System for managing applied knowledge and workflow in multiple dimensions and contexts

• US 6,282,531 B1
• Filed: 06/12/1998
• Issued: 08/28/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CogniMed, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cognimed LLC
• Inventors: Sherman, Alexander, Haughton, John F., Harris, Jeff, Merenyi, Robert C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chaki, Kakali
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khatri, Anil
• Application Number:
  US09/097,075
• Time in Patent Office: 1,173 Days
• Field of Search: 706/45-47, 706/50, 706/59, 706/60, 706/924
• US Class Current: 706/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A computer system for managing applied knowledge and workflows in multiple dimensions and contexts which includes: an assessor program for screening subjects and collecting, assessing and creating objects to represent the subjects using flexible domain and subdomain descriptors; a system manager for identifying sentinel data; and at least one activity manager for creating and managing activity plans and completions for various types of task performers. In a preferred embodiment, the assessor program is able to interactively collect data about a subject and classify the information into a number of domain descriptors. Each object domain descriptor, in turn may have several subdomain descriptors. The system manager uses applied knowledge databases to identify which domain and subdomain descriptors for an object are significant for the overall assessment and system purposes and identifies these as sentinel data. Sentinel data, in turn, are analyzed by the system manager according to the knowledge database(s) to determine what, if any, activities to take to lower risks or maximize resource usage. Activities range from doing nothing, to modifying the object (individual), modifying the object'"'"'s (individual'"'"'s) environment or some combination of these. The system manager develops one or more plans which are turned over to one or more activity manager programs. An activity manager assigns activities and tasks to responsible task performers, notifies them of the tasks to be done, verifies completion of the tasks, and possibly initiates re-assessments.

Claims

1. A computer system for managing applied knowledge from a plurality of databases to effect actions in behalf of a subject, comprising:

an assessor program for collecting, assessing and storing data about the subject in an instantiation of an object;

a system manager program for applying knowledge from at least one database to the object to identify sentinel data and suggested activities and prepare at least one plan therefrom related to the object;

an activity manager program for reading the plan to create at least one activity list containing tasks for task performers known to the computer system, for assigning tasks to the task performers, and for communicating the assigned tasks to the task performers, so that each task performer can carry out the assigned tasks in behalf of the subject.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data about the subject includes at least one dimension of descriptive information about aspects of the subject which is stored as a domain of the object.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each domain of an object is capable of including at least one subdomain containing contextually descriptive information about the domain of which it forms a part.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the data about the subject includes at least one dimension of descriptive information about health care relevant aspects of the subject which is stored as a domain of the object.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each domain of an object includes at least one subdomain containing contextually descriptive information about the domain of which it forms a part.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a change made to an object causes a changed instantiation of the object to be stored together with the first instantiation of the object.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object is instantiated in an extensible manner, allowing multiple levels of additional detail to be added indefinitely.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a checksum is computed for each instantiation of an object so that the instantiation and the checksum can be stored in encrypted form to provide time integrity to an instantiation.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the encrypted instantiations provide an audit trail for auditing purposes.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the assessor program conducts a first screening of candidate subjects by posing assessment questions to identify subjects most likely to require more detailed assessments in a second screening.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the assessor program interacts with the system manager program during a first screening to determine which additional assessment questions to ask about the subject during a second screening.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the assessor program is re-entered to perform additional assessments of a subject.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the system manager program dynamically identifies sentinel data during the assessor program'"'"'s assessment.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the system manager applies data from a plurality of different and distributed knowledge bases over a telecommunications network.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the knowledge bases contain information about health care.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the knowledge bases include resource books containing information about resources which may be of use for the subject.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein an activity manager is initiated to perform resource matching by finding a best match between stated needs of a subject and resources contained in the resource book.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the resource books contain information relevant to a plurality of health care resources.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the knowledge bases include best practice databases describing the best practices known for performing defined tasks.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the activity manager selects task performers with the appropriate skill level for the tasks on the activity list, so that optimal use of task performers is achieved.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the activity manager communicates the assigned tasks to the task performers using the communications medium designated for that task performer.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the activity manager assigns tasks to task performers in a plurality of facilities and locations.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a second activity manager is initiated as a requirements manager to prevent thrashing in the system as the assessor program and the system manager program enter a potential state transition.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the requirements manager prevents thrashing by using fuzzy logic to determine which quantities are known with what certainty and what information is mandatory for the state transition.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the activity manager verifies the completion of assigned tasks and activities.

