Systems, methods and apparatuses for predicting capacity of resources in an institution

• US 8,799,009 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2009
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Change Healthcare Holdings, LLC (UnitedHealth Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mckesson Financial Holdings Limited (McKesson Corp.)
• Inventors: Mellin, Andrew, Willard, Keith, Whelchel, Catherine, Myers, Mike, Oswald, Kristin, Altmann, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Cobanoglu, Dilek B
• Application Number:
  US12/363,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198609A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,010 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3, 705/7.38, 703/6
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A method, apparatus, system and computer program product are provided for determining one or more current or future conditions regarding capacity and allocation of resources in an institution. The apparatus enables personnel to utilize predictive tools to identify in real-time or in the near future areas of capacity constraints within the institution. The apparatus includes a processor configured to analyze data which includes information associated with the institution. A portion of the data is generated in real-time during an actual time in which events occur. The processor is capable of using at least a portion of the data to identify current conditions or generate one or more predictions regarding conditions to occur in the future that are associated with resources and capacity of the institution. Also, the processor is capable of analyzing results of the predictions and allocating resources of the institution on the basis of the predicted results.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

analyzing data comprising information associated with a health care entity, said data comprising clinical data associated with one or more patients currently within the health care entity, wherein at least some of the data is generated in real-time during an actual time in which one or more events occur;

using at least a portion of the data to generate one or more predictions regarding one or more conditions to occur in the future that are associated with one or more resources of the entity;

analyzing, via a processor, one or more results of the predictions and recommending an allocation of at least one of the one or more resources on the basis of the results;

determining that one of the one or more conditions corresponds to a number of patient transfers and a number of patient discharges during a predetermined time period in the future;

determining that another of the conditions corresponds to a number of beds or rooms in one or more units of the entity that will be available at a predetermined time or during a predetermined time period in the future;

determining that another of the conditions corresponds to one or more levels of congestion within one or more units of the entity, the congestion corresponds to a number of patients assigned to a respective unit, the levels of congestion being determined based in part on a comparison of at least a subset of the number of the beds or rooms that are determined as unoccupied by a patient to a predetermined threshold signifying a level of patient congestion for the respective unit;

determining that the respective unit is congested with patients in an instance in which the number of the beds or the rooms that are determined as unoccupied is below the predetermined threshold;

utilizing at least one of the levels of congestion to determine whether to assign one or more other patients to another respective unit of the entity; and

generating at least one recommendation of a number of persons to schedule for providing medical care for a time period in the future for the patients in at least one of the units based in part on a prediction of a number of patients expected to occupy the unit during the time period in the future, wherein the number of persons to schedule and the prediction of the number of patients is determined based in part on analyzing historical data indicating an average patient to medical personnel ratio within the unit during a corresponding time period in the past.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the portion of the data to determine one or more future conditions associated with the one or more resources.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying comprises determining a number of beds or rooms predicted to be in use at the predetermined time or during the predetermined time period.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more units comprise one or more health care units.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the conditions corresponds to one or more levels of congestion relative to at least two units of the entity, the congestion corresponds to a number of individuals assigned to a respective unit, and wherein the method further comprises utilizing at least one of the levels of congestion to determine whether to transfer one or more other individuals from a first unit to a second unit among the two units.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

displaying the congestion relative to the at least two units; and

utilizing one or more indicators that correspond to the one or more levels of congestion and which are associated with visual representations of the at least two units to determine whether to transfer the other individuals from the first unit to the second unit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the predictions comprises predicting the number of persons scheduled which are needed to work within the at least one unit of the entity for the time period in the future;

and

recommend adding or removing one or more identifiers associated with the persons from one or more staff schedules based on at least one of the results of the predictions, the schedules comprise data indicating the time period in the future that events are designated to occur.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising identifying circumstances causing recommendations for changes to the one or more staff schedules and recommending a modification to the one or more staff schedules before the time in the future.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the clinical data comprises one or more orders, acuity information or diagnosis information associated with the patient.

10. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory storing computer code, which when executed by the processor causes the apparatus to;

analyze data comprising information associated with a health care entity, said data comprising clinical data associated with one or more patients currently within the health care entity, wherein at least some of the data is generated in real-time during an actual time in which one or more events occur;

use at least a portion of the data to generate one or more predictions regarding one or more conditions to occur in the future that are associated with one or more resources of the entity;

analyze one or more results of the predictions and recommend an allocation of at least one of the one or more resources on the basis of the results;

determine that one of the one or more conditions corresponds to a number of patient transfers and a number of patient discharges during a predetermined time period in the future;

determine that another of the conditions corresponds to a number of beds or rooms in one or more units of the entity that will be available at a predetermined time or during a predetermined time period in the future;

determine that another of the conditions corresponds to one or more levels of congestion within one or more units of the entity, the congestion corresponds to a number of patients assigned to a respective unit, the levels of congestion being determined based in part on a comparison of at least a subset of the number of the beds or rooms that are determined as unoccupied by a patient to a predetermined threshold signifying a level of patient congestion for the respective unit;

