Method and apparatus for displaying a patient worklist

• US 20070075867A1
• Filed: 09/30/2005
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Robinson, Scott, Raichert, Kira
• Granted Patent: US 7,403,123 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.100
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

An apparatus displaying a patient worklist includes at least one processor, a pointing device, a display screen having a viewing area, and memory, and is configured to store patient information, including cautionary information and scheduled medical procedures, in the memory. The apparatus is further configured to display the patient information on the display screen in a worklist of patient listings for individual patients. The displayed patient information includes scheduled medical procedures for each patient and a visual cautionary indication in a consistent position relative to each patient in the worklist for whom cautionary information is stored. The apparatus is also configured to open a preview pane on the display screen entirely within the viewing area of the display screen when the visual cautionary indication is selected by the pointing device. The preview pane contains cautionary details associated with the corresponding patient for the selected visual cautionary indication.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, a pointing device, a display screen having a viewing area, and memory, said apparatus configured to:

store patient information, including cautionary information and scheduled medical procedures, received as input from an operator or from a radiology information system, in said memory;

display said patient information on said display screen in a worklist of patient listings for individual patients, said displayed patient information including scheduled medical procedures for each patient and a visual cautionary indication in a consistent position relative to each said patient in the worklist for whom cautionary information is stored; and

open a preview pane on said display screen entirely within the viewing area of the display screen when said visual cautionary indication is selected by the pointing device, said preview pane containing cautionary details associated with the corresponding patient for the selected visual cautionary indication.

2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said visual cautionary indication is an icon.

3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein each said displayed preview pane contains cautionary details in the same location independent of which said visual cautionary indicator is selected.

4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein the visual cautionary indication is an icon.

5. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a radiation detection system configured to detect at least either radiation passing through a patient or radiation generated or induced within a patient, and said apparatus further configured to selectively generate an image of the patient on the display screen using the detected radiation.

6. An apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein the image processing system includes an x-ray source and a detector array configured to detect radiation passing through a patient.

7. An apparatus in accordance with claim 6 configured to generate a computed tomographic image of the patient.

8. An apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein the image processing system includes an ultrasound emitter and detector configured to detect reflected or transmitted ultrasound radiation through the patient.

9. An apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein the image processing system is configured to generate a nuclear magnetic resonance image of the patient.

10. A method for displaying patient data, said method comprising;

storing patient information, including cautionary information and scheduled medical procedures, in a memory of a computing apparatus;

displaying the patient information on a display screen of the computing apparatus in a worklist of patient listings for individual patients, wherein the displayed patient information includes scheduled medical procedures for each patient and a visual cautionary indication in a consistent position relative to each patient in the worklist for whom cautionary information is stored; and

opening a preview pane on the display screen when the visual cautionary indication is selected by a pointing device of the computing apparatus, wherein the preview pane contains cautionary details associated with the corresponding patient for the selected visual cautionary indication, and wherein the preview pane can be viewed in its entirety without scrolling contents of the display screen.

11. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein the visual cautionary indication is an icon.

12. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein each displayed preview pane contains cautionary details in the same location independent of which visual cautionary indicator is selected.

13. A method in accordance with claim 12 further comprising detecting either radiation passing through a patient, radiation generated or induced within a patient, or both, and using the detected radiation to selectively display an image of the patent on the display screen.

14. A machine-readable medium having instructions recorded thereon to instruct a processor to:

store patient information, including cautionary information and scheduled medical procedures, in a memory of a computing apparatus;

display the patient information on a display screen of the computing apparatus in a worklist of patient listings for individual patients, wherein the displayed patient information includes scheduled medical procedures for each patient and a visual cautionary indication in a consistent position relative to each patient in the worklist for whom cautionary information is stored; and

open a preview pane on the display screen, wherein the preview pane contains cautionary details associated with the corresponding patient for the selected visual cautionary indication and the preview pane is entirely contained within the display screen.

15. A machine-readable medium in accordance with claim 14 wherein the visual cautionary indication is an icon.

16. A machine-readable medium in accordance with claim 15 wherein said instructions include instructions for each displayed preview pane to contain cautionary details in the same location independent of which visual cautionary indication is selected.

17. A machine-readable medium in accordance with claim 16 further having instructions recorded thereon to instruct the processor to operate at least a radiation detector to detect either radiation passing through a patient, radiation generated or induced within a patient, or both, and to use the detected radiation to selectively display an image of the patent on the display screen.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a display screen having a viewing area; and

a computer programmed to;

determine a number of patients scheduled for a medical procedure;

identify at least one patient of the number of patients having cautionary information associated therewith; and

populate the viewing area with a list of the number of patients awaiting a medical procedure with a single visual identifier assigned to each of the patients in the list having cautionary information associated therewith.

22. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the computer is further programmed to access a database of stored patient information and assign the single visual identifier to a patient if the stored patient information for the patient indicates that the patient is allergic to a given medication, recently underwent a medical procedure, or is pregnant.

23. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the computer is further programmed to display each single visual identifier in a consistent position relative to each patient listing.

24. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the medical procedure includes one of an x-ray scan, a CT scan, an MR scan, and an ultrasound.

19. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the single visual identifier is an icon and wherein the computer is further programmed to display a preview pane in the viewing area having at least the cautionary information therein for a given patient when the single visual identifier assigned to the given patient is selected by a user.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the computer is further programmed to display the preview pane in the display area without requiring user scrolling of the preview pane.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the computer is further programmed to display the cautionary information in a dedicated location of the preview pane such that the cautionary information is consistently displayed independent of which single visual identifier is selected by a user.

25. The apparatus of claim 21 configured to carry out the medical procedure.