Patient care and health information management systems and methods
Streamlined and integrated patient care and health information management systems and methods for reducing the need for costly, near constant patient monitoring by providing system components that allow healthcare professionals to view the most important data for a number of patients in varying physical locations in a seamless manner are disclosed. Various components of the system can be used to monitor patients; measure, record, and track vital signs; and coordinate patient care in an automated fashion. Patients that have a achieved a relatively stable condition during a recovery process, but who still require or would benefit from near constant, or frequent vital sign monitoring can be provided with one or more body worn vital sign sensors. These patient worn sensors can track vital sign and other information about patients, including patient movement, activity, and sleep patterns.
1. A computer-implemented method for coordinating patient care, the method comprising:
accessing, by a computer system, a patient profile record for a patient, the patient profile record including:
a patient identifier for the patient;
vital sign information received from a patient-worn mobile sensor associated with the patient;
care information derived from user input received from a first caregiver, the care information indicating at least one medical occurrence associated with the patient; and
care group information referencing one or more first user profile records, wherein each first user profile record is associated with a person in the patient's care group;
identifying, by the computer system, information associated with the patient profile record indicating a scheduled future medical occurrence for the patient and a specified medical occurrence type for the scheduled future medical occurrence, wherein the scheduled future medical occurrence comprises an event requiring interaction between at least one caregiver and the patient;
accessing, by the computing system, medical occurrence type information for the specified medical occurrence type, wherein the medical occurrence type information includes: (1) location requirement information indicating location requirements for medical occurrences of the specified medical occurrence type, (2) precursor information indicating one or more prior vital sign states or one or more prior medical occurrences indicative of a possible need for the specified medical occurrence type; and (3) indications of one or more caregiver types associated with the specified medical occurrence type;
matching, by the computing system, medical occurrence timing criteria associated with the scheduled future medical occurrence to schedule information for a location that meets the location requirements indicated by the accessed location requirement information, wherein the medical occurrence timing criteria is based, at least in part, on timing information included in the medical occurrence type information for the specified medical occurrence type, and wherein the medical occurrence timing criteria identifies at least one of: (1) an estimated duration of the scheduled future medical occurrence, and (2) an indication of a deadline by which the scheduled future medical occurrence should occur;
scheduling, by the computing system, the location for the scheduled future medical occurrence in response to matching the medical occurrence timing criteria associated with the scheduled future medical occurrence to the schedule information for the location, wherein scheduling the location for the scheduled future medical occurrence includes associating the location with the scheduled future medical occurrence in the patient profile record;
identifying, by the computer system, a second user profile record for a second caregiver, wherein the second user profile record is distinct from the one or more first user profile records, and the second caregiver is not in the patient's care group prior the identifying of the second user profile record by the computer system, and wherein the identifying includes matching a particular caregiver type of the one or more caregiver types included in the medical occurrence type information for the specified medical occurrence type to information included in the second user profile record indicating that the second caregiver is a caregiver of the particular caregiver type, and wherein identifying the second user profile record for the second caregiver further comprises comparing the medical occurrence timing criteria for the scheduled future medical occurrence and a scheduled time for the scheduled future medical occurrence to availability information for the second caregiver stored in the second user profile; and
adding, in response to identifying the second user profile record for the second caregiver, the second caregiver to the patient's care group by adding a first reference to the second user profile record to the care group information of the patient profile record, and adding a second reference to the patient profile record to the second caregiver record, the second reference enabling the second caregiver to access restricted patient information included in the patient profile record using a computing device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scheduled future medical occurrence is predicted by the computer system based on the vital sign information and the care information included in the patient profile record and based on the precursor information included in the medical occurrence type information for the specified medical occurrence type.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to identifying information associated with the patient profile record indicating the scheduled future medical occurrence for the patient:
determining, by the computer system and using information included as part of the patient profile record, that the patient requires a future medical occurrence of the specified medical occurrence type; and
in response to determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence, adding, by the computer system, the information indicating the scheduled future medical occurrence for the patient to the patient profile record.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence is performed in response to a detected change in at least one vital sign received from the patient-worn mobile sensor, the at least one vital sign being recorded as part of the vital sign information included in the patient profile record, wherein the detected change in the at least one vital sign is a change that meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence includes determining that at least one vital sign received from the patient-worn mobile sensor is outside of an acceptable range for the at least one vital sign, the at least one vital sign being recorded as part of the vital sign information included in the patient profile record.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the acceptable range for the at least one vital sign is stored as part of the patient profile record and is determined, at least in part, based on information included in the patient profile record.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence includes:
accessing, by the computer system, information associated with a plurality of medical occurrence types, wherein each medical occurrence type is associated with a theoretical medical occurrence and includes precursor information indicating one or more prior vital sign states or one or more prior medical occurrences that indicate a possible need for the theoretical medical occurrence associated with the particular medical occurrence type; and
identifying the specified medical occurrence type from the plurality of medical occurrence types by comparing the vital sign information and the care information of the patient profile record to the precursor information associated with each of the plurality of medical occurrence types.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the last of the at least one medical occurrences; and
removing a third caregiver from the patient's care group by deleting a reference to a third user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to determining that the period of time since the last of the at least one medical occurrences has elapsed.