26. The apparafus of claim 25, wherein the activity manager, upon completion of assigned tasks and activities activates the assessor program to initiate a re-assessment of the subject.

27. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the subject is associated with a health care organization.

28. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an activity manager nitiates at least one second activity manager to manage a subset of activities.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the subject is associated with an eldercare organization.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the knowledge bases contain information about eldercare.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the resources books contain information relevant to a plurality of eldercare resources.

32. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the activity manager program is capable of creating reports aggregating and analyzing the performance and efficiency of task performers.

63. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the data about the subject includes at least one dimension of descriptive information about eldercare relevant aspects of the subject which is stored as a domain of the object.

64. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the activity manager program is capable of creating reports on the status of tasks performed for an individual subject.

33. A method for managing applied knowledge from a plurality of databases in a computer system to effect actions in behalf of a subject, comprising the steps of:

collecting, assessing and storing data about the subject in an instantiation of an object created using object-oriented techniques;

applying knowledge from at least one database to the object to identify sentinel data and suggested activities and prepare at least one plan therefrom related to the object;

managing workflow by reading the plan to create at least one activity list containing tasks for task performers known to the computer system, assigning tasks to the task performers, and communicating the assigned tasks to the task performers, so that each task performer can carry out the assigned tasks in behalf of the object.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting further comprises the step of collecting data about a subject associated with an eldercare organization.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting data about the subject includes the step of collecting at least one dimension of descriptive information about aspects of the subject and storing it as a domain of the object.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of collecting further comprises the step of including at least one subdomain containing contextually descriptive information about the domain of which it forms a part.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein step of collecting data about the subject further comprises the step of collecting at least one dimension of descriptive information about eldercare relevant aspects of the subject and storing it as a domain of the object.

38. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting further comprises the step of causing a change made to an object to be stored as a second instantiation of the object, together with the first instantiation of the object.

39. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting further comprises the step of instantiating the object in an extensible manner, allowing multiple levels of additional detail to be added indefinitely.

40. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting further comprises the step of computing a checksum for each instantiation of an object so that the instantiation and the checksum can be stored in encrypted form to provide time integrity to an instantiation.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the step of encrypting further comprises the step of providing an audit trail for auditing purposes.

42. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting further comprise the step of conducting a first screening of candidate subjects to identify subjects most likely to require more detailed assessments in a second screening.

43. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting interacts with the step of applying knowledge during a first screening to determine which additional assessment questions to ask about the subject during a second screening.

44. The method of claim 33 wherein the step of collecting can be re-entered to perform additional assessments of a subject.

45. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of dynamically identifying sentinel data during the step of collecting.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of applying knowledge from a plurality of different and distributed knowledge bases over a telecommunications network.

47. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of applying knowledge from resource books containing information about resources which may be of use for the subject.

48. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of applying knowledge from best practice databases describing the best practices known for performing defined tasks.

49. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of selecting task performers with the appropriate skill level for the tasks on the activity list, so that optimal use of task performers is achieved.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of resource matching by finding a best match between stated needs of a subject and resources contained in the resource book.

51. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of communicating the assigned tasks to the task performers using the communications medium designated for that task performer.

52. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of assigning tasks to task performers in a plurality of facilities and locations.

53. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of managing requirements to prevent thrashing in the system as the step of collecting and the step of applying knowledge enter a potential state transition.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the step of managing requirements prevents thrashing by using fuzzy logic to determine which quantities are known with what certainty and what information is mandatory for the state transition.

55. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of verifying the completion of assigned tasks and activities.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the step of verifying the completion further comprises the step of activating the collecting step to initiate a re-assessment of the subject if required.

57. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of a second step of managing workflow to manage a subset of activities.

58. The method of claim 35, wherein step of collecting data about the subject further comprises the step of collecting at least one dimension of descriptive information about health care relevant aspects of the subject and storing it as a domain of the object.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the step of collecting further comprises the step of including at least one subdomain containing contextually descriptive information about the domain of which it forms a part.

60. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of collecting further comprises the step of collecting data about a subject associated with a health care organization.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of applying knowledge about health care.

62. The method of claim 60, wherein the step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of applying knowledge from resource books containing information relevant to a plurality of health care resources.

65. The method of claim 34, wherein step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of applying knowledge about eldercare.

66. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of applying knowledge further comprises the step of applying knowledge from resource books containing information relevant to a plurality of eldercare resources.

67. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of creating reports on the status of tasks performed for an individual subject.

68. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of managing workflow further comprises the step of creating reports aggregating and analyzing the performance and efficiency of task performers.