WO2016126859A1 - Graphical user interface system for interactive, hierarchical, multi-panel comprehension of multi-format data - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for summary display of patient records obtained via various database systems for patient admittance and treatment in different scenarios such as emergency, intensive care unit, trauma, routine health care departments, personalize medicine, or regular monitoring of individual health. The present disclosure automates and integrates the transfer of records of patients to receiving facilities, providing both discreet data and digital images of the patient care record in a summary graphical user interface a "user friendly medical interface" which enable health care providers to learn in more depth and in short time the conditions of the patient including historical data. The system also employs a touch screen function and can be access using a bar code or finger print or any other mechanism such as voice recognition to connect smart phones, tablets, laptops or any other electronic device. The system provides a single interaction point for all nodes on the network, which allows a user to integrate with the platform a single time regardless of the number of network interactions. Further, the system allows for user data entry by health providers or patients using an interactive interface to populate forms pre-loaded with previous visit information to save form filling time prior to admittance.

Description

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE SYSTEM FOR INTERACTIVE, HIERARCHICAL, MULTI-PANEL COMPREHENSION OF MULTI-FORMAT DATA

[0001] This application includes material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to: provisional United States Patent Application Serial No. 62/111,488, filed on February 3, 2015, entitled "Graphical User Interface System For Interactive, Hierarchical, Multi-Panel Comprehension Of Multi-Format Data" which provisional patent application is commonly assigned to the Assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates in general to the field of patient care: health care monitoring, trauma cases, urgent care and general admission into a health system including for example regular visit to medical practitioners. In particular, the system provides for electronic patient information to be aggregated and stored on the cloud/or database and access via scanning, such as with a quick response (QR) code. The disclosed systems and methods support a wide variety of scenarios and include various products and services.

STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH

[0004] None.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0005] When patients are seen in the hospital environment the patient is documented as required by law. This medical/legal record contains information about the patient current conditions and in some cases, when available, the medical history. Some of the information contained within the medical/legal record includes: incident information, patient demographic, medical history, current medication, insurance information, patient medication history, and known allergies. Further, the patient's vital signs are recorded to include blood pressure, respiratory rate, pulse, electrocardiogram (ECG), blood glucose, temperature and other relevant clinical findings. All treatments provided to the patient are then captured within the record. Findings from the physical assessment of the patient are contained within the medical/legal record. The clinical impression of the person responsible for care is documented along with any pertinent signs and symptoms. A narrative describing the overall incident and any relevant background is contained within the record (e.g. Electronic Medical Record or EMR). In most cases the patient care record used in the pre-hospital environment is capable of collecting over 700 data elements related to the patient encounter.

[0006] While most states require electronic communication of this data to their state repositories, the communication between the pre-hospital environment and the rest of healthcare system monitoring is primarily provided via printed documents, and thus integration among EMR remains a significant challenge. This manual, paper-based process increases the chance of human error and the risk of unauthorized disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for both the pre-hospital provider and healthcare entity receiving the patient. Additionally, because there is often a delay in transfer of this information, the clinical staff at the receiving facility may not have access to critical assessment and treatment information found in the pre-hospital patient medical record. There are currently no other standard solutions in the market that provide effective integration of existing data within the hospital environment and healthcare community.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE [0007] The present invention provides a unique way of presenting graphically the medical information of patients while integrating existing data (e.g. located at different hospitals, primary medical physician, clinics or laboratories), which is then projected in a Medical Graphical Visual Interface. The present invention addresses failings in the art (e.g., including the fact that not all EMR's are compatible with each other and the difficulties of presenting data in a simple way for medical personal to react) by providing a system and method for addressing hospital admittance, preventive care, trauma conditions, intensive care unit, regular visits at medical doctors office, data capture, preventive medicine, exchange and storage. The present disclosure enables any compliant hospital, clinic or private practice a user friendly (interface) software package to connect/integrate to any compliant electronic medical records system. Such systems can include, but are not limited to, electronic medical records (EMR), electronic health records (EHR) and/or hospital information exchange (HIE) system, and all other known or to be known records systems. The system provides both dynamic routing across the self-service network and stream transformation of content into communication protocols understood by either side. That is, the present disclosure applies a platform as a service to resolve significant gaps in the existing medical system including information exchange process between patient records database systems and patient admittance systems such as emergency departments: the present disclosure automates the transfer of records of patients to receiving facilities, providing both discreet data and digital images of the patient care record in a summary fashion which enables the emergency care provider to consider quickly consolidated, relevant data of the patient.

