treatment; and augment, in response to a received transaction block with a transaction confirmation, a multi-dimensional blockchain, wherein the multi-dimensional blockchain is augmented with a multi-dimensional block formed by linking: (i) the transaction block comprising treatment deployment related information associated with the at least one treatment, (ii) A Drug-Device Information (DIR) block comprising the medical information associated with the at least one treatment, and (iii) an EHR block comprising the at least one candidate patient profile information, corresponding candidate patient medical history for the at least one candidate patient, and prescription information for the at least one treatment.

“The methods disclosed may be performed by one or more of mobile computing devices, computers, including servers, cloud-based systems, etc. using computer-readable media or computer-readable memory.

“In the figures, like reference numbers and symbols in the various figures, which depict certain example embodiments indicate like elements. For example, sub-blocks with similar information are referred to with the same reference numbers. In addition, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by following a first number for the element with a letter or with a hyphen and a second number. For example, multiple instances of an element 280 may be indicated as 280-1, 280-2, etc. When referring to such an element using only the first number, any instance of the element is to be understood (e.g. element 280 in the previous example would refer to elements 280-1, 280-2 .. and/or 280-N). Further, in the figures below, an asterisk symbol (“*”) associated with a reference number indicates that the element (or some portion thereof) may be repeated (e.g. for each instance of the element). For example, a prescription may include several drug instances, and a dosage field may be repeated for each drug instance.

“The figures below also show hierarchies of records, which may comprise fields and sub-fields. Records include any fields (and some or all of sub-blocks) that are part of the record. Similarly, a field includes any sub-fields. Sub-fields may include additional sub-fields. In addition to laws/regulations governing information sharing, the fields in the sub-blocks that are shared between entities may depend on one or more of: the informational interface between the entities, the transaction type, the context in which the data is being shared, and the state of the transaction at the time the sub-blocks are being exchanged.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A processor-implemented method at a first entity comprising: obtaining an encrypted Public Health Information record (PHI) sub-block decryptable by a first entity, wherein the PHI sub-block comprises deployment information, wherein the deployment information includes demographic information associated with one or more population segments; receiving one or more encrypted Electronic Health Record (EHR) sub-blocks decryptable by the first entity, wherein the one or more EHR sub-blocks comprise patient medical histories and patient profile information for a plurality of candidate patients; determining, based on one or more of: the demographic information, the patient medical histories, or the patient profile information, or a combination thereof, a set of eligible candidate patients eligible to receive one or more treatments, wherein the eligible candidate patients are selected from the plurality of candidate patients; transmitting, one or more encrypted Drug-Device Information (DIR) sub-blocks decryptable by one or more corresponding second entities, wherein each DIR sub-block comprises at least one of the eligible candidate patients and medical information associated with the one or more treatments; and augmenting, in response to a received transaction block with a transaction confirmation, a multi-dimensional blockchain, wherein the multi-dimensional blockchain is augmented with a multi-dimensional block formed by linking: (i) the transaction block comprising treatment deployment related information, (ii) a DIR block comprising the patient profiles, selection parameters, and the medical information associated with the at least one treatment, and (iii) an EHR block comprising the patient profile information, the patient medical histories, and prescription information associated with the at least one treatment.

“2. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method is initiated in response to a health related event.

“3. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the health related event comprises one or more of: a public health emergency, or a preemptive health response, or a preventive health response, a disease outbreak, or a combination thereof.

“4. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the deployment information comprises geographical information pertaining to the health related event, wherein the geographical information comprises information pertaining to localities associated with the health related event.

“5. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the demographic information comprises risk-profile information associated with population segments.

“6. The processor-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the risk profile information comprises one or more of: a likelihood of exposure based on occupation or a likelihood of exposure based on location.

“7. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the demographic information comprises one or more of: health parameters associated with at-risk populations, or affected populations, or infected populations, or a combination thereof; or age, or gender, or a combination thereof.

“8. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more treatments comprise: one or more drugs; or one or more vaccines; or one or more biologics; or use of one or more medical devices; or a combination thereof.

“9. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the first entity, aggregate eligible candidate patient information associated with the transaction block to a public health entity associated with the PHI sub-block.

