METHODS AND APPARATUS TO CORRELATE HEALTHCARE INFORMATION

• US 20120215857A1
• Filed: 02/21/2011
• Published: 08/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Bohner, Wendy Lynne, Murawski, David P., James, Alan F., Sharma, Niranjan Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,825,775 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• 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 correlate healthcare information are disclosed. An example method includes receiving a healthcare message from a first entity of a healthcare enterprise, wherein the healthcare message is configured according to a first identification schema of the first entity; identifying one or more subjects of the healthcare message for correlation into an electronic clinical information system; selecting one of a plurality of correlators for each identified subject to correlate each identified subject, wherein each of the correlators are customizable to handle a specific type of healthcare message subject; and correlating the identified subjects of the message to associate each of the identified subjects with an identifier internal to the electronic clinical information system.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving a healthcare message from a first entity of a healthcare enterprise, wherein the healthcare message is configured according to a first identification schema of the first entity;

identifying one or more subjects of the healthcare message for correlation into an electronic clinical information system;

selecting one of a plurality of correlators for each identified subject to correlate each identified subject, wherein each of the correlators are customizable to handle a specific type of healthcare message subject; and

correlating the identified subjects of the message to associate each of the identified subjects with an identifier internal to the electronic clinical information system.

2. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising generating a first mapping of the first identification schema of the first entity to an identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

3. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 2, further comprising generating a second mapping of a second identification schema of a second entity different from the first identification schema to the identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

4. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 3, further comprising identifying a source of the healthcare message and selecting one of the first and second mappings based on the identified source for the correlation process.

5. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein the identification schema of the first entity includes a designation of one or more identifiers used by the first entity to make a subject of a first type unique to the first entity.

6. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more subjects comprise at least one of a patient, an encounter, a laboratory report, an order, a location of treatment, a healthcare provider, or an observation.

7. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein the correlators being customizable enables a user of the electronic clinical information system to implement actions in addition to the correlation process to be performed by the one or more correlators.

8. A tangible computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

receive a healthcare message from a first entity of a healthcare enterprise, wherein the healthcare message is configured according to a first identification schema of the first entity;

identify one or more subjects of the healthcare message for correlation into an electronic clinical information system;

select one of a plurality of correlators for each identified subject to correlate each identified subject, wherein each of the correlators are customizable to handle a specific type of healthcare message subject; and

correlate the identified subjects of the message to associate each of the identified subjects with an identifier internal to the electronic clinical information system.

9. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a machine to generate a first mapping of the first identification schema of the first entity to an identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

10. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a machine to generate a second mapping of a second identification schema of a second entity different from the first identification schema to the identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

11. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a machine to identify a source of the healthcare message and select one of the first and second mappings based on the identified source for the correlation process.

12. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the identification schema of the first entity includes a designation of one or more identifiers used by the first entity to make a subject of a first type unique to the first entity.

13. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the one or more subjects comprise at least one of a patient, an encounter, a laboratory report, an order, a location of treatment, a healthcare provider, or an observation.

14. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the correlators being customizable enables a user of the electronic clinical information system to implement actions in addition to the correlation process to be performed by the one or more correlators.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a data feed to receive a healthcare message from a first entity of a healthcare enterprise, wherein the healthcare message is configured according to an identification schema of the first entity;

an identifier to identify one or more subjects of the healthcare message for correlation into an electronic clinical information system; and

a selector to select one of a plurality of correlators for each identified subject to correlate each identified subject, wherein each of the correlators are customizable to handle a specific type of healthcare message subject, and wherein the correlators are to correlate the identified subjects of the message to associate each of the identified subjects with an identifier internal to the electronic clinical information system.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, further comprising a generator to generate a first mapping of the first identification schema of the first entity to an identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 16, further comprising a generator to generate a second mapping of a second identification schema of a second entity different from the first identification schema to the identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

18. An apparatus as defined in claim 17, further comprising a second identifier to identify a source of the healthcare message, wherein one of the first and second mappings is selected for the correlation process based on the identified source.

19. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the identification schema of the first entity includes a designation of one or more identifiers used by the first entity to make a subject of a first type unique to the first entity.

20. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the one or more subjects comprise at least one of a patient, an encounter, a laboratory report, an order, a location of treatment, a healthcare provider, or an observation.

21. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the correlators being customizable enables a user of the electronic clinical information system to implement actions in addition to the correlation process to be performed by the one or more correlators.