Recordation and organization of problem solving data

• US 7,254,782 B1
• Filed: 06/28/2002
• Issued: 08/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Family VET Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Family VET Incorporated
• Inventors: Sherer, F. Alexei
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu; Tadesse
• Assistant Examiner(s): Roswell; Michael
• Application Number:
  US10/188,406
• Time in Patent Office: 1,866 Days
• Field of Search: 715/764, 715/865, 715/810, 715/817, 705/2, 705/3
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

A data model uses a graphical user interface (GUI) for recording and organizing information regarding an object of care. The GUI enables a user to input an observation data set including a plurality of observations, the plurality of observations include at least a first subset of the plurality of observations and a second subset of the plurality of observations. The GUI enables the user to input an action data set including a plurality of actions, the plurality of actions includes at least a first subset of the plurality of actions and a second subset of the plurality of actions. The GUI enables the user to connect a first category of care to at least the first subset of the plurality of observations and at least the first subset of the plurality of actions, and to connect a second category of care to at least the second subset of the plurality of observations and at least the second subset of the plurality of actions, such that each connection indicates a relationship between the respective connected data.

Claims

1. A user interface for receiving and displaying information regarding an object of care, the user interface comprising:

an observation pane for displaying a plurality of observations regarding said object of care,

a category of care pane for displaying a plurality of categories of care regarding said object of care,

an action pane for displaying a plurality of actions regarding said object of care, wherein the observation pane, category of care pane, and action pane are concurrently displayed in the user interface,

a plurality of visually perceptible associations comprising at least a first association associating a first of said plurality of categories of care displayed in the category of care pane to one or more of said plurality of observations displayed in the observation pane, and a second association associating a second of said plurality of categories of care displayed in the category of care pane to one or more of said plurality of actions displayed in the action pane.

2. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said observation data set, said category of care data set, and said action data set are textually displayed in a Graphical User Interface (“

GUI”

).

3. The user interface of claim 2, wherein said observation data set comprises a plurality of text phrases divided by a plurality of text dividers such that more than one of said text phrases may be displayed on a single display line of said GUI with only said text dividers separating said more than one of said text phrases, wherein each of said plurality of text phrases may be individually selected by a user without selecting the entire said single display line of said GUI, wherein when any portion of a particular text phrase is selected, the entire particular text phrase is automatically selected.

4. The user interface of claim 2, wherein said action data set comprises a plurality of text phrases divided by a plurality of text dividers such that more than one of said text phrases may be displayed on a single display line of said GUI with only said text dividers separating said more than one of said text phrases, wherein each of said plurality of text phrases may be individually selected by a user without selecting the entire said single display line of said GUI, wherein when any portion of a particular text phrase is selected, the entire particular text phrase is automatically selected.

5. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said plurality of associations are visible in the GUI as solid lines.

6. The user interface of claim 5, wherein said GUI includes:

an observation column operable to display said observation data set;

an action column operable to display said action data set; and

a category of care column disposed between said observation column and said action column operable to display said category of care data set.

7. The user interface of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of observations associated with a particular category of care is automatically placed in an observation group, which is a portion of said observation data set.

8. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said object of care is a patient in a medical practice.

9. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said object of care is an animal in a veterinarian practice.

10. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said object of care is an automobile.

11. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said observation data set, said category of care data set, and said action data set are concurrently displayed in the user interface.

12. The user interface of claim 11, wherein the category of care data set is configured to receive additional categories of care via the user interface, wherein the user interface comprises a text entry area for receiving the additional categories of care, the text area being concurrently displayed with the observation data set, the category of care data set, and the action data set.

13. The user interface of claim 11, wherein the associations between the plurality of categories of care and the observations are visible as solid lines in the user interface.

14. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said observation data set is displayed in a first column of a user interface, said category of care data set is displayed in a second column of said user interface, and said action data set is displayed in a third column of said user interface.

15. The user interface of claim 1, wherein at least one of the observations indicates an abnormal characteristic of the object of care and at least one of the observations indicates a normal characteristic of the object of care, at least one of the associations associating the normal characteristic with the normal category of care.

16. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said observation data set comprises a plurality of text phrases divided by a plurality of text dividers such that more than one of said text phrases are displayed on a single display line of said user interface with only said text dividers separating said more than one of said text phrases.

17. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said observation data set comprises a plurality of text phrases divided by a plurality of text dividers such that at least one of said text phrases is displayed on multiple display lines of said user interface.

18. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said user interface displays each of said observations associated with a particular category of care in a bounded area separate from observations that are not associated with the particular category of care.

19. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said user interface displays each of said observations associated with a particular group of categories of care in a bounded area separate from observations that are not associated with each of the categories of care in the particular group.

20. The user interface of claim 1, wherein said observation data set is displayed in a first column of the output device, said category of care data set is displayed in a second column of the output device, and said action data set is displayed in a third column of the output device.

21. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the first association associates the first of said plurality of categories of care displayed in the category of care pane to more than one of said plurality of observations displayed in the observation pane, and the second association associates the second of said plurality of categories of care displayed in the category of care pane to more than one of said plurality of actions displayed in the action pane.

