“System, Method, And Computer Program For Streamlining Authorization For Medical Payment Adjudication” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20230316407): Patent Application

2023 OCT 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- A patent application by the inventors Richards, Daniel Kevin (Sandy, UT, US); Sine, Anthony (Laguna Beach, CA, US), filed on March 30, 2022, was made available online on October 5, 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: “Currently, adjudication of medical benefit claims can be laborious and time intensive. For example, a medical provider may write a prescription for a patient. The patient takes the prescription to a pharmacy, which then contacts the insurance carrier to determine if such prescription is allowed. A cycle often results where, if the prescription is not approved, the medical provider is contacted to recommend an alternative prescription, which is then sent to the pharmacy, which then again, must verify with the insurance carrier if it is permitted. Only in the instance where a prescription provided by a medical provider to the pharmacy, which is then subsequently approved by the insurance carrier, can a prescription be fulfilled. This interplay of prescribed courses of treatment (provided by a medical provider) which must be in alignment with what the pharmacy can provide and what the insurance carrier will cover, causes wasted time and resources, to say the least. Such inefficiencies are further exasperated when time-sensitive medical treatments are needed by the patient.

“As such, there is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues associated with the prior art.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “A system, method, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium are provided for streamlining authorization for medical payment adjudication. In use, a treatment fulfillment request associated with a patient, and data associated with a medical model containing a ranking of at least two prescriptions associated with the treatment fulfillment request are received from a medical provider. Next, an adjudication status of at least one prescription of the at least two prescriptions is determined. When the adjudication status of one prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that the one prescription is allowed by the medical insurance provider, submit the one prescription for fulfillment to a pharmacy provider as a clean claim submission. When the adjudication status of each prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that each prescription of the at least two prescriptions is not allowed by the medical insurance provider, request additional data for the medical model from the medical provider.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to: receive, from a medical provider: a treatment fulfillment request associated with a patient, and data associated with a medical model containing a ranking of at least two prescriptions associated with the treatment fulfillment request; determine an adjudication status of at least one prescription of the at least two prescriptions, by: a) submitting a ranked prescription of the at least two prescriptions to a medical insurance provider; b) receiving a coverage result from the medical insurance provider for the ranked prescription, wherein when the coverage result indicates that the ranked prescription is not allowed by the medical insurance provider, then automatically repeating steps a)-b), for a next ranked prescription of the at least two prescriptions; when the adjudication status of one prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that the one prescription is allowed by the medical insurance provider, submit the one prescription for fulfillment to a pharmacy provider as a clean claim submission; and when the adjudication status of each prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that each prescription of the at least two prescriptions is not allowed by the medical insurance provider, request additional data for the medical model from the medical provider.

“2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the adjudication status includes submitting the at least one prescription of the at least two prescriptions to an automated pre-adjudication workflow.

“3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein when the one prescription of the at least two prescriptions is allowed by the medical insurance provider, apply a pre-approved signature from the medical provider to the one prescription prior to the one prescription being submitted to the pharmacy provider.

“4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the ranking is based on input from the medical provider.

“5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the ranking is based on likelihood of success with the medical insurance provider.

“6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the data includes information associated with the patient including at least one of: employment, education, income, race, ethnicity, prior medical condition, family medical history, insurance coverage, age, gender, nationality, ancestry, or religion.

“7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs comprises instructions which, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to: receive, from the medical provider, payment or authorization approval provided by the patient in relation to the treatment fulfillment request; and when the adjudication status of the one prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that the one prescription is allowed by the medical insurance provider, send the payment or authorization approval to the pharmacy provider.

“8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the payment or authorization approval includes a token.

“9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the pharmacy provider is an online provider.

“10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the pharmacy provider is an on-site provider.

“11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the pharmacy provider is selected based on at least one of: a pre-indicated preference from the patient, a geographic distance between the pharmacy provider and the patient, a coupon available at the pharmacy provider, or open hours of the pharmacy provider.

“12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the coverage result includes a computation of payment from at least two of: the medical insurance provider, a patient payment, or an available coupon.

“13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the computation includes a ceiling limit amount defined by the patient payment.

“14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the clean claim submission includes at least two of: a pre-approval designation for the one prescription with the medical insurance provider; a verification of demographic information associated with the patient; an approval from the patient for the one prescription; or a signature from the medical provider for the one prescription.

“15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining an adjudication status of the at least one of the at least two prescriptions includes a time sensitivity for the at least one prescription of the at least two prescriptions.

“16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the clean claim submission includes documentation for legal compliance for the pharmacy provider.

“17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein receiving the coverage result from the medical insurance provider for the ranked prescription does not include submitting the ranked prescription to a prior authorization process associated with the medical insurance provider.

“18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the coverage result is a pre prior authorization indication.

“19. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving, from a medical provider: a treatment fulfillment request associated with a patient, and data associated with a medical model containing a ranking of at least two prescriptions associated with the treatment fulfillment request; determining an adjudication status of at least one prescription of the at least two prescriptions, by: a) submitting a ranked prescription of the at least two prescriptions to a medical insurance provider; b) receiving a coverage result from the medical insurance provider for the ranked prescription, wherein when the coverage result indicates that the ranked prescription is not allowed by the medical insurance provider, then automatically repeating steps a)-b), for a next ranked prescription of the at least two prescriptions; when the adjudication status of one prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that the one prescription is allowed by the medical insurance provider, submit the one prescription for fulfillment to a pharmacy provider as a clean claim submission; and when the adjudication status of each prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that each prescription of the at least two prescriptions is not allowed by the medical insurance provider, request additional data for the medical model from the medical provider.

“20. A device, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to: receive, from a medical provider: a treatment fulfillment request associated with a patient, and data associated with a medical model containing a ranking of at least two prescriptions associated with the treatment fulfillment request; determine an adjudication status of at least one prescription of the at least two prescriptions, by: a) submitting a ranked prescription of the at least two prescriptions to a medical insurance provider; b) receiving a coverage result from the medical insurance provider for the ranked prescription, wherein when the coverage result indicates that the ranked prescription is not allowed by the medical insurance provider, then automatically repeating steps a)-b), for a next ranked prescription of the at least two prescriptions; when the adjudication status of one prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that the one prescription is allowed by the medical insurance provider, submit the one prescription for fulfillment to a pharmacy provider as a clean claim submission; and when the adjudication status of each prescription of the at least two prescriptions indicates that each prescription of the at least two prescriptions is not allowed by the medical insurance provider, request additional data for the medical model from the medical provider.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Richards, Daniel Kevin; Sine, Anthony. System, Method, And Computer Program For Streamlining Authorization For Medical Payment Adjudication. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230316407, filed March 30, 2022 and posted October 5, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230316407)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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