System and method for electronically managing medical data files in order to facilitate genetic research

A method for conducting genetic research on medical data, said method comprising:

• (a) accessing a database storing a plurality of medical records associated with a plurality of individuals, each medical record including:
• (i) at least one unique identifier associated with a certain individual,
• (ii) medical data associated with the certain individual, said medical data including health status information, and
• (iii) genetic data associated with the certain individual;
• (b) extracting from said database the health status information and the genetic data associated with at least a subset of said plurality of individuals;
• and
• (c) processing the extracted medical data and genetic data for attempting to identify an association between particular genetic data and a particular medical condition.

A method for conducting genetic research on medical data, said method comprising:

• a) accessing a database storing a plurality of medical records associated with a plurality of individuals, each medical record including:
• i) at least one unique identifier associated with a certain individual, and
• ii) medical data associated with the certain individual, said medical data including health status information;
• b) extracting from said database the health status information associated with at least a subset of said plurality of individuals;
• c) obtaining electronically stored genetic data associated with the respective unique identifier for each of said at least a subset of said plurality of individuals;
• and
• d) providing the genetic data and health status information to an adaptive expert system, said adaptive expert system capable of processing the genetic data and health status information for attempting to identify an association between particular genetic data and a particular medical condition.

A method for conducting genetic research on medical data of a network system, said network system including at least one server managing a database, said database containing a plurality of medical records associated with respective individuals, said method comprising:

• a) including in each medical record at least one unique identifier associated with a certain individual and a collection of medical data elements associated with the certain individual, said collection of medical data elements including genetic data and health status information;
• b) accessing at least a subset of said medical records stored in said database;
• c) extracting the genetic data and health status information from said at least a subset of medical records;
• and
• d) providing the extracted genetic data and health status information to an adaptive expert system, said adaptive expert system capable of processing the extracted genetic data and health status information for attempting to identify an association between particular genetic data and a particular medical condition.

In combination:

• a) a network server having a first database storing a plurality of medical records associated with respective individuals, each medical record having:
• i) at least one unique identifier associated with a certain individual, and
• ii) a collection of medical data elements associated with the certain individual, said collection of medical data elements including health status information;
• b) a second database storing a plurality of medical files associated with respective individuals, each medical file having:
• i) said at least one unique identifier associated with the respective individual, and
• ii) genetic data associated with the respective individual;
• and
• c) an adaptive expert system able to extract from said first and second databases the health status information and genetic data associated with at least a subset of individuals, said adaptive expert system operative to process the extracted genetic data and health status information for attempting to identify an association between particular genetic data and a particular medical condition.

In combination:

• a) a network server having a database storing a plurality of medical records associated with a plurality of individuals, each medical record having:
• i) at least one unique identifier associated with a certain individual, and
• ii) a collection of medical data elements associated with the certain individual, said collection of medical data elements including health status information and genetic data;
• and
• b) an adaptive expert system able to extract from said database the health status information and genetic data associated with at least a subset of said plurality of individuals, said adaptive expert system operative to process the extracted genetic data and health status information to attempt to identify an association between particular genetic data and a particular medical condition.

A network server, comprising:

• I) a processor;
• and
• II) a memory including:
• A) a plurality of medical records associated with respective individuals, each medical record having at least one unique identifier associated with a certain individual and having a collection of medical data elements associated with the certain individual, said collection of medical data elements including genetic data;
• B) a program element including individual instructions for execution by said processor, said program element being responsive to a genetic research query issued by a client connected to said server through a data communication pathway for:
• (1) identifying at least a subset of said plurality of medical records,
• (2) extracting at least a portion of said collection of medical data elements from each identified medical record, said at least a portion of said collection of medical data elements including selected genetic data associated with the respective individual, and
• (3) transferring said at least a portion of said collection of medical data elements towards the client over the data communication pathway.