Medical triage system

• US 7,716,070 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2004
• Issued: 05/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medcor Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Medcor Incorporated
• Inventors: Zoiss, Joyce H., Biggerstaff, Wendy K., Kinch, Diane M., Glimp, Thomas H., Victorson, Troyt M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Morgan; Robert W
• Application Number:
  US10/985,732
• Publication Number:
  US 20060100902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,009 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires

Abstract

A method of determining a triage disposition for a person includes providing a plurality of triage categories that includes questions grouped into a plurality of tiers ranked according to urgency. Each of the plurality of tiers corresponds to one of a set of triage dispositions. At least a first relevant triage category and a second relevant triage category can be selected from the plurality of triage categories based on information about a medical condition of the person and then accessed. The person can be triaged by (a) identifying from all of the selected relevant triage categories a highest urgency tier that has at least one unasked question; (b) asking the person one of the at least one unasked question of the highest urgency tier; and (c) repeating (a) and (b) for all of the selected triage categories until the triage disposition is determined.

Claims

1. A method of determining a medical triage disposition for a person, comprising:

providing, by a computer to a triage operator, a plurality of triage categories comprising body parts, injury types, symptoms, or a combination thereof, wherein each of the plurality of triage categories comprises questions grouped into a plurality of tiers ranked according to urgency, and wherein each of the plurality of tiers corresponds to one of a set of triage dispositions;

providing, by the computer to the triage operator, a selection of at least a first relevant triage category from the plurality of triage categories based on answers received from the person in response to an initial inquiry into a medical condition of the person;

providing, by the computer to the triage operator within a computer screen layout, access to questions of the selected at least first relevant triage category; and

providing, by the triage operator with access to the computer, triage to the person remotely, away from a treatment center, without medical equipment and without need of a trained medical person, through a form of remote communication, wherein providing triage comprises;

(a) identifying from the selected at least first relevant triage category a highest urgency tier that has at least one unasked question;

(b) asking the person one of the at least one unasked question of the highest urgency tier;

(c) receiving a response from the person to the at least one unasked question;

(d) identifying during triage within the at least first relevant triage category at least a second relevant triage category;

(e) selecting the at least second relevant triage category while performing triage in the at least first relevant triage category; and

(f) repeating (a) through (c) for the selected at least first and second relevant triage categories until the triage disposition is determined, wherein the triage operator is provided simultaneous access through the computer screen layout to the questions of the at least first and second selected relevant triage categories.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected at least first and second relevant triage categories are selected before (a) is performed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected at least first relevant triage category comprises at least two categories.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the selected at least second relevant triage category comprises at least two categories.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing at least one database supported by the computer for storing triage-related data.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising accessing the triage-related data, wherein the triage-related data comprise demographic data related to the person.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising accessing the triage-related data, wherein the triage-related data comprise data related to any previous communication with the person.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a rationale for one of the questions when the computer is queried by the triage operator.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the triage operator overriding the triage disposition if the triage operator prefers a different disposition.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the triage operator overriding the triage disposition if the person warrants immediate medical attention.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a follow-up medical interview.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the questions comprise yes/no questions.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a first “

yes”

answer received in response to one of the yes/no questions directly results in a determination of the triage disposition, and wherein the triage disposition corresponds to the tier which contains the affirmatively-answered question.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of triage dispositions comprise:

emergent-911 transport by an emergency medical service to a medical provider;

emergent referral immediately to a medical provider;

urgent referral to a medical provider within about two days of the disposition being selected;

non-urgent referral to a medical provider within several days of the disposition being selected; and

self-care instructions.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

providing interim self-care instructions to the person in anticipation of an eventual visit to a medical provider; and

only reporting a call when no medical care is determined to be necessary.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the triage categories further comprises supporting information, the method further comprising providing access to the supporting information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the supporting information is selected from a group consisting of:

critical considerations;

clinical frame;

frequently asked questions and answers thereto.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising reporting selected triage-related data to an employer of the person.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein providing triage further comprises alternating between questions of the selected at least first and second relevant triage categories using one of a step-type alternation or a zigzag-type alternation.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein remotely includes without access to vital signs of the person.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the form of remote communication includes one chosen from the group consisting of a mobile device, a facsimile machine, a computer, and a telephone.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein triage dispositions are final determinations whether and to what level of medical care the person is directed.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the triage operator need not be medically trained, the method further comprising:

quantifying a symptom of the person by the triage operator with a quantification tool of the computer that includes additional questions and standardization between multiple triage operators.

24. A computer program product readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process, by a processor, for implementing a system to medically triage a person, the computer process comprising:

providing a plurality of triage categories comprising body parts, injury types, symptoms, or a combination thereof, wherein each of the plurality of triage categories comprises questions grouped into a plurality of tiers ranked according to urgency, and wherein each of the plurality of tiers corresponds to one of a set of triage dispositions;

selecting at least a first relevant triage category from the plurality of triage categories based on answers received from the person in response to an initial inquiry into a medical condition of the person;

accessing questions of the selected at least first relevant triage category through a computer screen layout; and

providing triage to the person remotely, away from a treatment center, without medical equipment and without need of a trained medical person, through a form of remote communication, wherein providing triage comprises;

(a) identifying from the selected at least first relevant triage category a highest urgency tier that has at least one unasked question;

(b) presenting one of the at least one unasked question of the highest urgency tier to the person;

(c) receiving a response from the person to the at least one unasked question;

(d) identifying during triage within the at least first relevant triage category at least a second relevant triage category;

(e) selecting the at least second relevant triage category while performing triage in the at least first relevant triage category; and

(f) repeating (a) through (c) for the selected at least first and second relevant triage categories until the triage disposition is determined, wherein the triage operator is provided simultaneous access through the computer screen layout to the questions of the at least first and second selected relevant triage categories.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein selecting the first relevant triage category is in accordance with an input from the triage operator.

26. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein accessing the selected relevant triage categories is in accordance with an input from the triage operator.

27. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein presenting one of the at least one unasked question comprises the triage operator speaking one of the at least one unasked question to the person over a telephone.

28. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein remotely includes without access to vital signs of the person.

29. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the form of remote communication includes one chosen from the group consisting of a mobile device, a facsimile machine, a computer, and a telephone.

30. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein triage dispositions are final determinations whether and to what level of medical care the person is directed.

31. A system for enabling a triage operator using a computer to implement a triage system to a person, comprising:

a computer system having stored thereon;

a database having at least a plurality of triage categories comprising body parts, injury types, symptoms, or a combination thereof, wherein each of the plurality of triage categories comprises questions grouped into a plurality of tiers ranked according to urgency, and wherein each of the plurality of tiers corresponds to one of a set of triage dispositions;

programming code for providing a selection of at least a first relevant triage category from the plurality of triage categories based on answers received from the person in response to an initial inquiry into a medical condition of the person;

programming code for providing access to questions of the selected at least first relevant triage category through a computer screen layout; and

programming code for providing triage to the person remotely, away from a treatment center, without medical equipment and without need of a trained medical person, through a form of remote communication, wherein providing triage comprises;

(a) identifying from the selected at least first relevant triage category a highest urgency tier that has at least one unasked question;

(b) asking the person one of the at least one unasked question of the highest urgency tier;

(c) receiving a response from the person to the at least one unasked question;

(d) identifying during triage within the at least first relevant triage category at least a second relevant triage category;

(e) selecting the at least second relevant triage category while performing triage in the at least first relevant triage category; and

(f) repeating (a) through (c) for the selected at least first and second relevant triage categories until the triage disposition is determined, wherein the triage operator has simultaneous access through the computer screen layout to the questions of the at least first and second selected relevant triage categories.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising providing a communications system supporting remote contact between the person and the triage operator.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the communications system comprises at least one telephone operatively connected to a network.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein remotely includes without access to vital signs of the person.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein the form of remote communication includes one chosen from the group consisting of a mobile device, a facsimile machine, a computer, and a telephone.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein triage dispositions are final determinations whether and to what level of medical care a person is directed.

37. The system of claim 31, wherein the triage operator need not be medically trained, the system further comprising:

programming code for quantifying a symptom of the person by the triage operator with a quantification tool of the computer system that includes additional questions and standardization between multiple triage operators.

38. A method of determining a medical triage disposition for a person, comprising:

providing, by a computer to a triage operator, a plurality of triage categories comprising body parts, injury types, symptoms, or a combination thereof, wherein each of the plurality of triage categories comprises questions grouped into a plurality of tiers ranked according to urgency, and wherein each of the plurality of tiers corresponds to one of a set of triage dispositions;

providing, by the computer to the triage operator, a selection of two or more distinct, relevant triage categories from the plurality of triage categories based on answers received from the person in response to an initial inquiry into a medical condition of the person;

providing, by the computer to the triage operator within a computer screen layout, simultaneous access to questions of the selected two or more relevant triage categories; and

providing, by the triage operator with access to the computer, triage to the person remotely, away from a treatment center and without need of medical personnel, through a form of remote communication, wherein providing triage comprises;

(a) identifying from all of the selected relevant triage categories a highest urgency tier that has at least one unasked question;

(b) asking the person one of the at least one unasked question of the highest urgency tier;

(c) receiving a response from the person to the at least one unasked question; and

(d) repeating (a) through (d) for all of the selected triage categories until the triage disposition is determined.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the relevant triage categories are selected before (a) is performed.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the relevant triage categories are selected at different times.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein (a) and (b) have been performed at least once before selecting a second relevant triage category.

42. The method of claim 38, further comprising providing at least one database supported by the computer for storing triage-related data.

43. The method of claim 38, further comprising the triage operator overriding the triage disposition if the person warrants immediate medical attention.

44. The method of claim 38, wherein triage is provided without access to medical equipment and wherein the triage operator need not be medically trained, the method further comprising:

quantifying a symptom of the person by the triage operator with a quantification tool of the computer that includes additional questions and standardization between multiple triage operators.

45. A system for enabling a triage operator using a computer to implement a triage system to a person, comprising:

a computer system having a processor and stored within memory thereof a database having at least a plurality of triage categories comprising body parts, injury types, symptoms, or a combination thereof, wherein each of the plurality of triage categories comprises questions grouped into a plurality of tiers ranked according to urgency, and wherein each of the plurality of tiers corresponds to one of a set of triage dispositions;

programming code, executable by the processor, for providing a selection of two or more distinct, relevant triage categories from the plurality of triage categories based on answers received from the person in response to an initial inquiry into a medical condition of the person;

programming code, executable by the processor, for providing simultaneous access to questions of the selected two or more relevant triage categories through a computer screen layout; and

programming code, executable by the processor, for providing triage to the person remotely, away from a treatment center and without need of medical personnel, through a form of remote communication, wherein providing triage comprises;

(a) identifying from all of the selected relevant triage categories a highest urgency tier that has at least one unasked question;

(b) asking the person one of the at least one unasked question of the highest urgency tier;

(c) receiving a response from the person to the at least one unasked question; and

(d) repeating (a) through (d) for all of the selected triage categories until the triage disposition is determined.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the relevant triage categories are selected before (a) is performed as executed by the programming code.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the relevant triage categories are selected at different times as executed by the programming code.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein (a) and (b) have been performed at least once before selecting a second relevant triage category as executed by the programming code.