Computerized risk management module for medical diagnosis

• US 7,197,492 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2001
• Issued: 03/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Daniel Joseph Sullivan
• Original Assignee: Daniel Joseph Sullivan
• Inventors: Sullivan, Daniel Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): RIMELL, SAMUEL G
• Application Number:
  US10/000,879
• Publication Number:
  US 20020077865A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,971 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/104.1, 707/1, 707/3, 705/2, 705/3, 600/300, 600/301
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• 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 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing

Abstract

Apparatus and a method are provided for improving the medical care of patients. The apparatus includes an input device, a medical risk database, a data processor, and a communication device. Data entered in the input device, usually by a health care professional, defines a patient data record. The medical risk database associates certain patient data entered into the data record, which increases the risk of a missed medical care opportunity, with additional medical care to address the risk. The communication device responds to the identification of patient data presenting a medical risk by communicating to a health care professional additional medical care selected to identify and take advantage of a medical care opportunity.

Claims

1. A computerized medical chart system for improving the medical care of patients by communicating with a health care professional preparing a medical record in connection with preparing or recording diagnoses, symptoms, treatment or other patient information, and including important elements of the patient'"'"'s medical condition, comprising:

a medical risk database containing medical care information regarding a plurality of illnesses, diseases and/or injuries, and further at least containing information regarding increased risks of missed diagnoses;

means for prompting the health care professional to record symptoms, or other patient information relevant to the increased risks;

means for comparing the recorded symptoms or other patient information with, the medical care information stored in the medical risk database to determine the existence of at least one increased risk of a missed diagnosis based on the symptoms recorded;

means for associating said recorded symptoms or other patient information with the relevant medical care information related to the increased risk of missed diagnoses with respect to the recorded symptoms or patient information;

means for providing medical care information to the health care professional so as to reduce the risk of the health care professional missing at least one diagnosis from the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries based on the symptoms or other patient information regarding the patient;

means for automatically prompting the health care professional to take particular actions or record additional important items of said diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information in said medical record, in an interactive fashiom so as to provide the health care professional with an opportunity to avoid a missed diagnosis and to adequately record the action taken; and

means for alerting the health care professional to consider one or more medical conditions leading toward possible diagnoses based upon input of information correlating with said increased risk information in said database.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said system further includes at least one key information icon associatedi with said medical record so as to provide immediate access to said medical care information to said health care professional.

3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said system further includes an interactive diagnostic template for one or more symptoms leading to a medical diagnosis.

4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein said interactive diagnostic template the said symptoms leading to a diagnosis is capable of providing access to additional medical care information relating to said symptoms.

5. The invention according to claim 3 wherein said interactive diagnostic template for said symptoms leading to a dagnosis further includes a presentation of relevant acute life threatening situations.

6. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said system further includes means to document an acute emergency.

7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein said means to document an acute emergency comprise an alarm response and a vital signs alert.

8. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said system further comprises means for indicating a high-risk diagnosis.

9. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said system further comprises means for mandatory notification to the healthcare professional.

10. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said system further includes timer means for setting a time limit for interaction with a patient.

11. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said system further comprises meas for warning the healthcare professional of abnormal patient vital signs.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the information contained in the database comprises factors that should be addressed in connection with the diagnosis and treatment of the patients to ensure that the healthcare professional meets the requisite standard of care, and the means for prompting the healthcare professional comprises means to ensure that the healthcare professional has satisfied and documented that the necessary standard of care was met in treating the patient.

13. The computerized medical chart system of claim 1 wherein said medical risk database further includes information concerning reducing the risk of at least one of the following:

incorrect or delayed diagnosis;

or missed, incorrect or delayed treatment.

14. The computerized medical chart system of claim 1 further comprising warning means notifying the health care professional whether important information with respect to at least one sign, symptom, physical exam or other patient information leading to a diagnosis or treatment of the patient has been documented.

15. The computerized medical chart system of claim 14 wherein said warning means comprises at least one indicator signifying to the health care professional that the important information has been documented with respect to the medical condition of the patient.

