Health care protocols

• US 20040064342A1
• Filed: 09/30/2002
• Published: 04/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Physio-Control Corp. (Stryker Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Physio-Control Corp. (Stryker Corporation)
• Inventors: Sullivan, Joseph L., McMahon, Michael D., Jayne, Cynthia P., Pearce, Christopher, Radons, Stephen W., Browne, David W., Briscoe, Kathleen E.
• Application Number:
  US10/262,528
• Publication Number:
  US 20040064342A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines

Abstract

The invention is directed to techniques for managing health care protocols with a device that may be brought to the site of a patient in need of medical assistance. The device, which may comprise, for example, a defibrillator or a patient monitor, selects a protocol as a function of patient data and presents information pursuant to the protocol to assist an operator attending to the patient. The invention further includes techniques for customizing protocols.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving data concerning a medical patient;

selecting a health care protocol as a function of the data; and

presenting information pursuant to the protocol to assist an operator attending to the patient.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the data from the operator.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the data from a monitoring device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data comprise at least one of a physical condition of the patient, a mental condition of the patient and a complaint from the patient.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the protocol includes a set of procedures for treating the patient.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the protocol includes at least one of timers, checklists, prompts, display modes, references and utilities.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting the operator with a task to be performed pursuant to the protocol; and

receiving an acknowledgement from the operator that the task has been performed.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing the acknowledgement in memory.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining an event log that records actions taken in the course of attending to the patient.

10. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

receive data concerning a medical patient;

select a protocol as a function of the data; and

present information pursuant to the protocol to assist an operator attending to the patient.

11. The medium of claim 10, the instructions further causing the processor to receive the data from the operator.

12. The medium of claim 10, the instructions further causing the processor to receive the data from a monitoring device.

13. The medium of claim 10, wherein the data comprise at least one of a physical condition of the patient, a mental condition of the patient and a complaint from the patient.

14. The medium of claim 10, wherein the protocol includes a set of procedures for treating the patient.

15. The medium of claim 10, wherein the protocol includes at least one of timers, checklists, prompts, display modes, references and utilities.

16. The medium of claim 10, the instructions further causing the processor to:

present the operator with a task to be performed pursuant to the protocol; and

receive an acknowledgement from the operator that the task has been performed.

17. The medium of claim 16, the instructions further causing the processor to store the acknowledgement in memory.

18. The medium of claim 10, the instructions further causing the processor to maintain an event log that records actions taken in the course of attending to the patient.

19. A system comprising:

memory to store a set of health care protocols; and

a processor to select one of the protocols and presenting information pursuant to the selected protocol.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor selects the selected protocol as a function of an instruction received from an operator to select the selected protocol.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor selects the selected protocol as a function of patient data.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising an input device to receive at least one of patient data, a menu selection and an acknowledgement from an operator that a task has been performed.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising a monitoring device to receive patient data from the patient.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising an output device to present the information to an operator.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

an energy storage device;

a charging circuit to store energy in the energy storage device; and

at least two electrodes to deliver energy stored in the energy storage device to a patient as a defibrillation pulse.

26. A method comprising:

retrieving a health care protocol;

updating the protocol to generate a customized protocol; and

communicating the customized protocol to a device to assist an operator attending to a patient.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein retrieving a protocol comprises retrieving at least one of an object in an object-oriented language and a set of objects in an object-oriented language related by links.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising testing the customized protocol.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising storing the customized protocol on a computer-readable medium.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein communicating the customized protocol to a device comprises communicating the customized protocol to a device over a network.

31. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

retrieve a health care protocol;

update the protocol to generate a customized protocol; and

communicate the customized protocol to a device to assist an operator attending to a patient.

32. The medium of claim 31, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to retrieve the protocol cause the processor to retrieve at least one of an object in an object-oriented language and a set of objects in an object-oriented language related by links.

33. The medium of claim 31, the instructions further causing the processor to test the customized protocol.

34. The medium of claim 31, the instructions further causing the processor to store the customized protocol on a computer-readable medium.

35. The medium of claim 31, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to communicate the customized protocol to a device cause the processor to communicate the customized protocol to a device over a network.

36. A method comprising:

receiving a customized health care protocol;

storing the customized protocol; and

presenting information pursuant to the customized protocol to assist an operator attending to a patient.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein storing the customized protocol comprises replacing an older protocol with the customized protocol.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein receiving a customized protocol comprises receiving at least one of an object in an object-oriented language and a set of objects in an object-oriented language related by links.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein receiving the customized protocol comprises receiving the customized protocol over a network.

40. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

receive a customized health care protocol;

store the customized protocol; and

present information pursuant to the customized protocol to assist an operator attending to a patient.

41. The medium of claim 40, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to store the customized protocol cause the processor to replace an older protocol with the customized protocol.

42. The medium of claim 40, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to receive the customized protocol cause the processor to receive at least one of an object in an object-oriented language and a set of objects in an object-oriented language related by links.

43. The medium of claim 40, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to receive the customized protocol cause the processor to receive the customized protocol over a network.

44. A system comprising:

a server to customize a health care protocol; and

a client device to receive the customized protocol over a network.

45. The system of claim 44, further comprising a storage site to store a plurality of protocols.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the protocol comprises at least one of an object in an object-oriented language and a set of objects in an object-oriented language related by links.

47. The system of claim 44, wherein the network comprises at least one of a local network, an Internet network, a telephone network and a wireless communication network.

48. The system of claim 44, wherein the server collects data from the client device over the network.