[0008] The present disclosure provides a system that obtains and displays comprehensible information of patients in a visual form which is user friendly, has touch screen capability and is intuitive. Health care providers will be able to understand the patient condition in short periods of time (e.g., 3-5 minutes) time without the need to physically communicate with the patient (who may be unresponsive) or lose precious minutes trying to decipher a lengthy document that, as reported in the literature, may contain errors. The present disclosure performs a search of patient's health issues from a comprehensive database and presents the problems on human body diagram with the most recent issue in the front. The patient as well as the health care provider will be able to modify the information which is updated in the database instantaneously, while providing real time access to the health information to all the parties involved. The present disclosure utilizes a graphical user interface (GUI) that helps timely comprehension of vast electronic health repository. In one object of the present disclosure, the information will be stored in a database that can be accessed using the Main Visual Interface (Main VI) application and the Patient Check In application as described herein. The database is organized using database systems known in the art, such as MYSQL, and can be accessed by both applications. The applications are designed such that an internet connection with a commonly used browser may launch the functionalities. They are accessible using different devices: laptops, desktops, tablets and mobile phones with internet connection. A unique feature of the user friendly medical interface is that it can be used with a touch screen, or can be access using a bar code or finger print or any other mechanism such as voice recognition to connect smart phones, tablets, laptops or any other electronic device. The main application will provide the data in visual format and the provider can access information of various patients without any delays. In another object of the present disclosure, a second function provides for electronic data entry for new and returning patients in the clinic. Both applications are accessible to the health care providers. The first application will provide the data in visual format and the provider can access information of various patients.

[0009] The present disclosure may further act as a concentrator or portal and provider of that information from patient admittance into a data format that can be consumed and utilized by a broader healthcare community.

[0010] The present disclosure enables information from hospital or health system admittance procedures, as well as other patent information, to be transmitted by computer-implemented means. The present disclosure will enable information to be exchanged via computer networks, such as, but not limited to, Wide Area Networks (WAN) or macro networks, such as UMTS, GSM, GPRS, long-term evolution (LTE) or Wimax networks, to WiFi networks.

[0011] The disclosed systems and methods provide channels for the flow of information and patient records across different health care entities even if they are located in different locations that may store, generate, require or facilitate such patient records.

[0012] In accordance with one or more embodiments, a method is disclosed for electronically obtaining and exchanging patient information during care of a patient (e.g., including urgent care, trauma, regular visits, follow ups, as well as health monitoring as is the case of preventive medicine etc.). According to embodiments discussed herein, the disclosed methods provide for electronic patient health records to be input and made available to healthcare providers or the patients. The disclosed methods discussed herein provide for a reduction in time for caring of a patient while reducing errors; in particular the existing technology will play unique roles in urgent care setting, such as an emergency room where life threatening situations requires all medical information of the patient to be available and projected visually on demand.

[0013] In accordance with one or more embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium tangibly storing thereon, or having tangibly encoded thereon, computer readable instructions that when executed cause at least one processor to perform a method for providing electronic patient health records to be input and made available to healthcare providers or admission personnel.

[0014] In accordance with one or more embodiments, a system is provided that comprises one or more computing devices configured to provide functionality in accordance with such embodiments. In accordance with one or more embodiments, functionality is embodied in steps of a method performed by at least one computing device. In accordance with one or more embodiments, program code to implement functionality in accordance with one or more such embodiments is embodied in, by and/or on a computer-readable medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following description of embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of the disclosure:

[0016] FIG. 1 depicts a flow diagram of one embodiment and algorithm performed by a patient check-in application to be utilized in a network environment for a database system for provider access in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 2 depicts a flow diagram of one embodiment and algorithm performed by a patient check-in application to be utilized in a network environment for a database system for patient check in connection with the system described in FIG. 1, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred database design for provider data access and patient check-in for the Main VI application in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred database design for provider data access and patient check-in for patient login applications in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 5 depicts a GUI-view log-in page in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 6 depicts a log-in form with filled data as discussed herein in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 7 depicts a GUI-view of the past medical history of a logged-in patient with filled data as discussed herein in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 8 depicts a continued GUI-view from FIG. 6 of the log-in form with filled data as discussed herein in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; [0024] FIG. 9 depicts the a GUI-view of the patient overview page as discussed herein in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0025]

[0026] FIG. 10 depicts a continued GUI-view of the patient overview page from FIG. 8 as discussed herein in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 11 depicts numerous panels the GUI platform is capable of displaying. The additional panels can be used to organize the data in a hierarchical manner that could be image data of X-rays, CT-scan MRI etc. or text data that can be invoked by interrogating a disease (currently done by 'clicking' on the circle either with cursor or touch screen on the human image). The panels can be placed on the human image or on the side. Additional panels can be viewed by interrogating existing panels or highlighted space on the human image.

[0028] FIG. 12 depicts the accessibility of the GUI using a QR code, which is one of the options in addition to finger prints, barcode, username-password text options etc.

