Description:HEALTHCARE ASSISTANCE SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO A USER IN AN EMERGENCY
Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the disclosure relate to the field of providing assistance during an emergency. More specifically, various embodiments of the disclosure relate to a system and method to provide assistance during a medical and/ or non medical emergency.
BACKGROUND
In most countries across the world, designated 3-digit numbers exist to place calls for emergency assistance. These calls for requesting emergency assistance are normally made via analog communication channels such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN) since most emergency service providers such as emergency dispatch centers (EDC) or public-safety access points (PSAP) are generally suited to only receive analog landline based calls. However, a vast number of calls requesting emergency assistance now originate from mobile communication devices such as, for example, mobile phones that are capable of communicating via data communication channels (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP)-based communication sessions). Despite the convenience of mobile communication devices, emergency service providers have been unable to leverage these capabilities to provide enhanced emergency communications in responding to emergency requests for assistance.
A person in an emergency situation may request help using a mobile communication device such as a cell phone to dial a designated emergency number or a direct access phone number for the local emergency service provider (e.g., an emergency dispatch center). This call is assigned to one or more first responders by the emergency service provider. However, these communications are typically limited to audio calls with narrow functionality since most emergency service providers that receive emergency calls currently lack the capacity for more sophisticated communications. When emergency responders (e.g., first responders) arrive at the scene of an emergency, they often have little or no information about the person in the emergency.
Traditional emergency services networks services, such as calling an ambulance through a dedicated helpline, have been the primary method of dealing with medical emergencies are vulnerable to undesirable delay in providing the assistance with the information for handling emergency calls due to the time it takes for the operator to gather necessary information and dispatch help. There are other drawbacks also such as miscommunication, which can lead to confusion and further delays. Further, another problem associated with Traditional emergency services is lack of real-time information that causes delay in providing help.
Moreover, existing methods and technologies for addressing medical emergencies have several other limitations, including potential delays, lack of real-time location sharing, inadequate coordination among stakeholders, geographical barriers, and lack of multilingual support.
Although more and more emergency calls are being made by modern communication devices, emergency services are often unable to respond effectively to such emergency assistance requests, often when seconds mean the difference between life and death
Thus, there is a need to develop a healthcare assistance system to avoid Delayed Medical Assistance, and provide real-time information, proper coordination among different stakeholders (family, ambulance services, hospitals, and healthcare professionals.
Hence, the present invention focuses on a healthcare assistance system for providing immediate assistance to a user and a method thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention relates to a healthcare assistance system for providing assistance to a user. The healthcare assistance system is a real time emergency management system providing assistance incase of an emergency. In particular, the emergency can be a medical emergency or a non medical emergency.
The medical emergency includes Heart attacks, Brain strokes, trauma, accidents, injuries, illness and any type of medical problems and a non medical emergency includes, abductions , abuse, feeling threatened or unsafe, lost ( in a crowd or in an unidentified place) also includes finding the misplaced phone.
The user is any patient of critical care, trauma and accident victims or person needing any type of medical assistance or non medical assistance, the second user is a team member of a centralized service provider and the third user includes registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals in the user's vicinity area.
The healthcare assistance system comprises a user device associated with a user, a second user and a third user; a server comprising memory, processor and databases.
In particular, the databases store information such as but not limited to first user information, second user information, third user information, list of registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals, team members of a centralized service provider, list of ambulances, list of patient transportation vehicles and similar information.
The memory is configured to store medical emergency modules and non medical emergency modules. In particular, the medical emergency modules include:
An emergency assistance module to determine whether the emergency is a medical emergency or/ and a non medical emergency.
An emergency alert module characterized in that a
SOS alert module is configured to automatically send a SOS medical emergency alert to a network of ambulances or a patient -transportation vehicle in response to the medical emergency; and
Alert module is configured to automatically send the medical emergency alert to the second user, third user and user's three ICE (in case of emergency) contacts;
Alert module is also configured to automatically send an emergency alert to the Government allocated emergency number such as but not limted includes Police Department, fire stations etc.
The non emergency modules:
Blood bank module to provide mechanism to support all crucial functionalities of the blood bank, such as but not limited to process of receiving requisitions for blood, issuing blood and stock management;
Doctor module to book and fix a tele appointment with a doctor.
Laboratory module to provide a list of laboratory tests, disseminating and recording information for all tests performed.
Radiology module to provide a list of certified radiology laboratory information , nuclear medicine information and advanced imaging center information.
Pharmacy management module to provide a list of medicines, health products.
