Medical information system

• US 6,656,115 B1
• Filed: 09/01/2000
• Issued: 12/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Iwano, Kenji, Miyazaki, Jinsei
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur, Eric F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): McCrosky, David J.
• Application Number:
  US09/653,814
• Time in Patent Office: 1,187 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/301, 128/903, 128/904, 482/1, 482/8, 482/901
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• 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: Y10S 128/904 Telephone telemetry

Abstract

A medical information system has a patient terminal device, a server, and an administrator terminal device. The patient terminal device, the server, and the administrator terminal device are connected together on a network. The patient terminal device includes sensors for measuring information used as indices of the condition of a patient'"'"'s health; a part for transferring measured data obtained by the sensors to the patient terminal device; a part for transferring the measured data from the sensors to the server via the network; a part for accepting control information from the server, and a part for taking action based on the control information. The server includes a part for transmitting the control information to the patient terminal device; and a part for storing and sorting out the measured data transferred from the patient terminal device. The administrator terminal includes a part for reviewing the measured data stored and sorted out in the server.

Claims

1. In a network including a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal, a method of communicating medical information comprising the steps of:

(a) storing only in the server terminal, a schedule showing a desired time for measuring at least one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient;

(b) transmitting and identifying from the server terminal to a respective patient terminal a parameter, based on the schedule stored only in the server, to be measured at a respective patient terminal;

(c) measuring the parameter identified in step (b) at the respective patient terminal;

(d) repeating steps (b) and (c) in turn for each of the other respective parameters, based on the schedule to be measured stored only in the server terminal; and

(e) transmitting from each respective patient terminal to the server terminal the measured parameters, after measuring in step (c).

2. The method of claim 1, including the steps of:

comparing, at the server terminal, a value of the measured parameter to a predetermined range of values stored in the server terminal, after step (e); and

transmitting, from the server terminal to an administrator terminal, the measured parameter, if the value of the measured parameter is not within the predetermined range of values.

3. In a network including a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal, a method of communicating medical information comprising the steps of:

(a) storing only in the server terminal, a schedule showing a desired time for measuring at least one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient;

(b) transmitting and identifying from the server terminal to a respective patient terminal a parameter, based on the schedule stored only in the server terminal to be measured at a respective patient terminal;

(c) measuring the parameter identified in step (b) at the respective patient terminal;

(d) transmitting, from the respective patient terminal to the server terminal, the measured parameter, after measuring in step (c); and

(e) repeating steps (b)-(d) for each of the other respective parameters based on the schedule to be measured stored only in the server terminal.

4. The method of claim 3 including the steps of:

comparing, at the server terminal, a value of the measured parameter to a predetermined range of values stored in the server terminal, after step (e); and

transmitting, from the sever terminal to an administrator terminal, the measured parameter, if the value of the measured parameter is not within the predetermined range of values.

5. In a network including a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal, a method of communicating medical information comprising the steps of:

(a) storing in the server terminal, a schedule showing a desired time for measuring at least one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient;

(b) transmitting and identifying from the server terminal to a respective patient terminal a parameter, based on the schedule stored in the server terminal, to be measured at a respective patient terminal;

(c) determining only by the server terminal that the respective patient terminal has not made the measurement of step (b); and

(d) transmitting by the server terminal to the respective patient terminal a predetermined alarm signal, if the server terminal makes the determination of step (c).

6. In a network including a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal, a method of communicating medical information comprising the steps of:

(a) storing in the server terminal, a schedule showing a desired time for measuring at least one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient;

(b) measuring a parameter of step (a) of a respective patient at a respective patient terminal at a time determined by the respective patient;

(c) transmitting by the respective patient terminal to the server terminal the parameter measured in step (b);

(d) receiving by the server terminal the parameter transmitted in step (c); and

(e) comparing the parameter received in step (d) by the server terminal measured at the time determined in step (b) with the schedule of desired times in step (a); and

(f) accepting by the server terminal the measurement of step (b) if the time comparison of step (e) is less than a predetermined time.

