Evidence-based healthcare information management protocols

• US 20130173296A1
• Filed: 01/09/2012
• Published: 07/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund II, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hyde, Roderick A., Jung, Edward K. Y., Kare, Jordin T., Leuthardt, Eric C., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Richard T., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A., Rinaldo, John D. Jr., Rivet, Dennis J., Tegreene, Clarence T., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Application Number:
  US13/374,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20130173296A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising

Abstract

Structures and protocols are presented for signaling a decision (processing or transmitting a medical record or other resource, e.g.) conditionally, at least partly based on one or more performance indicia (excess hospital readmissions, e.g.) or therapeutic determinants (prior success, e.g.) or privacy considerations (patient consent, e.g.).

Claims

1. A healthcare information management system comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an indication that a particular condition was treated in a first patient with a first protocol;

circuitry for causing a record of a second patient to include the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol; and

circuitry for retrieving the record of the second patient selectively in response to an association between the second patient and an indication of an institutional readmission after the record of the second patient includes the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

2. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an indication whether an individual is compliant with a health regimen, the individual being the second patient.

3. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an indication whether an individual is compliant with a health regimen, the individual being the second patient, the first protocol comprising the health regimen, the health regimen comprising at least one of a dietary component or an exercise component.

7. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an explicit indication whether a record of treating a medical condition in a particular person with a particular protocol contains any extrinsic evidence that treating the medical condition with the particular protocol has precedent, the particular person being the second patient, the particular protocol being the first protocol.

8. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an explicit indication whether a record of treating a medical condition in a particular person with a particular protocol contains any extrinsic evidence that treating the medical condition with the particular protocol has precedent, the particular person being the second patient, the particular protocol being the first protocol, the explicit indication being an affirmative indication, the extrinsic evidence that treating the medical condition with the particular protocol has precedent comprising the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

10. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an indication that a specific pathology in a particular individual has been treated at a first hospital and an indication that the specific pathology in the particular individual has been treated at a second hospital as the indication of the institutional readmission, the particular condition comprising the specific pathology.

12. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for updating a locally-resident subscriber registry in response to an individual entering a service zone, the individual being the second patient.

13. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for updating a locally-resident subscriber registry in response to an individual entering a service zone, the individual being the second patient, the locally-resident subscriber registry residing within a vehicle, the vehicle being within the service zone.

14. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for looking up a communication delay as a function of a medical condition, the medical condition comprising the particular condition, the communication delay being more than an hour; and

circuitry for transmitting a query as an automatic response to an expiration of the communication delay, the query mentioning the first protocol.

15. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for looking up a communication delay as a function of a therapeutic protocol, the therapeutic protocol being the first protocol; and

circuitry for transmitting a query as an automatic response to an expiration of the communication delay.

16. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for looking up a communication delay as a function of a therapeutic protocol, the therapeutic protocol being the first protocol, the communication delay being more than a day; and

circuitry for transmitting a query as an automatic response to an expiration of the communication delay, the query mentioning the first protocol.

19. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for causing an individual to be contacted by a fallback mode of communication as a conditional response to receiving no reply from the individual by a prior mode of communication, the prior mode of communication being telephonic, the individual being the first patient or the second patient or neither the first patient nor the second patient.

20. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for causing an individual to be contacted by a fallback mode of communication as a conditional response to receiving no reply from the individual by a prior mode of communication, the prior mode of communication being telephonic, the individual being the first patient or the second patient or neither the first patient nor the second patient, the fallback mode of communication requesting a confirmation that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

21. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for contacting an individual by a fallback mode of communication as an automatic and conditional response to receiving no reply from the individual by a prior mode of communication, the fallback mode of communication being telephonic, the individual being either the first patient or a caregiver of the first patient.

23. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for retrieving a medical treatment record of one individual selectively in response to an explicit indication of a payment reduction that identifies the one individual, the one individual being the second patient.

24. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for retrieving a medical treatment record of one individual selectively in response to an explicit indication of a payment reduction that identifies the one individual, the one individual being the second patient, the explicit indication of the payment reduction comprising the association between the second patient and the indication of the institutional readmission.

25. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for retrieving a medical treatment record relating to a set of one or more pathologies selectively in response to an explicit indication of a payment reduction that identifies the set, the set of one or more pathologies comprising the particular condition.

26. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for retrieving a medical treatment record relating to a set of one or more pathologies selectively in response to an explicit indication of a payment reduction that identifies the set, the set of one or more pathologies comprising the particular condition, the particular condition including at least one of an addiction or chronic pain.

30. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transfer a resource to a first individual partly based on an indication that the first individual is not compliant with a health regimen and partly based on an indication that the first individual has accepted a telephone call, the first individual being the patient.

31. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transfer a resource to a first individual partly based on an indication that the first individual is not compliant with a health regimen and partly based on an indication that the first individual has accepted a telephone call, the first individual being the patient, the resource being a physical article in a machine, the decision whether to transfer the resource to the first individual being manifested as a decision whether to dispense the physical article from the machine to the first individual.

34. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for responding to a payment-reduction event relating to a first medical treatment by causing a selective retrieval of one or more records that lack any prominence indication relating to the first medical treatment from an archive that includes at least one prominence indication relating to a second medical treatment, the first protocol comprising the second medical treatment.

35. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for responding to a payment-reduction event relating to a first medical treatment by causing a selective retrieval of one or more records that lack any prominence indication relating to the first medical treatment from an archive that includes at least one prominence indication relating to a second medical treatment, the first protocol comprising the second medical treatment, the at least one prominence indication relating to the second medical treatment being the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

37. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting a real-time notification to a first person as an automatic response to an interface in a vicinity of a second person detecting a particular event relating to the second person, the second person being a patient of the first person, the second person being the second patient.

38. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting a real-time notification to a first person as an automatic response to an interface in a vicinity of a second person detecting a particular event relating to the second person, the second person being a patient of the first person, the second person being the second patient, the particular event relating to the second person comprising the interface in the vicinity of the second person detecting a wireless signal.

39. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting a real-time notification to a first person as an automatic response to an interface in a vicinity of a second person detecting a particular event relating to the second person, the second person being a patient of the first person, the second person being the second patient, the particular event relating to the second person comprising the interface in the vicinity of the second person detecting a wireless signal from a transponder wearable by the second person, the particular event indicating that the transponder has entered a detection range of the interface or that the interface has entered the vicinity of the second person.

41. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for implementing a failsafe preventing medical equipment from operating until an order associating the medical equipment with a patient is received and until an indication is received that the patient is in a vicinity of the medical equipment, the patient being the second patient, the first protocol including a usage of the medical equipment.

126. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an indication whether an individual is compliant with a health regimen, the individual being the second patient, the first protocol comprising the health regimen;

circuitry for determining whether a portable device is in a vicinity of another device, the portable device being associated with the second patient, the other device being configured to facilitate a component of the health regimen comprising at least one of a dietary component or an exercise component;

circuitry for receiving a communication delay as data entered by a user, the user being the first patient or the second patient or neither the first patient nor the second patient;

circuitry for transmitting a query as an automatic response to an expiration of the communication delay, the query asking about an effect of the first protocol, the query being addressed to the user;

circuitry for obtaining an explicit indication whether a record of treating a medical condition in the second patient with the first protocol contains any extrinsic evidence that treating the medical condition with the first protocol has precedent, the explicit indication being an affirmative indication, the extrinsic evidence that treating the medical condition with the first protocol has precedent comprising the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol; and

circuitry for responding to a payment-reduction event relating to a first medical treatment by causing a selective retrieval of one or more records that lack any prominence indication relating to the first medical treatment from an archive that includes at least one prominence indication relating to a second medical treatment, the first protocol comprising the second medical treatment, the at least one prominence indication relating to the second medical treatment being the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

127. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for determining whether a portable device is in a vicinity of another device, the portable device being associated with the second patient, the other device being configured to facilitate a component of the first protocol;

circuitry for contacting an individual by a fallback mode of communication as an automatic and conditional response to receiving no reply from the individual by a prior mode of communication, the fallback mode of communication being telephonic, the individual being either the first patient or a caregiver of the first patient, the prior mode of communication requesting a confirmation of the indication that that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol; and

circuitry for responding to a payment-reduction event relating to a first medical treatment by causing a selective retrieval of one or more records that lack any prominence indication relating to the first medical treatment from an archive that includes at least one prominence indication relating to a second medical treatment, the first protocol comprising the second medical treatment, the at least one prominence indication relating to the second medical treatment being the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

128. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting a wireless device within an effective range of a stationary device, the stationary device being configured to facilitate a component of the first protocol, the wireless device being associated with and wearable by the second patient;

circuitry for updating a locally-resident subscriber registry in response to the second patient entering a service zone, the locally-resident subscriber registry residing within a vehicle, the vehicle being within the service zone;

circuitry for looking up a communication delay as a function of a medical condition and as a function of a therapeutic protocol, the therapeutic protocol being the first protocol, the medical condition comprising the particular condition, the communication delay being more than an hour;

circuitry for transmitting a query as an automatic response to an expiration of the communication delay, the query mentioning the first protocol; and

circuitry for causing the second patient to be contacted by a fallback mode of communication as a conditional response to receiving no reply from the second patient by a prior mode of communication, the prior mode of communication being telephonic, the fallback mode of communication requesting a confirmation of the indication that that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

129. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for retrieving a medical treatment record relating to a set of one or more pathologies selectively in response to an explicit indication of a payment reduction that identifies the set, the set of one or more pathologies comprising the particular condition, the particular condition including at least one of an addiction or chronic pain;

circuitry for initiating a telephone call between a first individual and a second individual as an automatic response to the first individual not being compliant with a health regimen and to an indication that the second individual is available, the first individual being the second patient, the second individual not being the first patient, the first protocol comprising the health regimen;

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transfer a resource to the first individual partly based on an indication that the first individual is not compliant with the health regimen and partly based on an indication that the first individual has accepted the telephone call, the first individual being the second patient, the resource being a physical article in a machine, the decision whether to transfer the resource to the first individual being manifested as a decision whether to dispense the physical article from the machine to the first individual; and

circuitry for responding to an event with an audible notification to a caregiver of the second patient, the event comprising the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol being included in the record of the second patient.

130. The healthcare information management system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for triggering a search of a particular records archive by providing a selective search criterion, one that results in an exclusion of a first element in the particular records archive and an inclusion of a second element in the particular records archive, the first element in the particular records archive being a record of a third patient, the record of the second patient comprising the second element in the particular records archive;

circuitry for transmitting a real-time notification as an automatic response to an interface in a vicinity of the second patient detecting a particular event relating to the second patient, the particular event relating to the second patient comprising the interface in the vicinity of the second patient detecting a wireless signal from a transponder wearable by the second patient, the particular event indicating that the transponder has entered a detection range of the interface or that the interface has entered the vicinity of the second patient;

circuitry for implementing a failsafe preventing medical equipment from operating until an order associating the medical equipment with the second patient is received and until an indication is received that the second patient is in a vicinity of the medical equipment, the first protocol including a usage of the medical equipment;

circuitry for looking up a communication delay as a function of a medical condition and as a function of a therapeutic protocol, the therapeutic protocol being the first protocol, the medical condition comprising the particular condition, the communication delay being more than a day; and

circuitry for transmitting a query as an automatic response to an expiration of the communication delay, the query mentioning the first protocol.

4-6. -6. (canceled)

9. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

17-18. -18. (canceled)

22. (canceled)

27-29. -29. (canceled)

32-33. -33. (canceled)

36. (canceled)

40. (canceled)

42. A healthcare information management system comprising:

means for obtaining an indication that a particular condition was treated in a first patient with a first protocol;

means for causing a record of a second patient to include the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol; and

means for retrieving the record of the second patient selectively in response to an association between the second patient and an indication of an institutional readmission after the record of the second patient includes the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

43-62. -62. (canceled)

63. A healthcare information management method comprising:

obtaining an indication that a particular condition was treated in a first patient with a first protocol;

causing a record of a second patient to include the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol; and

invoking circuitry for retrieving the record of the second patient selectively in response to an association between the second patient and an indication of an institutional readmission after the record of the second patient includes the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

64-83. -83. (canceled)

84. An article of manufacture for healthcare information management comprising:

one or more physical media configured to bear a device-detectable implementation of a method including at least

obtaining an indication that a particular condition was treated in a first patient with a first protocol;

causing a record of a second patient to include the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol; and

retrieving the record of the second patient selectively in response to an association between the second patient and an indication of an institutional readmission after the record of the second patient includes the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

85-104. -104. (canceled)

105. An article of manufacture for healthcare information management comprising:

one or more physical media bearing a device-detectable output indicating an occurrence of

obtaining an indication that a particular condition was treated in a first patient with a first protocol;

causing a record of a second patient to include the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol; and

retrieving the record of the second patient selectively in response to an association between the second patient and an indication of an institutional readmission after the record of the second patient includes the indication that the particular condition was treated in the first patient with the first protocol.

106-125. -125. (canceled)