Apparatus and method for computerized multi-media data organization and transmission

• US 7,982,769 B2
• Filed: 02/13/2003
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: William Rex Akers
• Original Assignee: William Rex Akers
• Inventors: Akers, William Rex, Jenkins, Deborah L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Nhan T
• Application Number:
  US10/366,179
• Publication Number:
  US 20040017474A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,078 Days
• Field of Search: 348/207.1, 348/211.99, 348/211.8, 348/211.9, 348/231.2, 348/231.5, 348/333.02, 348/552, 600/301, 705/3
• US Class Current: 348/207.1
• 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 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus for multi-media data organization and transmission. The apparatus has a computer having a microprocessor, a memory storage, a display for providing information to a user, and an input device. An image-recording device is electrically-coupled to the computer for capturing images for storage in the memory storage of the computer. A database, which has a structure defined in the memory storage, receives and stores a plurality of information relating to an event. A program, being executable by the computer, provides a graphical user interface on the display. The program has an imaging module with document and image capture filing and scanning functions. The graphical user interface receives an input from the input device and from the image-recording device. In a further aspect of the invention, the program has a communications module for transmission of the plurality of information relating to the event to a remote location.

Claims

1. An apparatus for multi-media data organization and transmission of information relating to the provision of service on-site, the apparatus comprising:

an on-site computer having a microprocessor, a memory storage, a display for providing information to an on-site service provider, and an input device for receiving information and commands from the on-site service provider;

a remote computer having a microprocessor and a memory storage;

a display for providing information to a remote service provider, and an input device for receiving information and commands from a remote service provider;

a database defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer for storing a plurality of on-site episode records, each on-site episode record for storing one or more images relating to an event and a plurality of fields of information relating to the event, said database comprising provision for annotations of said images;

a database defined in said memory storage of said remote computer for storing a plurality of remote episode records, each remote episode record for storing one or more images relating to an event and a plurality of fields of information relating to the event, said database comprising provision for annotations of said images;

an imaging device operatively coupled to said memory storage of said on-site computer for capturing images for storage in said on-site episode records;

a program executable by said on-site computer, said program providing a graphical user interface on said display of said on-site computer, said program having an imaging module with document and image capture filing and scanning functions, said graphical user interface accepting an input from said input device of said on-site computer to control said program;

a communications module of the on-site computer configured to modify at least a portion of an on-site episode record in the plurality of on-site episode records in accordance with a modification to at least a portion of a remote episode record in the plurality of remote episode records; and

a communications module of the remote computer configured to modify at least the portion of the remote episode record in accordance with a modification to at least the portion of the on-site episode record.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said program has a data synchronizer for making at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer and at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said remote computer the same.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said input device of the on-site computer is a computer keyboard.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said input device of the on-site computer is a voice-command program executed by said on-site computer, said voice-command program receiving input from hardware operatively-coupled to said on-site computer.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each event is an episode-of-care in which health care services are provided.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said imaging device is a digital camera.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one on-site episode record comprises a graphic image having a date/time stamp.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said graphic image is in XIF format.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said imaging module is an electronic filing cabinet program.

10. An apparatus for multi-media data organization and transmission of information relating to the provision of service on-site, the apparatus comprising:

an on-site computer having a microprocessor, a memory storage, a display for information that will be provided to a remote service provider, and an input device for entering information and commands from the remote service provider;

a remote computer having a microprocessor and a memory storage;

a data structure defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer for storing one or more on-site episode records, each on-site episode record for storing one or more images relating to an event and a plurality of fields of information relating to the event, said data structure comprising provision for associating said information with said images;

a data structure defined in said memory storage of said remote computer for storing one or more remote episode records, each remote episode record for storing one or more images relating to an event and a plurality of fields of information relating to the event;

an imaging device operatively coupled to said memory storage of said on-site computer for generating images for storage in said on-site episode record;

a program executable by said on-site computer, said program providing a user interface of said on-site computer, said program having an imaging module with image generation functions, and said user interface accepting an input to control said program;

a communications module of the on-site computer configured to modify at least a portion of an on-site episode record in the one or more on-site episode records in accordance with a modification to at least a portion of a remote episode record in the one or more of remote episode records; and