[0029] FIG. 13 depicts that the GUI is platform independent and can be accessed from an internal database via intranet or an external database such as cloud based via internet using various devices such as mobile phones, laptops, desktops, tablets etc. Most importantly, the present graphical visual interface system integrates databases from different systems or locations into a single graphical information system.

[0030] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an integrated patient information system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 15 is a block diagram depicting an illustrative architecture for a premises server in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 16 is a block diagram depicting an illustrative architecture for a hosted computing environment delivering one or more applications to a client tier in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.

[0033] FIGS. 17-19 show flow diagrams of algorithms performed by a main visual interface application in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.

[0034] FIGS. 20-23 show flow diagrams of algorithms performed by a platform as a service aggregator application in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0035] While the making and using of various embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present disclosure provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts, goods, or services. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the disclosure and do not delimit the scope of the disclosure to the existing medical field.

[0036] All publications and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains. All publications and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

[0037] The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments. Subject matter may, however; be embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any example embodiments set forth herein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative. Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matter is intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may be embodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly, embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof (other than software per se). The following detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0038] Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, the phrase "in one embodiment" as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase "in another embodiment" as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter include combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

[0039] In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage in context. For example, terms, such as "and", "or", or "and/or," as used herein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least in part upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, "or" if used to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term "one or more" as used herein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as "a," "an," or "the," again, may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term "based on" may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at least in part on context.

[0040] The present disclosure is described below with reference to block diagrams and operational illustrations of methods and devices. It is understood that each block of diagrams or operational illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the diagrams or operational illustrations, can be implemented by means of analog or digital hardware and computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, ASIC, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams or operational block or blocks. In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in the blocks can occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

[0041] These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, ASIC, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams or operational block or blocks.

[0042] For the purposes of this disclosure the term "server" should be understood to refer to a service point which provides processing, database, and communication facilities. By way of example, and not limitation, the term "server" can refer to a single, physical processor with associated communications and data storage and database facilities, or it can refer to a networked or clustered complex of processors and associated network and storage devices, as well as operating software and one or more database systems and application software that support the services provided by the server. Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities, but generally a server may include one or more central processing units and memory. A server may also include one or more mass storage devices, one or more power supplies, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces, one or more input/output interfaces, or one or more operating systems, such as Windows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, or the like.

[0043] For the purposes of this disclosure a computer readable medium (or computer- readable storage medium/media) stores computer data, which data can include computer program code (or computer-executable instructions) that is executable by a computer, in machine readable form. By way of example, and not limitation, a computer readable medium may comprise computer readable storage media, for tangible or fixed storage of data, or communication media for transient interpretation of code-containing signals. Computer readable storage media, as used herein, refers to physical or tangible storage (as opposed to signals) and includes without limitation volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for the tangible storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readable storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical or material medium which can be used to tangibly store the desired information or data or instructions and which can be accessed by a computer or processor.

[0044] For the purposes of this disclosure a "network" should be understood to refer to a network that may couple devices so that communications may be exchanged, such as between a server and a client device or other types of devices, including between wireless devices coupled via a wireless network, for example. A network may also include mass storage, such as network attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), or other forms of computer or machine readable media, for example. A network may include the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one or more wide area networks (WANs), wire-line type connections, wireless type connections, cellular or any combination thereof. Likewise, sub-networks, which may employ differing architectures or may be compliant or compatible with differing protocols, may interoperate within a larger network. Various types of devices may, for example, be made available to provide an interoperable capability for differing architectures or protocols. As one illustrative example, a router may provide a link between otherwise separate and independent LANs.

[0045] A communication link or channel may include, for example, analog telephone lines, such as a twisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full or fractional digital lines including Tl, T2, T3, or T4 type lines, Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wireless links including satellite links, or other communication links or channels, such as may be known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, a computing device or other related electronic devices may be remotely coupled to a network, such as via a telephone line or link, for example.

[0046] For purposes of this disclosure, a "wireless network" should be understood to couple client devices with a network. A wireless network may employ stand-alone ad-hoc networks, mesh networks, Wireless LAN (WLAN) networks, cellular networks, or the like. A wireless network may further include a system of terminals, gateways, routers, or the like coupled by wireless radio links, or the like, which may move freely, randomly or organize themselves arbitrarily, such that network topology may change, at times even rapidly. A wireless network may further employ a plurality of network access technologies, including Long Term Evolution (LTE), WLAN, Wireless Router (WR) mesh, or 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation (2G, 3G, or 4G) cellular technology, or the like. Network access technologies may enable wide area coverage for devices, such as client devices with varying degrees of mobility, for example.