“10. A computing device for a first entity comprising: a memory, a communications interface, and a processor coupled to the memory and the communications interface, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain an encrypted Public Health Information record (PHI) sub-block decryptable by a first entity, wherein the PHI sub-block comprises deployment information, wherein the deployment information includes demographic information associated with one or more population segments; receive one or more encrypted Electronic Health Record (EHR) sub-blocks decryptable by the first entity, wherein the one or more EHR sub-blocks comprise patient medical histories and patient profile information for a plurality of candidate patients; determine, based on one or more of: the demographic information, the patient medical histories, or the patient profile information, or a combination thereof, a set of eligible candidate patients eligible to receive one or more treatments, wherein the eligible candidate patients are selected from the plurality of candidate patients; transmit, one or more encrypted Drug-Device Information (DIR) sub-blocks decryptable by one or more corresponding second entities, wherein each DIR sub-block comprises at least one of the eligible candidate patients and medical information associated with the one or more treatments; and augment, in response to a received transaction block with a transaction confirmation, a multi-dimensional blockchain, wherein the multi-dimensional blockchain is augmented with a multi-dimensional block formed by linking: (i) the transaction block comprising treatment deployment related information, (ii) a DIR block comprising the patient profiles, selection parameters, and the medical information associated with the at least one treatment, and (iii) an EHR block comprising the patient profile information, the patient medical histories, and prescription information associated with the at least one treatment.

“11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the method is initiated in response to a health related event.

“12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the health related event comprises one or more of: a public health emergency, or a preemptive health response, or a preventive health response, a disease outbreak, or a combination thereof.

“13. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the deployment information comprises geographical information pertaining to the health related event, wherein the geographical information comprises information pertaining to localities associated with the health related event.

“14. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the demographic information comprises risk-profile information associated with population segments.

“15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the risk profile information comprises one or more of: a likelihood of exposure based on occupation or a likelihood of exposure based on location.

“16. The computing device claim 10, wherein the demographic information comprises one or more of: health parameters associated with at-risk populations, or affected populations, or infected populations, or a combination thereof; or age, or gender, or a combination thereof.

“17. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more treatments comprise: one or more drugs; or one or more vaccines; or one or more biologics; or use of one or more medical devices; or a combination thereof.

“18. The processor-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: transmitting, by the first entity, aggregate eligible candidate patient information associated with the transaction block to a public health entity associated with the PHI sub-block.

“19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions to configure a processor to: obtain an encrypted Public Health Information record (PHI) sub-block decryptable by a first entity, wherein the PHI sub-block comprises deployment information, wherein the deployment information includes demographic information associated with one or more population segments; receive one or more encrypted Electronic Health Record (EHR) sub-blocks decryptable by the first entity, wherein the one or more EHR sub-blocks comprise patient medical histories and patient profile information for a plurality of candidate patients; determine, based on one or more of: the demographic information, the patient medical histories, or the patient profile information, or a combination thereof, a set of eligible candidate patients eligible to receive one or more treatments, wherein the eligible candidate patients are selected from the plurality of candidate patients; transmit, one or more encrypted Drug-Device Information (DIR) sub-blocks decryptable by one or more corresponding second entities, wherein each DIR sub-block comprises at least one of the eligible candidate patients and medical information associated with the one or more treatments; and augment, in response to a received transaction block with a transaction confirmation, a multi-dimensional blockchain, wherein the multi-dimensional blockchain is augmented with a multi-dimensional block formed by linking: (i) the transaction block comprising treatment deployment related information, (ii) a DIR block comprising the patient profiles, selection parameters, and the medical information associated with the at least one treatment, and (iii) an EHR block comprising the patient profile information, the patient medical histories, and prescription information associated with the at least one treatment.

“20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the method is initiated in response to a health related event comprising one or more of: a public health emergency, or a preemptive health response, or a preventive health response, a disease outbreak, or a combination thereof.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Lee, Jessica; Morimura, Jun; Moschetti, Michael; Quesada, Marvin; Thomson, Andrew; Vig, John. System And Method For Healthcare Security And Interoperability. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230118275, filed December 15, 2022 and posted April 20, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230118275)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)