System and method for recording patient history data about on-going physician care procedures
First Claim
1. A method, executed by a system including a device operated by a medical staff member, of generating a signal encoding a clinical status code that quantifies a physician intervention status of a patient as an objective measure of a care-provider'"'"'s rendered level of care of the patient,said clinical status code being determinable as a function of (i) a level of medical history of said patient, a level of physical examination of said patient, and a medical decision-making process of said physician creating said patient, referred to as key elements of said clinical status code, (ii) a time influence factor determined as a function of a service time defined as one or more-of (1) an amount of unit floor time or face-to-face time spent by said physician in connection with an encounter with said patient, or (2) an amount of time spent by said physician in counseling or coordination of care for said patient,said method comprising:
- (a) prompting the staff member to select a service type, referred to as a selected service type;
(b) displaying to said staff member a series of questions, said series of questions being determined by said selected service type;
(c) if said selected service type is associated with a time influence factor, then prompting the staff member to enter an amount of service time;
(d) if the selected service type does not fall within an exception category, then determining said clinical status code as a function of (i) said selected service type, (ii) said levels and said medical decision-making process, and (iii) if the staff member entered an amount of service time, said amount of service time;
(e) storing said determined clinical status code in a memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for processing patient data permits physicians and other medical staff personnel to record, accurately and precisely, historical patient care information. An objective measure of a physician'"'"'s rendered level of care, as described by a clinical status code, is automatically generated. Data elements used in the determination of the generated clinical status code include a level of history of the patient, a level of examination of the patient, a decision-making process of the physician treating the patient, and a "time influence factor." The quantity and quality of care information for a particular patient is enhanced allowing future care decisions for that patient to be based on a more complete medical history. Enhanced care information can be used in outcome studies to track the efficacy of specific treatment protocols. Archiving of patient information is done in a manner which allows reconstruction of the qualitative aspects of provided medical services. The medical care data can be recorded, saved, and transferred from a portable system to a larger stationary information or database system. Considerable physician and staff time are saved and precision and accuracy are significantly enhanced, by generating these clinical status codes automatically (at the point of service by the care-provider without any intermediary steps) from information recorded simultaneously with the provision of services.
232 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method, executed by a system including a device operated by a medical staff member, of generating a signal encoding a clinical status code that quantifies a physician intervention status of a patient as an objective measure of a care-provider'"'"'s rendered level of care of the patient,
said clinical status code being determinable as a function of (i) a level of medical history of said patient, a level of physical examination of said patient, and a medical decision-making process of said physician creating said patient, referred to as key elements of said clinical status code, (ii) a time influence factor determined as a function of a service time defined as one or more-of (1) an amount of unit floor time or face-to-face time spent by said physician in connection with an encounter with said patient, or (2) an amount of time spent by said physician in counseling or coordination of care for said patient, said method comprising: -
(a) prompting the staff member to select a service type, referred to as a selected service type; (b) displaying to said staff member a series of questions, said series of questions being determined by said selected service type; (c) if said selected service type is associated with a time influence factor, then prompting the staff member to enter an amount of service time; (d) if the selected service type does not fall within an exception category, then determining said clinical status code as a function of (i) said selected service type, (ii) said levels and said medical decision-making process, and (iii) if the staff member entered an amount of service time, said amount of service time; (e) storing said determined clinical status code in a memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In a physician'"'"'s practice management system, a device operable by a medical staff member for recording a clinical status code that quantifies a physician intervention status of a patient as an objective measure of a care-giver'"'"'s rendered level of care of the patient,
said clinical status code being determinable as a function of (i) a level of medical history of said patient, a level of physical examination of said patient, and a medical decision-making process of a physician treating said patient, referred to as key elements of said clinical status code, (ii) a time influence factor determined as a function of a service title defined as one or more of (1) an amount of unit floor time or face-to-face time spent by said physician in connection with an encounter with said patient, or (2) an amount of time spent by said physician in counseling or coordination of care for said patient, said device comprising: -
(a) means for prompting the staff member to select a service type, referred to as a selected service type; (b) means for prompting the staff member to select, for each respective key element of said clinical status code, one of a plurality of allowable levels for said respective key element, referred to as a selected level; (c) means for prompting the staff member to enter an amount of service time if said selected service type is associated with a time influence factor; (d) means for determining said clinical status code as a function of (i) said selected service type, (ii) said levels and said medical decision-making process, and (iii) if the staff member entered an amount of service time, said amount of service time; and (e) means for transmitting the determined clinical status code to an external device. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification