Disease management system and method
View Patent ↗One aspect of the invention is directed to a system and method for allowing a patient to access an automated process for managing a specified health problem called a disease. The system performs disease management in a fully automated manner, using periodic interactive dialogs with the patient to obtain health state measurements from the patient, to evaluate and assess the progress of the patient's disease, to review and adjust therapy to optimal levels, and to give the patient medical advice for administering treatment and handling symptom flare-ups and acute episodes of the disease. The medical records are updated, the progression of the disease is stored and tracked, and the patient's preferences for treatment are stored and then used to offer medical advice based on the current state of the disease. Subjective and objective health measurements are used to determine a metric, which can be used to adjust patient therapy.
1. A computerized method for providing medical advice to a user, the method comprising:
receiving, via a direct interactive dialog between a computing device and the user, a plurality of values representing a health parameter of a patient, each value is associated with a different time, wherein the direct interactive dialog comprises presenting a health parameter question to the user, analyzing and storing of a user response, and taking further action based on the analysis of a current and stored user responses, the user response comprising an objective input of a health parameter and a subjective input of a health parameter, the subjective input factored by a subjective objective correlation factor, the subjective objective correlation factor a measure of how well the patient can assess his own disease state and progress, the further action based on the analysis of the current and stored user responses comprising at least one of: presenting an additional health parameter question, a request for an objective measurement, a request for a subjective answer, an adjustment of a level of health parameter questions, and a notification of a medical professional;
storing, in a memory in communication with the computing device, the plurality of values;
determining, with the computing device, a numerical characteristic value based on a difference between each of the plurality of values and a difference between the times associated with the values;
determining, with the computing device, medical advice based on a comparison of the determined characteristic value with a stored characteristic value and the analysis of the user response; and
outputting the medical advice to a user via the direct interactive dialog.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining medical advice comprises comparing the determined characteristic value to a standard characteristic value.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the comparing results in a determination if a threshold has been met.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining medical advice is based on the determination if the threshold has been met.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined characteristic value is a slope.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined characteristic value is a 3-point trend.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining medical advice comprises comparing the determined characteristic value to a threshold.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the health parameter is an objective parameter.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the health parameter is a subjective parameter.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical advice includes a specific treatment.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical advice includes a referral to a health professional.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising plotting the plurality of values versus time.
13. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein determining the numerical characteristic value is based at least in part on a disease data set.
14. A computer-readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therein which, when executed, causes the computer to perform a method of providing medical advice to a user, the method comprising:
receiving, via a direct interactive dialog between the computer and the user, a plurality of values representing a health parameter of a patient, each value is associated with a different time, wherein the direct interactive dialog comprises presenting a health parameter question to the user, analyzing and storing of a user response, and taking further action based on the analysis of a current and stored user responses, the user response comprising an objective input of a health parameter and a subjective input of a health parameter, the subjective input factored by a subjective objective correlation factor, the subjective objective correlation factor a measure of how well the patient can assess his own disease state and progress, the further action based on the analysis of the current and stored user responses comprising at least one of: presenting an additional health parameter question, a request for an objective measurement, a request for a subjective answer, an adjustment of a level of health parameter questions, and a notification of a medical professional;
storing, in a memory in communication with the computer, the plurality of values;
determining a numerical characteristic value based on a difference between each of the plurality of values and a difference between the times associated with the values;
determining medical advice based on a comparison of the determined characteristic value with a stored characteristic value and the analysis of the user response; and
outputting the medical advice to a user via the direct interactive dialog.
15. A system for providing medical advice to a user, comprising:
a computer;
a user interface to affect a periodic interactive dialog between the computer and the user, the interface configured to receive a plurality of values for at least one health parameter of a patient, wherein each value is associated with a time, wherein the direct interactive dialog comprises presenting a health parameter question to the user, analyzing and storing of a user response, and taking further action based on the analysis of a current and stored user responses, the user response comprising an objective input of a health parameter and a subjective input of a health parameter, the subjective input factored by a subjective objective correlation factor, the subjective objective correlation factor a measure of how well the patient can assess his own disease state and progress, the further action based on the analysis of the current and stored user responses comprising at least one of: presenting an additional health parameter question, a request for an objective measurement, a request for a subjective answer, an adjustment of a level of health parameter questions, and a notification of a medical professional;
a storage, in data communication with the computer, to store the plurality of values;
wherein the computer is configured to determine a numerical characteristic value based on a difference between each of the plurality of values and a difference between the times associated with the values and is further configured to determine medical advice based on a comparison of the determined characteristic value with a stored characteristic value and the analysis of the user response; and
an output device to output the medical advice to a user via the periodic interactive dialog.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the output device is a modem.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the output device is a monitor, a telephone, or a speaker.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computer is a portable computing device.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computer is a hand-held device having a wireless communications capability.
20. A system for providing medical advice to a user, comprising:
means for receiving, via a direct interactive dialog, a plurality of values representing a health parameter of a patient, wherein each value is associated with a different time, wherein the direct interactive dialog comprises presenting a health parameter question to the user, analyzing and storing of a user response, and taking further action based on the analysis of a current and stored user responses, the user response comprising an objective input of a health parameter and a subjective input of a health parameter, the subjective input factored by a subjective objective correlation factor, the subjective objective correlation factor a measure of how well the patient can assess his own disease state and progress, the further action based on the analysis of the current and stored user responses comprising at least one of: presenting an additional health parameter question, a request for an objective measurement, a request for a subjective answer, an adjustment of a level of health parameter questions, and a notification of a medical professional;
means for storing the plurality of values;
means for determining a numerical characteristic value based on a difference between each of the plurality of values and a difference between the times associated with the values;
means for determining medical advice based on a comparison of the determined characteristic value with a stored characteristic value and the analysis of the user response, the determining without input from a human healthcare provider; and
means for outputting, via the direct interactive dialog, the medical advice to the user.