Abstract: A health-program system and method provides health programs for users to select, receives data related to users' progress in a selected health program and determines users' status in the program which is provided for display to the users.

Abstract: A wearable motion sensing device is disclosed. One embodiment of the wearable motion sensing device includes a motion sensor, and a pendant that is attached to the wearable motion sensing device, wherein the pendant is attached to the wearable motion sensing device at a location of the wearable motion sensor relative to the motion sensor that when worn by a human being, a mass of the pendant urges the motion sensor towards the human being.

Abstract: An apparatus for identifying a type of motion and condition of a user is disclosed. One apparatus includes a motion detection sensor operative to generate an acceleration signature based on sensed acceleration of the user, and a controller. The controller is operative to determine what network connections are available to the motion detection device, match the acceleration signature with at least one of a plurality of stored acceleration signatures, wherein each stored acceleration signatures corresponds with a type of motion of the user, wherein the apparatus distributes at least some of the acceleration signature matching processing when processing capability is available to the motion detection device though available network connections, and identify the type of motion of the user and identify a condition of the user based on the matching of the acceleration signature.

Abstract: Methods and systems for location detection are disclosed. One method includes a plurality of base stations of a location system obtaining information about at least one tag associated with the location system. One of the plurality of base stations is designated as a master base station for each tag. Each master base station electro-magnetically transmits beacons to each tag that the master base station has been designated as the master of. Each tag responds to the electro-magnetically transmitted beacons with an acoustic signal that identifies the tag. Multiple of the plurality of base stations, receive the acoustic signal of each tag. A location of each tag is estimated based on times of arrival of each acoustic signal of each tag at each of the multiple base stations, and based on location information of each of the multiple base stations.

Abstract: Methods, systems and apparatus for identifying an activity of an animate or inanimate object are disclosed. One method includes identifying each elemental motion of a sequence of elemental motions of a device attached to the animate or inanimate object. The activity of the animate or inanimate object can be identified by matching the sequence of identified elemental motions of the device with a library of stored sequences of elemental motions, wherein each stored sequence of elemental motions corresponds with an activity.

Abstract: A health-program system and method provides health programs for users to select, receives data related to users' progress in a selected health program and determines users' status in the program which is provided for display to the users.

Abstract: Methods and devices are disclosed for transmitting medical and health-related data from self-monitoring diagnostic devices via an intermediate device to a central server or data repository where the intermediate device is adaptable to numerous medical and health meters. A method of transmitting metric data from a medical data collecting device to a server computer is described. A cable type is first determined once a self-monitoring diagnostic device is connected to an intermediate data trafficking device, connected to a telephone line or a PC with Internet access. A value representing the cable type is then transmitted from the intermediate device to a server computer. The intermediate device receives diagnostic device configuration information or intelligence from the server computer. Using this intelligence, components internal to the intermediate device are then configured to enable communication between the self-monitoring device and the data repository or central server.

Abstract: Methods and systems for enabling and supporting patient compliance with a health treatment program or with health-related instructions from a caregiver are described. An interactive feedback loop is implemented that enhances and improves on present methods of monitoring and supporting patient compliance with treatment programs, particularly for patients with chronic conditions. A patient enters various types of data (e.g., biometric readings, diary entries, responses to surveys and health assessments, etc.) to a health data management system that includes a patient compliance monitoring system. The patient is encouraged to enter as much data as is practical and as frequently as possible. The feedback loop of the present invention provides compliance messages to the patient in a timely manner that are responsive to the data entered by the patient. The messages are customized, supportive, and timely.

Abstract: A user interface that integrates and uniformly presents to a healthcare consumer all or most of the consumer's health, health-related, and financial data is described. The interactive user interface is comprised of multiple dashboards which all have a generally uniform appearance and contain one category of health or financial data. A user can configure the size of each dashboard and its placement on the screen. By doing so, a healthcare consumer can view in one screen display data from multiple sources all relating to healthcare. The user interface is presented to a user by a service provider as the interface or window into a healthcare data management system provided by the service provider. The service provider itself stores and manages some of the consumer's health data, such as biometric readings. A dashboard of the present invention can contain data from the service provider or can contain data from an external source, such as an insurance company, a hospital, or a financial services company.

Abstract: Methods and systems are described for ensuring a high degree of accuracy in the transmission of biometric data (e.g., from a home monitoring device) over a potentially high-noise, error-introducing communication link, such as the Internet, wireless networks, and the telephone system. An intermediate biometric data transmission device is used to receive biometric data from a home monitoring device. The intermediate device encapsulates the raw data packets (which include a checksum) from the home monitoring device in an intermediate data packet with its own checksums. The intermediate device data packet is transmitted over a communication medium to a remote data repository, such as a health data management system. There, the checksums of the intermediate data packet are checked to ensure that the transmission was error free and then the checksums of the original raw biometric data packet are checked using device-specific CRC algorithms stored at the remote system.

Abstract: Methods and platforms for enhancing collaboration and communication between a patient and his healthcare team are described. A personal health record is created for a patient and maintained by a service provider. The health record is updated with self-monitored or remote device readings. These readings are sent, in a secure format that insures patient privacy, to the service provider and inserted into a health record via a computer connected to the Internet or via a telephone line without the use of a computer, i.e., by directly connecting an intermediate device to a phone outlet. Other health and wellness data may be written to the health record via a computer or via conventional means. Personal health records are created with minimal effort from healthcare professionals and patients.

Abstract: A method of transmitting data over a network in a secure manner while keeping overhead low is described. Various components for a web page are retrieved and a web page is formed. The web page has some components in which sensitive data is stored in XML data islands. It is then determined which of the XML data islands contains sensitive data, such as health or medical data or financial data that is specific to an individual. These XML data islands are encrypted using an appropriate encryption routine, not limited to SSL. Once the data islands containing the sensitive data are encrypted they are transmitted over a network. The encryption routine used to secure the sensitive data is chosen based on the level of security desired before sending the data over the network and the amount of overhead resulting from the encryption that the user is willing to accept. The overhead can be reduced by using a less rigorous encryption routine and thereby increasing performance and speed.

Abstract: Methods and devices are disclosed for transmitting medical and health-related data from self-monitoring diagnostic devices via an intermediate device to a central server or data repository where the intermediate device is adaptable to numerous medical and health meters. A method of transmitting metric data from a medical data collecting device to a server computer is described. A cable type is first determined once a self-monitoring diagnostic device is connected to an intermediate data trafficking device, connected to a telephone line or a PC with Internet access. A value representing the cable type is then transmitted from the intermediate device to a server computer. The intermediate device receives diagnostic device configuration information or intelligence from the server computer. Using this intelligence, components internal to the intermediate device are then configured to enable communication between the self-monitoring device and the data repository or central server.

Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for examining and effectively managing resource allocation in a health care organization or facility (e.g., a hospital, a hospice, or a nursing home). The disclosed technology relies upon an analysis of the electronic discharge records of a health care organization in a manner that allows extraction of only those records that were generated for patients having a specified condition (e.g., septic shock, coronary artery disease, auto-immune disease, etc.) or fall into a particular class based upon resource usage (e.g., length of hospital stay, type of surgery, or quantity and type of pharmaceuticals taken). Note that discharge records often fail to explicitly specify the condition of interest. To accomplish selective extraction, the content of the discharge records is matched against one or more “key explanatory variables” such as a “selection vector” which is collection of patient codes that implicitly specify the condition of interest.