System and Method for Providing Patient Record Synchronization in a Healthcare Setting

Abstract

A system provides an information sharing architecture that allows physically separate healthcare information systems, called “deployments,” to share and exchange information. The collection of these participating deployments is referred to as the “Community,” and systems within the Community sometimes store records for patients in common. The system allows participants in the Community to share information on data changes to these patients, and to reconcile concurrent and conflicting updates to the patient's record.

1 .- 101 . (canceled) 
     
     
         102 . A method of communicating patient health record data within an electronic patient health record system, the electronic patient health record system comprising a plurality of deployments, each deployment being operable to at least one of logically and physically retain patient health record data corresponding to patient health records, the plurality of deployments being communicatively coupled by a network, the method comprising:
 requesting at a first deployment a patient health record from a second deployment;   communicating the requested patient health record from the second deployment to the first deployment;   establishing a subscription for updates to the patient health record data; and   communicating responsive to the subscription update patient health record data from the second deployment to the first deployment.   
     
     
         103 . The method of  claim 102 , comprising the step of unsubscribing from the patient health record. 
     
     
         104 . The method of  claim 102 , wherein the step of unsubscribing comprises closing the patient health record at the first deployment. 
     
     
         105 . The method of  claim 103 , wherein the step of unsubscribing comprises communicating an unsubscribe message. 
     
     
         106 . The method of  claim 103 , wherein the step of unsubscribing comprises terminating the subscription following a time period. 
     
     
         107 . The method of  claim 102 , comprising providing a notification broker communicatively coupled to the plurality of deployments via the network, and wherein the step of establishing a subscription comprises communicating a subscription message to the-notification broker. 
     
     
         108 . The method of  claim 107 , wherein the step of communicating responsive to the subscription update patient health record data from the second deployment to the first deployment comprises informing the notification broker regarding available updates, and communicating updates responsive to direction by the notification broker. 
     
     
         109 . The method of  claim 102 , wherein the step of communicating responsive to the subscription update patient health record data from the second deployment to the first deployment comprises communicating only changed portions of the patient health record. 
     
     
         110 . The method of  claim 102 , further comprising sending from the first deployment to the second deployment update record messages, and the method comprising updating the patient health record at the second deployment. 
     
     
         111 . The method of  claim 102 , wherein the subscription is established based upon the request for the patient health record. 
     
     
         112 . The method of  claim 102 , wherein the subscription is established based upon recipient criteria. 
     
     
         113 . The method of  claim 112 , wherein the recipient criteria defines a potential recipient based upon a potential desire or need for the update. 
     
     
         114 . The method of  claim 113 , wherein the subscription is established without action on the part of the recipient. 
     
     
         115 . An enterprise healthcare information management system comprising:
 at least a first deployment and a second deployment;   each deployment including data records stored within a data structure, each data record relating to a data entity of the enterprise healthcare system and each deployment operable for autonomous management of the data records stored within its respective data structure;   a notification broker deployment; and   a communication network communicatively coupling the first, second and notification broker deployments,   wherein the notification broker deployment is configured to manage subscribe communication of data record updates.   
     
     
         116 . A method of communicating patient health record data within an electronic patient health record system, the electronic patient health record system comprising a plurality of deployments, each deployment being operable to at least one of logically and physically retain patient health record data corresponding to patient health records, the plurality of deployments begin communicatively coupled by a network, the method comprising:
 determining an update to patient health record data within a patient health record;   determining the existence of at least one deployment subscribing to the patient health record; and   communicating the update to the at least one deployment responsive a trigger criteria.   
     
     
         117 . The method of  claim 116 , comprising modifying update history data associated with the patient health record. 
     
     
         118 . The method of  claim 116 , wherein the trigger criteria is based upon a data type associated with the update. 
     
     
         119 . The method of  claim 116 , the patient health record system comprising a notification broker deployment, the notification broker deployment being communicatively coupled to the plurality of deployments via the network; wherein the step of communicating the update comprises communicating the update via the notification broker deployment. 
     
     
         120 . The method of  claim 116 , the patient health record being associated with a home deployment of the plurality of deployments; wherein the step of communicating the update comprises communicating the update to the home deployment. 
     
     
         121 . The method of  claim 116 , wherein the step of communicating the update comprises grouping a plurality of updates to form a batch and communicating the batch.