SELECTIVELY ROUTING PATIENT DATA BETWEEN FIELD DEVICES AND TREATMENT CENTER DESTINATIONS

• US 20090222539A1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Physio-Control Incorporated (Stryker Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Physio-Control Incorporated (Stryker Corporation)
• Inventors: Lewis, Dana, Nova, Richard C., Merry, Randy L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,185,623 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• 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

Abstract

Techniques for routing event data from a field device, such as an external defibrillator, to a selected subset of a plurality of possible destinations are described. The event data may include physiological data of the patient, such as a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). The destinations may be associated with one of a plurality of patient treatment centers, and may include, as examples, computing device, printers, displays, personal digital assistants, or web-accessible accounts. In some examples, a server maintains user-configurable information or rules for at least some of the destinations, and uses the information or rules for determining whether event data received from a field device is routed to the destination. In some examples, the server may also make the routing determination based on an analysis of event data, such as a determination as to whether the event data indicates that the patient is suspected to be experiencing an acute myocardial infarction.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server, event data that comprises physiological data for a patient from a field device used to at least one of monitor or treat the patient during an event, the server storing a plurality of destination profiles associated with respective destinations, the destinations associated with patient treatment centers, at least some of the destination profiles including respective event data filtering rules;

selecting a subset of the destinations based on the event data filtering rules; and

routing the event data from the server to the selected subset of the destinations.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving configuration information from a user at the server;

configuring one of the event data filtering rules according to the configuration information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a first one of the destination profiles associated with a first one of the destinations of the subset further includes formatting information, the method further comprising formatting the event data routed to the first destination according to the formatting information.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving configuration information from a user at the server;

configuring the formatting information for the first destination according to the configuration information.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the server stores assignment information for the field device from which the event data was received, the assignment information associating the field device with a subset of the plurality of destinations,

the method further comprising identifying as an initial subset of the destinations the subset of the destinations associated with the field device from which the event data was received based on the assignment information for the field device,

wherein the selected subset of destinations is a subset of the initial subset of destinations.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying, with the server, one or more location rules to destination location information for at least some the destinations; and

selecting an initial subset of the destinations based on the application of the one or more location rules to the destination location information,

wherein the selected subset of destinations is a subset of the initial subset of destinations.

8. The method of claim 7,

wherein the one or more location rules includes a rule that selects a treatment center based on at least one of proximity or travel time from the field device to the treatment center, and

wherein the initial subset of destinations comprises destinations associated with the selected treatment center.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more location rules further includes a rule that selects a treatment center having a catheterization laboratory.

10. The method of claim 7,

wherein the one or more location rules includes a rule that selects a physician based on at least one of proximity or travel time to a treatment center, and

wherein the initial subset of destinations comprises a destination associated with the selected physician.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more location rules use an input received from a traffic condition source.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving scheduling information for at least some of the destinations;

determining whether each of the at least some of the destinations is available based on the scheduling information for the destination;

routing the event data to the destination if the destination is available; and

not routing the event data to the destination if the destination is not available.

13. The method of claim 12,

wherein the destination is associated with a physician, and

wherein the scheduling information indicates whether the physician is on duty or on call.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of the destinations comprises:

analyzing the event data at the server;

selecting the subset of the destinations according to the analyzed data.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein routing the event data from the server to the selected subset of the destinations comprises, for each of the destinations with an associated event data filtering rule:

applying the event data filtering rule for the destination to the analyzed event data;

determining whether the event data filtering rule for the destination is satisfied;

routing the event data to the destination if the event data filtering rule is satisfied; and

not routing the event data to the destination device if the event data filtering rule is not satisfied.

16. The method of claim 15,

wherein the event data filtering rule for each of the destinations specifies at least one type of physiological data received by the destination,

wherein analyzing the event data comprises determining a data type for the physiological data, and

wherein determining whether the event data filtering rule for the destination is satisfied comprises comparing the data type for the physiological data to at least one type specified by the event data filtering rule.

17. The method of claim 15,

wherein, for at least some of the destinations, the event data filtering rule specifies that the destination receives one of all event data, event data with a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), or event data that indicates that the patient is suspected of having suffered an acute myocardial infarction (AMI),

wherein analyzing the event data and determining whether the event data filtering rule for the destination is satisfied comprises:

determining whether the event data comprises a 12-lead ECG data; and

determining from the event data whether the patient is suspected of having suffered an acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining from the event data whether the patient is suspected of having suffered an AMI comprises analyzing an ECG of the patient by the server.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein analyzing an ECG of the patient comprises:

retrieving one or more past ECGs of the patient from a patient medical record database with the server; and

comparing the ECG of the patient to the one or more past ECGs.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the event data further includes information entered into the field device by emergency medical service (EMS) personnel.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving data of the patient from a patient medical record database with the server; and

routing the retrieved data with the event data.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the event data includes patient demographic data.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the field device comprises an external defibrillator.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the destinations comprise at least one of computing devices, displays, printers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, or web-accessible accounts.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving event data comprises receiving the event data via a Mobile Internet Protocol network.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising, with the server:

collecting a first time for an event from a first device;

collecting a second time for the event from a second device; and

calculating a treatment time interval for the event based on the first and second times.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising storing the treatment time interval in the server for use in future event data routing decisions.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein collecting a second time comprises collecting a time of a percutaneous transluminal coronary intervention.

29. A network server comprising:

a memory that stores a plurality of destination profiles, each of the destination profiles associated with a respective one of a plurality of destinations that are associated with a network of patient treatment centers, wherein at least some of the destination profiles include at least one event data filtering rule for the respective destination; and

a processor that;

receives event data that comprises physiological data for a patient from a field device used to at least one of monitor or treat the patient during an event,

selects a subset of the destinations based on the event data filtering rules, and

routes the event data from the server to the selected subset of the destinations.

