System and user interface for processing medical information including images for health care delivery support

Abstract

A medical information system processes information from multiple sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical (e.g., critical) care delivery. The system includes a communication interface for receiving information from patient monitoring devices and for bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records. The system also includes a data processor using the communication interface for acquiring patient record information from the hospital information database and for acquiring information from patient monitoring devices. The data processor updates the acquired patient record information based on the acquired information from the patient monitoring devices and communicates updated patient record information to the hospital information database. A display processor initiates display of the updated patient record information to a user. The data processor may also include a data analysis unit for analyzing stored patient parameters by correlating stored parameters, patient record information, corresponding medical outcomes and medication database information to identify alternative medication options and improve decision processing. The data processor combines acquired medical parameter information and an acquired patient medical image to provide a composite image for display and storage.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in critical clinical care delivery, comprising: 
 a communication interface for receiving information from patient monitoring devices and for bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records;    a data processor using said communication interface for, 
 acquiring patient record information from said hospital information database and acquiring information from patient monitoring devices,  
 updating said acquired patient record information based on said acquired information from said patient monitoring devices, and  
 communicating updated patient record information to said hospital information database; and  
   a display processor for initiating display of said updated patient record information to a user.    
     
     
         2 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 said hospital information database is a shared database accessible by multiple users and remote from said medical information system.    
     
     
         3 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 said step of updating said acquired patient record information comprises updating patient record information in a database replicating said hospital information database and    said step of communicating said updated patient record information to said hospital information database comprises communicating changed data to said hospital information database to support substantially matching of hospital information database content with said replicated database content upon a predetermined condition.    
     
     
         4 . A system according to  claim 3 , wherein 
 said predetermined condition comprises at least one of, (a) periodically, (b) upon detection of a record update and (c) upon user command.    
     
     
         5 . A medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising: 
 a communication interface for receiving medical parameter information from patient monitoring devices for a specific patient and for receiving medical images from an archive of patient medical images;    a data processor using said communication interface for, 
 acquiring patient record information from said hospital information database and a medical image for said specific patient from said archive, and  
 combining said medical parameter information and said patient medical image for display as a composite image,  
   a display processor for initiating display of said composite image to a user.    
     
     
         6 . A system according to  claim 5 , wherein 
 said medical parameter information includes at least one of (a) electro-cardiograph (ECG) or electro-encepholograph (EEG) data, (b) ventilation data, (c) blood oxygen or pressure data, (d) infusion pump data and (e) pulse data.    
     
     
         7 . A system according to  claim 5 , wherein 
 said step of combining said medical parameter information and said patient medical image comprises combining a medical parameter and image associated with at least one of, (a) a common anatomical structure and (b) a common anatomical function.    
     
     
         8 . A system according to  claim 7 , wherein 
 said step of combining said medical parameter information and said patient medical image comprises overlaying said medical image with said medical parameter.    
     
     
         9 . A system according to  claim 5 , including the step of, 
 updating said archive to include said composite image.    
     
     
         10 . A system according to  claim 5 , including the step of, 
 acquiring patient record information from a hospital information database using said communication interface, and wherein 
 said data processor uses said communication interface for, 
 updating patient record information to record existence of said composite image, and  
 communicating said updated patient record information to said hospital information database for update.  
 
   
     
     
         11 . A medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising: 
 a communication interface for receiving medical parameters from patient monitoring devices and for bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records;    a data processor using said communication interface for acquiring patient record information for a particular patient from said hospital information database and for collating and storing received medical parameters for said particular patient from monitoring devices;    a decision processor supporting determination of a prescription for a patient medical condition using a medication information database and said collated patient parameters; and    an update processor for initiating updating of said patient record information to record a determined prescription.    
     
     
         12 . A system according to  claim 11 , wherein 
 said decision processor uses said patient record and said medication information database in at least one of, (a) generating a warning of a potential problem of a proposed prescription, (b) suggesting a potential prescription, and (c) generating a display message to prompt a user to check a patient condition affecting a proposed prescription.    
     
     
         13 . A system according to  claim 11 , wherein 
 said decision processor suggests a prescription based on at least one of, (a) a received patient parameter exceeding a predetermined threshold value and (b) a received patient parameter being outside a value range determined by upper and lower threshold values.    
     
     
         14 . A system according to  claim 13 , wherein 
 said predetermined threshold value is selected from a plurality of predetermined threshold values based on information derived from said acquired particular patient record information.    
     