Other modules:
Location module retrieves a geographical location of the first user from the user device and shares the geographical location of the user in real-time with the network of ambulances or the patient transportation vehicle for dispatching the ambulance at earliest without any delay. Moreover, the location module also shares real-time location of the first user, the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle with the second user.
Communication module provides a multi-directional communication between the first user or the ICE (in case of emergency) contacts the second user and the third user for real time updates related to the first user.
Quality assurance and monitoring module for monitoring and controlling quality of care provided to the first user.
The processor executing computer-executable instructions stored thereon to implement a method for providing immediate assistance to the user for medical emergency or non medical emergency.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method for providing immediate assistance to a user using a healthcare assistance system incase of an emergency comprises a step of determination whether the user needs assistance for a medical emergency or/ and a non medical emergency.
For high priority medical emergencies, the method performs steps of confirming whether the user needs assistance for the medical emergency.
On confirmation of the high priority medical emergency, the method comprises steps of
automatically sending a medical emergency alert by an alert module to at least three user's ICE (in case of emergency) contacts informing about a user's emergency and a SOS medical emergency alert by the alert module to a network of ambulances or a patient transportation vehicle in the user ‘s vicinity and a second user.
retrieving, by a location module, a geographical location of the user from the user device for providing medical emergency assistance;
dispatching by the processor, an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle nearest to the user based on retrieved geographical location in response to the SOS medical emergency alert received from the user device;
sharing real time geographical location of the user in the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle on a digital map with the third user and user’s ICE contact based on real time location pings received over a communication network;
relaying, by the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle real time information to the second user and a third user for providing medical emergency assistance, the real time information includes live streaming of user’s vitals and health parameters; and
taking the user to the nearest registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics in user's vicinity area for immediate treatment;
establishing a multi-directional communication between the second user and the third user for providing real time updates to the at least three user's ICE contacts.
For the low to moderate priority medical emergency, the method comprises steps of:
receiving, by the processor, a booking request to book an ambulance or a patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances from the user device; wherein the booking request includes user pick-up location within a geographical area ;
allocating by the processor, an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances nearest to the user based on the booking request;
tracking, by the location module of the processor, current location the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle on the digital map based on real time location pings received over the communication network; and
rendering, by the processor, the digital map on a driver device of the allocated ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle.
The digital map includes the generated direction information, and wherein allocated ambulance or patient transportation vehicle navigates and moves between user pick-up location and the drop-off location based on the generated direction information.
In alternative embodiment, for the non medical emergency the method performs steps of directing the user to a non medical emergency module such as but not limited to a blood bank module, doctor module, laboratory module, radiology module and pharmacy module of the healthcare assistance system.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method displays a digital map with information such as but not limited to real time distance of ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle dispatched for providing assistance; an estimated time of arrival, total distance of the ambulance from user location.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method initiates a chat session between the first user with the third user in a user preferred language selected from the multiple languages upon successful initiation, the third user continues providing real-time information and/ or service requests on the user device and until the chat session is terminated.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the user device is any electronic device, mobile phone, smart phone, wrap around device, hand held device, laptop, tablet, mobile station, computer system, or similar devices.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the medical emergency alert is voice-over-internet Protocol (VOIP) call or a short message service (SMS) message, a push notification, a normal call, an audio message, a visual message, a haptic message, vibrations and alike alerts.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the SOS medical emergency alert is an alarm or a network message.
The foregoing objectives of the present invention are attained by employing a healthcare assistance system for providing assistance to a user incase of any emergency and a method thereof.
OBJECTIVES OF INVENTION
The principal object of this invention is to drastically improve the response time and effectiveness of emergency medical care, particularly in trauma cases, by providing immediate, coordinated, and efficient action
Another object of this invention is to send SOS medical emergency alerts to a network of ambulances or a patient transportation vehicle in response to the medical emergency providing immediate assistance to a user.
Yet another object of this invention is to send medical emergency alert user's ICE (in case of emergency) contacts informing about the user's emergency.
Yet another object relates to a healthcare assistance system for providing assistance to a user providing assistance to a user incase of medical and/or non medical emergency.
Yet another object is to a method for providing assistance to a user providing assistance to a user incase of an emergency.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention is understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
Fig. 1 illustrates a healthcare system for providing immediate assistance to a user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating different modules of the healthcare assistance system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing assistance to a user using the healthcare assistance system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the method of generating booking requests by the user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a schematic configuration of the healthcare assistance application interface displayed on the user device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
The method and system are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.
