METHODS AND APPARATUS TO ENABLE SHARING OF HEALTHCARE INFORMATION

• US 20100228559A1
• Filed: 03/03/2009
• Published: 09/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Boone, Keith Wayne
• Application Number:
  US12/397,125
• Publication Number:
  US 20100228559A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.100
• 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 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

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to enable sharing of healthcare information are disclosed herein. An example method for use with a medical information system includes receiving healthcare information from an application operating according to a first standard; obtaining context information associated with the healthcare information; generating a document including at least a portion of the healthcare information; and combining the context information and the document to form a standardized message capable of being shared with an information exchange operating according to a second standard.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for use with a medical information system, comprising:

receiving healthcare information from an application operating according to a first standard;

obtaining context information associated with the healthcare information;

generating a document including at least a portion of the healthcare information; and

combining the context information and the document to form a standardized message capable of being shared with an information exchange operating according to a second standard.

2. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising uploading the standardized message to the information exchange, wherein the first standard and the second standard are different.

3. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein obtaining the context information associated with the healthcare information comprises accessing a resource of a context manager system.

4. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein the standardized message is to be generated without alteration to the application and without conveying the healthcare information to an interface engine.

5. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein obtaining the context information associated with the healthcare information comprises retrieving identifying information related to a patient from a database in response to a query including a patient identifier.

6. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining one or more parameters needed to generate the standardized message according to the second standard associated with the information exchange.

7. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein generating the document comprises using native print capabilities of a system implementing the application.

8. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein the context information comprises identifying information associated with a patient related to the healthcare information.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the standardized message is generated according to HL-7 Medical Document Management standards.

10. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising wrapping the standardized message according to the HL-7 Clinical Document Architecture.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the standardized message includes the document as a payload of a HL-7 message.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the apparatus comprises a machine readable medium having executable instructions stored thereon.

11. An apparatus for use with a medical information system, comprising:

a context manager to obtain context information associated with healthcare information received from an application operating according to a first standard;

a print unit to generate a document including at least a portion of the healthcare information; and

a standardized message generator to combine the context information and the document to form a standardized message capable of being shared with an information exchange operating according to a second standard.

12. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the context manager obtains the context information associated with the healthcare information by accessing a resource of Clinical Context Object Workgroup system.

13. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, further comprising a user dialog interface to obtain the context information associated with the healthcare information by retrieving identifying information related to a patient from a database in response to a query including a patient identifier.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the standardized message generator determines one or more parameters needed to generate the standardized message according to the second standard associated with the information exchange.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the print unit generates the document using native print capabilities of a system implementing the application.

18. A medical data sharing system, comprising:

a healthcare enterprise communicatively coupled to a health information exchange, wherein the health information exchange operates according to a first standard;

a medical information system associated with the healthcare enterprise including a plurality of sources of healthcare information;

an application capable of communicating with at least one of the sources of healthcare information, wherein the application operates according to a second standard different from the first standard; and

a print driver configured to receive an instance of healthcare information from the application, the print driver comprising;

a context manager to obtain context information associated with the instance of healthcare information;

a print unit to generate a document including at least a portion of the instance of healthcare information; and

a standardized message generator to combine the context information and the document to form a message standardized in accordance with the first standard of the health information exchange.

19. A medical data sharing system as defined in claim 18, wherein the print driver enables a sharing of the healthcare information without alteration of the application to comply with the first standard.

20. A medical data sharing system as defined in claim 18, wherein the standardized message generator determines one or more parameters needed to generate the standardized message according to the first standard.