Providing a Continuity of Care Across Multiple Care Settings

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods of providing a continuity of care for a patient during transfer between care settings. The method includes the steps of deciding to transfer a patient from a first care setting to a second care setting, performing a first assessment of the patient in the first care setting, preparing a transfer record of the assessment, and transferring the transfer record with the patient to the second care setting.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method of providing a continuity of care for a patient during transfer between care settings, the method comprising the steps of:
 performing a first assessment of the patient in a first care setting using a sub-epidermal moisture (SEM) scanning apparatus, comprising performing three or more SEM scans of at least one body location of the patient, wherein each of the three or more SEM scans are performed at different times while in the first care setting, wherein each SEM scan comprises a plurality of SEM measurements, wherein the SEM scanning apparatus comprises a sensor configured to measure biocapacitance,   calculating a delta value for each of the three or more SEM scans, wherein each of the delta value is determined by the difference between the maximum SEM measurement and the minimum SEM measurement from the respective plurality of SEM measurements, wherein each of the delta value is a positive value, recording the delta values from each of the respective SEM scans, analyzing the delta values to determine one or more of a slope, an acceleration, a curve shape and associated characteristics, and a time-to-intercept of a selected threshold value,   performing at least one additional assessment selected from the group consisting of a risk assessment of the patient, a visual skin assessment of at least one body location of the patient, and an image of the at least one body location,   deciding to transfer the patient from the first care setting to a second care setting based partially on one or more of the slope, the acceleration, the curve shape and associated characteristics, and the time-to-intercept of a selected threshold value,   preparing a transfer record for transferring to the second care setting comprising the first assessment and the at least one additional assessment,   transferring the patient, and   transmitting the transfer record with the patient to the second care setting.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the transfer record comprises the delta values from a portion of the three or more SEM scans of the patient taken at different times while in the first care setting. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein each of the three or more SEM scans is performed at all body locations identified for monitoring. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one additional assessment is selected from the group consisting of a risk assessment of the patient and a visual skin assessment of at least one body location of the patient. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the transfer record comprises at least one of a transaction type, a transaction date/time, a “to” location, and a “from” location. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the steps of:
 performing a first SEM scan of the at least one body location of the patient while in the first care setting, wherein the first SEM scan comprises a plurality of SEM measurements at the body location and calculation of a first delta value from the plurality of SEM values,   creating a first data record that comprises the first delta value,   reporting the first data record to a database, and   reporting the transfer record to the database.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein:
 the first data record comprises a patient identifier and a first date/time when the first SEM scan was performed, and   the transfer record comprises the patient identifier and a second date/time when the first assessment was performed.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising the steps of:
 performing a second assessment comprising a SEM scan of the at least one body location of the patient and calculating a second delta value while in the second care setting,   creating a second data record that comprises the patient identifier, the second delta value, and a third date/time when the second assessment was performed, and   reporting the second data record to a database.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising the step of:
 querying the database to retrieve a portion of data records that comprise the delta values of the at least one body location of the patient.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising the step of:
 formatting the retrieved delta values in date/time order, and   displaying the formatted delta values.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising the steps of:
 creating an additional data record that comprises the patient identifier, a data element from the group of nutritional information, an implemented intervention, a risk assessment, a visual skin assessment, a care plan, a doctor's note, an event, a vital sign, a body weight, and a lab result, and a date/time associated with the data element, and   reporting the additional data record to the database.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the formatted delta values is displayed in the form of a curve. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising the step of analyzing the retrieved delta values to determine one or more of a slope, an acceleration, a curve shape and associated characteristics, and a time-to-intercept of a selected threshold value. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein acceleration is determined by the rate of change of the slope of the curve. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising the steps of:
 performing a third assessment comprising a SEM scan of the at least one body location of the patient and calculating a third delta value while in the third care setting,   creating a third data record that comprises the patient identifier, the third delta value, and a fourth date/time when the third assessment was performed, and   reporting the third data record to a database.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising the step of
 querying the database to retrieve the delta values observed over time for a particular patient across multiple care settings and various episodes of care.