[0047] For example, a network may enable RF or wireless type communication via one or more network access technologies, such as Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), 3 GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), North American/CEPT frequencies, radio frequencies, single sideband, radiotelegraphy, radioteletype (RTTY), Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n, or the like. A wireless network may include virtually any type of wireless communication mechanism by which signals may be communicated between devices, such as a client device or a computing device, between or within a network, or the like. [0048] A computing device may be capable of sending or receiving signals, such as via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processing or storing signals, such as in memory as physical memory states, and may, therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devices capable of operating as a server may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktop computers, laptop computers, set top boxes, integrated devices combining various features, such as two or more features of the foregoing devices, or the like. Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities, but generally a server may include one or more central processing units and memory. A server may also include one or more mass storage devices, one or more power supplies, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces, one or more input/output interfaces, or one or more operating systems, such as Windows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, or the like.

[0049] For purposes of this disclosure, a client (or consumer or user) device may include a computing device capable of sending or receiving signals, such as via a wired or a wireless network. A client device may, for example, include a desktop computer or a portable device, such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a display pager, a radio frequency (RF) device, an infrared (IR) device an Near Field Communication (NFC) device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a set top box, a wearable computer, an integrated device combining various features, such as features of the forgoing devices, or the like.

[0050] A client device may vary in terms of capabilities or features. Claimed subject matter is intended to cover a wide range of potential variations. For example, a mobile device may include a numeric keypad or a display of limited functionality, such as a monochrome liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying text. In contrast, however; as another example, a web- enabled client device may include one or more physical or virtual keyboards, mass storage, one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, global positioning system (GPS) or other location-identifying type capability, or a display with a high degree of functionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display, for example.

[0051] A client device may include or may execute a variety of operating systems, including a personal computer operating system, such as a Windows, iOS or Linux, or a mobile operating system, such as iOS, Android, or Windows Mobile, or the like. A client device may include or may execute a variety of possible applications, such as a client software application enabling communication with other devices, such as communicating one or more messages. The client device, mobile device, or wireless communication device, in accordance with the disclosure may be a portable or mobile telephone including smart phones, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless video or multimedia device, a portable computer, an embedded communication processor or similar wireless communication device. In the following description, the communication device will be referred to generally as User Equipment (UE) for illustrative purposes and it is not intended to limit the disclosure to any particular type of communication device. Certain modern handheld electronic devices (UE) comprise the necessary components to connect to a cellular network, such as a 2G, 2.5G, 3G, and/or LTE network, and the necessary components to connect to a non-cellular IP Connectivity Access Network (IP CAN) such as a wireless LAN network (e.g. IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n) or a wired LAN network (e.g. IEEE 802.3).

[0052] The principles discussed herein may be embodied in many different forms. The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described where for completeness; reference should be made at least to FIGs. 1-13.

[0053] An entity may execute, operate or otherwise provide an application, which can be any type and/or form of software, program, or executable instructions such as any type and/or form of web browser, web-based client, client-server application, a thin-client computing client, an ActiveX control, or a Java applet, or any other type and/or form of executable instructions capable of executing on a device, such as a client or server. In some embodiments, an application may provide any type and form of healthcare related application or information system. In some embodiments, the application may be a patient registration application. In some embodiments, the application may be an insurance administrative application. In some embodiments, the application may be a healthcare billing system. In some embodiments, the application may be a medical records related application. In some embodiments, the application may be a healthcare practice related application. The application may store one or more records into a records repository, which may be any type and form of database, disk storage or file system. The application may store and process records in a format understood by the application. The application may store and process records in a format native to the application. The application may process records in one format and store the records in another format. The application may export records from the application or repository into another format, which may be selectable by a user. In accordance with some embodiments of a healthcare related environment, the application may process any type and form of patient records and store such records into the records repository. The application may process any type and form of medical record of a patient and store the medical record into the records repository. The application may process any type and form of medical history information of a patient and store such information into the records repository. In any of these embodiments, the records repository may contain data and information that can be arranged to form a copy of a patient's record or one or more medical records. Such data and information may include doctor's notes, test or lab results and any other written or electronic information associated with the care of a person.

[0054] By way of a non-limiting example, each of the entities may have disparate and different applications than other entities. For example, a first entity, a service provider, may store in a first records repository a first medical record of a patient processed or produced by a first application using a first format. A second entity, e.g., hospital admittance system or emergency or clinic room, may store in a second records repository a second medical record of a patient processed or produced by a second application using a second format. A plurality of applications and records repositories located at a plurality of different entities may each include different records of the same patient. A plurality of applications and records repositories located at a plurality of different entities may each include some of the same records of the same patient. A plurality of applications and records repositories located at a plurality of different entities may each include a combination of the same and different records of the same patient. As such, in some embodiments, the records of any patient may be distributed disparately across a plurality of entities, applications and/or repositories in different formats. Furthermore, any applications may communicate using any type and form of communication protocols, such as any type and form of healthcare or medical related data formats and protocols. In some embodiments, the first entity storing a first record in a first format may communicate using a first message type or communications protocol while a second entity storing a second record in a second format may communicate using a second message type or communications protocol. As such, in some embodiments, the records of any patient may have to be communicated between entities that support or use different data formats and/or communication protocols.

