Filtering medical information

• US 8,010,383 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2009
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Nadler, Sima
• Primary Examiner(s): Morgan; Robert W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Burgess; Joseph
• Application Number:
  US12/357,419
• Publication Number:
  US 20100185460A1
• Time in Patent Office: 950 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

A method and system for filtering medical information in emergency situations are provided. The method includes receiving information relating to an emergency in which a person needs medical help, the information including: details of the type of emergency; and details of a care providing person aiding the person needing help. The method includes obtaining medical information relating to the emergency which may include information relating to the medical condition and/or medical records of the person. The level of medical expertise of the care providing person is determined and the medical information is filtered to provide the medical information appropriate to the level of medical expertise of the care providing person.

Claims

1. A method for filtering medical information in an emergency, comprising:

receiving information relating to an emergency in which a person needs medical help, the information including;

details of a type of emergency; and

details of a care providing person aiding the person needing help;

obtaining medical information relevant to the emergency from data resources, the medical information being in a first form that is appropriate to a first level of medical expertise;

determining using a computer processor that the care providing person has a second level of medical expertise;

transforming the medical information from the first form to a second form that is appropriate to the second level of medical expertise using a computer processor, wherein transforming comprises filtering and rephrasing the medical information; and

communicating the filtered and rephrased medical information to the care providing person.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein obtaining medical information obtains medical information relating to the medical condition of the person determined by the details of the type of emergency.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein obtaining medical information obtains medical history information relating to the person needing help.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein obtaining medical information relating to the medical condition references resources using the details of the type of emergency.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein determining a level of medical expertise of the care providing person references a resource of predefined medical expertise levels using the details for the care providing person.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein filtering the medical information provides the information in one of a plurality of information types, each information type being appropriate for a level of medical expertise.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein filtering the medical information provides the information in a language appropriate to the level of medical expertise.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, including:

receiving an identification of the person needing help and accessing patient records of the person needing help.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, including:

filtering the patient records of the person needing help to provide information from the patient records appropriate to the level of medical expertise of the care providing person.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, including:

filtering the patient records of the person needing help to provide information from the patient records relevant to the medical condition.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, including referencing resources to ascertain if there are any contraindications between medication taken by the patient based on the patient records and drugs to potentially be given as part of the treatment for the medical condition.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein details of the type of emergency include one or more of the group of:

signs and symptoms of the person needing help, a location of the emergency, an environment of the emergency, conditions of the emergency.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein details of the care providing person include one of more of:

qualifications, age, languages spoken.

14. A computer software product for filtering medical information in an emergency, including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in which computer program instructions are stored, which instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the following steps:

receiving information relating to an emergency in which a person needs medical help, the information including;

details of a type of emergency; and

details of a care providing person aiding the person needing help;

obtaining medical information relevant to the emergency from data resources, the medical information being in a first form that is appropriate to a first level of medical expertise;

determining using a computer processor that the care providing person has a second level of medical expertise;

transforming the medical information from the first form to a second form that is appropriate to the second level of medical expertise, wherein transforming comprises filtering and rephrasing the medical information and

reporting the filtered and rephrased medical information.

15. A method of providing a service to a customer over a network, the service comprising:

receiving via a data network information relating to an emergency in which a person needs medical help, the information including;

details of a type of emergency; and

details of a care providing person aiding the person needing help;

obtaining medical information relevant to the emergency from data resources, the medical information being in a first form that is appropriate to a first level of medical expertise;

determining using a computer processor that the care providing person has a second level of medical expertise;

transforming the medical information from the first form to a second form that is appropriate to the second level of medical expertise using a computer processor, wherein transforming comprises filtering and

rephrasing the medical information; and

communicating the filtered and rephrased medical information to the care providing person via the data network.

16. A system for filtering medical information in an emergency, comprising:

a processor;

a communication interface for receiving information relating to an emergency in which a person needs medical help, the information including;

details of a type of emergency; and

details of a care providing person aiding the person needing help;

a first module executed by the processor for obtaining medical information from a database relating to the emergency, the medical information being in a first form that is appropriate to a first level of medical expertise;

a second module executed by the processor for determining that the care providing person has a second level of medical expertise;

a third module executed by the processor for transforming the medical information from the first form to a second form that is appropriate to the second level of medical expertise, wherein transforming comprises filtering and rephrasing the medical information; and

an output interface for communicating the filtered and rephrased medical information to the care providing person.

17. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the module for obtaining medical information obtains medical information relating to the medical condition of the person determined by the details of the type of emergency.

18. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the module for obtaining medical information obtains the person'"'"'s medical records.

19. The system as claimed in claim 16, including a fourth module executed by the processor for determining a medical condition of the person needing help and obtaining information on the medical condition by referencing a database of medical conditions and the details of the type of emergency.

20. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the module for determining a level of medical expertise of the care providing person references a database of predefined medical expertise levels using the details for the care providing person.

21. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first filter provides the information in one of a plurality of information types, each information type being appropriate for a level of medical expertise.

22. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first filter provides the information in a language appropriate to the level of medical expertise.

23. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the communication means receives an identification of the person needing help and the system includes a mechanism for accessing patient records of the person needing help.

24. The system as claimed in claim 23, including:

a second filter for filtering the patient records of the person needing help to provide information from the patient records appropriate to the level of medical expertise of the care providing person.

25. The system as claimed in claim 24, including:

a third filter for filtering the patient records of the person needing help to provide information from the patient records relevant to the medical condition.