Extensibility for manipulation of medical data

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoding instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:

registering, at a computing device, a vitals plug-in module, the vitals plug-in module providing additional functionality for the computing device, wherein registering the vitals plug-in module is performed without upgrading or reprogramming the computing device;

using the vitals plug-in module to communicate with a medical device to facilitate vitals measurement acquisition of physiological information from a patient, wherein the medical device is selected from the group consisting of a pulse oximeter, an electrocardiography device and a spirometer;

using the vitals plug-in module to command the medical device to obtain the physiological information from the patient;

receiving data associated with the physiological information from the medical device at the computing device; and

displaying the data associated with the physiological information at the computing device.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , encoding instructions that, when executed by a processor, further cause the processor to perform the step of operating within a workflow, the workflow being defined by the vitals plug-in module.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , encoding instructions that, when executed by a processor, further cause the processor to perform the step of displaying a user interface, the user interface being provided by the vitals plug-in module.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , encoding instructions that, when executed by a processor, further cause the processor to perform the steps of authenticating with a central repository and transferring the data to the central repository.

5. A method for extending a functionality of a computing device programmed to obtain physiological measurements from a patient, the method comprising:

registering, at the computing device, a vitals plug-in module, the vitals plug-in module providing additional functionality for the computing device;

displaying a user interface, the user interface being provided by the vitals plug-in module, the user interface being configured to facilitate acquiring data;

operating within a monitoring workflow, the workflow being provided by the vitals plug-in module, wherein the monitoring workflow obtains a series of measurements of one or more physiological parameters of the patient;

using the vitals plug-in module to communicate with a medical device to facilitate vitals measurement acquisition of physiological information from a patient, wherein the medical device is selected from the group consisting of a pulse oximeter, an electrocardiography device and a spirometer;

using the vitals plug-in module to command the medical device to obtain the physiological information directly from the patient;

receiving data associated with the physiological information from the medical device at the computing device;

displaying a user interface, the user interface being provided by the vitals plug-in module, the user interface being configured to facilitate reviewing data;

displaying a report, the report incorporating the data, the report being generated from a report template defined by the vitals plug-in module; and

transferring the data to a central repository.