[0055] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a dynamic database system provides a user interface that provides easy and quick comprehension of patient history. In some embodiments, a new or incoming patient is not required to fill out duplicitous paperwork upon admission into a health care facility, such as an emergency room. The system of the present disclosure utilizes the aforementioned communication protocols to generate a single page compilation and summary of the relevant patient information for the health care provider and admissions personnel to process a new incident or examination of the current state of the patient. The system utilizes patient history and the plurality of varying data sources to compile and automatically generate the summary information and GUI in summary of the data retrieved. In another embodiment the system provides the salient information and health issues of the patient using graphical representation on the overview page in a visual form. Typical answers to admittance questionnaires commonly found in most patient admittance settings will be populated automatically, thus significantly reducing patient and ER response time, for example.

[0056] Referring now to FIGS. 14, 15 and 16 one embodiment of an integrated medical information system 1400 for use with the present invention will be described. Generally described, an integrated medical information system 1400 is a software application-based system that allows a number of networked devices within one or more health care provider premises 1402 to be connected via a network, such as the Internet, WAN or LAN, to a primary health care facility (e.g. , a health care facility that is currently examining or performing activities concerning a patient). These third party health care providers 1402 may be hospitals, clinics, primary physicians and their respective offices, laboratories, emergency room facilities, and any other health care provider that stores medical information in electronic form for a patient. These third party providers may be remote to a primary health care provider, or may reside within the same facility and/or connected to a different network to which a primary health care provider is connected. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the third party providers 1402 may connect, via one or more networks (e.g., Internet, WAN, LAN, etc.), to a primary health care provider that is seeking to store a patient's medical records and other medical information within its medical database system(s). In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, these third party health care providers may connect to a platform that enables the third party facility to send medical information including files, laboratory results, medical files, etc. to the primary facility in which the files will be received and stored. In one embodiment, the platform operates as a platform as a service (PAAS) that is configured to receive the medical information over a network and, depending upon the communication protocols utilized to send the information and the format of the medical information that is received, transform the content included within the information to a format that is recognizable by the network and data base components utilized by the primary facility. The PAAS may be in the form of a platform that resides on a server or may be a software application that resides on a computer device or combination of a computer device and server depending upon how much functionality we want to attribute to the computing device (e.g., a thin client computer device). In another embodiment, the PAAS will act as an interface that may either be remote from both the third party and primary facilities, or reside within one or more servers utilized by either the primary facility wishing to receive patient information from the third party health care facilities, the relevant third party facility wishing to transmit the medical information, or the PAAS may reside on a server that resides at both facilities. The transmitted information may be processed according to one or more rules that are stored and evaluated by a server 1404 that communicatively interacts with and accesses one or more databases 1406. These databases may be a MYSQL data base or other relational databases, including, but not limited to, Linux data storage, Oracle, DB2, INFORMIX, PostgreSQL, Microsoft Access and SQL Server, MySQL, INGRES, Sybase 11, network databases, as well as flat data files or any type of disk storage device(s) that is accessible by a server. Once received, the medical information may be processed and categorized according to the rules followed by the Main Visual Interface and the relational data base utilized by the primary healthcare facility to search, identify, access and display patient information. The displaying of information includes the visual display of patient information on a display connected one or more computer devices, such as a computer, desktop, laptop, tablet, fablet, smartphone, or other mobile, handheld or computer device that has a display. Examples of the display are described herein in connection with FIGS. 9-13. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the disclosed integrated information system 1400 is illustrative in nature and that the present invention may be utilized with alternative networks in communication with one or more devices.

[0057] With reference to FIG. 14, one or more servers 1404 are in communication with a central database 1406 that includes a variety of databases including a patient authentication database, a patient billing database, and a patient medical records and information database. The individual databases and how they are used by the system described herein will be explained in greater detail below. The central database may be one or more databases that may reside on the same network or be remote from one another. In an alternative embodiment, the central server(s) 1404 also maintains a device interface database for translating standard protocol-encoded tasks into device specific commands, as will be explained in greater detail below. Accordingly, the central server(s) 1404 that host the PAAS platform or software application may perform some or all of the translation actions in accordance with the present invention.

