Apparatus and method for monitoring and communicating wellness parameters of ambulatory patients

Claim 1

A system for monitoring a ambulatory patient and establishing communication to a caregiver regarding the wellness parameters of such an ambulatory patient between a first location and a remote central office location, said system comprising: a monitoring apparatus at said first location comprising: (a) a physiological parameter transducing device, said device generating an electronic signal representative of the value of the physiological parameter being monitored; (b) a central processor device, said central processor operatively coupled to said parameter transducing device and processing said physiological parameter electronic signals; (c) an electronic recciver/transmitter communication device, said communication device having one end operatively coupled to said processor and another end operatively coupled to a communication network; (d) an output device operatively coupled to said processor and providing a series of queries to the ambulatory patient, each query of the series of queries is representative of symptoms the ambulatory patient may be experiencing; (e) an input device operatively coupled to said processor and configured to receive inputs from the ambulatory patient in response to the series of queries, a processing computer at a remote central office location in communication with said remote monitoring apparatus for exchanging information with said monitoring apparatus wherein the processor receives the electronic signal generated by the transducing device and inputs from the input device wherein each input is assigned a score representing the severity of the symptom and the processing computer tallies the score from each input and, if the tallied score exceeds a predetermined value, an exception is issued notifying a remote healthcare professional that the ambulatory patient requires immediate attention.

Claim 2

A system for monitoring a ambulatory patient and establishing communication to a caregiver regarding the wellness parameters of such an ambulatory patient between a first location and a remote central office location, said system comprising: a monitoring apparatus at said first location comprising: (a) a physiological parameter transducing device, said device generating an electronic signal representative of the value of the physiological parameter being monitored; (b) a central processor device, said central processor operatively coupled to said parameter transducing device and processing said physiological parameter electronic signals; (c) an electronic recciver/transmitter communication device, said communication device having one end operatively coupled to said processor and another end operatively coupled to a communication network; (d) an output device operatively coupled to said processor and providing a series of queries to the ambulatory patient, each query of the series of queries is representative of symptoms the ambulatory patient may be experiencing; (e) an input device operatively coupled to said processor and configured to receive inputs from the ambulatory patient in response to the series of queries, a processing computer at a remote central office location in communication with said remote monitoring apparatus for exchanging information with said monitoring apparatus wherein the processor receives the electronic signal generated by the transducing device and inputs from the input device wherein each input is assigned a score representing the severity of the symptom and the processing computer tallies the score from each input and, if the tallied score exceeds a predetermined value, an exception is issued notifying a remote healthcare professional that the ambulatory patient requires immediate attention.

Claim 21

A method for monitoring an ambulatory patient and establishing communication to a caregiver regarding the wellness parameters of such an ambulatory patient, said method comprising: monitoring a physiological parameter; generating an electronic signal representative of the value of said physiological parameter; in a central processor device, processing said physiological parameter electronic signals; communicating said processed electronic signals between a first location and remote central location; presenting a series of queries to an ambulatory patient wherein each query is representative of symptoms the ambulatory patient may be experiencing; inputting responses from an ambulatory patient in response to the series of queries wherein each response is assigned a score into said processor; and tallying the score from each query by a remote processing computer and, if the tallied score exceeds a predetermined value, generating an exception.

Claim 22

A method for monitoring an ambulatory patient and establishing communication to a caregiver regarding the wellness parameters of such an ambulatory patient, said method comprising: monitoring a physiological parameter; generating an electronic signal representative of the value of said physiological parameter; in a central processor device, processing said physiological parameter electronic signals; communicating said processed electronic signals between a first location and remote central location; presenting a series of queries to an ambulatory patient wherein each query is representative of symptoms the ambulatory patient may be experiencing; inputting responses from an ambulatory patient in response to the series of queries wherein each response is assigned a score into said processor; and tallying the score from each query by a remote processing computer and, if the tallied score exceeds a predetermined value, generating an exception.