Methods and systems for managing distributed digital medical data

• US 8,543,421 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2011
• Issued: 09/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medecision Incorporated (Health Care Service Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Medecision Incorporated (Health Care Service Corporation)
• Inventors: Menschik, Elliot D., Corio, Christopher R., Davis, Wayne F., Didizian, Haig C.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HIEP VAN
• Application Number:
  US13/006,723
• Publication Number:
  US 20110112868A1
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines

Abstract

A network for mediating the peer-to-peer transfer of digital patient medical data includes a plurality of distributed agents each associated with a health care provider and connected to a central system. Periodically the agents collect local information relating to patient medical files and/or data streams, for example diagnostic images and associated reports, and process that information into metadata files acting as pointers to the original files. The metadata files are transmitted to the central system where they are parsed and the attributes are stored on the central system in patient records with records from the same patient grouped together whenever possible. Registered users can search the central system, even in the absence of a unique identifier, to identify patient records pointing to the remote patient medical files. Upon finding a patient medical file, the invention provides a streamlined process for communicating access authorization from the patient to the hospital or facility storing the medical files. Once patient authorization is received, secure processes are provided for transferring the data in its entirety to or for viewing by the user in a peer-to-peer fashion.

Claims

1. A method operable on a computer for managing distributed medical files, comprising the steps of:

storing, by a computer, a database entry containing standardized attributes extracted from a metadata file generated from a remotely stored patient medical file by an agent associated with a storage location of a medical information system containing the patient medical file, the standardized attributes being standardized for content of the patient medical file and the storage location of the patient medical file in the medical information system, the standardized attributes representing data having the same meaning across different medical information systems where each medical information system has respective agents that generate metadata files for locally stored patient medical files;

receiving, by the computer, a search request including patient medical data attributes;

comparing, by the computer, the patient medical data attributes in the search request to the standardized attributes in the database entry to determine whether the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file; and

initiating, when the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file, a request to release the remotely stored patient medical file to a user.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the standardized attributes and the patient medical data attributes each further relate to a patient identity.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of comparing includes the steps of:

obtaining a statistical analysis of patient population data relating to the database entry;

generating, for specific attributes, an agreement weight and a disagreement weight based on the statistical analysis;

generating scores based on the agreement weight for determining matches;

generating scores based on the disagreement weights for determining non-matches;

generating a composite weight based on the comparison of attributes in the search request with the standardized attributes in the database entry; and

comparing the composite weight to the scores for determining matches and the scores for determining non-matches.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of initiating a request includes the steps of:

transmitting to a patient identified in the database entry an authorization form; and

receiving from the patient the authorization form completed with necessary information including a digitized signature to authorize the release of the selected stored patient record.

5. A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein:

the step of transmitting to a patient includes transmitting the authorization form electronically; and

the step of receiving from the patient includes receiving the digitized signature from a transduction device.

6. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of initiating a request includes the step of generating a request to transfer the remotely stored medical file from medical information system to a specified device.

7. A system for managing distributed medical files, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory connected to the processor and storing control instructions for controlling the operation of the processor to perform the steps of;

storing a database entry containing standardized attributes extracted from a metadata file generated from a remotely stored patient medical file by an agent associated with a storage location of a medical information system containing the patient medical file, the standardized attributes being standardized for content of the patient medical file and the storage location of the patient medical file in the medical information system, the standardized attributes representing data having the same meaning across different medical information systems where each medical information system has respective agents that generate metadata files for locally stored patient medical files;

receiving a search request including patient medical data attributes;

comparing the patient medical data attributes in the search request to the standardized attributes in the database entry to determine whether the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file; and

initiating, when the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file, a request to release the remotely stored patient medical file to a user.

8. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the standardized attributes and the patient medical data attributes each further relate to a patient identity.

9. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the processor performs the comparing by performing the steps of:

obtaining a statistical analysis of patient population data relating to the database entry;

generating, for specific attributes, an agreement weight and a disagreement weight based on the statistical analysis;

generating scores based on the agreement weight for determining matches;

generating scores based on the disagreement weights for determining non-matches;

generating a composite weight based on the comparison of attributes in the search request with the standardized attributes in the database entry; and

comparing the composite weight to the scores for determining matches and the scores for determining non-matches.

10. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the processor performs the step of initiating a request by performing the steps of:

transmitting to a patient identified in the database entry an authorization form; and

receiving from the patient the authorization form completed with necessary information including a digitized signature to authorize the release of the selected stored patient record.

11. A system in accordance with claim 10 wherein the processor performs the step of transmitting to a patient by transmitting the authorization form electronically, and wherein the processor performs the step of receiving from the patient by receiving the digitized signature from a transduction device.

12. A system in accordance with claim 7 wherein the processor performs the step of initiating a request by generating a request to transfer the remotely stored medical file from medical information system to a specified device.

13. A system for managing distributed medical files, comprising:

means for storing a database entry containing standardized attributes extracted from a metadata file generated from a remotely stored patient medical file by an agent associated with a storage location of a medical information system containing the patient medical file, the standardized attributes being standardized for content of the patient medical file and the storage location of the patient medical file in the medical information system, the standardized attributes representing data having the same meaning across different medical information systems where each medical information system has respective agents that generate metadata files for locally stored patient medical files;

means for receiving a search request including patient medical data attributes;

means for comparing the patient medical data attributes in the search request to the standardized attributes in the database entry to determine whether the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file; and

means for initiating, when the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file, a request to release the remotely stored patient medical file to a user.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code stored thereon that, when executed, causes a computer to manage distributed medical files by performing the steps of:

storing, by the computer, a database entry containing standardized attributes extracted from a metadata file generated from a remotely stored patient medical file by an agent associated with a storage location of a medical information system containing the patient medical file, the standardized attributes being standardized for content of the patient medical file and the storage location of the patient medical file in the medical information system, the standardized attributes representing data having the same meaning across different medical information systems where each medical information system has respective agents that generate metadata files for locally stored patient medical files;

receiving, by the computer, a search request including patient medical data attributes;

comparing, by the computer, the patient medical data attributes in the search request to the standardized attributes in the database entry to determine whether the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file; and

initiating, when the search request identifies the remotely stored patient medical file, a request to release the remotely stored patient medical file to a user.