It should be noted that the accompanying figure is intended to present illustrations of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. This figure is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It should also be noted that the accompanying figure is not necessarily drawn to scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the following detailed description numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment of invention as illustrative or exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosed embodiments. However, it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention may be practiced with or without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures and components have not been described in details so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments of the invention.
The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. References within the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “embodiments,” or “one or more embodiments” are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, "can," "may," "might," "may," “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps.
The following brief definition of terms shall apply throughout the present invention:
As used herein, an “emergency situation” or “emergency” refers to a situation requiring assistance or relief. In some embodiments, the need for assistance or relief is urgent. In some embodiments, an emergency situation requires an emergency response providing assistance or aid. In some embodiments, an emergency situation requires assistance under urgent time pressure. In some embodiments, the emergency situation is a vehicle accident or malfunction, a crime, a medical condition, a fire, or other situation requiring assistance.
Terms user or first user or patient can be used interchangeably throughout the specification for convenience.
Term High priority medical emergency refers to Heart attack, chest discomfort, palpitations, doomed sensation, Brain stroke,panic attacks, accidents and trauma including any injuries that caused by an external force including and not limited to road traffic accidents, snake bites, bee stings etc, severe allergic reactions , exacerbations of asthma,
Term moderate to low priority medical emergency refers to abdominal pains, vertigo, minor injuries, elective to urgent dialysis, shifting of a chronic patient electively and any condition which needs an ambulance or any assistance which soothe the patient’s pain or ease the discomfort.
Term non medical emergency can refer to any emergency in which user need any kind of assistance .
Fig. 1 illustrates a healthcare system for providing immediate assistance to a user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. An exemplary computing environment suitable for use in implementing embodiments of the present invention is described below. The exemplary computing environment (e.g., medical-information computing-system environment) with which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The computing environment is merely an example of one suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention. Neither should the computing environment be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any single component or combination of components illustrated therein.
FIG.1 is a typical hardware configuration of a computer processing system 100. As illustrated therein, various embodiments of the present invention may be embodied for user, second user and third user. In particular, the user is any patient of critical care, trauma and accident victims or person needing any type of medical assistance or non medical assistance. Further, the second user is a team member of a centralized service provider and the third user includes registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals in user's vicinity area.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the healthcare assistance system 100 for providing assistance to users a central computing device (not shown) capable of communicating with users over a communication network 135. The computing device may be similar to any available or to be developed computing device, such as a personal computer (e.g., a desktop computer), server, laptop computer, notebook, tablet, smartphone, etc. Moreover, the computing device 105 may have the other modules and interfaces for performing methods and executing instructions as discussed below .
The healthcare assistance system 100 comprises a centralized web application hosted by a centralized service provider, server 105, communication network 135, user device 140 with pre-installed healthcare assistance application 120.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the users are smartphone users and non smart phone users. The smart phones users download and install the application from the centralized web application for accessing the services offered by the centralized service provider on the user device. Non smartphone users still get a network message with the information regarding the user who triggered the alert and the user location and user phone number
The server 105 may be, but not limited to a remote server, a cloud server, a web server, an application server, a proxy server, a network server, or a server farm, and so forth. Embodiments of the present invention are intended to include or otherwise cover any type of the server, including known, related art, and/or later developed technologies.
In some implementations, the server 105 can communicate via a virtual private network (VPN), Secure Shell (SSH) tunnel, or other secure network connection.
The server 104 includes a plurality of databases or storage devices 102 (hereinafter cumulatively referred to as database 102) to store first user information, second user information, third user information, list of registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals, team members of a centralized service provider, list of ambulances, list a patient transportation vehicles one or more user profiles, a healthcare team data, hospital data, a chat record and alike information. The database 102 may include one or more databases such as first user database, second user database, third user database, ambulance database, patient transportation vehicle database and the like.
In some implementations, the server 104 may be configured with one or more processors 110 and the memory 115. The processor 110 controls and coordinates the functions of the various components of FIG. 1. In particular, the processor 110 in communication with the memory 115 executes one or more computer-readable instructions (not shown) having instructions stored thereon to perform steps of providing assistance for medical emergencies and non medical emergencies.
