After-hours radiology system

• US 20070078679A1
• Filed: 10/04/2005
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rose Radiology LLC (Envision Healthcare Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rose Radiology LLC (Envision Healthcare Corporation)
• Inventors: Rose, Greg
• Granted Patent: US 7,813,942 B2
• 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 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 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A web-based system is disclosed for managing radiology services for one or more medical facilities. The system, comprising both hardware and software components, provides mechanisms by which radiographic images and demographic information about a patient are transmitted to a central location and efficiently combined, allowing a designated radiologist to efficiently interpret the radiographic images and produce a preliminary report. The central location includes web-based, secure access by which multiple entities may interpret and update the preliminary report. Although the system is designed with after-hours radiology services in mind, the system may be employed in radiology departments during regular weekday operation.

Claims

1. A radiology system, comprising:

an image server coupled to a network, the image server comprising an image database, wherein the image server receives a radiographic image of a patient from across the network and stores the radiographic image in the image database;

a central server comprising a database, wherein the central server receives patient paperwork and stores the patient paperwork in the database; and

a web-based user interface comprising a preliminary report template, the preliminary report template comprising a plurality of fields, wherein a user of the radiology system views the radiographic image and the patient paperwork and enter information in the plurality of fields of the preliminary report template to produce a preliminary report for the patient.

2. The radiology system of claim 1, further comprising:

a fax server coupled to a telephone line, wherein the fax server receives the patient paperwork transmitted across the telephone line and sends the patient paperwork to the database.

3. The radiology system of claim 2, wherein the patient paperwork is transmitted across the telephone line using a predefined code sequence, the predefined code sequence comprising:

a fax server access number;

a medical facility code; and

a patient medical record number.

4. The radiology system of claim 3, the fax server further comprising:

translation software, wherein the translation software coverts the patient paperwork into a predefined format before the patient paperwork is stored in the database.

5. The radiology system of claim 1, further comprising:

a gateway server comprising decompression software, wherein the radiographic image is transmitted across the network in compressed form, received into the gateway server, and decompressed by the decompression software before being stored in the image database.

6. The radiology system of claim 1, further comprising:

a dictation server comprising voice recognition software, wherein the user of the radiology system generates dictation scripts using the voice recognition software and the dictation scripts populate the plurality of fields of the preliminary report template.

7. The radiology system of claim 1, the image server further comprising:

an image viewer, wherein the image viewer;

reads a header on the radiographic image;

extracts a medical record number of the patient from the header'"'"'

generates a health level seven message including the medical record number of the patient; and

transmits the health level seven message to the central server.

8. The radiology system of claim 1, the central server further comprising:

matching software, wherein the matching software couples the patient paperwork with the radiographic image based on the medical record number of the patient.

9. The radiology system of claim 8, the central server further comprising:

timing software, wherein the timing software determines;

a first time associated with receipt of the patient paperwork of the patient;

a second time associated with receipt of the radiographic image of the patient; and

a third time associated with the generation of the preliminary report of the patient.

10. The radiology system of claim 9, wherein the timing software further determines:

a fourth time associated with a first review of the preliminary report of the patient; and

a fifth time associated with a second review of the preliminary report of the patient.

11. The radiology system of claim 1, further comprising:

a default patient list comprising a plurality of patients, the plurality of patients being organized according to predetermined criteria; and

an interactive information display viewable from a web page, the interactive information display comprising a search engine interface, the search engine interface enabling the user to generate a user-specific patient list;

wherein the default patient list and interactive information display are presented as the user logs into the radiology system.

12. The radiology system of claim 11, wherein the user-specific patient list is based on one or more values entered in one or more filters in the search engine interface, wherein one of the one or more filters is selected from a group consisting of time filter, modality filter, date filter, and patient filter.

13. The radiology system of claim 11, the default patient list further comprising:

a status icon associated with each patient in the default patient list, the status icon being one of a plurality of status icons, wherein the status icon represents a status of the patient in the radiology system.