determine that the respective unit is congested with patients in an instance in which the number of the beds or the rooms that are determined as unoccupied is below the predetermined threshold;

utilize at least one of the levels of congestion to predict whether to assign one or more other patients to another respective unit of the entity; and

generate at least one recommendation of a number of persons to schedule for providing medical care for a time period in the future for the patients in at least one of the units based in part on a prediction of a number of patients expected to occupy the unit during the time period in the future, wherein the number of persons to schedule and the prediction of the number of patients is determined based in part on analyzing historical data indicating an average patient to medical personnel ratio within the unit during a corresponding time period in the past.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when the processor executes the computer code, the apparatus is further configured to use the portion of the data to determine one or more future conditions associated with the one or more resources.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when the processor executes the computer code, the apparatus is further configured to identify the number by determining a number of beds or rooms predicted to be in use at the predetermined time or during the predetermined time period in the future.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more units comprise one or more health care units.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when the processor executes the computer code, the apparatus is further configured to:

determine, in the future, that one of the conditions corresponds to one or more levels of congestion relative to at least two units of the entity, the congestion corresponds to a number of individuals assigned to a respective unit; and

utilize at least one of the levels of congestion to determine whether to transfer one or more other individuals from a first unit to a second unit among the two units.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein when the processor executes the computer code, the apparatus is further configured to:

display the current and future congestion relative to the at least two units and

utilize one or more indicators that correspond to the one or more levels of congestion and which are associated with visual representations of the at least two units to determine whether to transfer the other individuals from the first unit to the second unit.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when the processor executes the computer code, the apparatus is further configured to:

determine that at least one of the predictions comprises predicting the number of persons scheduled which are needed to work within the at least one unit of the entity for the time period in the future; and

recommend adding or removing one or more identifiers associated with the persons from one or more staff schedules based on at least one of the results of the predicting, the schedules comprise data indicating the time period in the future that events are designated to occur.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein when the processor executes the computer code, the apparatus is further configured to:

identify circumstances causing recommendations for changes to the one or more schedules; and

recommend a modification of the one or more staff schedules before the time in the future.

18. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

a first executable portion for analyzing data, comprising information associated with an entity, said data comprising clinical data associated with one or more patients currently within the health care entity, wherein at least some of the data is generated in real-time during an actual time in which one or more events occur;

a second executable portion for using at least a portion of the data to generate one or more predictions regarding one or more conditions to occur in the future that are associated with one or more resources of the entity;

a third executable portion for analyzing one or more results of the predictions and recommending an allocation of one or more resources on the basis of the results;

a fourth executable portion for determining that one of the one or more conditions corresponds to a number of patient transfers and a number of patient discharges during a predetermined time period in the future;

a fifth executable portion for determining that another of the conditions corresponds to a number of beds or rooms in one or more units of the entity that will be available at a predetermined time or during a predetermined time period in the future;

a sixth executable portion for determining that another of the conditions corresponds to one or more levels of congestion within one or more units of the entity, the congestion corresponds to a number of patients assigned to a respective unit, the levels of congestion being determined based in part on a comparison of at least a subset of the number of the beds or rooms that are determined as unoccupied by a patient to a predetermined threshold signifying a level of patient congestion for the respective unit;

a seventh executable portion for determining that the respective unit is congested with patients in an instance in which the number of beds or the rooms that are determined as unoccupied is below the predetermined threshold;

an eighth executable portion for utilizing at least one of the levels of congestion to predict whether to assign one or more other patients to another respective unit of the entity; and

a ninth executable portion for generating at least one recommendation of a number of persons to schedule for providing medical care for a time period in the future for the patients in at least one of the units based in part on a prediction of a number of patients expected to occupy the unit during the time period in the future, wherein the number of persons to schedule and the prediction of the number of patients is determined based in part on analyzing historical data indicating an average patient to medical personnel ratio within the unit during a corresponding time period in the past.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein utilizing comprises utilizing the level of congestion to determine whether to recommend assigning the one or more other individuals to the respective unit to meet future patient demand.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising a tenth executable portion for using the portion of the data to determine one or more current and future conditions associated with the one or more resources.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein identifying comprises determining a number of beds or rooms predicted to be in use at the predetermined time or during the predetermined time period.

22. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein one of the conditions corresponds to one or more current and future levels of congestion relative to at least two units of the entity, the congestion corresponds to a number of individuals assigned to a respective unit, and wherein the computer program product further comprises a tenth executable portion for utilizing at least one of the levels of congestion to determine whether to transfer one or more other individuals from a first unit to a second unit among the two units.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, further comprising:

an eleventh executable portion for displaying the congestion relative to the at least two units; and

a twelfth executable portion for utilizing one or more indicators that correspond to the one or more levels of congestion and which are associated with visual representations of the at least two units to determine whether to transfer the other individuals from the first unit to the second unit.