Method and system for extracting medical information for presentation to medical providers on mobile terminals

• US 20050065822A1
• Filed: 02/02/2001
• Published: 03/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Merative US LP
• Original Assignee: Thomson Reuters Incorporated (The Woodbridge Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Cross, Matthew, Ying, Alan J., Teague, Travis, Lawson, William T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,831,449 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0258 Registration
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A system for providing medical providers with medical records accessible from a mobile terminal in one embodiment comprises reformatting the information in a medical record database to be used with large, ergonomic icons allowing easy transitions between pages of information in the medical record. Docking stations or wireless networks may enable the mobile terminal to access the medical records. Thus, the medical provider may have bedside access to the information in the medical records to make informed decisions about treatment regimens.

Claims

1. A method of presenting medical records for use by a medical provider, comprising:

extracting pre-existing medical records from a database;

formatting said medical records for presentation on a mobile terminal; and

delivering at least one of said formatted medical records to a mobile terminal possessed by a medical provider.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein formatting said medical records for presentation on a mobile terminal comprises providing ergonomic actuators within said medical records to move between different screens containing different information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein delivering at least one of said formatted medical records to the mobile terminal possessed by the medical provider comprises delivering at least one of said medical records to a wireless telephone.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein delivering at least one of said formatted medical records to the mobile terminal possessed by the medical provider comprises delivering at least one of said medical records to a personal digital assistant.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein extracting pre-existing medical records from a database comprises extracting pre-existing medical records from a hospital database.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein extracting pre-existing medical records from a database comprises extracting pre-existing medical records from a proprietary database.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising accepting input from the mobile terminal to update said at least one medical record.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising updating through the mobile terminal at least one medical record.

9. A method of presenting information to medical providers comprising:

providing each of a plurality of medical providers with a mobile terminal;

establishing a format for the information to be presented;

delivering the information to at least one of the previously provided mobile terminals.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein providing each of a plurality of medical providers with a mobile terminal comprises initially giving at least one medical provider a mobile terminal free of charge.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein providing each of a plurality of medical providers with a mobile terminal comprises subsequently selling mobile terminals to medical providers.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising charging a fee for access to said information.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein charging a fee for access to said information comprises charging a monthly fee for access to said information.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein charging a fee for access to said information comprises charging an annual fee for access to said information.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein delivering the information to at least one of the previously provided mobile terminals comprises delivering the information to the mobile terminals through a docking station.

16. The method of claim 9 wherein delivering the information to at least one of the previously provided mobile terminals comprises delivering the information to the mobile terminals wirelessly.

17. A method of compiling a database of medical information, comprising:

accessing a pre-existing database of medical records;

extracting therefrom said medical records;

reformatting said medical records for delivery to mobile terminals; and

storing said reformatted medical records in a computer memory.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein reformatting said medical records for delivery to mobile terminals comprises providing ergonomic buttons to switch between different classes of information in the medical record.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising updating said medical records with information provided by medical providers from mobile terminals.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising a charge capture service to maintain a list of costs corresponding to services administered to a patient.

21. The method of claim 19, further including accessing reference material corresponding to the information and displaying the reference material.

22. The method of claim 17 further comprising temporarily storing the medical records in memory associated with the mobile terminals.

23. A system for delivering information to medical providers, comprising:

a computer for storing medical records;

a plurality of mobile terminals; and

means for providing said medical records to at least one of said plurality of mobile terminals.

24. A mobile terminal comprising:

a controller;

a display operatively connected to said controller; and

means for communicating with a database comprising medical records;

said medical records viewable on said display, said display comprising one or more buttons for switching between different classes of information in said medical records.

25. A method of providing medical records to a doctor treating patients within a medical facility, said method comprising:

providing the doctor with a mobile terminal having a memory for storing medical information regarding at least one patient;

providing a main database comprising the medical information regarding at least one patient;

sending the medical information regarding at least one patient from the main database to the mobile terminal;

receiving updated information from the doctor at the mobile terminal; and

maintaining the main database updated by transferring said updated information from said mobile terminal to said main database.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein maintaining the main database updated by transferring said updated information from said mobile terminal to said main database comprises maintaining the main database updated by transferring said updated information from said mobile terminal to said main database through a docking station.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein maintaining the main database updated by transferring said updated information from said mobile terminal to said main database comprises maintaining the main database updated by transferring said updated information from said mobile terminal to said main database through a wireless area network.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein the main database comprises a census of each patient within the medical facility and an expected discharge time.

29. The method of claim 28 further including changing the expected discharge time for a patient based on updated information from the doctor.

30. The method of claim 25 further including providing reference information to the mobile terminal upon receiving a request.

31. A method of providing medical records to a doctor treating patients within a medical facility, said method comprising:

providing the doctor with a mobile terminal having a memory for storing medical information regarding at least one patient;

providing a main database comprising the medical information regarding at least one patient;

receiving updated information from the doctor at the mobile terminal; and

updating the main database by incorporating the updated information into the database.

32. A method of maintaining records at a medical facility, said method comprising the steps of:

providing mobile terminals to a plurality of physicians;

maintaining a database containing a medical status of a plurality of patients;

sending information regarding at least one patient to at least one of the mobile terminals;

receiving treatment updates from at least one of the mobile terminals; and

updating the database to include the treatment updates.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein each of said patient'"'"'s medical status comprises an expected departure date, the step of updating the database to include treatment updates comprises altering the expected departure date.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein each medical status comprises a bill containing each service indicated in the treatment updates.