System and method of providing dynamic and customizable medical examination forms

• US 9,501,627 B2
• Filed: 02/15/2013
• Issued: 11/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Merative US LP
• Original Assignee: DR Systems Incorporated (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Reicher, Murray A., Fram, Evan K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan, Luke
• Application Number:
  US13/768,765
• Publication Number:
  US 20130159019A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,376 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3, 715/222, 715/224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• 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 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

A system and method of providing dynamic and customizable medical forms is disclosed. In certain specific embodiments, these dynamic and customizable medical forms may be automatically presented to users based on a predefined series of rules which allow multiple users having different roles in the clinical process to collaborate and contribute to a medical examination report, while at the same time maintaining an independent record of what was contributed and by whom it was contributed.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising;

one or more computer processors;

a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the computing system to;

access a data structure including;

associations between respective medical examination types and one or more examination form templates; and

for each of the respective examination form templates;

indications of one or more information fields;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, indications of respective import links to respective data sources that provide information to be automatically imported into respective information fields from the respective data sources;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, indications of respective locations within a medical report associated with the examination form template where information input into the respective information field is to be included in the medical report;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, associations with respective export rules indicating respective data destinations to which information included in the respective information fields is to be automatically exported;

receive an indication of a medical examination type;

automatically select an examination form template based on the accessed associations between the respective medical examination types and the one or more examination form templates;

automatically retrieve, based on the indications of the import links of the examination form template, one or more items of information from respective data sources for automatic importation into respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

automatically import the one or more items of information into the respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

instantiate an examination form based on the examination form template, the examination form including the one or more information fields of the examination form template and the one or more items of information imported into the respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

in response to a request to view the examination form by a first user;

determine a first role associated with the first user;

generate a first interactive view of the examination form for display to the first user based on the first role associated with the first user, wherein the first interactive view is configured to receive data in a first subset of the one or more information fields of the examination form, at least one of the first subset of the one or more information fields being a required field;

receive data input into at least some of the first subset of the one or more information fields of the first interactive view of the examination form;

require data input from the user to the required field prior to storing the data input to at least some of the respective information fields of the examination form; and

dynamically store the data input into the at least some of the first subset of the one or more information fields in association with the respective information fields of the examination form;

in response to a request to view the examination form by a second user;

determine second role associated with the second user;

generate a second interactive view of the examination form for display to the second user based on the second role associated with the second user, wherein the second interactive view is different from the first interactive view and is configured to receive data in a second subset of the one or more information fields of the examination form;

receive data input into at least some of the second subset of the one or more information fields of the second interactive view of the examination form; and

dynamically store the data input into the at least some of the second subset of the one or more information fields in association with the respective information fields of the examination form;

export respective portions of information of the examination form to a plurality of respective data destinations as indicated by the export rules of the examination form template of the examination form, wherein;

not all of the information of the examination form is exported to all of the data destinations as indicated by the export rules such that bandwidth needs are reduced and efficiency of categorizing portions of information of the examination form received at least some of the data destinations is increased,

at least one of the plurality of respective data destinations is a medical report, and

at least one other of the plurality of respective data destinations is at least one of a billing system, a backup database, a clinical information system, or a data repository; and

generate the medical report based on the portion of information of the examination form exported to the medical report, the portion of information of the examination form exported to the medical report including a portion of the data input into the examination form by the first and second users, wherein;

information associated with at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form is included in the medical report in respective locations as indicated by the examination form template of the examination form,

a section of the medical report corresponding to blank information fields of the one or more information fields of the examination form are not included in the medical report, and

at least some of the information of the examination form is not included in the medical report.

2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the examination form is associated with a current examination of a patient, and wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computing system to:

determine that a previous examination form associated with at previous examination of the patient has previously been generated and includes previous medical information specific to the patient; and

automatically store at least some of the previous medical information in association with associated information fields of the examination form.

3. The computing system of claim 2, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computing system to:

generate a user interface for display to at least one of the first user or the second user, the user interface including a first one or more medical images from the previous examination of the patient and a second one or more medical images from the current examination of the patient.

4. The computing system of claim 3, wherein the previous medical information includes a measurement of a particular feature depicted in the first one or more medical images and the user interface includes one or more controls configured to allow the at least one of the first user or the second user to provide an updated measurement of the particular feature depicted in the second one or more medical images.