[0058] In one embodiment of the present invention, a subscriber utilizing the PAAS may request access to the integrated information system 1400 by utilizing a computer (not shown) connected to the Internet. Alternatively, the computing device may be in direct communication with the server 1404, or other computing device on the network. In accordance with an actual embodiment of the present invention, the server 1404 authenticates a user corresponding to the computing device and can transmit a PAAS application 226 to the computing device such that a user is given access to one or more devices contained with the integrated information system 1400. Of course, in alternative embodiments, the PAAS may already be resident on the computing device or may be resident on one or more servers and the computing device, as explained above.

[0059] FIG. 15 is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of the server 1404. Those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the server 1404 may include more components then those shown in FIG. 3 but FIG. 14B illustrates certain components such that a description of one or more embodiments of the present invention may be provided. For example, the web server/central application server 1404 may be a management storage system and associated applications and may utilize elements and/or modules of several nodes or servers, as will be described with reference to FIG. 16 and as a part of the networked environment 1600. In one embodiment, the server/central application server 1404 may be inclusive of software applications, one or more modules, one or more servers and other components, as indicated and described with reference to FIGS. 14 through 16. As shown in FIG.15, the server 1404 includes a network interface 1420 for connecting the primary provider side of the integrated network 1400 to a network, such as the Internet, LAN or a WAN, or for connecting remotely to a network. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the network interface 1420 is configured is to use the TCP/IP protocol, cellular and/or wireless protocols, a modem with the associated protocols, or other protocols, such as Internet Inter-ORB Protocol ("HOP"), or other network protocols known to those skilled in the art.

[0060] The server 1404 further includes a processing unit 1440, a mass memory unit 1460, and system software 1480 all connected via a communication bus or other communication device. The mass storage device 1460 is configured to store the data files, computer code, computer readable instructions, program modules, various databases, and other data for the primary health care facility. The mass storage device 1460 may include one or more hard disk drives, possibly in various configurations of RAID 5, RAID 10, or other levels of RAID redundancy, various magnetic storage devices such as magnetic cassettes, tape drives solid- state hard drives, solid-state flash drives, CD-ROM disks, DVD disks, or Blu-Ray disks, or other magnetic storage, spinning hard drive storage, solid-state hard drive storage, optical storage, random access memories, storage area networks, and other means of storing computer readable data. The mass memory 1460 stores an operating system for controlling the operation of the server 1404. The mass memory unit may include a server operating system, such as UNIX, Linux, Mac OS or Microsoft Windows. In an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a user may also control the server 1404 through use of a computing device, which may be directly connected to, wirelessly connected to, or remote from the central server 1404 and connected to the server via a network.

[0061] The mass memory 1460 that is a part of the server 1404 may also store the program code and data for the PAAS platform that allows third party health care facilities to communicatively interact with and send patient records and medical information to the central server residing at the primary facility. The PAAS comprises computer-executable instructions that when executed by the server 1404, allow one or more databases communicatively coupled with the server 1404 either directly or through one or more networks to be accessed and configured to receive information from either third party devices and databases that reside on third Party premises 1402, or patient information from computer devices that are utilized at the primary care facility to enter patient information. The system software 1480 may be configured to include database management software, and may also include one or more of the software applications discussed herein, such as the Main VI and Patient Check-In application.

[0062] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the present invention that illustrates a networked environment 1600 that resides within a primary healthcare facility wherein software applications that reside on a server and/or a client can be the sort of application wherein clients, according to the software application, make server requests and the servers generate and return responses to the clients. For example, the Main VI software application can be a web-based software application. In this embodiment, the clients would have web browsing capabilities or mobile applications wherein the Main VI software application would be a web-based application. In another embodiment, the Main VI software application and/or the Patient Check In software application would reside on each of the clients. Networked environment 1600 includes hosts computing devices 1602, 1604 and 1606, computing devices that reside in the Client Tier, Web Server/ Application Server Tier, and the Database Server Tier, respectively. The Client Tier may consists of desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, and mobile computing devices such as mobile phones, smart or feature phones, or mini-tablet devices. Each host is configured with an operating system that may be, for example, Microsoft WINDOWS, UNIX, IOS, Android, OS X or other operating systems known to those skilled in the art.

