KEY NOTIFICATIONS IN A CLINICAL COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT

• US 20080004502A1
• Filed: 06/29/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cerner Innovation, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Cerner Innovation, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: SCHIERTS, HAL W., ASH, MICHAEL A., DEVERTER, JOHN Q.
• Granted Patent: US 8,751,251 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/300
• 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 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

Automatic triaging of patient information within a clinical computing environment is provided. Items of patient information are received, and each item is compared against predefined criteria to determine whether the item is time-sensitive. If an item satisfies a threshold of time-sensitivity, a key notification is provided for the item. A clinician may receive the key notification regardless of the view or application in which the clinician is working. The clinician may directly navigate from the key notification to the associated information, access additional information if necessary, and resolve the condition. Additionally, clinicians may control the triaging of information by specifying patient populations and thresholds required to trigger key notifications.

Claims

1. A method in a clinical computing environment for automatically triaging one or more items of patient information, the method comprising:

receiving the one or more items of patient information;

identifying at least one of the one or more items of patient information as a time-sensitive item; and

presenting a key notification for the time-sensitive item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the one or more items of patient information comprises receiving the one or more items of patient information at a user inbox within a clinical computing system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more items of patient information comprise at least one of a laboratory testing result, a diagnostic testing result, an electronic mail message, and a due item.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying at least one of the one or more items of patient information as a time-sensitive item comprises filtering the one or more items of patient information based on predefined criteria.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein filtering the one or more items of patient information based on predefined criteria comprises filtering the one or more items of patient information based on a predefined patient population.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying at least one of the one or more items of patient information as a time-sensitive item comprises comparing the one or more items of patient information against one or more predefined thresholds for time-sensitivity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more predefined thresholds comprise one or more system-defined thresholds.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more system-defined thresholds are defined by standard healthcare practices.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more predefined thresholds comprise one or more user-defined thresholds.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more user-defined thresholds comprises at least one of a global threshold and a patient-specific threshold.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the time-sensitive item as at least one of a critical item, an abnormal item, and a due item.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the key notification is provided independent of a user inbox within a clinical computing system.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the key notification is provided independent of a patient chart for a patient corresponding with the time-sensitive item.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing a user to address the time-sensitive item.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein allowing a user to address the time-sensitive item comprises:

receiving a user selection of the key notification;

accessing the time-sensitive item in response to the user selection of the key notification; and

presenting the time-sensitive item.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein allowing a user to address the time-sensitive item further comprises:

receiving a request for additional patient information;

accessing the additional patient information; and

presenting the additional patient information.

17. One or more computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing the method of claim 1.

18. A system in a clinical computing environment for automatically triaging one or more items of patient information, the system comprising:

an item receiving component for receiving the one or more items of patient information;

an identification component for identifying at least one of the one or more items of patient information as a time-sensitive item; and

a key notification component for presenting a key notification for the time-sensitive item.

19. One or more computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon that provide for the presentation of one or more user interfaces for triaging patient information, the one or more user interfaces comprising:

a key notification area configured to display one or more key notifications, each of the one or more key notifications corresponding with one or more items of patient information determined to satisfy predefined criteria for time-sensitivity.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the predefined criteria comprise at least one of a patient population criterion, a system-defined threshold for time-sensitivity, and a user-defined threshold for time-sensitivity.

21. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein each of the one or more key notifications allow the user to navigate to corresponding one or more items of patient information.