16. The computerized medical chart system of claim 15 wherein said warning means comprises at least one light signifying to the health care professional that the important information has been documented with respect to medical condition of the patient.

17. The computerized medical chart system of claim 15 wherein said warning means comprises at least one light signifying to the health care professional that the important information has not been fully documented with respect to the medical condition of the patient.

18. A method for improving the medical care of patients by using a computerized medical chart creation system for communicating with a health care professional preparing a medical record in connection with recording diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information, and including important elements of the patient'"'"'s medical condition, the computerized medical chart creation system including a medical risk database having information on a plurality of illnesses, diseases and/or injuries, the method comprising the steps of:

recording said symptoms or other patient information;

comparing said recorded symptoms or other patient information with the information stored in the medical risk database containing at least information regarding the risk of missed diagnoses as to the existence of at least one such increased risk with respect to the symptoms or other patient information;

presenting medical care information to said health care professional reducing the risk of a missed diagnosis as to the symptoms or other patient information regarding said plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries; and

prompting the health care professional to take particular actions and include important items of said diagnoses, symptoms, treatment or other patient information in said medical record, in an interactive fashion; and

alerting the health care professional to consider one or more medical conditions leading toward possible diagnoses based upon input of information correlating with said increased risk information in said database.

19. The method according to claim 18 wherein said invention further includes at least one key information icon associated with said medical record so as to provide immediate access to said medical care information to said health care professional.

20. The method according to claim 19 wherein said system further includes an interactive diagnostic template for medical diagnosis.

21. The method according to claim 20 wherein said interactive diagnostic template for symptoms being diagnosed, is capable of providing access to additional medical care information relating to said symptoms.

22. The method according to claim 20 wherein said interactive diagnostic template for symptoms being diagnosed further includes a presentation of relevant acute life threatening situations.

23. The method according to claim 18 wherein said invention further includes the step of documenting an acute emergency.

24. The method according to claim 19 wherein said invention further comprises an alarm response and a vital signs alert.

25. The method of claim 18 wherein the information contained in the database comprises factors that should be addressed in connection with the diagnosis and treatment of the patients to ensure that the healthcare professional meets the requisite standard of care, and the step of prompting the healthcare professional comprises means to ensure that the healthcare professional has satisfied and documented that the necessary standard of care was met in treating the patient.

26. The method of claim 18 wherein said medical risk database further includes information concerning the risk of at least one of the following incorrect or delayed diagnosis;

or missed, incorrect or delayed treatment.

27. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of warning the health care professional as to whether important information with respect to at least one sign, symptom, physical examination or other patient information leading to a diagnosis or treatment of the patient has been documented by using warning means.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein said warning means comprises at least one indicator signifying to the health care professional that the important information has been documented with respect to the medical condition of the patient.

29. The method of claim 18 wherein said warning means comprises at least one light signifying to the health care professional that the important information has been documented with respect to the medical condition of the patient.

30. The method of claim 18 wherein said warning means comprises at least one light signifying to the health care professional that the important factors have not been fully documented with respect to the medical condition of the patient.

31. A computerized risk management system for assisting a health care professional in diagnosing, treating, and documenting actions taken with respect to possible illnesses, diseases or injuries of a patient, associated with a computerized medical chart preparation system comprising:

a medical risk database containing information regarding a plurality of illnesses, diseases and/or injuries, and comprising medical care information regarding at least increased risks of missed diagnoses;

means for prompting the health care professional to record symptoms or other patient information relevant to the increased risks of missed diagnoses;

means to input data concerning the patient into a patient data record;

a data processor, wherein the data processor compares the patient data in the patient data record with the medical care information in the medical risk database to determine the existence of an increased risk of at least one missed diagnosis of the patient having one or more of die illnesses, diseases or injuries;

means to provide the health care professional with relevant medical care information concerning the possible illnesses, diseases or injuries to reduce the possibility of the healthcare professional missing at least one diagnosis regarding the illnesses, diseases or injuries; and

means for further automatically prompting the health care professional to take appropriate action and record relevant patient information and the actions taken by the health care professional with respect to the patient in the medical record, in interactive fashion, so as to provide the health care professional with an opportunity to avoid at least one missed diagnosis, and adequately document the diagnosis of the illnesses, diseases or injuries and the actions taken; and

means for alerting the health care professional to consider one or more medical conditions leading toward possible diagnoses based upon input of information correlating with said increased risk information in said database.

32. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 wherein said system further comprises warning means notifying the health care professional whether important factors with respect to the diagnosis or treatment of the patient have been appropriately documented.

33. The computerized risk management system of claim 32 wherein said warning means comprises a light signifying to the health care professional that the important factors have been documented with respect to the diagnosis or treatment of the patient.

34. The computerized risk management system of claim 32 wherein said warning means comprises a light signifying to the health care professional that the important factors have not been fully documented with respect to the diagnosis or treatment of the patient.

35. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 wherein the medical risk database includes data collected from medical malpractice claims.

36. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 wherein the patient data includes symptoms, medical history and personal data.

37. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 which further comprises means for the health care professional to retrieve preexisting patient data.

38. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 wherein the means to connect the data input means is a data link.

39. The computerized risk management system of claim 38 wherein the data link is an Internet connection.

40. The computerized risk management system of claim 38 wherein the data link is a wireless connection.

41. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 which further comprises means to provide the health care professional with a timed reminder to check on the patient.

42. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 which further comprises means to provide additional information to the health care professional about the illness, disease or injury.

43. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 which further comprises means to prioritize the patient with respect to other patients based on the inputted patient information.

44. The computerized risk management system of claim 43 which further comprises means to provide a warning of a high-risk diagnosis of an acute emergency.

45. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 which further comprises means to provide a template for the health care professional to input the patient information.

46. The computerized risk management system of claim 45 which further comprises means to provide a template comprising a series of queries.

47. The computerized risk management system of claim 46 which further comprises means to provide a plurality of additional queries based on responses to the series of queries.

48. The computerized risk management system of claim 47 which further includes means to indicate other information was inputted.

49. The computerized risk management system of claim 46 which further comprises one or more lights to indicate when information has been inputted in response to the series of queries.

50. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 wherein said medical risk database further includes information concerning the risk of at least one of the following:

incorrect or delayed diagnosis;

or missed, incorrect or delayed treatment.

51. The computerized risk management system of claim 31 further comprising:

means to determine that additional symptoms or other patient information should be recorded and requesting recordation of additional symptoms or patient information by presenting one or more queries to the health care professional, depending upon said association between said medical care information in said medical risk database and said recorded symptoms or other patient information; and

,

means for determining whether additional queries should be provided to the health care professional and automatically providing said additional queries to said health care professional, in response to said symptoms or other patient information being recorded, in an interactive fashion.

52. The computerized risk management system of claim 32 wherein said warning means comprises at least one indicator signifying to the health care professional that the important factors have been documented with respect to the diagnosis or treatment of the patient.

53. The computerized risk management system of claim 38 wherein the data link is an Intranet connection.

54. The computerized risk management system of claim 46 which further comprises one or more indicators to indicate when information has been inputted in response to the series of queries.

55. The system of claim 31 wherein the information contained in the database is designed to ensure that the healthcare professional meets the requisite standard of care in treating the patient, and the means for prompting the healthcare professional comprises means to ensure that the healthcare professional has satisfied and documented that the necessary standard of care was met in treating the patient.

56. A computerized medical chart system for improving the medical care of patients by communicating with a health care professional preparing a medical record in connection with recording diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information, and including important elements of the patient'"'"'s medical condition, comprising:

a medical risk database containing information regarding a plurality of illnesses, diseases and/or injuries, wherein the information contained in the database comprises factors that should be addressed in connection with the diagnosis and treatment of the patients to ensure that the healthcare professional meets the requisite standard of care;

means for comparing the recorded symptoms or other patient information with the information stored in the medical risk database to determine whether there exists a risk of the patient having one or more of the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries;

means for associating said recorded symptoms or other patient information with medical care where there exists an increased risk of a missed diagnosis or treatment with respect to said one or more of the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries in order to prevent wrong or delayed diagnosis;

means for presenting medical care information to said health care professional that would reduce the risk of missing the diagnosis of or incorrectly treating one or more of the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries in the event that said recorded symptoms or other patient information is associated with one or more of the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries; and

,

means for prompting the health care professional to, if necessary, take particular actions and include important items of said diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information in said medical record, wherein the means for prompting the healthcare professional comprises means to ensure that the healthcare professional has satisfied and documented that the necessary standard of care was met in treating the patient and wherein the means for prompting the healthcare professional to include the important items of the diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information comprises one or more red and green lights, wherein the lights will remain red until the healthcare professional inputs the necessary documentation into the system, wherein the lights will change to green.