30. The network server of claim 29, wherein the processor receives configuration information from a user, and configures the event data filtering rule of one or more of the plurality of destination profiles according to the configuration information.

31. The server of claim 29,

wherein the processor applies one or more location rules to destination location information for at least some of the destinations, and selects an initial subset of the destinations based on the application of the one or more location rules to the destination location information, and

wherein the selected subset of destinations is a subset of the initial subset of destinations.

32. The server of claim 31,

wherein the one or more location rules includes a rule that selects a treatment center based on at least one of proximity or travel time from the field device to the treatment center, and

wherein the initial subset of destinations comprises destinations associated with the selected treatment center.

33. The server of claim 31,

wherein the one or more location rules includes a rule that selects a physician based on at least one of proximity or travel time to a treatment center, and

wherein the initial subset of destinations comprises a destination associated with the selected physician.

34. The server of claim 31, wherein the one or more location rules use an input received from a traffic condition source.

35. The server of claim 29, wherein the processor:

retrieves scheduling information for at least some of the destinations;

determines whether each of the at least some of the destinations is available based on the scheduling information for the destination;

routes the event data to the destination if the destination is available; and

does not route the event data to the destination if the destination is not available.

36. The server of claim 29, wherein the processor analyzes the event data, and selects the subset of the destinations according to the analyzed event data.

37. The server of claim 36, wherein, for each of the destinations with an associated event data filtering rule, the processor:

applies the event data filtering rule for the destination to the analyzed event data;

determines whether the event data filtering rule for the destination is satisfied;

routes the event data to the destination if the event data filtering rule is satisfied; and

does not route the event data to the destination device if the event data filtering rule is not satisfied.

38. The server of claim 37,

wherein the event data filtering rule for each of the destinations specifies at least one type of physiological data received by the destination, and

wherein the processor identifies a data type for the physiological data, and compares the data type for the physiological data to at least one type specified by the event data filtering rule to determine whether the rule is satisfied.

39. The server of claim 37,

wherein, for at least some of the destinations, the event data filtering rule specifies that the destination receives one of all event data, event data with a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), or event data that indicates that the patient is suspected of having suffered an acute myocardial infarction (AMI),

wherein the processor determines whether the event data comprises a 12-lead ECG data and determines from the event data whether the patient is suspected of having suffered an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in order to determine whether the rules for the various destinations are satisfied.

40. The server of claim 39, wherein the processor analyzes an ECG of the patient to determine from the event data whether the patient is suspected of having suffered an AMI.

41. The server of claim 29, wherein the processor:

collects a first time for an event from a first device;

collects a second time for the event from a second device; and

calculates a treatment time interval for the event based on the first and second times.

42. The server of claim 41, wherein the second time comprises a time of a percutaneous transluminal coronary intervention.

43. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor of a network server to:

receive event data that comprises physiological data for a patient from a field device used to at least one of monitor or treat the patient during an event, the server storing a plurality of destination profiles associated with respective destinations, the destinations associated with patient treatment centers, at least some of the destination profiles including respective event data filtering rules;

select a subset of the destinations based on the event data filtering rules; and

route the event data from the server to the selected subset of the destinations

44. A system for managing communication of patient data within a regional patient treatment network that includes at least one emergency medical service and a plurality of patient treatment centers, the system comprising:

a plurality of field devices associated with the emergency medical service;

a plurality of destinations, each of the destinations associated with at least one of the patient treatment centers; and

a network server that;

stores a plurality of destination profiles, each of the destination profiles associated with a respective one of the plurality of destinations, wherein at least some of the destination profiles includes at least one event data filtering rule for the respective destination;

receives event data that comprises physiological data for a patient from one of the field devices used to at least one of monitor or treat the patient during an event;

selects a subset of the destinations based on the event data filtering rules; and

routes the event data to the selected subset of the destinations.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the server:

stores assignment information for at least the field device from which the event data was received, the assignment information associating the field device with a respective subset of the plurality to destinations;

identifies as an initial subset of the destinations the respective subset of the destinations associated with the field device from which the event data was received by the assignment information for the field device,

wherein the selected subset of destinations is a subset of the initial subset of destinations.

46. The system of claim 44, wherein the server:

applies one or more location rules to destination location information for at least some of the destinations; and

selects an initial subset of the destinations based on the application of the one or more location rules to the destination location information,

wherein the selected subset of destinations is a subset of the initial subset of destinations.

47. The system of claim 46,

wherein the one or more location rules includes a rule that selects one of the treatment centers based on at least one of proximity or travel time from the field device to the treatment center, and

wherein the initial subset of destinations comprises destinations associated with the selected treatment center.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the one or more location rules further includes a rule that selects one of the treatment centers having a catheterization laboratory.

49. The system of claim 44, wherein the field device comprise external defibrillators.

50. The system of claim 44, wherein the destinations comprise at least one of computing devices, displays, printers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, or web-accessible accounts associated with at least one of treatment centers or a physician associated with at least one of the treatment centers.

51. The system of claim 44, wherein the field devices and the server communicate via a Mobile Internet Protocol network.

52. A method comprising:

identifying at least one emergency medical service (EMS) and a plurality of patient treatment centers within a geographical region;

forming a regional patient treatment network comprising the EMS and the patient treatment centers;

receiving subscriptions from the EMS and the patient treatment centers to a patient data communication service for the regional patient treatment network; and

routing patient data between devices associated with the EMS and devices associated with the patient treatment centers with a server based at least in part on user-configurable information stored within the server and an analysis of physiological data included within the patient data.