Collaborative Synthesis-Based Clinical Documentation

Abstract

A graphical user interface, referred to herein as a virtual whiteboard, that provides both: (1) an automatically prioritized display of information related to a particular patient that is tailored to the current user of the system, and (2) a “scratch pad” area in which multiple users of the system may input free-form text and other data for sharing with other users of the system. When each user of the system accesses the virtual whiteboard, the system: (1) automatically prioritizes the patient information based on characteristics of the user and displays the automatically prioritized patient information to that user, and (2) displays the contents of the scratch pad to the user. As a result, the whiteboard displays both information that is tailored to the current user and information that is common to all users (i.e., not tailored to any particular user).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by at least one computer processor executing computer program instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the method comprising:
 (A) identifying an identifier of a patient;   (B) identifying patient data related to the patient based on the identifier of the patient;   (C) identifying a first identifier of a first user;   (D) modifying the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user to produce first modified patient data;   (E) identifying common data based on the identifier of the patient;   (F) providing first output, to the first user, comprising output representing the first modified patient data and the common data;   (G) identifying a second identifier of a second user;   (H) modifying the patient data based on the second identifier of the second user to produce second modified patient data, wherein the first modified patient data differs from the second modified patient data;   (I) providing second output, to the second user, comprising output representing the second modified patient data and the common data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (J) receiving, from the first user, first free-form text input; and   (K) updating the patient data based on the first free-form text input to produce updated patient data.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 (L) providing third output, to the first user, representing the updated patient data.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 (L) providing third output, to the second user, representing the updated patient data.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (J) receiving, from the first user, first free-form text input;   (K) updating the common data based on the first free-form text input to produce updated common data.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 (L) providing third output, to the first user, representing the updated common data; and   (M) providing fourth output, to the second user, representing the updated common data.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the patient data comprises data describing an encounter of the patient, wherein the encounter comprises at least one of an examination, a hospital stay, a medical procedure, and an appointment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the data describing the encounter of the patient comprises a clinical note describing the encounter of the patient. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the data describing the encounter of the patient comprises encoded concepts. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein (D) comprises re-ordering data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein (D) comprises summarizing data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein (D) comprises filtering data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein (D) comprises emphasizing data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 :
 wherein (D) comprises:
 (D)(1) identifying a first relevance criterion based on the first identifier of the first user; 
 (D)(2) determining whether a first portion of the patient data satisfies the first relevance criterion; and 
 (D)(3) modifying the first portion of the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user if the first portion of the patient data is determined to satisfy the first relevance criterion; and 
   wherein (H) comprises:
 (H)(1) identifying a second relevance criterion based on the second identifier of the second user, wherein the second relevance criterion differs from the first relevance criterion; 
 (H)(2) determining whether a second portion of the patient data satisfies the second relevance criterion; and 
 (H)(3) modifying the second portion of the patient data based on the second identifier of the second user if the second portion of the patient data is determined to satisfy the second relevance criterion. 
   
     
     
         15 . A system comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer program instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer program instructions are executable by at least one computer process to perform a method, the method comprising:
 (A) identifying an identifier of a patient;   (B) identifying patient data related to the patient based on the identifier of the patient;   (C) identifying a first identifier of a first user;   (D) modifying the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user to produce first modified patient data;   (E) identifying common data based on the identifier of the patient;   (F) providing first output, to the first user, comprising output representing the first modified patient data and the common data;   (G) identifying a second identifier of a second user;   (H) modifying the patient data based on the second identifier of the second user to produce second modified patient data, wherein the first modified patient data differs from the second modified patient data;   (I) providing second output, to the second user, comprising output representing the second modified patient data and the common data.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (J) receiving, from the first user, first free-form text input; and   (K) updating the patient data based on the first free-form text input to produce updated patient data.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (L) providing third output, to the first user, representing the updated patient data.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (L) providing third output, to the second user, representing the updated patient data.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (J) receiving, from the first user, first free-form text input;   (K) updating the common data based on the first free-form text input to produce updated common data.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises:
 (L) providing third output, to the first user, representing the updated common data; and   (M) providing fourth output, to the second user, representing the updated common data.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the patient data comprises data describing an encounter of the patient, wherein the encounter comprises at least one of an examination, a hospital stay, a medical procedure, and an appointment. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the data describing the encounter of the patient comprises a clinical note describing the encounter of the patient. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the data describing the encounter of the patient comprises encoded concepts. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein (D) comprises re-ordering data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein (D) comprises summarizing data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein (D) comprises filtering data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein (D) comprises emphasizing data within the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 15 :
 wherein (D) comprises:
 (D)(1) identifying a first relevance criterion based on the first identifier of the first user; 
 (D)(2) determining whether a first portion of the patient data satisfies the first relevance criterion; and 
 (D)(3) modifying the first portion of the patient data based on the first identifier of the first user if the first portion of the patient data is determined to satisfy the first relevance criterion; and 
   wherein (H) comprises:
 (H) (1) identifying a second relevance criterion based on the second identifier of the second user, wherein the second relevance criterion differs from the first relevance criterion; 
 (H) (2) determining whether a second portion of the patient data satisfies the second relevance criterion; and 
 (H) (3) modifying the second portion of the patient data based on the second identifier of the second user if the second portion of the patient data is determined to satisfy the second relevance criterion.