9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more data processing apparatus cause the one or more data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
accessing, by a computer system, a patient profile record for a patient, the patient profile record including:
a patient identifier for the patient;
vital sign information received from a patient-worn mobile sensor associated with the patient;
care information derived from user input received from a first caregiver, the care information indicating at least one medical occurrence associated with the patient; and
care group information referencing one or more first user profile records, wherein each first user profile record is associated with a person in the patient's care group;
identifying, by the computer system, information associated with the patient profile record indicating a scheduled future medical occurrence for the patient and a specified medical occurrence type for the scheduled future medical occurrence, wherein the scheduled future medical occurrence comprises an event requiring interaction between at least one caregiver and the patient;
accessing, by the computing system, medical occurrence type information for the specified medical occurrence type, wherein the medical occurrence type information includes: (1) location requirement information indicating location requirements for medical occurrences of the specified medical occurrence type, (2) precursor information indicating one or more prior vital sign states or one or more prior medical occurrences indicative of a possible need for the specified medical occurrence type; and (3) indications of one or more caregiver types associated with the specified medical occurrence type;
matching, by the computing system, medical occurrence timing criteria associated with the scheduled future medical occurrence to schedule information for a location that meets the location requirements indicated by the accessed location requirement information, wherein the medical occurrence timing criteria is based, at least in part, on timing information included in the medical occurrence type information for the specified medical occurrence type, and wherein the medical occurrence timing criteria identifies at least one of: (1) an estimated duration of the scheduled future medical occurrence, and (2) an indication of a deadline by which the scheduled future medical occurrence should occur;
scheduling, by the computing system, the location for the scheduled future medical occurrence in response to matching the medical occurrence timing criteria associated with the scheduled future medical occurrence to the schedule information for the location, wherein scheduling the location for the scheduled future medical occurrence includes associating the location with the scheduled future medical occurrence in the patient profile record;
identifying, by the computer system, a second user profile record for a second caregiver, wherein the second user profile record is distinct from the one or more first user profile records, and the second caregiver is not in the patient's care group prior the identifying of the second user profile record by the computer system, and wherein the identifying includes matching a particular caregiver type of the one or more caregiver types included in the medical occurrence type information for the specified medical occurrence type to information included in the second user profile record indicating that the second caregiver is a caregiver of the particular caregiver type, and wherein identifying the second user profile record for the second caregiver further comprises comparing the medical occurrence timing criteria for the scheduled future medical occurrence and a scheduled time for the scheduled future medical occurrence to availability information for the second caregiver stored in the second user profile; and
adding, in response to identifying the second user profile record for the second caregiver, the second caregiver to the patient's care group by adding a first reference to the second user profile record to the care group information of the patient profile record, and adding a second reference to the patient profile record to the second caregiver record, the second reference enabling the second caregiver to access restricted patient information included in the patient profile record using a computing device.
10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , the operations further comprising, prior to identifying information associated with the patient profile record indicating the scheduled future medical occurrence for the patient:
determining, by the computer system and using information included as part of the patient profile record, that the patient requires a future medical occurrence of the specified medical occurrence type, wherein determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence is performed in response to a detected change in at least one vital sign received from the patient-worn mobile sensor, the at least one vital sign being recorded as part of the vital sign information included in the patient profile record; and
in response to determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence, adding, by the computer system, the information indicating the scheduled future medical occurrence for the patient to the patient profile record.
11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence includes determining that at least one vital sign received from the patient-worn mobile sensor is outside of an acceptable range for the at least one vital sign, the at least one vital sign being recorded as part of the vital sign information included in the patient profile record, wherein the detected change in the at least one vital sign is a change that meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold.
12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein determining that the patient requires the future medical occurrence includes:
accessing, by the computer system, information associated with a plurality of medical occurrence types, wherein each medical occurrence type is associated with a theoretical medical occurrence and includes precursor information indicating one or more prior vital sign states or one or more prior medical occurrences that indicate a possible need for the theoretical medical occurrence associated with the particular medical occurrence type; and
identifying the specified medical occurrence type from the plurality of medical occurrence types by comparing the vital sign information and the care information of the patient profile record to the precursor information associated with each of the plurality of medical occurrence types.