22. A method of recording and associating data objects relating to an object of care so that the data objects are associated in a manner that allows a user to determine a logical relationship between a plurality of data objects by viewing connections indicative of associations between the plurality of data objects, said method comprising:

receiving a plurality of observations regarding said object of care from a user controlled input device,

receiving a plurality of categories of care regarding said object of care from said user controlled input device,

receiving a plurality of actions regarding said object of care from said user controlled input device;

receiving a plurality of entries from said user controlled input device indicating one or more specific observations that are to be associated with each specific category of care;

receiving a plurality of entries from said user controlled input device indicating one or more specific actions that are to be associated with each specific category of care;

storing data corresponding to said specific observations and said specific actions that are to be associated to each specific category of care;

concurrently displaying on an output device the plurality of observations, the plurality of categories of care, the plurality of actions, and a plurality of associations corresponding to said stored data, wherein said associations are visible as solid lines.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

grouping each of said plurality of observations associated with a particular category of care so as to create an observation group.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said graphical information includes said observation group.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

grouping each of said plurality of actions associated with a particular category of care so as to create an action group.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said each of said plurality of actions associated with a particular category of care are displayed as a group in said graphical information.

27. A system for recording and organizing information regarding an object of care comprising:

an observation data set including a plurality of observations, said plurality of observations comprising a first subset of said plurality of observations and a second subset of said plurality of observations;

an action data set including a plurality of actions, said plurality of actions comprising a first subset of said plurality of actions and a second subset of said plurality of actions;

a first category of care connected to said first subset of said plurality of observations and connected to said first subset of said plurality of actions;

a second category of care connected to said second subset of said plurality of observations and connected to said second subset of said plurality of actions, and

a user interface concurrently displaying said observation data set, said first and second categories of care, and said action data set.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein said observation data set comprises a third subset of said plurality of observations and said action data set includes a third subset of said plurality of actions, said data model comprising:

a third category of care connected to said third subset of said plurality of observations and connected to said third subset of said plurality of actions.

29. A system for recording and organizing information regarding an object of care comprising:

an observation data set including a plurality N observations, said plurality of observations comprising

a first subset of said plurality of observations, wherein said first subset includes a quantity from 1 to N of said plurality N observations;

and a second subset of said plurality of observations, wherein said second subset includes a quantity from 1 to N of said plurality N observations;

an action data set including a plurality M of actions, said plurality M of actions comprising

a first subset of said plurality M of actions, wherein said first subset includes a quantity from 1 to M of said plurality M actions; and

a second subset of said plurality M of actions, wherein said first subset includes a quantity from 1 to M of said plurality M actions;

a first category of care connected to said first subset of said plurality N of observations and connected to said first subset of said plurality M of actions;

a second category of care connected to said second subset of said plurality N of observations and connected to said second subset of said plurality M of actions; and

a user interface concurrently displaying said observation data set, said first and second categories of care, and said action data set.

30. A system for connecting data objects in a user interface, comprising:

a user interface concurrently displaying a plurality of observations, a plurality of categories of care, and a plurality of actions associated with an object of care;

a plurality of text phrases concurrently displayed in the user interface, the text phrases being divided by a plurality of text dividers, wherein each of said plurality of text phrases may be individually selected by a user, wherein when any portion of a particular text phrase is selected, the entire particular text phrase is selected; and

a connection object;

wherein any of said plurality of text phrases may be iteratively selected and connected to said connection object, wherein each of said plurality of text phrases that are iteratively selected and connected to said connection object are automatically displayed in a bounded area of the user interface, wherein said plurality of text phrases that are not iteratively selected and connected to said connection object are concurrently displayed in the user interface outside of the bounded area.

31. The system of claim 30 further comprising:

a second connection object;

wherein any of said plurality of text phrases may be iteratively selected and connected to said second connection object, wherein each of said plurality of text phrases that are iteratively selected and connected to said second connection object are automatically placed in a second bounded area on the display, wherein said plurality of text phrases that are not iteratively selected and connected to said second connection object are concurrently displayed in the user interface outside of the second bounded area.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein said connection object is a category of care.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein said plurality of text phrases represent a plurality of observations regarding an object of care.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein said plurality of text phrases represent a plurality of actions regarding an object of care.

35. The system of claim 30 wherein at least one of the text phrases comprises a first and second portion, the first portion being displayed on a first line of a display device and the second portion being displayed on a second line of the display device.

36. A computer readable medium including software for executing the method of connecting specific text objects with a connection object, said method comprising:

concurrently displaying on an output device a plurality of observations, a category of care, a plurality of actions, and one or more associations depicting associations between selected of the actions and the category of care;

receiving a plurality N of text phrases from a user controlled input device;

storing said plurality N of text phrases;

displaying in a bounded area of a user interface said plurality N of text phrases separated by a plurality N−

1 text dividers, wherein portions of two or more of the text phrases are displayed on a single line within the bounded area;

iteratively performing the following;

receiving a selection of a specific text phrase from said user controlled input device;

receiving a selection of a connection object from said user controlled input device, said connection object being concurrently displayed outside of the bounded area in the user interface;

displaying a line between said selected specific text phrase within the bounded area and said selected connection object outside of the bounded area.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein each of said selected specific text phrases associated with a specific connection object is disposed in a text area separate from all other said text phrases.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said connection object is a category of care.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said plurality N of text phrases represent a plurality of observations regarding an object of care.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said plurality N of text phrases represent a plurality of actions regarding an object of care.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said plurality N of text phrases represent a plurality of actions and a plurality of observations regarding an object of care.