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#Idea - Improving Member’s Office Visit Experience


What: Make sharing Personal and Insurance details with Doctor’s office hassle free, accurate and ‘paperless’.

Constraint: Work with existing infrastructure without requiring additional hardware at Provider’s office. 

How: Extend BSC App by building a new functionality that allows sharing of Member’s data with Doctor’s office. Here is how it will work.
  • On BSC app, members will have option to ‘share basic data with provider’.
  • Member chooses this option and a ‘camera’ on the phone is activated.
  • Member asks provider’s clerk to open a webpage (something short like BSCSHARE.COM)
  • BSCSHARE.COM will display a QR Code on Clerk’s screen. Member hands over the phone to the clerk to focus on read the QR code with member’s phone. When the phone reads the QR code, Member’s basic information as insurance details are shown on Clerk’s screen.
  • The clerk can now use this data to update their system (or in a not so ideal situation print the information, prints out the data on a paper for their records)
  • If legally allowed this action by the member can also be considered deemed acceptance of the HIPPA disclosures.
Why (Benefits):
  • Member does not have to complete a paper form and saves time (and paper if provider does not print this information). 
  • Provider has accurate Member information which results in proper filing of the claims.
Technical Details of how:
1. Web page that provider opens (something like BSCSHARE.COM) displays QR code. 

This code is actually contains a token to uniquely identify provider’s web client (the browser tab being used). To avoid confusion, let's just call it WebId. The web client is continuously requesting for permission for a certain WebId to the BSC server until it is authenticated by the phone app.
2. Phone client (BSC app in member’s smartphone) reads the QR Code
The phone client reads the QR code containing the WebId of your phone, and perhaps some authentication token. After that, the phone tries to authenticate (give permission) for that certain WebId. Or, in non-technical terms, the phone client tells the BSC server that this certain WebId is allowed to access a certain BSC account.
3. Web client requests access to BSC server
Now, the phone client has already authenticated this certain WebId. The web client who requests access to BSC server is now allowed to proceed. Now a pre-determined set of information for member is shared with the web browser. 
So that's how basically the authentication works. It was very neat because you don't have to input your account username Or type a password or be worried about what information the provider can see. Your phone you held basically authenticate your identity, pretty much like identity card. 
How did I come up with this idea and how do I know the technicalities (though complicated) are possible? I had this ‘problem’ of ‘writing down information during an office visit’ at the back of my mind for a little over 2 years and when I saw how WhatsApp web authentication works, I applied the same principles to my problem.

Watch this video to see how 'WhatsApp Web' feature works

In my idea, I just replaced ‘whatsapp web’ feature with ‘share your data with provider’ feature and ‘whats app conversations’ displayed in the web browser with ‘predetermined member information’ displayed in provider’s browser.

Challenges:
  • As with any change openness of Provider to use this feature will be a challenge and may require convincing on time saving and data accuracy benefit.   
  • May have technological challenges in implementing this feature.
  • May run into ‘patent infringement’ issues with WhatsApp / FB. I tried to see if they have patented this, but search returned lot of patents and I could not find if the one I am looking for exists. We need determine if there is a patent and if yes, we may have to work with the inventor to use this feature (I am hoping that we will get permission to use this  likely patented technology assuming that we do not compete with the patent holder’s business ) 


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