Hospital emergency department resource utilization and optimization system
First Claim
1. A method of tracking activity and resource utilization within a hospital emergency department comprising:
- a. generating a user-defined medical information database representable in a flowsheet format in a programmable computer system, said flowsheet containing an array of interactive updatable cells for storing user entered medical data;
b. inputting data related to patient treatment, medical staff activity, and resource use into user defined categories within said cells of said flowsheet;
c. storing said data in user-defined, sortable databases;
d. retrieving user-defined from said sortable databases and performing statisitcal analysis on data to assess efficiency of medical staff activity, patient care and resource utilization over a given time period; and
e. generating reports containing said analyzed data
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for tracking the provision of hospital care, ensure efficient utilization of hospital resources and optimize reimbursement of hospital expenditures keyed to insurance company policies is disclosed. The system allows hospital administrators to monitor the cumulative activity of a given department over a time period and assess staff and administrative efficiency. In a preferred embodiment the system enables a user to define patient care parameters in a flowsheet format, track patient, physician, and other medical personnel activity from admission through discharge, and statistically analyze data from a given time period to increase hospital efficiency and optimize reimbursement by insurance companies.
-
Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A method of tracking activity and resource utilization within a hospital emergency department comprising:
-
a. generating a user-defined medical information database representable in a flowsheet format in a programmable computer system, said flowsheet containing an array of interactive updatable cells for storing user entered medical data;
b. inputting data related to patient treatment, medical staff activity, and resource use into user defined categories within said cells of said flowsheet;
c. storing said data in user-defined, sortable databases;
d. retrieving user-defined from said sortable databases and performing statisitcal analysis on data to assess efficiency of medical staff activity, patient care and resource utilization over a given time period; and
e. generating reports containing said analyzed data - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 23)
-
-
18. A programmable computer system for use in tracking activity and resource utilization within a hospital Emergency Department, comprising
a. a central processing unit; - a system memory;
a display device;
an input device;
a control device;
an auxiliary memory, and a printer;
b. said central processing unit enabled with a software application capable of generating an interactive, updatable electronic flowchart for collection and analysis of medical data;
c. said central processing unit further enabled with an operating system capable of interfacing with said software application;
d. said flowchart organized into a plurality of cells containing a plurality of user defined medical category labels, wherein each of said category labels indicates a user defined name for a category of medical information collected from patients treated in a hospital Emergency Department;
e. said system memory capable of storing data in user-defined, sortable databases;
f. said display device capable of displaying data collected in a flowsheet format;
g. said control device capable of directing activity of said software application;
h. said input device capable of inputting patient data into user defined categories of said flowsheet;
i. said auxiliary memory capable of retrieving said data in said flowsheet format, saving said data in a portable memory, and retrieving said data in the same or another computer;
j. said printer capable of generating reports containing selected data from Emergency Department database. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 31)
- a system memory;
-
24. A method in a programmable computer system for designing and maintaining the contents of a sortable patient medical information database comprising:
-
a. generating an electronic flowsheet containing a plurality of interactive, updatable cells, said cells capable of receiving user-defined medical data;
b. inputting user-defined medical information collected over a time period into said cell, wherein said information is displayed in a subsets of user-modifiable information in conjunction with each patient;
c. linking information contained within one group of cells, with information contained within one or more other groups of cells, through user-defined algebraic equations, such that tabulated results from one group of cells form part of the calculation of one or more other groups of cells;
d. creating sortable patient information databases through user defined inputs of selected data;
said data linked through user defined equations such that evaluation of one set of data allows for comparison with another set of data; and
e. storing said information within a computer memory for later retrieval.
-
- 25. A medical information database in a programmable computer system for use in tracking activity and resource utilization in a hospital Emergency Department.
-
33. A method of using medical information stored in a computer system to track hospital billing efficiency and insurance reimbursement comprising
a. analysis of user defined medical data stored in a sortable medical information database within a computer system; -
b. said information sorted according to activity related to patient admission, treatment, and discharge over a user defined time period;
c. comparison of expenditures linked to one or more user-defined activities within a section of an Emergency Department over a given time period, with actual reimbursement obtained from insurance companies for invoices associated with said activity. d. statistical analysis of billing invoices related to department operating expenses over a given time period to evaluate hospital billing efficiency. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
-
-
36. A improved patient medical information database for use in a hospital setting, wherein the improvement comprises:
-
a. means for tracking cumulative patient and physician activity, and resource utilization over a time period;
b. means for statistically analyzing data associated with hospital billing efficiency and quality of patient care; and
c. means to optimize reimbursement from insurance companies for covered hospital expenditures.
-
Specification