System and method for communicating abnormal medical findings

• US 20040240720A1
• Filed: 05/28/2004
• Published: 12/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Phyquest, LLC
• Original Assignee: Phyquest, LLC
• Inventors: Brantley, Steven D., Brantley, Bryan D.
• Application Number:
  US10/856,310
• Publication Number:
  US 20040240720A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/132
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for communicating abnormal or unexpected medical findings to a designated recipient, and documenting the succesful and correct communication to the recipient. One method includes: conducting a radiology examination of a patient and generating a machine radiology image; collecting information about the patient and designated recipient to permit correct communication to the recipient; an interpreter preparing an interpretation of the image, and applying a code to any interpretation classified as abnormal or unexpected; entering and storing in a computer the collected information for patients with an abnormal or unexpected code; a communicator accessing the collected information and communicating the abnormal or unexpected finding to a designated recipient; and entering and storing in a computer documentation of the successful and correct communication of the abnormal or unexpected interpretation.

Claims

1. A process for communicating an abnormal or unexpected finding by an interpreter of a machine generated radiology modality of a patient to a designated recipient and documenting the successful and correct communication to the recipient comprising:

(a) conducting a radiology examination of a patient and generating a machine radiology image;

(b) collecting sufficient information about the patient and designated recipient to permit correct communication to the recipient of any abnormal or unexpected finding that may be made on the examination as to the patient;

(c) an interpreter examining the radiology image of the patient and preparing an interpretation of the image and applying a code to any interpretation the interpreter classifies as abnormal or unexpected;

(d) entering and storing in a computer the information collected about the designated recipient and patient whose interpretation receives the code;

(e) a communicator accessing the collected information of a recipient and patient with the code in the computer and communicating the abnormal or unexpected finding as to the patient to a designated recipient for receiving any such finding; and

(f) entering and storing in a computer the documentation of the successful and correct communication of the abnormal or unexpected interpretation of the radiology image of a patient to the designated recipient.

2. The process of claim 1 in which the interpreter in step (c) dictates his or her interpretation of the radiology modality of a patient and applies a code if the interpreter classifies the interpretation as abnormal or unexpected and the dictation is transcribed by a person and certain information about the recipient and the patient including any code is entered into the computer in step (d).

3. The process of claim 1 in which the interpreter in step (c) dictates his or her interpretation of the radiology modality of a patient and applies a code if the interpreter classifies the interpretation as abnormal or unexpected and the dictation is transcribed by a voice recognition system and certain information about the recipient and the patient including any code is entered into the computer in step (d).

4. The process of claim 1 in which the computer stores all of the information about a designated recipient and patient, but the computer is programmed to provide, to the communicator, only information which has not yet been successfully communicated to the designated recipient.

5. The process of claim 1 in which the computer is programmed to find selected coded interpretations of the images of patients and display them as ordered by the communicator.

6. The process of claim 2 in which the interpreter reviews the transcription of any code in the dictation and approves any code as to a patient prior to communication by the communicator to the designated recipient.

7. The process of claim 2 in which the interpreter reviews any code in the transcription by the voice recognition system and approves any code as to a patient prior to communication to the designated recipient.

8. The process of claim 1 in which the abnormal or unexpected findings as to a patient are communicated by facsimile to a designated recipient by the computer and the facsimile and any verification of a successful transmission is stored in the computer.

9. The process of claim 1 in which any unsuccessful transmission attempt is automatically called to the attention of the communicator by the computer.

10. A process for communicating an abnormal or unexpected finding by an interpreter of a medical test of a patient to a designated recipient and documenting the successful and correct communication to the recipient comprising:

(a) conducting a medical test of a patient and generating a result;

(b) collecting sufficient information about the patient and designated recipient to permit correct communication to the recipient of any abnormal or unexpected finding that may be made on the result as to the patient;

(c) an interpreter examining the result of the patient and preparing an interpretation of the result and applying a code to any interpretation the interpreter classifies as an abnormal or unexpected result;

(d) entering and storing in a computer the information collected about the designated recipient and patient whose interpretation receives the code;

(e) a communicator accessing the collected information of a recipient and patient with the code in the computer and communicating the abnormal or unexpected finding as to the patient to a designated recipient for receiving any such finding; and

(f) entering and storing in a computer the documentation of the successful and correct communication of the abnormal or unexpected interpretation of the radiology modality of a patient to the designated recipient.

11. The process of claim 10 in which the interpreter in step (c) dictates his or her interpretation of the result of a patient and applies a code if the interpreter classifies the interpretation as abnormal or unexpected and the dictation is transcribed by a person and certain information about the recipient and the patient including any code is entered into the computer in step (d).

12. The process of claim 10 in which the interpreter in step (c) dictates his or her interpretation of the result of a patient and applies a code if the interpreter classifies the interpretation as abnormal or unexpected and the dictation is transcribed by a voice recognition system and certain information about the recipient and the patient including any code is entered into the computer in step (d).

13. The process of claim 10 in which the computer stores all of the information about a designated recipient and patient, but the computer is programmed to provide, to the communicator, only information which has not yet been successfully communicated to the designated recipient.

14. The process of claim 10 in which the computer is programmed to find selected coded interpretations of the images of patients and display them as ordered by the communicator.

