System and method for optimizing behaviorial health care collection

• US 6,108,665 A
• Filed: 07/03/1997
• Issued: 08/22/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Harcourt Assessment Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Original Assignee: Psychological Corp.
• Inventors: Bair, Steven L., Tillotson, Danny R., Inglis, Philip, Meredith, Ronald L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Coby, Frantz
• Application Number:
  US08/887,799
• Time in Patent Office: 1,146 Days
• Field of Search: 707/104, 707/10, 707/2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 20/70 relating to mental therapies, e.g. psychological therapy or autogenous training
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A system and method for collecting behavioral health care data for a patient include a mechanism for creating an evaluation instrument from a database of questions having linked answers thereto. New questions can also be entered into the database, along with a user-defined branching logic dependent upon the patient'"'"'s answer to the question. Patient answers that are numerically scaleable can be displayed graphically against time over a plurality of sessions and also against indicia labeled for values representing a predetermined goal and a value determined upon an initial evaluation, for tracking patient progress.

Claims

1. A method for collecting behavioral health care data on a patient comprising the steps of:

accessing a first database comprising an electronic chart for the patient;

accessing a second database comprising questions, each question linked to a set of possible answers thereto;

creating a questionnaire by selecting at least one question from the second database;

storing the questionnaire in a third database;

electronically linking the questionnaire to the patient chart;

displaying the questionnaire to a behavioral health care provider;

determining whether the questionnaire is adequate;

if the questionnaire is not adequate, performing the following steps;

creating a second questionnaire by accessing the second database;

determining if a question is desired to be added to the second questionnaire is not present in the second database; and

adding the desired question to the second questionnaire;

administering the desired questionnaire; and

electronically entering patient answers into the patient chart by selecting among the set of possible answers, the patient answers useful in determining a behavioral health status of the patient.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the creating step further comprises the step of selecting a branching logic based upon a patient answer to the new question, wherein a first answer to the new question causes a display of a first next question and a second answer to the new question causes a display of a second next question.

3. The method recited in claim 1, wherein each question in the second database comprises a title and narrative verbiage for use during an administration thereof.

4. The method recited in claim 3, wherein the question selecting step comprises selecting a question from a displayed list of question titles.

5. The method recited in claim 3, wherein the new question composing step comprises the steps of:

identifying the new question with a title; and

providing narrative verbiage for the new question for use during an administration thereof.

6. A method for assisting a behavioral health care provider to evaluate the behavioral health of a patient comprising the steps of:

accessing a first database comprising an electronic chart for the patient, the chart containing results from an initial evaluation;

accessing a second database comprising at least one questionnaire, the questionnaire comprising at least one question, each question linked to a set of possible answers thereto;

selecting and displaying to the behavioral health care provider a questionnaire from the second database to permit the provider to administer the questionnaire to the patient;

determining if the questionnaire is adequate;

if the questionnaire is not adequate, creating a new questionnaire comprising a new question and a set of possible answers thereto;

displaying to the behavioral health care provider the new questionnaire to permit the provider to administer the new questionnaire to the patient;

entering a patient answer to the question into the patient chart; and

displaying the patient answer to the provider simultaneously with an initial answer and a goal answer to the question determined during the initial evaluation for determining patient progress.

7. The method recited in claim 6, wherein the question has numerical answers thereto encompassed by a range, and the displaying step comprises displaying indicia indicative of the range labeled with the initial answer and goal answer.

8. The method recited in claim 6, wherein the question has numerical answers thereto, and the displaying step comprises displaying a graph of a time history of the patient answers.

9. The method recited in claim 6, wherein the questionnaire comprises a first questionnaire, and further comprising the steps of:

accessing the second database at a time spaced from the administration of the first questionnaire;

selecting and displaying a second questionnaire from the second database, the second questionnaire comprising the same question as the first questionnaire, the question having a numerical answer thereto;

administering the second questionnaire to the patient;

entering a patient answer to the question into the patient chart; and

aggregating the patient answers to the question for determining patient progress.

10. A system for collecting behavioral health care data on a patient comprising:

a database including a plurality of questions and an electronic chart for a patient;

means for creating a questionnaire by selecting at least one question from the plurality of questions;

means for determining if a desired question is not among the plurality of questions;

means for adding a new question to the database;

means for adding the new question to the questionnaire;

means for storing the questionnaire in the database;

means for electronically linking the questionnaire with the electronic chart;

means for displaying the questionnaire to a behavioral health care provider and for the provider to enter an answer to the selected question for permitting an online administration of the questionnaire to the patient; and

means for storing the answer in the electronic chart.

11. The system recited in claim 10, wherein the answer comprises a first answer, and further comprising:

means for entering and storing a second answer to the selected question administered at a second time following a predetermined interval;

means for displaying the first and the second answers; and

means for displaying a time history of the first and the second answers for determining patient progress.

12. The system recited in claim 11, further comprising:

means for entering a goal answer to the electronic chart based upon the first answer and a desired progress therefrom; and

means for displaying the goal, the first, and the second answers simultaneously for determining a progress of the patient relative to the goal answer.