System and method to schedule resources in delivery of healthcare to a patient

• US 8,311,850 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2011
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Johnson, Christopher, Akbay, Kunter, Weisenberg, Jenny M., Cuddihy, Paul, Dulgeroglu, Onur, Toledano, David
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor, Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PAULS, JOHN A
• Application Number:
  US13/236,474
• Publication Number:
  US 20120010901A1
• Time in Patent Office: 421 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3, 705/8, 206/373
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/00 ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/60 for the operation of medical equipment or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

A method to schedule resources in delivery of healthcare to a series of patients is provided. The method comprises the steps of identifying an availability of the series of resources to deliver the healthcare to each patient; calculating a predicted duration to deliver the healthcare to each patient; calculating a schedule including a block of time dependent on the predicted duration for each resource to deliver healthcare to the patient, the block of time including a start time and an end time; calculating a confidence level in the schedule, the confidence level including a probability that one or more of the resources will not be available for the block of time of the schedule or calculating a likelihood that one or more resources will be available for the block of time in the schedule; and outputting the schedule and the confidence level in the schedule for display.

Claims

1. A method to schedule a plurality of resources in delivery of healthcare to a plurality of patients, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying an availability of one or more of the resources to deliver the healthcare to each of the plurality of patients; and

through execution of instructions by at least one processor of at least one machine;

calculating a predicted duration to deliver the healthcare to each of the patients;

calculating a schedule including at least one block of time dependent on the predicted duration for at least one of the plurality of resources to deliver healthcare to one or more of the patients;

calculating a confidence level in the schedule, the confidence level including a probability corresponding to one or both of a likelihood of availability or a risk of unavailability with respect to the at least one resource for the at least one block of time of the schedule; and

calculating an update to the likelihood of availability or the risk of unavailability based on actual clinical operations during a period of time covered by the schedule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the confidence level includes creating a cumulative probability density function generated from historical data of availability of one or more of the plurality of resources in delivery of healthcare.

3. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising receiving a desired range of confidence for a particular task, appointment time, resource use, or patient time, the schedule including one or more of specific scheduled appointments or resource utilizations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the confidence level comprises calculating a confidence interval associated with a task duration, wherein the confidence interval is calculated without a generating a cumulative probability density function (CPDF).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the confidence level is based on one of a start time of the at least one block of time or in an end time of the at least one block of time.

6. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising the step of identifying at least one block of time of scheduling of the plurality of resources as a critical path of the schedule, the step of identifying the critical path dependent on one or more of a number of interdependencies of the scheduling of the at least one resource with other resources, or dependent on the confidence level of the at least one resource being available for at least one block of time in the schedule of the plurality of the resources.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resource includes one of a physician, a clinician, a technician, a nurse, an imaging system, a wheel chair, a bed, a room, or a department in a care facility.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the confidence level in the schedule depends on biometric data, wherein the biometric data comprises one or more of weight, age, sex, blood pressure, respiratory rate, a measure of activity, pulse rate, electrocardiogram data, or consciousness.

9. A method to schedule a plurality of resources in delivery of healthcare to a plurality of patients, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying an availability of one or more of the resources to deliver the healthcare to each of the plurality of patients; and

through execution of instructions by at least one processor of at least one machine;

calculating a predicted duration to deliver the healthcare to each of the patients, wherein the predicted duration is calculated at least in part based on biometric data associated with one or more of the plurality of patients;

calculating a schedule including at least one block of time dependent on the predicted duration for at least one of the plurality of resources to deliver healthcare to one or more of the patients;

calculating a confidence level in the schedule, the confidence level including a probability corresponding to one or both of a likelihood of availability or a risk of unavailability with respect to the at least one resource for the at least one block of time of the schedule; and

displaying or printing the schedule and the confidence level in the schedule.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the biometric data comprises one or more of weight, age, sex, blood pressure, respiratory rate, a measure of activity, pulse rate, electrocardiogram data, or consciousness.

11. An article of manufacture comprising:

at least one non-transitory machine readable medium; and

a plurality of computer readable instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory machine readable medium for execution by a processor, the plurality of computer readable instructions, when executed, performing the following steps;

identifying an availability of one or more of a plurality of resources to deliver the healthcare to each of a plurality of patients,

calculating a predicted duration to deliver the healthcare to each of the patients,

calculating a schedule including at least one block of time dependent on the predicted duration for at least one of the plurality of resources to deliver the healthcare to one or more of the patients,

calculating a confidence level in the schedule, the confidence level including a probability corresponding to one or both of a likelihood of availability or a risk of unavailability with respect to the at least one resource for the at least one block of time of the schedule, and

calculating an update to the likelihood of availability or the risk of unavailability based on actual clinical operations during a period of time covered by the schedule.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein the step of calculating the confidence level includes creating a cumulative probability density function generated from a historical data of availability of one or more of the plurality of resources in delivery of healthcare to the plurality of patients.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 11, the plurality of computer readable instructions, when executed, also performing the act of receiving a desired range of confidence, wherein the step of calculating the schedule includes generating the schedule having the confidence level within the desired range of confidence.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein the step of calculating the confidence level comprises calculating a confidence interval associated with a task duration, wherein the confidence interval is calculated without a generating a cumulative probability density function (CPDF).

15. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein the confidence level is based on one of a start time of the at least one block of time or in an end time of the at least one block of time.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 11, the plurality of computer readable instructions, when executed, also performing the act of identifying at least one block of time of scheduling of the plurality of resources as a critical path of the schedule, the step of identifying the critical path dependent on one or more of a number of interdependencies of the scheduling of the at least one resource with other resources, or dependent on the confidence level of the at least one resource being available for at least one block of time in the schedule of the plurality of the resources.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 11, the plurality of computer readable instructions, when executed, also performing the act of displaying or printing the schedule and the confidence level in the schedule.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the step of displaying or printing includes outputting graphic representations representative of confidence level in one or more blocks of time of the schedule of the plurality of the resources.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the at least one resource includes one of a physician, a clinician, a technician, a nurse, an imaging system, a wheel chair, a bed, a room, or a department in a care facility.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein the step of calculating the confidence level in the schedule depends on biometric data, wherein the biometric data comprises one or more of weight, age, sex, blood pressure, respiratory rate, a measure of activity, pulse rate, electrocardiogram data, or consciousness.