For the non medical emergency, the processor 110 performs steps of automatically sending a medical emergency alert by an alert module to at least three user's ICE (in case of emergency) contacts informing about a user's emergency and a SOS medical emergency alert by the alert module to a network of ambulances or a patient transportation vehicle in the user ‘s vicinity and a second user; retrieving, by a processor, a geographical location of the user from the user device for providing medical emergency assistance; dispatching by the processor, an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle nearest to the user based on retrieved geographical location in response to the SOS medical emergency alert received from the user device; sharing real time geographical location of the user in the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle on a digital map with the third user and user’s ICE contact based on real time location pings received over a communication network; relaying, by the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle real time information to the second user and a third user for providing medical emergency assistance, the real time information includes live streaming of user’s vitals and health parameters; and taking the user to the nearest registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics in user's vicinity area for immediate treatment;
For the low or moderate priority medical emergency, the processor performs steps of receiving a booking request to book an ambulance or a patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances from the user device, allocating an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances nearest to the user based on the booking request; tracking current location the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle on the digital map based on real time location pings received over the communication network; and rendering the digital map on a driver device of the allocated ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle.
The processor performs steps of directing the user to one or more non emergency modules to book medical service requests provided by the centralized provider.
The processor 110 is any well-known processor, but not limited to processors from Intel Corporation. Alternatively in another embodiment , the processor 110 is a dedicated controller such as an ASIC. In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, the processor 110 is ARM, MIPS, SPARC, or INTEL® IA-32 microcontroller or the like.
Similarly, in yet another embodiment of the present invention, the processor 110 comprises a collection of processor 110 which may or may not operate in parallel. Alternatively, the processor 110, which may be any processor-driven device, such as may include one or more microprocessors and memories or other computer-readable media operable for storing and executing computer-executable instructions. The processor 110 further executes any set of instructions directly as computer executable codes or indirectly (such as scripts). In that regard, the terms “instructions,” and “steps” may be used interchangeably herein. The instructions may be stored in object code form for direct processing by the processor, or in any other computer language including scripts or collections of independent source code modules that are interpreted on demand or compiled in advance.
As used herein, the term "computer-readable medium" may describe any form of computer memory or memory device, such as, but not limited to, a random access memory ("RAM") or a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk, memory card, ROM, RAM, DVD, CD-ROM, USB Flash drive, write-capable, and read-only memories an EPROM, or an EEPROM.
Examples of processor-driven devices may include, but are not limited to, a server computer, a mainframe computer, one or more networked computers, a desktop computer, a personal computer, an application-specific circuit, a microcontroller, a minicomputer, or any other processor-based device.
The memory 115 configured with the server stores modules 125 such as medical emergency modules 117 and non emergency modules 119.
The communication network 135 establishes communication between user device 140, server 104, processor 110, healthcare assistance application 120 and ambulances issued for assisting the user for providing real time updates of the first user. The communication network 135 may be through any communication channel, such as, but not limited to, the Internet, wireless networks, local area networks, wide area networks, private networks, a cellular communication channel, or a combination thereof connecting any number of mobile clients, fixed clients, and servers and so forth. Examples of communication channels may include the Internet, a WIFI connection, a Bluetooth connection, a Zigbee connection, a communication channel, a wireless communication channel, a 3G communication channel, a 4G communication channel , a 5G communication channel, a USB connection, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication may be based through a radio-frequency transceiver (not shown). In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other such transceiver.
In some implementations, the healthcare assistance system 100 may be a distributed client/server patient care system that spans one or more communication channels. In other implementations, the communication channel may further include a corporate network and one or more wireless access points.
In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the healthcare assistance system 100 may also include one or more input/output ("I/O") ports (e.g., serial ports, (e.g., RS233 port, USB, etc.) and one or more network interfaces. The I/O port or ports may be operable to communicate with input/output devices, such as an internal and/or external display, keypad, mouse, pointing device, control panel, touch screen display, another computer-based device, printer, remote control, microphone, speaker, etc., which facilitates user interaction.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the user device 140, can represent various forms of processing devices. In particular, the user device 140 has the healthcare assistance application 120 by which the user initiates an assistance request for medical emergencies and non medical emergencies in real-time.The user device 140 is a mobile phone, a tablet, a smartphone, a cellular telephone, a wearable user device, portable user device, an enhanced general packet radio service (EGPRS) mobile phone, laptop computer, a user computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a communication network appliance, a camera, a smartphone, a media player, a navigation device, an email device, a game console, Palmtop PDA, a pocket PC, a smartwatch, a Bluetooth headset or a combination of any these data processing devices or other data processing devices.
