METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR READING, PROCESSING, PRESENTING, AND/OR STORING ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD INFORMATION

• US 20130024206A1
• Filed: 07/21/2011
• Published: 01/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emergent Health Care Solutions, LLC
• Original Assignee: D & R Software II, LLC
• Inventors: Hughes, Rexford Irving, Fitzpatrick, Daniel Charles, Denny, William Dale
• Granted Patent: US 8,775,213 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

A method for accessing, processing, presenting, and/or storing electronic medical record (EMR) information on a touch-sensitive display includes reading EMR information, displaying at least a portion of the EMR information on a touch-sensitive sliding timeline, detecting finger swipe or similar gestures, and scrolling the sliding timeline so that a different portion of the EMR information is displayed chronologically on the touch-sensitive sliding timeline. The resolution of the timeline can be expanded or collapsed in response to pinch gestures. The timeline is divided into a columns, each column including icons representing medical related events. A second timeline having a different time resolution from the first timeline is used for navigating the medical related events. Different levels of detail regarding the medical related events can be viewed in different detail panes. An EMR access device and system are also disclosed, which are configured to access and present EMR information.

Claims

1. A method for accessing, processing, and presenting electronic medical record information on a touch-sensitive display, the method comprising:

reading electronic medical record information from one or more electronic medical records;

displaying a first portion of the electronic medical record information in chronological order on a touch-sensitive sliding timeline;

detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive display; and

scrolling the sliding timeline after detecting the finger swipe gesture so that a second portion of the electronic medical record information is displayed in chronological order on the touch-sensitive sliding timeline.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting an inward finger pinch gesture on the touch-sensitive display on or near the sliding timeline; and

expanding the resolution of the sliding timeline from increments of days to increments of weeks responsive to the finger pinch gesture.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting an outward finger pinch gesture on the touch-sensitive display on or near the sliding timeline; and

collapsing the resolution of the sliding timeline from increments of weeks to increments of days responsive to the outward finger pinch gesture.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic medical record information includes patient history information, the method further comprising:

dividing the patient history information into a plurality of columns;

correlating each of the columns with one calendar day; and

horizontally scrolling the correlated columns of patient history information after detecting the finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive display.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

displaying one or more icons in each of the plurality of columns, wherein each of the one or more icons represents a medical event.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the medical event corresponds to at least one of a telephone call, an office visit, an oral medication related event, an intravenous or injection medication related event, and a medical diagnostics related event, the method further comprising:

detecting a touch selection of an icon representing the telephone call on the touch-sensitive display;

displaying information about the telephone call in a detail pane;

detecting a touch selection of an icon representing the office visit on the touch-sensitive display;

displaying information about the office visit in the detail pane;

detecting a touch selection of an icon representing the oral medication related event on the touch-sensitive display;

displaying information about the oral medication related event in the detail pane;

detecting a touch selection of an icon representing the intravenous or injection medication related event on the touch-sensitive display;

displaying information about the intravenous medication related event in the detail pane;

detecting a touch selection of an icon representing the medical diagnostics related event on the touch-sensitive display; and

displaying information about the medical diagnostics related event in the detail pane.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sliding timeline comprises a first sliding timeline, the method further comprising:

displaying a second sliding timeline proximate to the first sliding timeline;

dividing the second sliding timeline into a plurality of columns;

correlating each of the columns with one calendar month; and

horizontally scrolling the correlated monthly columns after detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive display within boundaries of the second sliding timeline.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

automatically scrolling the first sliding timeline to correlate in time with the second sliding timeline after detecting the finger swipe gesture relative to the second sliding timeline; and

automatically scrolling the second sliding timeline to correlate in time with the first sliding timeline after detecting the finger swipe gesture relative to the first sliding timeline.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

displaying one or more icons on the second sliding timeline representing a day within at least one of the calendar months in which a medical event occurred.

10. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

detecting a touch selection of a “

first”

event preference on the touch-sensitive display;

automatically scrolling the sliding timeline to the first calendar day column associated with the patient history information responsive to detecting the “

first”

event preference selection;

detecting a touch selection of a “

last”

event preference on the touch-sensitive display;

automatically scrolling the sliding timeline to the last calendar day column associated with the patient history information responsive to detecting the “

last”

event preference selection;

detecting a touch selection of a “

today”

event preference on the touch-sensitive display; and

automatically scrolling the sliding timeline to the calendar day column corresponding to the present calendar day associated with the patient history information responsive to detecting the “

today”

event preference selection.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a list of medical categories associated with a medical patient;

receiving a touch selection of favorites corresponding to a subset of the list of medical categories;

detecting a preference for displaying only the favorites from the list of medical categories; and

displaying only the subset corresponding to the selection of favorites in the list of medical categories.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein each item in the list corresponds to a category of medical information associated with the medical patient, the method further comprising:

detecting a touch selection of one of the categories in the subset of the list of categories corresponding to one category of medical information;

displaying a first level of detail in a first detail pane about the selected category of medical information; and

displaying a second level of detail in a second detail pane about the selected category of medical information.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein one item in the list of categories corresponds to a scribble pad, the method further comprising:

detecting a touch selection of the scribble pad item;

displaying a scribble pad on the touch-sensitive display;

displaying medical information on the scribble pad;

receiving touch signals on areas of the scribble pad;

drawing lines or shapes corresponding to the areas of the scribble pad associated with the received touch signals; and

temporarily storing the lines and the medical information displayed on the scribble pad as a file on a local storage device; and

after closing the scribble pad, sending the file to an electronic medical records database for permanent storage.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

displaying a line width slider scale; and

adjusting the line width of the lines drawn based on the touch signals responsive to an adjustment of the line width slider scale.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a touch selection of a patient on the touch-sensitive display; and

displaying demographic information about the patient responsive to the detection.

23. One or more tangible computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, operate to perform the method according to claim 1.

16. A system for accessing, processing, and presenting electronic medical record information, the system comprising:

an electronic medical records database including a plurality of electronic medical records;

a middle-tier application coupled to the electronic medical records database; and

one or more portable electronic medical record access devices configured to communicate with the middle-tier application and extract electronic medical record information from the middle-tier application.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more portable electronic medical record access devices include:

an input output interface configured to wirelessly communicate with the middle-tier application;

a local storage configured to store the electronic medical record information received from the middle-tier application;

a controller configured to process the electronic medical record information; and

a touch-sensitive display configured to display the electronic medical record information and receive touch selections associated with the displayed information.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a user interface associated with the touch-sensitive display, wherein the user interface includes;

a first sliding timeline in which the electronic medical record information is displayed in chronological order in a plurality of columns, each column corresponding to one calendar day or one calendar week;

a second sliding timeline divided into a plurality of columns, each column corresponding to one calendar month,

wherein the first sliding timeline is configured to be scrolled responsive to a first finger swipe gesture; and

wherein the second sliding timeline is configured to be scrolled responsive to a second finger swipe gesture.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the first sliding timeline includes one or more icons representing a medical event that occurred on the calendar day or within the calendar week;

the second sliding timeline includes one or more icons representing a medical event that occurred within the calendar month; and

the second sliding timeline includes a shadow window correlating with an amount of time showing in the first sliding timeline.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the controller is configured to automatically scroll the first sliding timeline to correlate in time relative to the second sliding timeline responsive to the second finger swipe gesture; and

the controller is configured to automatically scroll the second sliding timeline to correlate in time relative to the first sliding timeline responsive to the first finger swipe gesture.

21. An electronic medical record access apparatus, comprising:

a local storage configured to store electronic medical record information;

a controller configured to process the electronic medical record information;

a touch-sensitive display configured to display the electronic medical record information and receive touch selections associated with the displayed information;

a user interface associated with the touch-sensitive display, wherein the user interface includes;

a first sliding timeline in which the electronic medical record information is displayed in chronological order in a plurality of columns, each column corresponding to one calendar day or one calendar week;

a second sliding timeline divided into a plurality of columns, each column corresponding to one calendar month,

wherein;

the controller is configured to scroll the first sliding timeline responsive to a first finger swipe gesture; and

the controller is configured to scroll the second sliding timeline responsive to a second finger swipe gesture.

each of the plurality of columns corresponding to the one calendar day of the first sliding timeline includes at least one of;

a telephone call icon indicating a telephone call event associated with the one calendar day;

an office visit icon indicating an event associated with an office visit on the one calendar day;

an oral medication icon indicating the prescription of an oral medication on the one calendar day;

an intravenous medication icon indicating an intravenous medication event on the one calendar day; and

a medical diagnostics icon indicating an event associated with a medical diagnosis on the one calendar day.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein:

the controller is configured to automatically scroll the first sliding timeline to correlate in time relative to the second sliding timeline responsive to the second finger swipe gesture; and

the controller is configured to automatically scroll the second sliding timeline to correlate in time relative to the first sliding timeline responsive to the first finger swipe gesture.