13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:
determining that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the last of the at least one medical occurrences; and
removing a third caregiver from the patient's care group by deleting a reference to a third user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to determining that the period of time since the last of the at least one medical occurrences has elapsed.
14. A computer-implemented method for coordinating patient care, the method comprising:
receiving, by a computer system and from a patient-worn mobile sensor associated with a patient, location information indicating a location of the patient;
identifying, by the computer system, the location of the patient using the received location information;
accessing, by the computer system, a patient profile record for the patient, the patient profile record including:
a patient identifier for the patient;
vital sign information received from the patient-worn mobile sensor associated with the patient;
care information derived from user input received from a first caregiver; and
care group information that includes a reference to at least a first user profile record, wherein the first user profile record is associated with a second caregiver in the patient's care group;
removing, by the computer system, the second caregiver from the patient's care group by deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to identifying the location of the patient;
identifying, by the computer system, a second user profile record for a third caregiver based on information stored in the second user profile record indicating that the third caregiver is associated with the location of the patient, where the third caregiver is not currently in the patient's care group; and
adding, by the computer system, the third caregiver to the patient's care group by adding a first reference to the second user profile record to the care group information of the patient profile record in response to identifying the second user profile record for the third caregiver, and adding a second reference to the patient profile record to the second user profile record, the second reference enabling the third caregiver to access restricted patient information included in the patient profile record using a computing device.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein removing the second caregiver from the patient's care group includes deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to determining that the patient has been in the identified location for longer than a specified time.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein removing the second caregiver from the patient's care group includes deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to determining that the location of the patient is more than a threshold distance from a previous identified location of the patient.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein removing the second caregiver from the patient's care group includes deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to determining that the location of the patient is outside of a facility where the patient had previously been located.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein removing the second caregiver from the patient's care group includes deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to identifying that the second caregiver is associated with a particular section of a healthcare facility and the location of the patient is outside of the particular section of the healthcare facility.
19. The method of claim 14 , wherein identifying the location of the patient includes identifying a monitor identifier for a bedside monitor that is in a synchronized state with the patient-worn mobile sensor, the location of the bedside monitor being known.
20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the location information is wirelessly transmitted from the patient-worn mobile sensor to a bedside monitor and then transmitted by the bedside monitor to the computer system.
21. The method of claim 14 , wherein identifying the second user profile record includes accessing information stored in the second user profile record indicating a particular caregiver type for the third caregiver, determining that the care group information does not currently include a reference to a user profile record for a caregiver of the particular caregiver type, and determining, based on information included in the patient profile record, that a caregiver of the particular caregiver type should be added to the patient's care group.
22. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more data processing apparatus cause the one or more data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by a computer system and from a patient-worn mobile sensor associated with a patient, location information indicating a location of the patient;
identifying, by the computer system, the location of the patient using the received location information;
accessing, by the computer system, a patient profile record for the patient, the patient profile record including:
a patient identifier for the patient;
vital sign information received from the patient-worn mobile sensor associated with the patient;
care information derived from user input received from a first caregiver; and
care group information that includes a reference to at least a first user profile record, wherein the first user profile record is associated with a second caregiver in the patient's care group;
removing, by the computer system, the second caregiver from the patient's care group by deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to identifying the location of the patient;
identifying, by the computer system, a second user profile record for a third caregiver based on information stored in the second user profile record indicating that the third caregiver is associated with the location of the patient, where the third caregiver is not currently in the patient's care group; and
adding, by the computer system, the third caregiver to the patient's care group by adding a first reference to the second user profile record to the care group information of the patient profile record in response to identifying the second user profile record for the third caregiver, and adding a second reference to the patient profile record to the second user profile record, the second reference enabling the third caregiver to access restricted patient information included in the patient profile record using a computing device.
23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein removing the second caregiver from the patient's care group includes deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to determining that the patient has been in the identified location for longer than a specified time.
24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein removing the second caregiver from the patient's care group includes deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to determining that the location of the patient is more than a threshold distance from a previous identified location of the patient.
25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein removing the second caregiver from the patient's care group includes deleting the reference to the first user profile record from the care group information of the patient profile record in response to identifying that the second caregiver is associated with a particular section of a healthcare facility and the location of the patient is outside of the particular section of the healthcare facility.
26. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein identifying the location of the patient includes identifying a monitor identifier for a bedside monitor that is in a synchronized state with the patient-worn mobile sensor, the location of the bedside monitor being known.