5. The computing system of claim 4, wherein a location of the measurement of the particular feature depicted in the first one or more medical images is stored in the previous examination form.

6. The computing system of claim 5, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computing system to:

determine an expected location of the particular feature in the second one or more medical images based at least on the stored location of the measurement of the particular feature.

7. The computing system of claim 3, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computing system to enable communication between a first software application used to display the first one or more medical images and a second software application used to display the examination form.

8. The computing system of claim 7, wherein the first software application is configured to enable the at least one of the first user or the second user to measure features depicted in the first one or more medical images and/or the second one or more medical images, and the communication between the first software application and the second software application comprises communication of measurements made in the first software application for display in the examination form.

9. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the communication between the first software application and the second software application comprises:

receiving a selection of a first information field in the examination form generated by the second software application;

receiving a measurement on the first one or more medical images displayed by the first software application; and

automatically populating the first information field in the examination form with the measurement.

10. The computing system of claim 3, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computing system to:

access, from the data structure, information associating regions of the second one or more medical images with corresponding information fields of the examination form; and

in response to selection of a particular region of the second one or more medical images, automatically select a particular information field in the examination form that corresponds to the particular region.

11. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computing system to:

in response to automatic selection of the particular information field, automatically populate the particular information field of the examination form with a subsequent measurement on the second one or more medical images.

12. The computing system of claim 3, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computing system to:

access, from the data structure, information associating regions of the second one or more medical images with corresponding information fields of the examination form and

in response to selection of a particular field of the examination form, automatically select a particular region of the second one or more medical images.

13. The computing system of claim 2, wherein the examination form includes one or more user interface controls configured to allow the user to add new information fields to the examination form.

14. A method comprising:

by one or more computer processors executing computer-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium;

accessing a data structure including;

associations between respective medical examination types and one or more examination form templates; and

for each of the respective examination form templates;

indications of one or more information fields;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, indications of respective import links to respective data sources that provide information to be automatically imported into respective information fields from the respective data sources;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, indications of respective locations within a medical report associated with the examination form template where information input into the respective information field is to be included in the medical report;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, associations with respective export rules indicating respective data destinations to which information included in the respective information fields is to be automatically exported;

receiving an indication of a medical examination type;

automatically selecting an examination form template based on the accessed associations between the respective medical examination types and the one or more examination form templates;

automatically retrieving, based on the indications of the import links of the examination form template, one or more items of information from respective data sources for automatic importation into respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

automatically importing the one or more items of information into the respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

instantiating an examination form based on the examination form template, the examination form including the one or more information fields of the examination form template and the one or more items of information imported into the respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

in response to a request to view the examination form by a first user;

determining a first role associated with the first user;

generating a first interactive view of the examination form for display to the first user based on the first role associated with the first user, wherein the first interactive view is configured to receive data in a first subset of the one or more information fields of the examination form, at least one of the first subset of the one or more information fields being a required field;

receiving data input into at least some of the first subset of the one or more information fields of the first interactive view of the examination form;

requiring data input from the user to the required field prior to storing the data input to at least some of the respective information fields of the examination form; and

dynamically storing the data input into the at least some of the first subset of the one or more information fields in association with the respective information fields of the examination form;

in response to a request to view the examination form by a second user;

determining second role associated with the second user;

generating a second interactive view of the examination form for display to the second user based on the second role associated with the second user, wherein the second interactive view is different from the first interactive view and is configured to receive data in a second subset of the one or more information fields of the examination form;

receiving data input into at least some of the second subset of the one or more information fields of the second interactive view of the examination form; and

dynamically storing the data input into the at least some of the second subset of the one or more information fields in association with the respective information fields of the examination form;

exporting respective portions of information of the examination form to a plurality of respective data destinations as indicated by the export rules of the examination form template of the examination form, wherein;

not all of the information of the examination form is exported to all of the data destinations as indicated by the export rules such that bandwidth needs are reduced and efficiency of categorizing portions of information of the examination form received at at least some of the data destinations is increased,

at least one of the plurality of respective data destinations is a medical report, and

at least one other of the plurality of respective data destinations is at least one of a billing system, a backup database, a clinical information system, or a data repository; and