The present healthcare assistance system is generally related to a network based service and/or a mobile app for: (i) automatedly sending SOS alerts and medical emergency alerts when a user is incapacitated and unable to do so for themselves, (ii) allowing health entities to easily access, communicate, and share up-to-date electronic health records of patients, (iv) providing real times updates to user’s ICE contacts.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating different modules of the healthcare assistance system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The modules 125 includes medical emergency modules such as but not limited to an alert module 205. The alert module 205 is configured to automatically send a medical emergency alert to at least three user's ICE (in case of emergency) contacts informing about the user's emergency. In particular, the medical emergency alert is an alarm, a voice-over-internet Protocol (VOIP) call or a short message service (SMS) message, a push notification, a normal call, an audio message, a visual message, a haptic message, vibrations and alike alerts.
The alert module 205 also automatically sends a SOS medical emergency alert to a network of ambulances or a patient transportation vehicle in the user ‘s vicinity and second user. The SOS medical emergency alert is an alarm message or a network message.
The non-emergency modules include blood bank module 210, doctor appointment module 215, laboratory module 220 , radiology module 225 and pharmacy module 230.
The blood bank module 210 is configured enables the user to view all crucial functionalities of the blood bank, such as but not limited to the process of receiving requisitions for blood, issuing blood and stock management. It maintains blood collection records, blood transfusion records, records of the entire blood bank process and the recipient and donor reactions.
The doctor appointment module 215 enables the user to schedule and book tele appointments with doctors without the need to call a doctor's office and wait for a receptionist with the help of a healthcare application or centralized web application. The user can view doctor details, doctor’s department, doctor slots available in his schedule, scheduled slots, blocked slots.
The doctor appointment module 215 is configured for retrieving the user profile associated with the mobile application pre-installed in the user device, searching one or more doctors through the user’s account; booking an appointment after selecting the doctor, selecting a mode of payment to pay the consultation fees, paying directly through bank or card or any online payment method and displaying “transaction successful” message and updating user account with the doctor details, prescription details and payment details.
The laboratory module 220 is configured for providing a list of laboratory tests to the user. The user sends online requests for one or more tests. Alternatively, the user may request details from the laboratory personnel. The laboratory personnel can also generate laboratory test requests. The said module enables billing of test, report generation and printing reports within a few seconds having no chances of flaws or errors.
The radiology module 225 is configured for providing a list of certified radiology laboratory information, and advanced imaging center information to the user for making necessary bookings. The radiology module 225 also displays and stores images in a readable format such as but not limited to JPG images. The radiology module 225 may retrieve directly images from one or more radiology machines and convert them to suitable for the purpose of them into computer systems or networked servers through internet of things. The images thus stored in the healthcare assistance application can be printed using a standard PC and a normal printer. The user can also send the images from the radiology module 225 by email for action or consultation.
The pharmacy module 230 for providing a list of medicines, health products from which the user can order. The said module works by receiving the prescriptions from the consulting doctors or users can upload prescriptions.
In some implementations, the healthcare assistance system 100 may also include other modules (not shown) such as but not limited to Location module, Communication module, Quality assurance and monitoring module and user module.
Location module retrieves a geographical location of the first user from the user device and shares the geographical location of the user in real-time with the network of ambulances or the patient transportation vehicle for dispatching the ambulance at earliest without any delay. Moreover, the location module also shares real-time location of the first user, the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle with the second user.
Communication module provides a multi-directional communication between the first user or the ICE (in case of emergency) contacts the second user and the third user for real time updates related to the first user.
Quality assurance and monitoring module for monitoring and controlling quality of care provided to the first user.
Casualty and emergency management module to serve the emergency patients instantly. It takes the patient from the arrival point in the casualty till they are transferred to a department in the hospital for further treatments. The said module sends alerts to the corresponding departments, captures all the relevant data on patient's condition at the time of arrival, course of action undertaken and this in turn also helps in the planning the further treatments of the patient.
The user registration module enables the user to register into the system through the healthcare assistance application 120. To login on the healthcare assistance application 120, the users register on the user registration module 305 using user credentials including an email & a password. Further, the user provides a plurality of data fields information including a Profile Image, Name of the User, Location of the user, Phone number, Email id and alike information.
Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing assistance to a user using the healthcare assistance system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method starts at step 305 and proceeds till step
At step 305, the method starts.
At step 310, the user registers or logins into the healthcare assistance application. The user registers on a user registration module (not shown) to enable the user to register into the healthcare assistance system 100 through the healthcare assistance application 120. To login on the healthcare assistance application 120, the users register on the user registration module using user credentials including an email & a password. Further, the user provides a plurality of data fields information including a Profile Image, Name of the User, Location of the user, Phone number, Email id, and alike information.
