Assessment and management system for rehabilitative conditions and related methods

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for the measurement of patient outcomes in a rehabilitation setting. In one exemplary method, an assessment relating to self-care is provided, an assessment relating to mobility is provided, and an assessment relating to cognition is provided, wherein the assessments have been pre-selected using item response theory.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-assisted method for assessing a patient, comprising a computing device carrying out actions comprising:
 a. selecting a plurality of assessment items for an assessment of the patient in an assessment domain, wherein the assessment domain is one of a self-care domain, a mobility domain, and a cognition domain;   b. receiving an input of the assessment of the patient in the one of the self-care domain, the mobility domain, and the cognition domain, wherein the input of the assessment includes data on performance by the patient on the plurality of assessment items;   c. using item response theory (IRT) analysis to generate a domain-specific IRT score based on the received input of the assessment, wherein the IRT analysis is based on statistical models constructed for the one of the self-care domain, the mobility domain, and the cognition domain; and   d. storing the generated domain-specific IRT score in an electronic medical record of the patient.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of assessment items are selected using IRT analysis. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 retrieving the domain-specific IRT score from the electronic medical record of the patient; and   adjusting a treatment plan for the patient based on the retrieved domain-specific IRT score.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a discrimination matrix for the one of the self-care domain, the mobility domain, and the cognition domain.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a difficulty matrix for the one of the self-care domain, the mobility domain, and the cognition domain.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the assessment domain is the self-care domain and the plurality of assessment items are in the areas of balance, upper extremity function, and swallowing. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the assessment domain is the mobility domain and the plurality of assessment items are in the areas of balance, wheelchair skills, changing body positions, bed mobility, and mobility. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the assessment domain is the cognition domain and the plurality of assessment items are in the areas of cognition, memory, and communication. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of assessment items are further selected using factor analysis. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of assessment items are further selected using classical item analysis. 
     
     
         11 . A method of measuring improvements in a rehabilitation patient, comprising a computing device carrying out actions comprising:
 a. based on item response theory (IRT) analysis performed based on a plurality of statistical models constructed for an assessment domain, selecting assessment items for assessing the patient in the assessment domain, wherein the assessment domain is one of a self-care domain, a mobility domain, and a cognition domain;   b. receiving an input of an assessment of the patient in the assessment domain;   c. storing the received input in an electronic medical record of the patient;   d. determining a domain-specific score based on performance by the patient on the selected assessment items to measure an improvement of the patient in the assessment domain; and   e. comparing the domain-specific score against a predicted score for the patient in the corresponding assessment domain, the predicted score based at least in part on information about a diagnosis associated with the patient in the corresponding assessment domain.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the assessment domain is the self-care domain and the selected assessment items are in the areas of balance, upper extremity function, and swallowing. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the assessment domain is the mobility domain and the selected assessment items are in the areas of balance, wheelchair skills, changing body positions, bed mobility, and mobility. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the assessment domain is the cognition domain and the selected assessment items are in the areas of cognition, memory, and communication. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the assessment items are further selected based on factor analysis. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the assessment items are further selected based on classical item analysis. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 generating, in a format suitable for display on a display screen, a plot comprising the domain-specific score and the predicted score.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the comparison is used to i) identify an area of therapeutic need and ii) target the therapy to the area of therapeutic need.