Automated Interpretation of Clinical Encounters with Cultural Cues

• US 20110196665A1
• Filed: 04/19/2011
• Published: 08/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Optum360, LLC (UnitedHealth Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: A-Life Medical, LLC
• Inventors: Heinze, Daniel T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,423,370 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/30 Semantic analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/40 Processing or translation of natural language natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30

Abstract

A method, system and a computer program product for an automated interpretation and translation are disclosed. An automated interpretation occurs by receiving language-based content from a user. The received language-based content is processed to interpret the received language-based content into a target language. Also, a presence of a cultural sensitivity in the received language-based content is detected. Further, an appropriate guidance for dealing with the detected cultural sensitivity is provided.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving language-based content from a user;

processing the received language-based content to interpret the received language-based content into a target language;

detecting a presence of a cultural sensitivity in the received language-based content; and

determining guidance for dealing with the detected cultural sensitivity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the received language-based content comprises translating the language-based content into the target language.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating an output of the interpreting and translating as at least one of electronic text data and electronic speech data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a presence of a social sensitivity in the received language-based content.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising developing an interlingua to perform an automated interpretation in a clinical encounter.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein developing an interlingua comprises implementing a Clinical Document Architecture—

Revision 2®

(CDA-2) in conjunction with a formal medical vocabulary system.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether processing the language-based content requires a human review.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising classifying the language-based content as having an immediate importance during a medical encounter

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising classifying the language-based content as having a durable importance beyond a temporal scope of a medical encounter.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising storing in an electronic health record a representation of the received language-based content classified as having a durable importance.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein storing comprises storing a CDA-2 representation of the received language-based content classified as having a durable importance.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying one or more identifiers to the language-based content, wherein the identifiers are associated with one or more warnings related to a subject matter known to have cultural sensitivities for the user in the target language.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying one or more identifiers to the language-based content, wherein the identifiers are associated with a subject matter that is difficult to translate into the target language.

14. A system for providing an automated translation, the system comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive a verbal communication from a user;

a processing unit in communication with the receiving unit, the processing unit configured to

identify a presence of a cultural sensitivity in the received verbal communication,

determine guidance for dealing with the identified cultural sensitivity, and

interpret the received verbal communication; and

a storage unit in communication with the processing unit, the storage unit configured to store medical information.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit further comprises:

a speech recognition unit configured to convert the received verbal communication into a written format; and

a translation unit configured to translate the written format into a target language.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured to render an output of the interpretation and translation into at least one of electronic text data and electronic speech data.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to detect a presence of a social sensitivity in the received verbal communication.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate an interlingua for automated interpretation in a clinical encounter.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the generated interlingua comprises a Clinical Document Architecture—

Revision 2®

(CDA-2) in conjunction with a formal medical vocabulary system.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine whether interpreting the received verbal communication requires a human review.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to classify the received verbal communication as having an immediate importance during a medical encounter

22. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to classify the received verbal communication as having a durable importance beyond a temporal scope of a medical encounter.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the processing unit is further configured to store in an electronic health record a representation of the received verbal communication classified as having a durable importance.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the representation of the received verbal communication classified as having a durable importance comprises CDA-2 representation.

25. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to apply one or more identifiers to the received verbal communication, wherein the identifiers are associated with one or more warnings related to a subject matter known to have cultural sensitivities for the user in the target language.

26. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to apply one or more identifiers to the received verbal communication, wherein the identifiers are associated with a subject matter that is difficult to translate into the target language.

27. A computer program product, embodied in a computer readable medium, operable to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving a verbal communication from a user;

processing the received verbal communication to interpret the received verbal communication into a target language;

identifying a presence of a cultural sensitivity in the received verbal communication; and

determine guidance for dealing with the identified cultural sensitivity.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to

convert the received verbal communication into a written format;

and

translate the written format into the target language.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to generate an output of the interpretation and translation as at least one of electronic text data and electronic speech data.

30. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to detect a presence of a social sensitivity in the received verbal communication.

31. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to generate an interlingua for an automated interpretation in a clinical encounter.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to implement a Clinical Document Architecture—

Revision 2®

(CDA-2) in conjunction with a formal medical vocabulary system.

33. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to determine whether processing the received verbal communication requires a human review.

34. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to classify the received verbal communication as having an immediate importance during a medical encounter

35. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to classify the received verbal communication as having a durable importance beyond a temporal scope of a medical encounter.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to store in an electronic health record a representation of the received verbal communication classified as having a durable importance.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to store in an electronic health record a CDA-2 representation of the received verbal communication classified as having a durable importance.

38. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to apply one or more identifiers to the received verbal communication, wherein the identifiers are associated with one or more warnings related to a subject matter known to have cultural sensitivities for the user in the target language.

39. The computer program product of claim 27, further operable to cause a data processing apparatus to apply one or more identifiers to the received verbal communication, wherein the identifiers are associated with a subject matter that is difficult to translate into the target language.