generating the medical report based on the portion of information of the examination form exported to the medical report, the portion of information of the examination form exported to the medical report including a portion of the data input into the examination form by the first and second users, wherein;

information associated with at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form is included in the medical report in respective locations as indicated by the examination form template of the examination form,

a section of the medical report corresponding to blank information fields of the one or more information fields of the examination form are not included in the medical report, and

at least some of the information of the examination form is not included in the medical report.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the examination form is associated with a current examination of a patient, and wherein the method further comprises:

by the one or more computer processors executing the computer-executable instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium;

determining that a previous examination form associated with at previous examination of the patient has previously been generated and includes previous medical information specific to the patient; and

automatically storing at least some of the previous medical information in association with associated information fields of the examination form.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

by the one or more computer processors executing the computer-executable instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium;

generating a user interface for display to at least one of the first user or the second user, the user interface including a first one or more medical images from the previous examination of the patient and a second one or more medical images from the current examination of the patient.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to:

access a data structure including;

associations between respective medical examination types and one or more examination form templates; and

for each of the respective examination form templates;

indications of one or more information fields;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, indications of respective import links to respective data sources that provide information to be automatically imported into respective information fields from the respective data sources;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, indications of respective locations within a medical report associated with the examination form template where information input into the respective information field is to be included in the medical report;

for at least some of the one or more information fields, associations with respective export rules indicating respective data destinations to

which information included in the respective information fields is to be automatically exported;

receive an indication of a medical examination type;

automatically select an examination form template based on the accessed associations between the respective medical examination types and the one or more examination form templates;

automatically retrieve, based on the indications of the import links of the examination form template, one or more items of information from respective data sources for automatic importation into respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

automatically import the one or more items of information into the respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

instantiate an examination form based on the examination form template, the examination form including the one or more information fields of the examination form template and the one or more items of information imported into the respective of the at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form template;

in response to a request to view the examination form by a first user;

determine a first role associated with the first user;

generate a first interactive view of the examination form for display to the first user based on the first role associated with the first user, wherein the first interactive view is configured to receive data in a first subset of the one or more information fields of the examination form, at least one of the first subset of the one or more information fields being a required field;

receive data input into at least some of the first subset of the one or more information fields of the first interactive view of the examination form;

require data input from the user to the required field prior to storing the data input to at least some of the respective information fields of the examination form; and

dynamically store the data input into the at least some of the first subset of the one or more information fields in association with the respective information fields of the examination form;

in response to a request to view the examination form by a second user;

determine second role associated with the second user;

generate a second interactive view of the examination form for display to the second user based on the second role associated with the second user, wherein the second interactive view is different from the first interactive view and is configured to receive data in a second subset of the one or more information fields of the examination form;

receive data input into at least some of the second subset of the one or more information fields of the second interactive view of the examination form; and

dynamically store the data input into the at least some of the second subset of the one or more information fields in association with the respective information fields of the examination form;

export respective portions of information of the examination form to a plurality of respective data destinations as indicated by the export rules of the examination form template of the examination form, wherein;

not all of the information of the examination form is exported to all of the data destinations as indicated by the export rules such that bandwidth needs are reduced and efficiency of categorizing portions of information of the examination form received at at least some of the data destinations is increased,

at least one of the plurality of respective data destinations is a medical report, and

at least one other of the plurality of respective data destinations is at least one of a billing system, a backup database, a clinical information system, or a data repository; and

generate the medical report based on the portion of information of the examination form exported to the medical report, the portion of information of the examination form exported to the medical report including a portion of the data input into the examination form by the first and second users, wherein;

information associated with at least some of the one or more information fields of the examination form is included in the medical report in respective locations as indicated by the examination form template of the examination form,

a section of the medical report corresponding to blank information fields of the one or more information fields of the examination form are not included in the medical report, and

at least some of the information of the examination form is not included in the medical report.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the examination form is associated with a current examination of a patient, and wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more computer processors of the computing system, further cause the computing system to:

determine that a previous examination form associated with at previous examination of the patient has previously been generated and includes previous medical information specific to the patient; and

automatically store at least some of the previous medical information in association with associated information fields of the examination form.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more computer processors of the computing system, further cause the computing system to:

generate a user interface for display to at least one of the first user or the second user, the user interface including a first one or more medical images from the previous examination of the patient and a second one or more medical images from the current examination of the patient.