Medical diagnostic system management method and apparatus

• US 6,434,572 B2
• Filed: 11/25/1998
• Issued: 08/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: GE Medical Technology Services, Inc. (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: Palliyal, Sunil Melepatt, Mehring, David Thomas, Derzay, Gregory John, Hummel, Henry John Jr., Howards Koritzinsky, Ianne Mae, Gesior, George Peter, Kucek, Leo Michael, Swierczek, David Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane D.
• Application Number:
  US09/199,642
• Publication Number:
  US 20020004798A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/104, 705/2, 705/3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A technique is disclosed for providing remote service to medical diagnostic systems via a centralized service facility. The service facility is configured to receive service requests from diagnostic systems of different modalities, type, location, and so forth. The service requests are handled by one or more servers, and are directed to work stations or technicians for addressing the service requests. The work stations or technicians are selected in accordance with the modality of the diagnostic system as identified by the service request. A subscription status check may be performed for verifying the service arrangements between the requesting diagnostic systems and the centralized service facility. Reply messages are transmitted from the service facility to the requesting diagnostic systems in response to the service requests, providing interactive service exchange between the facility and the diagnostic systems.

Claims

1. A system for providing remote service to a plurality of medical diagnostic stations, the system comprising:

a server for automatically handling a service request composed by a medical person at a medical diagnostic station, the service request relating to operational performance of the medical diagnostic station;

a messaging module for automatically formulating and transmitting a reply message to the station in response to the service request; and

communications circuitry coupled to the server and to the messaging module for receiving the service request and transmitting the reply message.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a service workstation coupled to the server, the server transmitting the service request to the service workstation for handling.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to assign a reference code to the service request, and wherein the reply message includes data representative of the reference code.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one database coupled to the server, the database containing service history data indicative of a service history for the station, wherein the server is configured to access the service history data in response to the service request.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least one database includes data representative of operational parameters for a population of stations.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a subscription module coupled to the server for verifying a subscriber status of the station.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the subscription module includes data uniquely identifying the station and applicable service subscriptions for the station.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a report module coupled to the server for generating service reports from stored service data for the station.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to perform a sweep of the station to obtain data representative of an operational state of the station, and to transmit a service message to the station based the data obtained in the sweep.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the system includes a plurality of service facilities in different geographical locations linked to one another via a data communications network.

11. A centralized service facility for providing remote service to a plurality of medical diagnostic systems, the service facility comprising:

at least one server for receiving service requests composed by medical persons at a plurality of diagnostic systems and automatically transmitting service messages in response to the service requests, the service request relating to operational performance of the medical diagnostic systems;

communications circuitry coupled to the at least one server for receiving and transmitting the service requests and service messages; and

at least one database coupled to the at least one server for storing historical service data for the plurality of diagnostic systems.

12. The service facility of claim 11, wherein the at least one server includes a subscription server, the subscription server being operative to access service subscription data for the plurality of diagnostic systems and to verify availability of subscribed services in response to the service requests.

13. The service facility of claim 11, wherein the at least one server includes a report server, the report server being operative to access historical service data from the at least one database and to compile service reports based upon the historical service data.

14. The service facility of claim 13, wherein the report server is configured to transmit the reports to the diagnostic systems via the communications circuitry.

15. The service facility of claim 11, wherein the at least one database includes service data for populations of diagnostic systems.

16. The service facility of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of service workstations coupled to the at least one server, wherein the at least one server is operative to assign service requests to the service workstations for handling of the service requests.

17. The service facility of claim 11, wherein the at least one server is configured to perform periodic data sweeps of at least a portion of the plurality of diagnostic systems.

18. The service facility of claim 17, wherein the at least one server is configured to perform periodic data sweeps in accordance with service subscription data stored in the at least one database.

19. The service facility of claim 11, wherein the at least one server, the communications circuitry and the at least one database disposed at a single location.

20. The service facility of claim 11, wherein the centralized service facility includes a plurality of service facilities in different geographical locations linked to one another via a data communications network.

21. The service facility of claim 11, wherein the service message includes data representative of operation of a diagnostic system or of a medical institution in which the diagnostic system is disposed.

22. A method for providing remote service to a plurality of medical diagnostic systems, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving at a service facility a service request from a medical diagnostic system, the service request relating to operational performance of the medical diagnostic system;

verifying a subscriber status based upon the service request and stored subscription data;

assigning the service request a reference code; and

automatically transmitting a reply message from the service facility to the diagnostic system, the reply message including data representative of the reference code.

23. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of transmitting the service request to a service workstation for handling.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the service workstation is remote from the service facility.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the reply message includes an estimated time for replying to the service request.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the reply message includes data for correcting a serviceable condition occurring at the diagnostic system.

27. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of accessing data from the diagnostic system in response to the service request.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the data is accessed by a service engineer via a service workstation linked to the diagnostic system via a data communications network.

29. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of accessing stored service data from a service database for the diagnostic system.

30. The method of claim 29, comprising the further step of updating the stored service data with a record of the service request.

31. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of updating a client fee record file for the diagnostic system based upon the service request or upon a response to the service request.

32. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of transmitting an authorization message to the diagnostic system based upon the verification step.

33. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of transmitting digitized service data from the service facility to the diagnostic system in response to the service request.

34. A method for providing remote service to a plurality of medical diagnostic systems, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of service requests composed by medical persons from at least a first diagnostic system of a first modality and a second diagnostic system of a different modality, the service requests relating to operational performance of the respective diagnostic system;

accessing service files for the first and the second diagnostic systems;

addressing the service requests to respective modality technicians for handling; and

automatically transmitting reply messages to the first and the second diagnostic systems in response to the service requests.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the service files include historical service data for the first and the second diagnostic systems.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the service files include service data for the first and the second modalities.

37. The method of claim 34, comprising the further step of verifying a subscriber status for the first and second diagnostic systems prior to addressing the service requests to respective modality technicians.

38. A system for providing remote service to a plurality of medical diagnostic systems, the system comprising:

at least one server for handling a service request composed by a medical person at a medical diagnostic system and for automatically providing a response based on a service subscription, the service request relating to operational performance of the medical diagnostic system;

a communications assembly coupled to the at least one server for routing the service request and the response; and

at least one database coupled to the at least one server for storing the service subscription for the medical diagnostic system.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one server comprises a subscription server for verifying that the service request is within terms of the service subscription.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one server comprises a report server for generating a service report based upon historical service data.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one server comprises a service schedule module for automatically performing periodic data sweeps of at least a portion of the medical diagnostic system.

42. The system of claim 38, further comprising a service workstation coupled to the at least one server, the at least one server transmitting the service request to the service workstation for processing.

43. The system of claim 38, wherein communications assembly comprises a communications link between a plurality of service facilities at different geographic locations.

44. The system of claim 38, wherein the communications assembly comprises a communications link for a remote service technician computing device.

45. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one server comprises a service module for receiving the service request and for assigning a reference code to the service request.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the service module is configured for receiving a plurality of service requests from a plurality of diagnostic systems of different modality.

47. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one database includes a unique identifier for the service subscription of the medical diagnostic system.

48. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one database comprises service data for populations of diagnostic systems.

49. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one database comprises service history data indicative of a service history for the medical diagnostic system, and the at least one server is configured to access the service history data in response to the service request.

50. A remote servicing system for a medical diagnostic station, the system comprising:

at least one server comprising;

a service module for receiving a service request composed by a medical person at a medical diagnostic station and for assigning a reference code to the service request, the service request relating to operational performance of the medical diagnostic station;

a messaging module for automatically formulating a reply message to the service request; and

a communications assembly for electronically routing the service request and the reply message.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the service module comprises service data including a unique identifier for the medical diagnostic station.

52. The system of claim 50, wherein the service module comprises service data for populations of medical diagnostic systems.

53. The system of claim 50, wherein the at least one server comprises a service subscription module for determining if the service request is covered by a service subscription for the medical diagnostic station.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the service subscription module includes data uniquely identifying the medical diagnostic station and applicable service subscriptions for the station.

55. The system of claim 50, wherein the at least one server comprises a report module for analyzing historical service data for the medical diagnostic station.

56. The system of claim 50, wherein the at least one server comprises a service schedule module for scheduling periodic sweeps of an operational state of the medical diagnostic station.

57. The system of claim 56, wherein the service schedule module is configured for automatically periodically sweeping a plurality of medical diagnostic stations.

58. The system of claim 50, wherein the communications assembly comprises a communications link between a plurality of service facilities at different geographic locations.

59. The system of claim 50, wherein the service module is configured for receiving a plurality of service requests from a plurality of medical diagnostic systems of different modality.