7. The method of claim 6 including the steps of:

(g) transmitting and identifying from the server terminal to a respective patient terminal a parameter based on the schedule stored in the server terminal in step (a) to be measured at a respective patient terminal; and

(h) stopping the transmission to the respective patient terminal in step (g) of the parameter compared and accepted in steps (e) and (f).

8. A medical information system comprising

a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal configured to communicate in a network,

the server terminal including a stored schedule showing a desired time for measuring each one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient, the schedule stored only in the server terminal,

the server terminal including a transmitter for transmitting, from the server terminal to a respective patient terminal, each parameter identified by the server terminal to be measured at a respective patient terminal, based on the schedule stored only in the server terminal,

the respective patient terminal configured to (1) measure each parameter identified by the server terminal and (2) store each measured parameter based on the schedule, and

the respective patient terminal including a transmitter for transmitting to the server terminal the stored measured parameters.

9. A medical information system comprising

a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal configured to communicate in a network,

the server terminal including a stored schedule showing a desired time for measuring at least one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient, the schedule stored only in the server terminal,

the server terminal including a transmitter for transmitting, from the server terminal to a respective patient terminal, the parameter identified by the server terminal to be measured at a respective patient terminal, based on the schedule stored only in the server terminal,

the respective patient terminal configured to measure the parameter identified by the server terminal, and

the respective patient terminal including a transmitter for transmitting to the server terminal the measured parameter.

10. A medical information system comprising

a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal configured to communicate in a network,

the server terminal including a stored schedule showing a desired time for measuring at least one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient,

the server terminal including a transmitter for transmitting, from the server terminal to a respective patient terminal, the at least one parameter identified by the server terminal to be measured at a respective patient terminal, based on the schedule stored in the server terminal,

the server terminal configured to determine that the respective patient terminal has not made a measurement of the at least one parameter identified by the server terminal, and

the server terminal including a predetermined alarm signal, wherein the predetermined alarm signal is transmitted to the respective patient terminal, if the server terminal determines that the measurement has not been made.

12. The medical information system according to anyone of claims 8-11, wherein said server terminal has a function for managing information unique to a user using said patient terminal and can supply individual data or individual control information to said patient terminal based on the information unique to said user.

13. The medical information system according to anyone of claims 8-11, including sensors for measuring the parameters, said sensors including at least one of a clinical thermometer, a hemadynamometer, a pulsimeter, a blood sugar level meter, a saturated blood oxygen densitometer, scales, a fat meter, a stethoscope, an electrocardiograph, a still imaging device, an animation imaging device and a spirometer.

14. The medical information system according to anyone of claims 8-11, wherein said server terminal includes threshold values for data that depend on a condition of each patient'"'"'s health and has a function for transmitting a signal to an administrator terminal via the network when the measured data transferred from said patient terminal deviates from said threshold values.

15. The medical information system according to anyone of claims 8-11, wherein said patient terminal includes threshold values for data that depend on the condition of each patient'"'"'s health and has a function for transmitting a signal to an administrator terminal via the network when the measured data transferred from said patient terminal deviates from said threshold values.

16. The medical information system according to anyone of claims 8-11, wherein said server terminal stores at least part of software driving said patient terminal or/and an administrator terminal and has a function operating when said software is updated, to automatically update said software in said patient terminal or/and said administrator terminal.

11. A medical information system comprising

a plurality of patient terminals and a server terminal configured to communicate in a network,

the server terminal including a stored schedule showing a desired time for measuring at least one of a plurality of parameters indicating health of each patient,

the patient terminal configured to receive a measurement of a parameter, the parameter measured of a respective patient at a time determined by the respective patient,

the respective patient terminal including a transmitter for transmitting, to the server terminal, the measurement of the parameter of the respective patient,

the server terminal including a receiver for receiving the measurement of the parameter of the respective patient, and a comparator for comparing the time determined by the respective patient and a desired time of measurement in the stored schedule, and

the server terminal configured to accept the received measurement performed by the respective patient, if the time comparison performed by the server terminal is less than a predetermined time.