     
         15 . A system according to  claim 13 , wherein said medical information system includes 
 a data analyzer for intermittently parsing and analyzing stored collated medical parameters from a plurality of patients to identify an improved threshold value based on previous treatment outcomes and to adaptively update said threshold value to said improved threshold value.    
     
     
         16 . A medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising: 
 a communication interface for receiving information from a medication information database and for bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records;    a data processor using said communication interface for acquiring patient record information for a particular patient from said hospital information database;    a decision processor supporting determination of a prescription for a patient medical condition based on said acquired particular patient record information and information from said medication information database; and    an update processor for initiating updating of said patient record information to record a determined prescription.    
     
     
         17 . A system according to  claim 16 , wherein 
 said decision processor uses said patient record and said medication information database in at least one of, (a) generating a warning of a potential problem of a proposed prescription, (b) suggesting a potential prescription, and (c) generating a display message to prompt a user to check a patient condition affecting a proposed prescription.    
     
     
         18 . A system according to  claim 16 , wherein said clinical care delivery comprises, 
 health care delivered in at least one of, (a) an emergency room, (b) an intensive care unit, (c) an operating room and (d) another clinical care delivery setting.    
     
     
         19 . A medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising: 
 a communication interface for receiving medical parameters from patient monitoring devices and for bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records;    a data processor using said communication interface for acquiring patient record information from said hospital information database and for collating and storing received patient medical parameters from monitoring devices;    a data analysis unit for analyzing stored patient parameters by correlating stored parameters and corresponding medical outcomes to identify alternative medication options; and    a message generator for generating a message to suggest to a user an alternative medication option in response to an identified alternative medication option.    
     
     
         20 . A system according to  claim 19 , wherein 
 said data analysis unit analyzes stored patient parameters by searching for patterns in stored patient parameters and corresponding medical outcomes to identify statistically significant data correlation.    
     
     
         21 . A system according to  claim 19 , wherein 
 said data analysis unit analyzes stored patient parameters and related information in a medical information database by searching for patterns in stored patient parameters and corresponding medical outcomes to identify statistically significant data correlation.    
     
     
         22 . A system according to  claim 19 , including 
 a decision processor for identifying alternative medication options using a patient record and a medication information database.    
     
     
         23 . A system according to  claim 22 , wherein 
 said decision processor uses a patient record and a medication information database in at least one of, (a) generating a warning of a potential problem of a proposed prescription, (b) suggesting a potential prescription, and (c) generating a display message to prompt a user to check a patient condition affecting a proposed prescription.    
     
     
         24 . A method for use by a medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in critical clinical care delivery, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving information from patient monitoring devices;    bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records;    acquiring patient record information from said hospital information database and acquiring information from patient monitoring devices;    updating said acquired patient record information based on said acquired information from said patient monitoring devices;    communicating updated patient record information to said hospital information database; and    initiating display of said updated patient record information to a user.    
     
     
         25 . A method for use by a medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving medical parameter information from patient monitoring devices for a specific patient and receiving medical images from an archive of patient medical images;    acquiring patient record information from said hospital information database and a medical image for said specific patient from said archive, and    combining said medical parameter information and said patient medical image for display as a composite image,    initiating display of said composite image to a user.    
     
     
         26 . A method for use by a medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving medical parameters from patient monitoring devices;    bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records;    acquiring patient record information for a particular patient from said hospital information database;    collating and storing received medical parameters for said particular patient from monitoring devices;    determining a prescription for a patient medical condition using a medication information database and said collated patient parameters; and    initiating updating of said patient record information to record a determined prescription.    
     
     
         27 . A method for use by a medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving information from a medication information database;    bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records to acquire patient record information for a particular patient;    determining a prescription for a patient medical condition based on said acquired particular patient record information and information from said medication information database; and    initiating updating of said patient record information to record a determined prescription.    
     
     
         28 . A method for use by a medical information system for processing information from a plurality of sources suitable for access by healthcare personnel for use in clinical care delivery, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving medical parameters from patient monitoring devices;    bidirectionally communicating with a hospital information database containing patient records;    acquiring patient record information from said hospital information database;    collating and storing received patient medical parameters from monitoring devices;    analyzing stored patient parameters by correlating stored parameters and corresponding medical outcomes to identify alternative medication options; and    generating a message to suggest an alternative medication option to a user in response to an identified alternative medication option.