Importance

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Abstract

A medical consultation support system in which a client computer is employed transfer a structured request for consultation from a primary care physician to a supervisory host computer. The structured request may be accompanied by additional information related to the request, forming a transmittable, machine-readable collection of information relating to the consultation request. At the supervisory computer, the request is displayed for preliminary review by a receiving staff physician who designates specialist and retrieves selected supporting documentation which is related to the current consultation request from one or more databases of medical information accessible to the supervisory host computer. The supervisory computer then transmits the request for consultation, together with at least an identification of the selected supporting documentation, to the selected specialist for review, and thereafter receives the responsive comment from the selected specialist. The supervisory computer further stores the request for consultation, including the specialist's responsive comment and an identification of the cited supporting material, as a structured case history item in the database of medical information where it may be accessed for future reference. Each consultation is further stored as a recorded learning event and is used to generate a report of continuing legal education credits earned by the requesting physician while participating in the managed consultation sessions.

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First Claim