14. The radiology system of claim 13, wherein the status of the patient is selected from a group consisting of:

patient paperwork received, but no radiographic image received, less than twenty minutes;

patient paperwork received, but no radiographic Image received, more than twenty minutes;

radiographic image received, but no patient paperwork received, less than twenty minutes;

radiographic image received, but no patient paperwork received, more than twenty minutes;

patient paperwork received, radiographic image received, but no preliminary report generated, less than twenty minutes;

patient paperwork received, radiographic image received, but no preliminary report generated, more than twenty minutes;

preliminary report generated, but not reviewed;

preliminary report generated, reviewed by clinician only;

preliminary report generated, reviewed by department radiologist only; and

preliminary report generated, reviewed by clinician and department radiologist.

15. The radiology system of claim 1, the preliminary report template further comprising:

a diagnosis field, wherein the user enters a diagnosis of the patient after reviewing the radiographic image and the patient paperwork; and

a findings field, wherein the user enters findings of the patient after reviewing the radiographic image and the patient paperwork;

wherein the diagnosis field and the findings field are completed in the preliminary report template and saved, producing the preliminary report of the patient.

16. The radiology system of claim 15, the preliminary report of the patient further comprising:

a clinician scoring field and a department radiologist scoring field, wherein the clinician scoring field and department radiologist scoring field are completed using a predefined scoring system;

an clinician comment field associated with the clinician scoring field; and

a department radiologist comment field associated with the department radiologist scoring field.

17. A method, comprising:

retrieving a radiographic image for a patient, the radiographic image including a medical record number of the patient, wherein the radiographic image is stored on a system;

retrieving patient paperwork for the patient, the patient paperwork being transmitted along with the medial record number of the patient, wherein the patient paperwork is stored on the system;

providing a web-based interface accessible to a user, the web-based interface comprising a patient name, medical record number, and status of the patient, wherein the status of the patient is changed when either the radiographic image or the patient paperwork are received; and

generating a preliminary report based on the radiographic image and the patient paperwork;

wherein the preliminary report is generated when the status of the patient indicates that both the radiographic image and the patient paperwork have been received by the system.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

decompressing the radiographic image prior to storage on the system.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

converting the patient paperwork to a preferred format before storing the patient paperwork on the system.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

providing a template of the preliminary report to the web-based interface, the template including a diagnosis field and a findings field, wherein the template is saved as the preliminary report of the patient once the diagnosis field and the findings field are completed.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

matching the patient paperwork of the patient with the radiographic image of the patient, the medical record number of the radiographic image being identical to the medical record number transmitted with the patient paperwork.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

displaying a patient list in the web-based interface, the patient list comprising a subset of all patients whose radiographic images or patient paperwork have been stored in the system.

23. The method of claim 22, providing a web-based interface accessible to a user further comprising:

supplying a plurality of filters to the user of the web-based interface, the plurality of filters enabling the user to generate the patient list by entering search criteria into the web-based interface.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

associating a status icon with each patient in the patient list, the status icon indicating whether the system has received the radiographic image for the patient, whether the system has received the patient paperwork for the patient, and whether the preliminary report for the patient has been generated.

25. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

associating a first time with receipt of the radiographic image of the patient;

associating a second time with receipt of the patient paperwork of the patient; and

associating a third time with generation of the preliminary report of the patient;

wherein the first time, second time, and third time are presented on the web-based user interface.

26. An article comprising a medium for storing instructions for enabling a processor-based system to:

retrieve a radiographic image for a patient, the radiographic image including a medical record number of the patient, wherein the radiographic image is stored on a system;

retrieve patient paperwork for the patient, the patient paperwork being transmitted along with the medial record number of the patient, wherein the patient paperwork is stored on the system;

provide a web-based interface accessible to a user, the web-based interface comprising a patient name, medical record number, and status of the patient, wherein the status of the patient is changed when either the radiographic image or the patient paperwork are received; and

generate a preliminary report based on the radiographic image and the patient paperwork;

wherein the preliminary report is generated when the status of the patient indicates that both the radiographic image and the patient paperwork have been received by the system.

27. The article of claim 26, further storing instructions for enabling a processor-based system to:

display a patient list in the web-based interface, the patient list comprising a subset of all patients whose radiographic images or patient paperwork have been stored in the system.