@bcobra
Yes there is... I tweeted about this a few days ago:
https://twitter.com/iOnline247/status/259310581008457728
I was actually working on a very similar problem when using the code above. What you can do is use a modal within a modal ( I know, wonky but it works ). Prior to the *lookup* modal being opened, .serialize() the form and store it in the parent page using the selector above and $.data(). When the modal is closed, you can fire a callback that will deserialize the data stored in the parent page and repopulate the form with what was already filled in (People pickers may be a pain using serialize!).
I don't have any code to back this up, but I'm sure it can be done based on my experience with modals in SharePoint. I actually tried to rewrite this function a few months back and didn't think about this approach.
Cheers,
Matthew