Abstract: Ensuring that a user's demographic data is correct so that billing statements may be sent to a correct address for collecting payment(s) from the user is a challenge many service providers face. Automatic information standardization and verification is provided. When a user's demographic information is inputted into an information system, address information is standardized into a standard format, a breadth of a verification to perform for the user is determined, and cross-matching the user's demographic information with information provided by one or more third party data sources is performed. Results may be provided in near real-time so that any inconsistencies may be corrected on the front-end and thus avoid unnecessary operation costs and improving billing and statement delivery.

Abstract: Front-end patient financial triage is provided, wherein various financial clearance checks may be processed prior to proceeding with a non-emergent patient encounter. A patient's credit history, historic payment information, and symptoms of his/her financial health, such as employment and income, family size, etc., as well as address and social security number verification may be utilized to help a health care provider determine if a patient may pay for health care services. A web-based configuration tool may be provided for allowing the health care provider to dynamically change rules that define cascading processes of a financial clearance transaction. A health care provider may be able to use this actionable financial information to make better up-front decisions about which financial category may be most appropriate for a patient. Embodiments may help to protect a health care provider's financial liability, reduce bad debt and preventable write-offs.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for rendering images of digital objects or for preparing digital objects for subsequent processing. The method includes sorting data representative of the positions of at least three vertices of at least one polygon of a digital object, then determining whether the orientation of the vertices of each polygon from a specific reference point differs from the actual, or original, orientation of the vertices. Such a determination may be made by generating an orientation decision variable based on the relative positions of the vertices and calculating a cross product term (CPT) after the vertex data has been sorted. The CPT may also be used in other operations involving the polygon, such as in imparting appearance characteristics to the polygon. The method may be embodied as a computer program (i.e., software or firmware) that controls the operation of a processor.

Abstract: A graphics processor capable of rendering three-dimensional polygons with color, shading; and other visual effects also corrects interpolation errors that occur as a result of mapping the polygon to a pixel grid display. The processor renders polygons using an Incremental Line-Drawing algorithm and features an error correction circuit capable of adjusting the initial and incremental gradient parameters for each pixel characteristic and then rendering each scan line with the proper orthogonal adjustment. The error correction circuit includes an ortho correction engine for correcting errors in the initial and incremental pixel parameters and an ortho adjust engine to accommodate overflows in the x-coordinate calculations. The processor is able to render the polygons with monotonic gradients in color, shading, depth, and other visual characteristics without interpolation error.