a communications module of the remote computer configured to modify at least the portion of the remote episode record in accordance with a modification to at least the portion of the on-site episode record.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said program has a data synchronizer for making at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer and at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said remote computer the same.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said on-site episode record comprises a plurality of fields of information comprising one or more of the group comprising an on-site computer identifier, patient identification data, time data, date data, and data used to generate diagnostic data.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said input device of the on-site computer is a voice-command program executed by said on-site computer.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each event is an episode-of-care in which health care services are provided.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said an imaging device is a digital camera.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the on-site episode record comprises a date/time stamp.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said communications module is responsive to commands received from the remote service provider.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said imaging module is an electronic filing cabinet program.

19. An apparatus for multi-media data organization and transmission of information relating to the provision of service, the apparatus comprising:

an on-site computer having a microprocessor, a memory storage, a display for providing information to an on-site operator, and an input device for receiving information and commands from the on-site operator;

a remote computer having a microprocessor and a memory storage;

a display for providing information to a remote operator, and an input device for receiving information and commands from a remote service provider;

a database defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer for storing a plurality of on-site episode records and a plurality of on-site images, each on-site episode record for storing a plurality of fields of information relating to an event, each on-site image associated with an on-site episode record, said database comprising provision for annotations of said images;

a database defined in said memory storage of said remote computer for storing a plurality of remote episode records and a plurality of remote images, each remote episode record for storing a plurality of fields of information relating to an event, said database comprising provision for annotations of said images;

an imaging device operatively coupled to said memory storage of said on-site computer for capturing images for storage in said database defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer;

a program executable by said on-site computer, said program providing a graphical user interface on said display of said on-site computer, said program having an imaging module with document and image capture filing and scanning functions, said graphical user interface accepting an input from said input device of said on-site computer, or from said remote service provider to control said program;

a communications module of the on-site computer configured to modify at least a portion of an on-site episode record in the plurality of on-site episode records in accordance with a modification to at least a portion of a remote episode record in the plurality of remote episode records; and

a communications module of the remote computer configured to modify at least the portion of the remote episode record in accordance with a modification to at least the portion of the on-site episode record.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said program has a data synchronizer for making at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer and at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said remote computer the same.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said input device of the on-site computer is a computer keyboard.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said input device of the on-site computer is a voice-command program executed by said on-site computer, said voice-command program receiving input from hardware operatively-coupled to said on-site computer.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said event is an episode-of-care in which health care services are provided.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said imaging device is a digital camera.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one on-site image comprises a graphic image having a date/time stamp.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said graphic image is in XIF format.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said imaging module is an electronic filing cabinet program.

28. An apparatus for multi-media data organization and transmission of information relating to the provision of service, the apparatus comprising:

an on-site computer having a microprocessor, a memory storage, a display for information that will be provided to a remote operator, and an input device for entering information and commands from the remote operator;

a remote computer having a microprocessor and a memory storage;

a data structure defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer for storing

one or more on-site episode records comprising an on-site episode record, the on-site episode record for storing a plurality of fields of information relating to an event; and

one or more on-site images associated with the on-site episode record;

a data structure defined in said memory storage of said remote computer for storing;

one or more remote episode records comprising a remote episode record, the remote episode record for storing a plurality of fields of information relating to an event; and

one or more remote images associated with the remote episode record;

an imaging device operatively coupled to said memory storage of said on-site computer for generating images for storage in said data structure defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer and associated with said on-site episode record;

a program executable by said on-site computer, said program providing a user interface of said on-site computer, said program having an imaging module with image generation functions, and said user interface accepting an input to control said program;

a communications module of the on-site computer configured to annotate an on-site image in the one or more on-site images in accordance with an annotation to a remote image in the one or more remote images; and

a communications module of the remote computer configured to annotate the remote image in accordance with an annotation to the on-site image.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said program has a data synchronizer for making at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said on-site computer and at least some of the data contents of the database defined in said memory storage of said remote computer the same.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said on-site episode record comprises a plurality of fields of information comprising one or more of the group comprising an on-site computer identifier, patient identification data, time data, date data, and data used to generate diagnostic data.

31. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said input device of the on-site computer is a voice-command program executed by said on-site computer.

32. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein each event is an episode-of-care in which health care services are provided.

33. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said an imaging device is a digital camera.

34. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said information is a date/time stamp.

35. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said communications module is responsive to commands received from the remote operator.

36. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said imaging module is an electronic filing cabinet program.

37. An apparatus for multi-media data organization and transmission of information relating to the provision of service on-site, the apparatus comprising:

an on-site computer;

a remote computer;

a data structure accessible to the on-site computer storing one or more on-site episode records, each on-site episode record for storing one or more images relating to an event and a plurality of fields of information relating to the event;

a data structure accessible to the remote computer storing one or more remote episode records, each remote episode record for storing one or more images relating to an event and a plurality of fields of information relating to the event;

an imaging device operatively coupled to a memory storage of the on-site computer and configured to generate images for storage in the on-site episode record;

a program executable by the on-site computer, the program providing a user interface of said on-site computer, the program having an imaging module with image generation functions, and the user interface accepting an input to control said program;

a communications module of the on-site computer configured to modify at least a portion of an on-site episode record in the one or more on-site episode records in accordance with a modification to at least a portion of a remote episode record in the one or more remote episode records; and

a communications module of the remote computer configured to modify at least the portion of the remote episode record in accordance with a modification to at least the portion of the on-site episode record.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising a data synchronizer configured to make at least some of the data contents of the data structure accessible to the remote computer and at least some of the data contents of the data structure accessible to the on-site computer the same.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the data structure accessible to the on-site computer is stored in a memory storage of the on-site computer.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the data structure accessible to the remote computer is stored in a memory storage of the remote computer.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the on-site computer is configured to cause the imaging device to generate an image in response to input from a person at the location of the on-site computer.

42. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the remote computer is configured to cause the imaging device to generate an image in response to input from a person at the location of the remote computer.

43. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the imaging device is a digital camera.

44. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein each episode record further comprises an episode record for storing an annotation to one or more images relating to an event.

45. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein each episode record further comprises an episode record for storing a memo about the episode record.

46. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein each event is an episode of health care services.

47. A method for multi-media data organization and transmission of information relating to the provision of service on-site, the method comprising:

creating an episode record having a unique identifier at an on-site computer;

capturing an image related to the episode record;

storing the image in the episode record at the on-site computer;

transmitting the episode record to a remote computer;

modifying at least a portion of the episode record at the on-site computer in accordance with a modification to at least a portion of the episode record at the remote computer; and

modifying at least the portion of the episode record at the remote computer in accordance with a modification to at least the portion of the episode record at the on-site computer.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the data in the episode record at the remote computer is stored in a memory storage of the on-site computer.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein the data in the episode record at the remote computer is stored in a memory storage of the remote computer.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the image is captured in response to input from a person at the location of the on-site computer.

51. The method of claim 47, wherein the image is captured in response to input from a person at the location of the remote computer.

52. The method of claim 47, wherein the imaging device is a digital camera.

53. The method of claim 47, wherein the modification comprises an annotation to the image.

54. The method of claim 47, wherein the modification comprises a memo about the episode record.

55. The method of claim 47, wherein the event is an episode of health care services.

56. A computer program product, stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, for multi-media data organization and transmission of information relating to the provision of service on-site, the computer program product comprising:

computer code for creating an episode record having a unique identifier at an on-site computer computer code for capturing an image related to the episode record;

computer code for storing the image in the episode record at the on-site computer;

computer code for transmitting the episode record to a remote computer;

computer code for modifying at least a portion of the episode record at the on-site computer in accordance with a modification to at least a portion of the episode record at the remote computer; and

computer code for modifying at least the portion of the episode record at the remote computer in accordance with a modification to at least the portion of the episode record at the on-site computer.

57. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the data in the episode record at the on-site computer is stored in a memory storage of the on-site computer.

58. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the data in the episode record at the remote computer is stored in a memory storage of the remote computer.

59. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the image is captured in response to input from a person at the location of the on-site computer.

60. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the image is captured in response to input from a person at the location of the remote computer.

61. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the imaging device is a digital camera.

62. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the modification comprises an annotation to the image.

63. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the modification comprises a memo about the episode record.

64. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the event is an episode of health care services.