METHODS AND APPARATUS TO ORGANIZE PATIENT MEDICAL HISTORIES

• US 20100076780A1
• Filed: 09/23/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Janicki, Christopher, Mahesh, Prakash, Kariathungal, Murali Kumaran
• Application Number:
  US12/236,230
• Publication Number:
  US 20100076780A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• 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 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to organize patient medical histories are disclosed herein. An example method includes receiving a medical report and analyzing the medical report to extract information related to a clinical event associated with the medical report; assigning a classification to the medical report using the extracted information; determining a severity of the clinical event associated with the medical report using the extracted information and assigning a severity score to the medical report; updating a record corresponding to the medical report in a data store to reflect the assigned classification and severity score; and enabling a healthcare practitioner to query the data store using the classification and severity score.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method to organize a patient medical history, comprising:

receiving a medical report and analyzing the medical report to extract information related to a clinical event associated with the medical report;

assigning a classification to the medical report using the extracted information;

determining a severity of the clinical event associated with the medical report using the extracted information and assigning a severity score to the medical report;

updating a record corresponding to the medical report in a data store to reflect the assigned classification and severity score; and

enabling a healthcare practitioner to query the data store using the classification and severity score.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising implementing a user interface capable of conveying information associated with the patient medical history, wherein the user interface includes an option to arrange information according to the classification and severity.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising generating an object to represent the medical report.

4. A method as defined in claim 3, wherein assigning the classification to the medical report and assigning the severity score to the medical report comprise assigning values to properties of the object.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining a storage priority for the medical report based on at least one of the classification or the severity score.

6. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein the storage priority determines whether the medical report is stored in a cache or a long-term memory.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the severity is based on at least one of a body part, a performed procedure, a modality, or one or more findings.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein enabling the healthcare practitioner to query the data store using the assigned classification and severity score comprises providing a search function capable of using one or more values associated with the classification and severity score as search criteria.

9. An apparatus to organize a patient medical history, comprising:

a report analyzer to extract information from a medical report, wherein the information is related to a clinical event associated with the medical report;

a classification module to assign a classification to the medical report using the extracted information;

a severity measurement module to determine a severity of the clinical event associated with the medical report using the extracted information and to assign a severity score to the medical report;

a record updater to update a record corresponding to the medical report in a data store to reflect the assigned classification and severity score; and

a user interface to enable a healthcare practitioner to query the data store using the classification and severity score.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the report analyzer generates an object to represent the medical report.

11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the classification and the severity score comprise values to be assigned to properties of the object.

12. An apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the record updater determines a storage priority for the medical report based on at least one of the classification or the severity score.

13. An apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the storage priority determines whether the medical report is stored in a cache or a long-term memory.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the severity is based on at least one of a body part, a performed procedure, a modality, or one or more findings.

15. A medical information system, comprising:

one or more data entry systems to receive medical reports including information related to clinical events associated with the medical reports;

a data center in communication with the data entry systems to receive and store the medical reports in a data store;

a record organizer comprising;

a classification module to assign classifications to the medical reports;

a severity measurement module to assign severity scores to the medical reports based on the information related to the clinical events associated with the medical reports;

a record updater to update records corresponding to the medical reports in the data store to reflect the assigned classifications and severity scores; and

one or more workstations in communication with the data store, wherein the workstations implement a user interface to enable a healthcare practitioner to query the data store using the classifications and severity scores.

16. A medical information system as defined in claim 15, further comprising a report analyzer to extract data from the medical reports for use in assigning the classifications and severity scores.

17. A medical information system as defined in claim 15, wherein the workstations are in communication with the data store via a network.

18. A medical information system as defined in claim 15, further comprising software objects stored in the data store to represent the medical reports.

19. A medical information system as defined in claim 15, further comprising storage priorities stored in association with the medical reports, wherein the storage priorities are based on at least one of the classification or the severity.

20. A medical information system as defined in claim 19, wherein the storage priorities determine whether the medical reports are stored in a cache or a long-term memory.