Computerized Selection for Healthcare Services

• US 20120004902A1
• Filed: 06/30/2010
• Published: 01/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zeus Data Solutions
• Original Assignee: Zeus Data Solutions
• Inventors: Sorkey, Alan J., Conrad, Steven Allen
• Granted Patent: US 8,630,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

A method for producing healthcare data records from graphical inputs by computer users. Includes generating a plurality of user input categories, displaying on a graphical display icons that correspond to a first of the user input categories and receiving a first user selection of a first icon of the plurality of icons, and displaying on the graphical display a plurality of icons that correspond to a second of the user input categories and receiving a second user selection of a second icon of the plurality of icons. The method also includes displaying icons that correspond to a physical target on which the medical action or observation is performed and receiving a third user selection of the physical target, and applying a syntax to populate a data record of the action using the at least two of the first, second, and third user selections.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for producing healthcare data records from graphical inputs by computer users, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of user input categories;

displaying on a graphical display a plurality of icons that correspond to a first of the user input categories, and receiving a first user selection of a first icon of the plurality of icons;

displaying on the graphical display a plurality of icons that correspond to a second of the user input categories, and receiving a second user selection of a second icon of the plurality of icons;

displaying on the graphical display one or more icons that correspond to a physical target on which a medical action or observation is performed, and receiving a third user selection of a physical target; and

applying a syntax to populate a data record of the medical action or observation using the at least two of the first, second, and third user selections.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the first, second, and third user selections are made by a dragging motion of a user dragging their finger or a stylus continuously across a touch screen display on which the icons are shown, without releasing contact with the touch screen until all selections are made.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the dragging motion moves in a single direction through the first icon, the second icon, and the physical target.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising cancelling an input operation if the user releases contact with the touch screen display before making all three selections.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical target is selected before the second icon is selected, and the second icon is selected before the first icon is selected, so that a user specifies a physical target for an action before specifying the action.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after receiving the selection of the first icon, changing icons displayed in the second of the user input categories, to provide icons that correspond to the selected icon.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the changed icons comprise icons of modifiers for a medical procedure or observation selected with the first icon.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein applying a syntax to populate a data record of the action using the at least two of the first, second, and third user selections comprises:

identifying at least an object and an action that correspond to the user inputs; and

constructing a sentence from a template or tree, and adding the object and the action to the template.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein applying a syntax to populate a data record of the action using the at least two of the first, second, and third user selections comprises:

identifying at least two objects and an action that correspond to the user inputs; and

constructing a sentence using a syntactical structure by adding the at least two objects as a grammatical subject and object of the sentence, and the action as a grammatical verb form of the sentence.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a patient who corresponds to the user selections, and adding a natural language sentence generated using the syntax.

12. A computer-implemented system for producing healthcare data records from graphical inputs by caregivers, the system comprising:

a display controller to generate data for displaying graphical icons in a plurality of categories, wherein the categories represent a physical target in association with which a medical action is performed, an object that corresponds to a healthcare treatment or action, and a modifier that represents a modification of the object that corresponds to a health care treatment or action;

an input processor to receive user selections of graphical icons on a graphical display; and

a description builder programmed to apply syntactical rules based on the selected graphical icons to produce a prose of a description for a medical action represented by the selected graphical icons.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the display controller is programmed to change icons displayed in a second group of displayed icons, in response to a user selection of an icon in a first group of icons.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the display controller is programmed to arrange the groups of icons visually in three rows or columns, with the physical target in one end row or column, the object that corresponds to a healthcare treatment in the other end row or column, and the modifier in the middle row or column.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the input processor is programmed to identify a continuous dragging motion across a touch screen display on which the icons are shown, without releasing contact with the touch screen until all selections are made.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the description builder is programmed to reference a plurality of syntactical rules and to add terms to a sentence based on the user-selected icons.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the display controller is programmed to change a second group of displayed icons, in one or more columns or rows, in response to a user selection in a first group of displayed icons.

18. The system of claim 12, further comprising an electronic medical record interface to receive the prose for the description, to identify a patient who corresponds to the healthcare treatment or action, and to add the prose description to an electronic medical record for the identified patient.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the electronic medical record interface is programmed to store the prose description as a sentence in which:

(a) the object that corresponds to the healthcare treatment or action is expressed as a grammatical subject;

(b) the physical target is expressed as a grammatical object; and

(c) the modifier is expressed as a grammatical modifier.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the electronic medical record interface is programmed to store a syntactical description of the healthcare treatment or action.

21. A computer-implemented system for producing healthcare data records from graphical inputs by caregivers, the system comprising:

a display controller to generate data for displaying graphical icons in a plurality of categories, wherein the categories represent a body part on which an medical action is performed or observed, a object that corresponds to a healthcare treatment or observation, and a modifier that represents a modification of the object that corresponds to a health care treatment or observation;

an input processor to receive user selections of graphical icons on a graphical display; and

means for building a prose description of a medical action represented by the selected graphical icons.