Methods, systems and computer program products for synthesizing diagnoses in healthcare databases

• US 7,761,440 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2005
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Khan, Anwer Mujahid, Chow, Tony H., Friedlander, Robert R., Hennessy, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): To; Baoquoc N
• Application Number:
  US11/238,869
• Publication Number:
  US 20070073654A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,755 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/4, 707/10
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products for synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases are provided. A diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients is received. Query results are provided responsive to the diagnosis query. The query results may include diagnoses from multiple sources that are expressed in multiple standards formats.

Claims

1. A method of synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, comprising:

receiving a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

providing a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards, wherein the plurality of different medical standard has multiple different coded formats;

providing query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or the group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded format for the different medical standards; and

receiving query adjustments responsive to the provided query_results, wherein the adjustments include prioritizing a display of the query_results in accordance with a user name and password associated with a user from which the discrete diagnosis query is received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the discrete diagnosis query is preceded by verifying a username and password associated with the username and wherein the receiving of the discrete diagnosis query further comprises receiving the discrete diagnosis query only if the username and password are verified.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

each username and associated password is associated with a level of security clearance, the level of security clearance determining which information can be accessed by a user of the associated username and password; and

said providing query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query comprises providing only query results of requested medical diagnosis information available at the level of security clearance corresponding to the username and password that are first verified.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting future query results based on the received query adjustments.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the query results include medical test and diagnosis information associated with the specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients.

6. A method of synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, comprising:

receiving a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

providing a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards; and

providing query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or the group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded medical standards wherein the providing of the query results comprises;

determining if the semantic diagnosis query includes a first standards code in conformance with a first medical standard therein;

determining equivalent standards codes to the first standards code in conformance with at least one second medical standard, different from the first medical standard, if it is determined that the semantic diagnosis query includes a first standards code; and

providing the query results based on both the first standards code and the equivalent standards codes.

7. A method of synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, the method comprising:

receiving a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

processing the received discrete diagnosis query to generate at least one semantic diagnosis query that is coded for a plurality of healthcare databases to obtain the query results;

providing a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards, wherein said providing comprises providing the at least one semantic diagnosis query to at least one medical standards database and/or at least one medical diagnostic test results database;

receiving intermediate query results from the at least one medical standards database and/or the at least one medical diagnostic test results database;

modifying a format of the intermediate query results; and

providing query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or the group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded medical standards;

wherein modifying the format occurs before providing the query results.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein modifying the format further comprises modifying the format based on a user profile and/or information obtained from previously received discrete diagnosis queries of the user.

9. A system for synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory connected to the processor to store a healthcare query module configured to;

receive a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

provide a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards, wherein the plurality of different medical standard has multiple different coded formats;

provide query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded format for plurality of the different medical standards; and

wherein the healthcare query_module further comprises a learning module, the learning module being configured to receive query_adjustments responsive to the provided query_results such that the adjustments include prioritizing a display of the query results in accordance with a user name and password associated with a user from which the discrete diagnosis query is received.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the healthcare query module is further configured to verify a username and password associated with the username before receiving the discrete diagnosis query and to receive the discrete diagnosis query only if the username and password are verified.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein:

each username and associated password is associated with a level of security clearance, the level of security clearance determining which information can be accessed by a user of the associated username and password; and

said healthcare query module configured provide query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query further provides only query results of requested medical diagnosis information available at the level of security clearance corresponding to the username and password that are first verified.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the learning module is further configured to adjust future query results based on the received query adjustments.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the query results include medical test and diagnosis information associated with the specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients.

14. A system for synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory connected to the processor to store a healthcare query module configured to;

receive a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

provide a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards, and

provide query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded medical standards;

wherein the healthcare query module comprises a query generation module, the query generation module being configured to;

determine if the semantic diagnosis query includes a first standards code in conformance with a first medical standard therein;

determine equivalent standards codes to the first standards code in conformance with at least one second medical standard, different from the first medical standard, if it is determined that the semantic diagnosis query includes a first standards code; and

provide the query results based on both the first standards code and the equivalent standards codes.

15. A system for synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory connected to the processor to store a healthcare query module configured to;

receive a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

provide a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards;

process the received discrete diagnosis query to generate at least one semantic diagnosis query that is coded for a plurality of healthcare databases to obtain the query results; and

provide query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded medical standards;

wherein the healthcare query module is further configured to;

provide the at least one semantic diagnosis query to at least one medical standards database and/or at least one medical diagnostic test results database; and

receive intermediate query results from the at least one medical standards database and/or the at least one medical diagnostic test results database; and

wherein the healthcare query module further comprises a semantic module, the semantic module being configured to modify a format of the intermediate query results before providing the query results to a user.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the semantic module is further configured to modify the format based on a user profile and/or information obtained from previously received discrete diagnosis queries of the user.

17. A computer program product for synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, comprising:

computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to receive a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

computer readable program code configured to provide a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards, wherein the plurality of different medical standard has multiple different coded formats;

computer readable program code configured to provide query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded format for the plurality of different medical standards; and

computer readable program code configured to receive query_adjustments responsive to the provided query results such that the adjustments include prioritizing a display of the query results in accordance with a user name and password associated with a user from which the discrete diagnosis query is received.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising computer readable program code configured to verify usemame and password associated with the usemame, wherein the computer readable program code configured to receive the discrete diagnosis query further comprises computer readable program code configured to receive the discrete diagnosis query only if the usemame and password are verified.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein each usemame and associated password is associated with a level of security clearance, the level of security clearance determining which information can be accessed by a user of the associated username and password.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising computer readable program code configured to adjust future query results based on the received query adjustments.

21. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the query results include medical test and diagnosis information associated with the specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients.

22. A computer program product for synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, comprising:

computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to receive a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

computer readable program code configured to provide a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards; and

computer readable program code configured to provide query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded medical standards;

wherein the computer readable program code configured to provide the query results comprises;

computer readable program code configured to determine if the semantic diagnosis query includes a first standards code in conformance with a first medical standard therein;

computer readable program code configured to determine equivalent standards codes to the first standards code in conformance with at least one second medical standard, different from the first medical standard, if it is determined that the semantic diagnosis query includes a first standards code; and

computer readable program code configured to provide the query results based on both the first standards code and the equivalent standards codes.

23. A computer program product for synthesizing diagnoses stored in healthcare databases, comprising computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, the computer readable program code comprising:

computer readable program code configured to receive a discrete diagnosis query associated with a single patient or a group of patients such that the discrete diagnosis query includes a request for medical diagnosis information in a natural language format regarding a specific medical condition of the patient or group of patients;

computer readable program code configured to provide a semantic diagnosis query, in response to the received discrete diagnosis query, to multiple databases such that the semantic diagnosis query includes a request for the medical diagnosis information in a coded format for each of a plurality of different medical standards;

computer readable program code configured to process the received discrete diagnosis query to generate at least one semantic diagnosis query that is coded for a plurality of healthcare databases to obtain the query results;

computer readable program code configured to provide query results responsive to the discrete diagnosis query, such that the query results include the requested medical diagnosis information associated with the single patient or group of patients from the multiple database sources such that the query results are provided in accordance with the multiple coded medical standards;

computer readable program code configured to provide the at least one semantic diagnosis query to at least one medical standards database and/or at least one medical diagnostic test results database;

computer readable program code configured to receive intermediate query results from the at least one medical standards database and/or the at least one medical diagnostic test results database; and

computer readable program code configured to modify a format of the intermediate query results before providing the query results to an output device.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the computer readable program code configured to modify the format further comprises computer readable program code configured to modify the format based on a user profile and/or information obtained from previously received discrete diagnosis queries of the user.