At step 315, a determination is made by the user on his user device whether the user needs assistance for a medical emergency or/ and a non medical emergency. In particular, the user device is any electronic device, mobile phone, smart phone, wrap around device, hand held device, laptop, tablet, mobile station, computer system, or similar devices. Further, the user is any patient of critical care, trauma and accident victims or person needing any type of medical assistance or non medical assistance.
In one embodiment, when the user determines that he needs assistance for a medical emergency. The method proceeds to step 315- 340.
In another embodiment , when the user determines that he needs assistance for a non medical emergency. The method proceeds to step 355.
At step 355, the user is directed to at least one non medical emergency module of the heathare assistance system 100. The user may book at least one medical service via the non-emergency modules such as but not limited to blood donation services, doctor appointment, laboratory services , radiology services and pharmacy services.
At step 320, a confirmation is made that the user needs assistance for a high priority medical emergency.
In one embodiment, when the confirmation is “YES” and the user needs medical assistance for the high priority medical emergency such as but not is not limited to trauma, accidents,injuries, illness and any type of medical problems.
In another embodiment, when the confirmation is “NO” and the user needs medical assistance for the moderate to low priority medical emergency such as but not is not limited to abdominal pains, vertigo, minor injuries, elective to urgent dialysis, shifting of a chronic patient electively and any condition which needs an ambulance or any assistance which soothe a the patient’s pain or ease the discomfort. On confirmation of medium to low priority medical emergencies the method proceeds to step 350.
At step 350, a user initiates a booking request to book an ambulance or a patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances from the user device. In particular, the booking request includes a user pick-up location within a geographical area.
In yet another embodiment, when the confirmation is “NO” and the user does need any medical assistance, then the user may be directed to non medical emergency modules.
On confirmation of a high priority medical emergency the method proceeds to step 325. At step 325, a medical emergency alert automatically sent by an alert module to at least three user's ICE (in case of emergency) contacts informing about the user's emergency. The medical emergency alert is an alarm, a voice-over-internet Protocol (VOIP) call or a short message service (SMS) message, a push notification, a normal call, an audio message, a visual message, a haptic message, vibrations and alike alerts.
And, a SOS medical emergency alert is automatically sent by the alert module to a network of ambulances or a patient transportation vehicle in the user ‘s vicinity and a second user. The SOS medical emergency alert is an alarm message or a network message.
At step 330, a geographical location of the user is retrieved from the user device by the processor for providing medical emergency assistance to the user.
At step 335, an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle nearest to the user based on retrieved geographical location is dispatched by the processor in response to the SOS medical emergency alert received from the user device.
At step 340, real time geographical location of the user in the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle is shared on a digital map with the third user and user’s ICE contact based on real time location pings received over a communication network. In particular, the digital map displays the real time distance of an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle dispatched for providing assistance; an estimated time of arrival, total distance of the ambulance from the user location.
At step 345, the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle relays real time information to the second user and the third user for making necessary arrangements to provide immediate treatment when the user reaches the registered hospital/health clinic. The real time information includes live streaming of user’s vitals and other health parameters such as but not limited to Pulse rate, Blood Pressure, Oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, temperature, ECG.
In alternative embodiment, the user may not be taken to the nearest hospital for further treatment.
And the process ends when the user receives medical treatment either in the dispatched ambulance, patient transport vehicle, or by the second user on site .
In particular, the second user is a team member of a centralized service provider and the third user includes registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals in user's vicinity area.
The method may also comprise a step of establishing a multi-directional communication between the second user and the third user for providing real time updates to the at least three user's ICE contacts.
Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the method of generating booking requests by the user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
When the user initiates the booking request to book the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle. Then the method proceeds to step 405- 415
At step 405, on receiving the booking requests, the server 104 allocates an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances nearest to the user based on the booking request.
At step 410, the current location of the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle is shared with the user in real time. In particular, the location of the dispatched ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle is tracked by the processor on the digital map based on real time location pings received over the communication network.
At step 415, the digital map is rendered, on a driver device of the allocated ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle. The digital map includes the generated direction information, allocated ambulance or patient transportation vehicle navigation and moves between user pick-up location and the drop-off location based on the generated direction information.
At step 420, the user is picked up by the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle and taken to the nearest registered hospital for treatment. The ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle may relay real time information to the second user and the third user for making necessary arrangements to provide immediate medical emergency assistance when the user reaches the hospital/health clinic. The real time information includes live streaming of user’s vitals and other health parameters such as but not limited to Pulse rate, Blood Pressure, Oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, temperature, ECG.