[0063] Networked environment 1600 includes three tiers: a client tier 1610, a web server and application tier 1620, and a database server tier 1630. Both the web server and application tier 1620 and the database server tier 1630 are hosted tiers and connected by some type of network. The web server and application server tier 1620 may include web server hosts and application server hosts that may either reside on the same or separate server computers. The host may be a computing platform for executing an operating system and/or operating system management process. The host may be a physical or virtual (e.g. , a virtual machine) computing platform. For example, application server hosts may execute Java-based application server software. Web server hosts may execute Apache web server software. The database server hosts that reside within the database server tier 1630 may execute MySQL database server software. In other embodiments of the present invention, the servers may execute any software that allows the same to perform the functions described herein. As may be seen in FIG. 16, each of the Tiers are connected via a network. The network can either be the Internet, a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or other dedicated network, such as a wireless network. Although there are two networks seen in FIG. 16, these two depicted networks may be the same network or a multiple of networks. In another embodiment of the present invention, the database server(s) may reside within the application server(s) and the web server(s) such that the operating system of a server may perform a multiple of functions that have traditionally been performed by different types of servers. The client tier may comprise one or more computing devices such as desktop, laptop, tablet, fablet, mobile devices, and/or cellular, feature or smart phone computing devices. These computing devices may hosts software applications, such as the Patient Check-In Application and the Main VI computer applications described herein to access and interact with the hosting tiers to transmit and receive information including patient information. For example, the hosted web server tier may receive and respond to requests from the client devices in the client tier and implement presentation functionality of a specific software application. Further, the application server tier may implement business logic functionality of the software application, and the database server tier may store the application data.

[0064] The flow charts of FIGS. 20-23 depict the algorithms and processes undertaken by the PAAS, that may either be a platform hosted on a server and/or a software application, to accomplish the functionality described above. Figures 20-23 show the flow chart of the algorithm that aggregates information including patient information from various sources, such as, but not limited to, hospitals, clinics, laboratories etc. using various EMR's, which could be geographically located in different areas, states, and/or countries. This aggregated information is stored in the database(s) at the primary caregiver site in one or more comprehensive databases in the form of variables such as, 'patient id', 'patient issue' etc. to be accessed at a later point by the Main VI software application described below in the form of flow charts in Figure 17, 18 and 19. The PAAS may operate independently of the Main VI software application and is configured to receive and transmit patient information from third party providers to one or more databases that reside at the relevant healthcare facility that is interacting with the relevant patient. Once the patient information is collected within the comprehensive database(s), the Main VI software application that may reside on computerized devices utilized by healthcare providers at the relevant healthcare facility (referred to as the primary healthcare facility or caregiver) or one or more servers that are accessible by the relevant healthcare facility.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 20, starting at block S I and continuing at block S2, the PAAS determines the name of the healthcare provider that has stored patient information and the name of the relevant patient for which patient information will be collected. The PAAS may create additional ids that will be used and saved within the comprehensive database(s) to identify the transmitting healthcare facility and the relevant patient, and may be utilized to access the comprehensive database(s) at a later time by the Main VI. The PAAS will then move on to block S3 wherein the number of providers of healthcare information will be counted and the set counter for the identification number identifying a particular provider will be set (e.g., p=l) to communicate with that specific provider. The PAAS then moves to the next block S4 that determines if the particular provider will respond to request for information. If the provider does not respond, the PAAS goes to block S32 (described below with respect to FIG. 22). If the provider responds to the request for information, the PAAS goes to block S5 and determines what communication protocol is being used (e.g. , HL7) to transmit information from the third party provider facility, and thereafter invoke the library associated with the PAAS for that protocol so that the PAAS and the transmitting facility may communicate with one another. The PAAS will then move on to block S6 to set a query to search for patient information that is associated with a relevant patient. Various identification and identifying information may be used to query databases and/or other forms of storage used to store patient data including but not limited to SSN, patient name, DOB, some other unique identifier, etc. The PAAS will then move on to block S7 to determine if a patient record or other patient information is found. If no, the PAAS will move on to CI that will be described with reference to FIG. 22. If patient information is found, the PAAS will move on to block S8 where variable 'patient basic information' to receive patient information from the transmitting facility. A database or other structure could be associated with the variable 'patient basic information. ' The PAAS will move on to block S9 to initialize a list of queries regarding the 'patient basic information' variable that are utilized to search the provider storage systems (e.g., database(s)). At block S10, a counter is initialized and set (e.g. , r=l). For example, the initialization and counter could be associated with lines or columns in a table. At block SI 1, if the number of queries in the list equals 0 or the counter for querying the records maintained by the transmitting facility exceeds the number of records, the PAAS moves on to block SI 6, which will be described at FIG. 21. If the record counter in block S10 matches a record maintained within the database at the transmitting facility, the record identified by the record counter at block S10 will be read at block SI 2. The PAAS then moves to S 13 to determine if the data record that matches the record counter (e.g. , r=n) matches one of the queries in the list and, if so, block S14 directs the PAAS to append the record patient data in the variable 'patient basic information'. If the data record does not match any query on the query list, or if the data maintained by the queried data record has already been appended in block S 14, the matched query is removed from the query list and the record counter that was set to r=l is incremented to by 1 (e.g., to r=2). Once the record counter has been incremented by 1, the PAAS loops back to block SI 1 to restart the process of gathering patient information from that point in the application. Once the record counter exceeds the number of records that may be accessed at the transmitting facility, the PAAS moves to block S 16.

