System for decision management

Abstract

A system for decision management is described which enables a practitioner to collaborate on treatment options and outcomes. The practitioner may access a remote server through any number of electronic devices, e.g., smart phone, computer, tablet, personal digital assistant, etc. to conduct any number of searches for related treatments of interest, use of products during treatments, one or more particular doctors, condition of a patient at a starting point, resulting outcome from treatments, or any other number of conditions or features.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of forming a case card, comprising:
 receiving from a user via a network one or more parameters relating to a treatment and to treatment related information previously performed upon an oral or maxillofacial region of a subject, the one or more parameters including at least an initial position of the oral or maxillofacial region prior to a treatment and at least a final position of the oral or maxillofacial region upon completion of the treatment;   associating one or more keyword searchable parameters with the treatment previously performed such that the case card is electronically retrievable via the network by another user not associated with the treatment previously performed;   displaying a timeline of the treatment applied over a course of the treatment, wherein the timeline is correlated to a progression of the treatment from the initial position to the final position such that the timeline is manipulatable by the user to display one or more intermediate positions of the oral or maxillofacial region, and wherein the treatment-related information includes at least treatment time and appliance type which were used in the treatment with detail information about the appliance including a manufacturer of the appliance type; and   displaying in the case card to the user detail information about the appliance including a manufacturer of the appliance type and a contact to the manufacturer which is able to be contacted by the user through the network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the timeline is further correlated to display the appliance type used at a selected treatment time during the progression of the treatment. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving from a user via a network comprises receiving the one or more parameters to a computer system via the network. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising forming an animation which illustrates a movement of the oral or maxillofacial region from the initial position to the final position based upon the one or more parameters after associating one or more keyword searchable parameters. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising associating the animation with the one or more parameters within the case card. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein associating the animation further comprises associating one or more keywords with the case card, wherein the one or more keywords relate to the treatment. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein associating the animation further comprises associating one or more additional treatments applied to the subject with the animation. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising displaying the animation within the case card. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  wherein displaying a timeline comprises displaying the timeline of the one or more additional treatments applied over a course of the treatment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising displaying the animation at one or more intermediate positions correlated to the one or more additional treatments. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6  wherein displaying the animation comprises displaying one or more intermediate positions of the oral or maxillofacial region. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 4  wherein forming an animation comprises forming the animation from one or more images of the oral or maxillofacial region at least in the initial position and the final position. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising displaying the case card with one or more additional case cards under one or more selected topics.