15. The process of claim 11 in which the interpreter reviews the transcription of any code in the dictation and approves any code as to a patient prior to communication by the communicator to the designated recipient.

16. The process of claim 11 in which the interpreter reviews any code in the transcription by the voice recognition system and approves any code as to a patient prior to communication to the designated recipient.

17. The process of claim 10 in which the abnormal or unexpected findings as to a patient are communicated by facsimile to a designated recipient by the computer and the facsimile and any verification of a successful transmission is stored in the computer.

18. The process of claim 10 in which any unsuccessful transmission attempt is automatically called to the attention of the communicator by the computer.

19. A system for communicating an abnormal or unexpected finding by an interpreter of a medical test of a patient to a designated recipient and documenting the successful and correct communication to the recipient, the system comprising:

a memory to store one or more programs, where each program comprises executable instructions;

a processor in communication with the memory through a local interface for executing instructions from the one or more programs stored in memory;

logic configured to receive a first set of radiologic report records, each radiologic report record representing a radiologic report associated with at least one radiologic image of a patient;

logic configured to extract a second set of radiologic report records from the first set of radiology report records, each record in the second set having an abnormal result code;

logic configured to generate a list of report contact records corresponding to the second set of report records, each report contact record identifying at least one recipient to be contacted about one of the radiology reports in the second set; and

logic configured to generate a set of completed contact records, each completed contact record associated with one of the report contact records, each completed contact record comprising a contact name and a contact time and date.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the report contact record comprises recipient name, a recipient telephone number, a patient name, and a report identifier.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the recipient is a referring physician associated with the patient.

22. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

logic configured to extract the recipient identifier from the second set of report records.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

logic configured to extract the recipient contact number from a recipient contact database using the recipient identifier.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

logic configured to receive a set of recipient contact records into the recipient contact database.

25. A computer readable medium containing a program for communicating an abnormal or unexpected finding by an interpreter of a medical test of a patient to a designated recipient and documenting the successful and correct communication to the recipient, the program comprising the steps of:

receiving a first set of radiologic report records, each radiologic report record representing a radiologic report associated with a radiologic image of a patient;

extracting a second set of radiologic report records from the first set of radiology report records, each record in the second set having an abnormal result code;

generating a list of report contact records corresponding to the second set of report records, each report contact record identifying a recipient to be contacted about one of the radiology reports in the second set; and

generating a set of completed contact records, each completed contact record associated with one of the report contact records, each completed contact record comprising a contact name and a contact time and date.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the report contact record comprises a recipient name, a recipient telephone number, a patient name, and a report identifier.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the recipient is a referring physician associated with the patient.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the program further comprises the step of:

extracting the recipient identifier from the second set of report records.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the program further comprises the step of:

extracting the recipient contact number from a recipient contact database using the recipient identifier.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the program further comprises the step of:

receiving a set of recipient contact records into the recipient contact database.

31. A method for communicating an abnormal or unexpected finding by an interpreter of a medical test of a patient to a designated recipient and documenting the successful and correct communication to the recipient, the method comprising:

receiving a first set of medical report records, each medical report record representing a medical report associated with a medical test of a patient;

extracting a second set of medical report records from the first set of medical report records, each record in the second set having an abnormal result code;

generating a list of report contact records corresponding to the second set of report records, each report contact record identifying a recipient to be contacted about one of the medical reports in the second set; and

generating a set of completed contact records, each completed contact record associated with one of the report contact records, each completed contact record comprising a contact name and a contact time and date.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the report contact record comprises a recipient name, a recipient telephone number, a patient name, and a report identifier.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the recipient is a referring physician associated with the patient.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

extracting the recipient identifier from the second set of report records.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

extracting the recipient contact number from a recipient contact database using the recipient identifier.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving a set of recipient contact records into the recipient contact database.

37. A system for communicating an abnormal finding by an interpreter of a medical test of a patient to a designated recipient and documenting the successful and correct communication to the recipient, the system comprising:

a memory to store one or more programs, where programs comprise executable instructions;

a processor in communication with the memory through a local interface for executing instructions from the one or more programs stored in memory;

logic configured to intercept a first set of medical report result messages, each message indicating a result associated with a medical test of a patient, each message using the HL7 format;

logic configured to extract a second set of medical report result messages from the first set of medical report result mesages, each message in the second set having an abnormal result code;

logic configured to generate a list of report contact records corresponding to the second set of result messages, each report contact record identifying a recipient to be contacted about one of the medical reports in the second set; and

logic configured to generate a set of completed contact records, each completed contact record associated with one of the report contact records, each completed contact record comprising a contact name and a contact time and date.

38. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

logic configured to receive a physician identifier;

logic configured to parse the first set of medical report result messages to produce a first indication of a physician who ordered the image; and

logic configured to filter out, from the first set of medical report results messages, messages with first indications where the physician is not equivalent to the received physician identifier.

39. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

logic configured to receive a date range;

logic configured to parse the first set of medical report result messages to produce a second indication of a date the image was ordered; and

logic configured to filter out, from the first set of medical report results messages, messages with second indications where the date is not within the received date range.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein the medical report result messages are directed to a radiology information system located in a hospital.

41. The system of claim 37, wherein the logic configured to intercept is located at the hospital.