57. A method for improving the medical care of patients by using a computerized medical chart creation system for communicating with a health care professional preparing a medical record in connection with recording diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information, and including important elements of the patient'"'"'s medical condition, the computerized medical chart creation system including a medical risk database having information on a plurality of illnesses, diseases and/or injuries, wherein the information contained in the database comprises factors that should be addressed in connection with the diagnosis and treatment of the patients to ensure that the health care professional meets the requisite standard of care, the method comprising the steps of:

recording said symptoms or other patient information;

comparing said recorded symptoms or other patient information with the information stored in the medical risk database to determine whether there exists an increased risk that said patient may have one or more of said plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries;

presenting medical care information to said health care professional that would reduce the risk of missing the diagnosis of or incorrectly treating of said one or more of the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries in the event the recorded symptoms or other patient information it associated with the risk that the patient may have one or more of said plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries; and

prompting the health care professional to, if necessary, take particular actions and include important items of said diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information in said medical record, wherein the step of prompting the healthcare professional comprises means to ensure that the healthcare professional has satisfied and documented that the necessary standard of care was met in treating the patient and wherein the step of prompting the healthcare professional to include the important items of the diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information comprises one or more red and green lights, wherein the lights will remain red until the healthcare professional inputs the necessary documentation into the system, wherein the lights will change to green.

58. A computerized medical chart system for improving the medical care of patients by communicating with a healthcare professional preparing a medical record in connection with recording diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information, comprising:

a medical risk database containing information regarding the treatment and diagnosis of a plurality of illnesses, diseases and/or injuries,wherein the information contained in the database comprises factors tat should be addressed in connection with the proper diagnosis and treatment of the patients to ensure that the healthcare professional meets the requisite standard of care in treating the patients;

means for comparing the recorded symptoms or other patient information with the information stored in the medical risk database to determine whether there exists a risk of the patient having one or more of the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries;

means for associating said recorded symptoms or other patient information with medical care where there exists an increased risk of a missed diagnosis or treatment with respect to said one or more of the plurality of illnesses, diseases or injuries in order to prevent wrong or delayed diagnosis; and

means for prompting said healthcare professional to include important items of the diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information in said medical record to maintain a record of said healthcare professional'"'"'s compliance wit said standard of care, wherein the means for prompting the healthcare professional to include the important elements of the patient'"'"'s diagnosis, symptoms, treatment or other patient information comprises one or more red and green lights, wherein the lights will remain red until the healthcare professional inputs the necessary documentation into the system, wherein the lights will change to green.

59. A computerized risk management system for assisting a health care professional in diagnosing and treating possible illnesses, diseases or injuries of a patient associated with a computerized medical chart preparation system comprising:

a medical risk database containing information regarding a plurality of illnesses, diseases and/or injuries, wherein the information contained in the database is designed to ensure that the healthcare professional meets the requisite standard of care in treating the patient;

means to input data concerning the patient into a patient data record;

a data processor, wherein the data processor compares the patient data in the patient data record with the information in the medical risk database to determine whether there is an increased risk of the patient having one or more of the illnesses, diseases or injuries;

means to provide the health care professional with medical care information concerning the possible illnesses, diseases or injuries to reduce the possibility of the health care professional missing or erroneously treating the illnesses, diseases or injuries; and

means to ensure that the healthcare professional has satisfied and documented that the necessary standard of care was met in treating the patient comprising one or more red and green lights, wherein the lights will remain red until the healthcare professional inputs the necessary patient data into the system, wherein the lights will change to green.