In accordance with alternative embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises steps of initiating a communication session between first user and the third user in a user preferred language selected from the multiple languages upon successful initiation. The third user continues to provide the real-time information and/ or service requests on the user device and until the chat session is terminated.
In accordance with alternative embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises steps of coordinating, by the second user, a multi-directional communication with the first user and the third user and facilitating, by the second user, an emergency patient remote consultation with the third user. The third user may be at least one medical practitioner or one medical person based on emergency patient status information.
In accordance with the alternative embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises the step of initiating a joint call between the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user, the third user via the communication network.
In accordance with alternative embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises the step of creating a user specific chat session for sending messages between the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user, the third user via the communication network. In particular, the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user and the third user who have accepted the SOS alerts are patched into the user specific chat session or the joint call.
Fig. 5 is a schematic configuration of the healthcare assistance application interface 500 displayed on the user device 140 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. To login, the consumer enters the user credentials including an email & a password which he used at the time on user registration. The user registration module validates the credentials. On successful validation, the user logs into the healthcare assistance application 120. After logging into healthcare assistance application 120 the consumer views the dashboard 405 with one or more dashboard items on the user device 125. The one or more dash items include a profile menu 510, a user menu 515, a payment menu 520 and alike menu.
The profile menu 410 comprises the user information, the plurality of data fields including a Profile Image, Name of the User, Location of the user, Phone number, Email id,, User’s ICE contacts and similar information.
The user menu 515 displays dashboard item 517 for medical emergency assistance and dashboard item 519 for non medical emergency assistance.
When the user selects dashboard item 517, the healthcare assistance system 100 performs the steps for providing high priority medical emergency assistance or low to moderate priority emergency assistance to the user depending on user input.
When the user selects dashboard item 519, the healthcare assistance system directs the user to make service bookings for non medical emergency assistance. The bookings may include but are not limited to health test booking, medicine ordering, doctor consultations and similar bookings.
The user menu also displays a list of user's previous bookings for medical assistance and/or non medical assistance.
The payment menu 520 displays a plurality of payment methods for consumers to make payment for doctor consultations, medicine orders, pharmacy orders, booking health check ups etc. The payment is done through any payment methods selected from internet banking, a debit card payment, a credit card payment, a digital wallet or a unified payment interface (UPI) and similar payment methods. The user saves one or more bank accounts or one or more card details for making payments. The bank bank account details includes Name of the Account Holder, Bank Name, Sort Code, IFSC Code, Bank address, CIF number, a five-digit branch code, country code, registered mobile number and alike details
Alternatively, the payment menu 420 further saves card details including Card Name, Card Number, Expiry Date and CVV and alike details for fast payment. Moreover, the user selects any one of the debit cards and credit cards as a primary card for payments. Subsequently, the user deletes card details of any one of the saved debit cards and saved credit cards at any time.
The chat menu 525, displays a list of current chats, and past chats to the user. Also provides the user to initiate a communication session with the second user or the third user in a user preferred language selected from the multiple languages upon successful initiation. The third user or second user continues to provide the real-time information and/ or service requests on the user device and until the chat session is terminated.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises steps of coordinating, by the second user, a multi-directional communication with the first user and the third user to facilitate an emergency patient remote consultation. The third user may be at least one medical practitioner or one medical person based on emergency patient status information.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises steps of initiating a joint call between the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user, the third user via the communication network ; and/or creating a user specific chat session for sending messages between the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user, the third user via the communication network. In particular, the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user and the third user who have accepted the SOS alerts are patched into the user specific chat session or the joint call.
It may be noted that the flowchart is explained to have above stated process steps, however, those skilled in the art would appreciate that the flowchart 900 may have more/less number of process steps which may enable all the above stated embodiments of the present disclosure.
The present invention for providing assistance to a user incase of emergency by ensuring a quicker, more coordinated, and wider-reaching emergency response, thereby potentially saving more lives. The system aims at providing faster emergency response, improved coordination, greater accessibility, reduced communication burden, a user-friendly interface and enhanced 'golden hour' care by facilitating faster and more coordinated responses, the app significantly improves the quality of 'golden hour' trauma care.
While several possible embodiments of the disclosure have been described above and illustrated in some cases, it should be interpreted and understood as to have been presented only by way of illustration and example, but not by limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodiment should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.
The methods and processes described herein may have fewer or additional steps or states and the steps or states may be performed in a different order. Not all steps or states need to be reached. The methods and processes described herein may be embodied in, and fully or partially automated via, software code modules executed by one or more general purpose computers. The code modules may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in whole or in part in specialized computer hardware.
