System and Method for Providing Clinical Decision Support

Abstract

A system determines patient eligibility for a medical protocol. The system includes a medical protocol library containing information relating to a plurality of medical protocols. The information includes eligibility rules and compliance rules for the plurality of medical protocols. The system also includes a sensor and medical device interface configured to receive patient data from one or more sensors and/or one or more medical device. The patient data relates to the eligibility rules and/or the compliance rules for at least one of the medical protocols. The system also includes a protocol eligibility module configured to determine patient eligibility for at least one of the medical protocols as a function of the received patient data. Furthermore, the system includes a user interface configured to display an indication that the patient is eligible for the protocol.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented system for determining patient eligibility and compliance with a medical protocol, the system comprising:
 a medical protocol library containing information relating to a plurality of medical protocols including at least one protocol, the information including:
 an eligibility rule for the protocol, and a compliance rule for the protocol, 
   the eligibility rule having at least one condition, and the compliance rule having at least one condition, wherein one or more conditions of the compliance rule includes an estimated risk that a patient is experiencing a specific adverse medical condition;   a sensor and medical device interface configured to receive patient data from one or more sensors and/or one or more medical devices;   a protocol eligibility module configured to alert a medical practitioner to initiate the protocol for the patient; and   a protocol compliance module configured to determine, after the patient begins the protocol, a dynamic concordance rate of the at least one patient for the protocol as a function of the received patient data and the compliance rule of the protocol, wherein the dynamic concordance rate defines the rate at which the patient data is consistent with the compliance rule of the protocol over a period of time,   the user interface being further configured to alert a medical practitioner that the patient is eligible for the protocol as a function of the dynamic concordance rate of the protocol.   
     
     
         2 . The system as defined by  claim 1 , further comprising a quality reporting module configured to determine an eligibility time, wherein the eligibility time is the amount of time elapsed from when the at least one patient becomes eligible for the protocol to the time the at least one patient is entered into the protocol, wherein the user interface is further configured to display the eligibility time for the at least one patient. 
     
     
         3 . The system as defined by  claim 1 , wherein the protocol eligibility module is configured to determine patient eligibility as a function of a hidden state variable. 
     
     
         4 . The system as defined by  claim 1 , wherein at least one condition of the eligibility rule for the protocol includes a risk that a patient has an adverse medical condition. 
     
     
         5 . The system as defined by  claim 1 , wherein the protocol eligibility module is configured to determine patient eligibility as a function of a patient electronic medical record. 
     
     
         6 . The system as defined by  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is configured to display, in response to a user selection of a selected patient, all of the received patient data relating to the eligibility rule and/or the compliance rule of a corresponding protocol that the selected patient is on. 
     
     
         7 . The system as defined by  claim 6 , wherein non-compliant portions of the received data are visually distinguishable from compliant portions of the data. 
     
     
         8 . The system as defined by  claim 1 , wherein the patient eligibility is determined as a function of meeting a plurality of conditions and/or patient variables. 
     
     
         9 . The system as defined by  claim 1 , wherein the medical protocol is an extubation readiness trial protocol. 
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method for entering a patient in a medical protocol, the method comprising:
 receiving an eligibility rule and a compliance rule for a protocol;   receiving real-time patient data from one or more sensors and/or medical devices, wherein the patient data directly or indirectly relates to the eligibility rule for the protocol;   determining that the patient is eligible for the protocol as a function of the eligibility rule of the protocol and the real-time patient data from the one or more sensor and/or medical devices;   alerting a medical practitioner that the patient is eligible for the protocol;   receiving real-time patient data from one or more sensors and/or medical devices, wherein the patient data directly or indirectly relates to the compliance rule for the protocol, the compliance rule including an internal state variable calculation that a particular condition is present;   calculating a dynamic concordance rate for the protocol, the dynamic concordance rate for the protocol indicating the rate at which the patient data is consistent with the compliance rule for the protocol over a period of time.   
     
     
         11 . The method as defined by  claim 10 , further comprising:
 entering the patient into the medical protocol after indicating that the patient is eligible for the protocol.   
     
     
         12 . The method as defined by  claim 11 , further comprising:
 displaying, on a user interface, a plurality of patients that are eligible for the protocol and/or currently enrolled in the protocol;   tracking a time since the patient became eligible for the protocol and/or a time since the patient is enrolled in the protocol;   tracking a dynamic concordance rate of the medical protocol;   displaying, on the user interface, the time since the patient became eligible for the protocol, the time since the patient is enrolled in the protocol, and the dynamic concordance rate of the medical protocol.   
     
     
         13 . The method as defined by  claim 12 , further comprising:
 displaying, in response to a user selection of a given protocol, the received patient data that relates to the eligibility rule and/or the compliance rule for the selected protocol.   
     
     
         14 . The method as defined by  claim 13 , wherein the received patient data is used to determine a hidden state variable. 
     
     
         15 . The method as defined by  claim 14 , wherein the eligibility rule and/or the compliance rule for the selected protocol include a hidden state variable risk. 
     
     
         16 . The method as defined by  claim 11 , wherein determining patient eligibility is a function of a patient electronic medical record. 
     
     
         17 . The method as defined by  claim 10 , further comprising displaying the indication that the patient is eligible for the protocol. 
     
     
         18 . The method as defined by  claim 11 , wherein the medical protocol is an extubation readiness trial protocol. 
     
     
         19 . A computer program product for use on a computer system for determining eligibility and compliance with a medical protocol, the computer program product comprising a tangible, non-transient computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, the computer readable program code comprising:
 program code configured to receive an eligibility rule and a compliance rule for a protocol;   program code configured to receive real-time patient data from one or more sensors and/or medical devices, wherein the patient data directly or indirectly relates to the eligibility rule for the protocol;   program code configured to determine that the patient is eligible for the protocol as a function of the eligibility rule of the protocol and the real-time patient data from the one or more sensor and/or medical devices;   program code configured to alert a medical practitioner that the patient is eligible for the protocol;   program code configured to receive real-time patient data from one or more sensors and/or medical devices, wherein the patient data directly or indirectly relates to the compliance rule for the protocol, the compliance rule including a condition relating to the risk that a patient has an adverse medical condition;   program code configured to calculate a dynamic concordance rate for the protocol, the dynamic concordance rate for the protocol indicating the rate at which the patient data is consistent with the compliance rule for the protocol over a period of time.   
     
     
         20 . A computer program product as defined by  claim 19 , further comprising:
 program code configured to display, on a user interface, a plurality of patients that are eligible for the protocol and/or currently enrolled in the protocol;   program code configured to track a time since the patient became eligible for the protocol and/or a time since the patient is enrolled in the protocol;   program code configured to track a dynamic concordance rate of the medical protocol; and   program code configured to display, on the user interface, the time since the patient became eligible for the protocol, time since the patient is enrolled in the protocol, and the dynamic concordance rate of the medical protocol.