METHODS AND SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY EXAMS WITH SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS

• US 20100223067A1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Published: 09/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: deCos, Juan, Giles, Stephan, Stavrinakis, Kimberly, Fitzgerald, Timothy
• Granted Patent: US 8,645,157 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

Methods and system to identify similar exams are described. An example computer-implemented method to identify similar exams includes selecting a category. Additionally, the example method includes comparing the selected category to records associated with exams to identify any of the exams that include information related to the category. Further, the example method includes displaying the exams identified as related to the category to a healthcare practitioner. Further still, the example method includes visually differentiating at least one of the displayed exams based on a significance level associated with the at least one of the displayed exams.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method to identify similar exams, comprising:

selecting a category;

comparing the selected category to records associated with exams to identify any of the exams that include information related to the category;

displaying the exams identified as related to the category to a healthcare practitioner; and

visually differentiating at least one of the displayed exams based on a significance level associated with the at least one of the displayed exams.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the category is associated with a modality and a body site.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising sorting the exams identified as related to the category based on a corresponding significance level.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein displaying the exams identified as related to the category comprises displaying a longitudinal record of the identified exams.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein visually differentiating at least one of the displayed exams comprises visually differentiating at least one of the displayed exams by a color code.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the records associated with the exams include keywords or phrases extracted from medical reports generated in association with the exams.

7. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the medical reports are generated from voice inputs on which a speech-to-text conversion is performed.

8. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the keywords or phrases are associated with one or more significant findings.

9. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein each of the exams is associated with a significance level based on corresponding significant findings.

10. The method as defined in claim 9, further comprising enabling a healthcare practitioner to edit the significance level.

11. The method as defined in claim 9, further comprising automatically adding exams associated with a particular significance level to a work list.

12. The method as defined in claim 9, further comprising automatically communicating at least one of the exams associated with a particular significance level to an associated healthcare practitioner.

13. The method as defined in claim 12, further comprising identifying if the associated healthcare practitioner has reviewed the at least one of the exams.

14. A medical information system, comprising:

a data store in communication with one or more data entry systems to receive and store records associated with exams;

an identifier to compare a selected category associated with a modality and a body site to the records associated with the exams to identify whether any of the exams include information related to the category;

an indicator to indicate a significance level associated with the identified exams; and

a display module to convey the identified exams to a user interface.

15. The medical information system as defined in claim 14, wherein the identifier identifies keywords or phrases from medical reports generated in association with the exams, wherein the identified keywords or phrases are to be included with the records associated with the exams.

16. The medical information system as defined in claim 15, further comprising a converter to perform a speech-to-text conversion on voice inputs to generate text strings from which the medical reports are generated.

17. The medical information system as defined in claim 15, wherein the keywords or phrases are associated with one or more significant findings.

18. The medical information system as defined in claim 17, further comprising an analyzer to assign a significance level to each of the exams based on corresponding significant findings.

19. The medical information system as defined in claim 18, further comprising a sorter to sort the exams based on the corresponding significance level.

20. The medical information system as defined in claim 18, further comprising a processing unit to automatically convey at least one of the exams associated with a particular significance level to an associated healthcare practitioner.

21. The medical information system as defined in claim 20, wherein the identifier is to identify if the associated healthcare practitioner has reviewed the at least one of the exams.

22. A machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to implement a medical information system, comprising:

a data store in communication with one or more data entry systems to receive and store records associated with exams;

an identifier to compare a selected category associated with a modality and a body site to the records associated with the exams to identify whether any of the exams include information related to the category;

an indicator to indicate a significance level associated with at least one of the identified exams; and

a display module to convey the identified exams to a user interface.

23. The machine accessible medium as defined in claim 22 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to implement a medical information system that further comprises a converter to perform a speech-to-text conversion on voice inputs to generate text strings from which the medical reports are generated.

24. The machine accessible medium as defined in claim 22 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to implement a medical information system that further comprises an analyzer to assign a significance level to each of the exams based on corresponding significant findings.

25. The machine accessible medium as defined in claim 22 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to implement a medical information system that further comprises a sorter to sort the exams based on the corresponding significance level.

26. A computer-implemented method for a clinical workflow, comprising:

identifying significant findings associated with exams;

determining and associating a significance level to each of the exams based on the corresponding significant findings;

automatically adding exams associated with a particular significance level to a worklist;

automatically communicating at least one of the exams associated with a particular significance level to an associated healthcare practitioner; and

storing at least one of the exams associated with the particular significance level in a data store.