Abstract: A health care network that is used by doctors, patients, nurses, DME offices, hospitals, etc. employs digital signatures and/or electronic image signatures for providing authentication, approval support, as well as security while accessing documents and other information. Electronic image signatures are attached to provide information about the approval, by physicians, of DME related documents and certificates of necessity. Electronic image signatures are used along with digital signatures to authenticate the documents and other information. When a user, such as a doctor, signs a document, such as a patient's documents, an electronic image signature of the user is selectively employed, along with the user's digital signatures that are based on public and private keys, to authenticate the user and determine the identity of the signer. Such a mechanism makes it possible to employ the electronic image signature as proof of the user having signed the document.

Abstract: An Internet-based drag and drop signature and date placement system is used by users such as lawyers, doctors, patients, nurses, home health care agencies, hospitals, etc. to gets documents signed after creators of the documents specify the signature and date locations and save them with or in the documents that need to be signed. The servers that store and provide documents employ digital certificates and other security mechanisms to make the retrieval of documents secure. Users therefore need digital certificates to retrieve documents from a secure document server before being able to sign them. A signer needs to have his signature captured once as ad electronic image signature so as to be able to use them for signing purposes subsequently. The creator of a document employs a document viewer on his computer or browser to drag and drop signature and/or date locations on his documents.

Abstract: An Internet-based secure document signing network is used to authenticate users and help them sign documents employing a signing party certification environment where a certification party, such as a notary, verifies the identity of signing users and lets them sign documents. When a user needs to sign a document, the user obtains the document ID and a password from the creator of the document and then gives it to the certification party to retrieve the document so as to be able to sign the document in the presence of the certification party. The certification party has digital certificates on his computer and an account with the document server that provides access to documents created by the creator. In addition, the Internet-based secure document signing network dispenses digital signatures to end users, who then use the digital certificates for secure access to documents and other information provided by secure servers.

Abstract: A healthcare network that is used by doctors, patients, nurses, home healthcare agencies, hospitals, etc. employs digital signatures for providing secure access to documents and other information. It also employs watermarked electronic image signatures to authenticate the documents and other information. When a user, such as a doctor, signs a document, such as a patient's documents, a watermarked electronic image signature of the user is selectively employed, along with the user's digital signatures that are based on public and private keys, to authenticate the user and determine the identity of the signer. Such a mechanism makes it possible to employ the watermarked electronic image signature as proof of the user having signed the document.

Abstract: A health care network that is used by consumers, such as doctors, patients, nurses, home health care agencies, hospitals, etc. provides access to several different kinds of information created by producers of the information. Specifically, for example, FDA alerts put out by an FDA Alert server are retrieved by the health care network, in background mode or in real-time, and presented to doctors whose patients are effected by the FDA alerts. A patient server that displays alerts to doctors, nurses, etc. while they are viewing a specific patient's information determines if any of the current (or new) FDA alerts need to be brought to the doctor or nurses attention based on information gathered by correlating FDA alerts with the patient's diagnosis, medication, etc. that are available at the patient server.

Abstract: A prescription network is disclosed that enables a physician to remotely, for example, access a patient database via a first computer to review patient information and prescribe drugs for the patient. A drug analysis engine may also be included that, based on an evaluation of the patient information and a new prescription selected by the physician, displays one or more warnings, such as, for example, a drug interaction warning, on the first computer for consideration by the physician. The physician may authenticate a selected prescription using a digital signature, and store the prescription in the patient database. A healthcare provider, such as a nurse, for example, or the patient may then access the patient database via a second computer, which again may be remote from the patient database, to review the patient information and obtain the prescription.