It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and embodiments of the invention are capable of operating according to the present invention in other sequences, or in orientations different from the one(s) described or illustrated above.
, Claims:1. A method for providing an assistance to a user using a healthcare assistance system characterized in that steps of:
determining, by the user whether the user need assistance for a medical emergency or/ and a non medical emergency;
For a medical emergency assistance,the method comprises steps of :
determining whether the user needs assistance for a high priority emergency or a moderate to low priority medical emergency;
on confirmation of the high priority emergency, the processor is configured for :
automatically sending a medical emergency alert by an alert module to at least three user's ICE (in case of emergency) contacts informing about user’s emergency;
automatically sending a SOS medical emergency alert by the alert module to a network of ambulances or a patient transportation vehicle in user ‘s vicinity and a second user;
retrieving, a geographical location of the user from the user device for providing medical emergency assistance;
dispatching by the processor, an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle nearest to the user based on retrieved geographical location in response to the SOS medical emergency alert received from the user device;
sharing real time geographical location of the user in the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle on a digital map with the third user and user’s ICE contact based on real time location pings received over a communication network;
relaying, by the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle real time information to the second user and a third user for making necessary arrangements in emergency once the user reaches hospital providing medical emergency assistance, wherein the real time information includes live streaming of user’s vitals and health parameters; and
establishing a multi-directional communication between the second user and the third user for providing real time updates to the at least three user's ICE contacts;
For providing a moderate to low priority medical emergency assistance, or the non medical emergency assistance, the processor :
initiating a booking request by the user via the user device to book the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances; or
directing the user to initiate a booking request on one or more non-emergency modules of the heathare assistance system.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein for providing the moderate and low priority medical emergency assistance the method comprises:
receiving, by a processor, the booking request initiated by the user, wherein the booking request includes user pick-up location within a geographical area;
allocating by the processor, an ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle from the network of ambulances nearest to the user based on the booking request;
tracking, by the processor, a current location the ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle on the digital map based on real time location pings received over the communication network; and
rendering, by the processor, the digital map on a driver device of the allocated ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle,
wherein the allocated ambulance or patient transportation vehicle navigates and moves between user pick-up location and the drop-off location based on the generated direction information.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein medical emergency includes trauma, accidents, injuries, illness and any type of medical problems and a non medical emergency includes abductions, abuse, feeling threatened or unsafe, lost etc; wherein the user device is any electronic device, mobile phone, smart phone, wrap around device, hand held device, laptop, tablet, mobile station, computer system, or similar devices.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein medical emergency alert is an alarm, a voice-over-internet Protocol (VOIP) call or a short message service (SMS) message, a push notification, a normal call, an audio message, a visual message, a haptic message, vibrations and alike alerts and the SOS medical emergency alert is an alarm message or a network message.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the digital map includes the generated direction information, real time distance of ambulance or the patient transportation vehicle dispatched for providing assistance; an estimated time of arrival, total distance of the ambulance from user location.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user is user is any patient of critical care, trauma and accident victims or person needing any type of medical assistance, the second user is a team member of a centralized service provider and the third user includes registered healthcare centers, hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals in user's vicinity area.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor directs the user to the one or more non emergency modules, wherein the one or more non emergency modules are:
a blood bank module configured to show the user all crucial functionalities of of blood bank, such as but not limited to process of receiving requisitions for blood, issuing blood and stock management;
a doctor module configured for booking and fixing a tele appointment with doctor;
a laboratory module configured for providing list of laboratory tests, disseminating and recording information for all tests performed;
a radiology module configured for providing a list of certified radiology laboratory information, and advanced imaging center information; and
a pharmacy module configured for providing a list of medicines, health products from which the user can order.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method comprises:
initiating a communication session between first user and the second user in a user preferred language selected from the multiple languages upon successful initiation,
wherein the second user continues to provide the real-time information and/ or service requests on the user device and until the chat session is terminated.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method comprises steps of:
coordinating, by the second user, a multi-directional communication with the first user and the third user; and
facilitating, by the second user, an emergency patient remote consultation of the user with the third user; wherein the third user may be at least one medical practitioner or one medical person based on an emergency patient status information.
10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein for the medical emergency assistance the method comprises:
initiating a joint call between the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user, the third user via the communication network ; and/or
creating a user specific chat session for sending messages between the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user, the third user via the communication network ;
wherein the ambulance or patient transportation vehicle, the second user and the third user who have accepted the SOS alerts are patched into the user specific chat session or the joint call.