[0066] The following description depicted in FIG. 21 describes the PAAS algorithm and flow chart elements that occur as a continuation of the data aggregating algorithm given in the flow chart depicted in FIG. 20. At block SI 6, the query list of medical information will be initialized and a variable, such as 'patient issue,' will be initialized to store medical information. The variable, "patient issue", may be the same variable referred to as "issuepoint' in the flow chart depicted in FIG. 17. At block SI 7, record line counter is set to, for example, d=l . If the number of queries in the query list equals 0, or if the record line number d is greater than the number of lines in the data record, the PAAS moves to block S23 that will be described with reference to FIG. 22. If neither of these conditions is met, PAAS moves to block S19 and reads the data record corresponding to the current line number d. At block S20, if the record line matches any query in the query list the PAAS then moves to block S21and appends the data in the patient record in the 'patient issue' variable. If the record line does not match any query from the query list in block S20 or the data is appended in the 'patient issue' variable in block S21, the PAAS moves to block S22 wherein the matched query from the query list is removed and the data record line d is incremented by 1 (e.g., d=d+l). The PAAS is then looped back to block S 18 for the next line of data is read in association with the record line d+1.

[0067] The PAAS will now be described with reference to FIG. 22 beginning at block S23. At block S23 the query list for diagnostic images is initialized and the list of images and documents are also initialized. Starting at block S24, Id counter for the query list for diagnostic images is set to 1. At block S25, if the id counter is less than or equal to the number of queries, then the PAAS moves on to block S26 and the diagnostic query list is set to be passed equal to the query(id) from the query list. At block S27, if it is determined that images that correspond to the diagnostic image query exist, then the images are copied at block S28. The steps for copying the images from the transmitting health care facility to the primary health care facility will be further described with reference to FIG. 23. If at block S27 it is determined that there are no images in the transmitting health care facility database(s) that correspond to the diagnostic image query list, then the Id number is incremented to Id=Id+l at block S31 and the PAAS loops back to S25. At block S28, the images in the server directory are copied into the comprehensive database(s) that reside on the primary facility network such that they may be accessed by the Main VI software application. At block 29, it is determined if the documents that reside in the transmitting health care database(s) correspond to the documents query and, if so, the documents are copied within the database(s) server that resides at the primary health care facility at block S30. If the documents do not correspond to the documents query, then the PAAS moves to block S31 wherein the Id number is incremented to Id=Id+l at block S31 and the PAAS loops back to S25.

[0068] We will now turn to block S32 in FIG. 22, the next step in the algorithm that either extends from the block CI, described in FIG. 20, or, from block S25 if it is determined at block S25 that Id is not less than or equal to the number of diagnostic image queries or document queries. If either of these conditions are met, than the PAAS moves to block S32 wherein the increment provider counter, that was set in block S3 as described in FIG. 20, is incremented to p=p+l such that the next third party health care facility may be communicated with and its patient information downloaded to the primary health care facility. At block S33, if p is not equal to or less than the number of providers, the PAAS moves on to block S35 and the data aggregator application or platform ends. If p is less than or equal to the number of third party health care providers that are connected to the PAAS to download patient information to the primary health care facility, the PAAS moves on to block S34 that directs the PAAS to start communications with the relevant third party health care provider and, thereafter, moves to block S4 which is described with reference to FIG. 20.

[0069] We will now turn to the flow chart of FIG. 23 that depicts the algorithm and processes represented by blocks S28a through S28d undertaken by the PAAS, at block S28 in FIG. 22, to copy images from a third party health care facility to one or more databases that reside at a primary health care facility. At block S28a it is determined in what format the image that resides on the third party facilities was created and if a conversion is required such that the relevant image can be stored on and accessed from the database(s) that resides on the primary health care facility's network. If a conversion is required, a library is checked to see if the requisite format converter is available in the library associated with or accessible by the PAAS. If the answer to the inquiry in block S28a is no, then the PAAS moves to block S29, described with reference to FIG. 22. If the answer is yes to the inquiry in block S28a, then the PAAS moves to block S28b wherein the converter selected within the library is invoked. Once the necessary converter is invoked, the image is converted from a specific format to a standardized format that may be stored on the databases that reside at the primary health care facility and accessed and utilized by the Main VI software application. These formats may be any format that is known in the art to save images such as tiff, jpeg, or any other format that is suitable to save and view images. At block S28d, the images are copied to the database(s) in the new format. However, if no conversion is necessary, the images are copied to the primary facility database(s) without going through the steps of the conversion. Thereafter, the PAAS moves to block S29, which is described with reference to FIG. 22.

[0070] Medical databases and health information systems are currently available to hospital and health care providers. Such systems archive as many details of the patient in electronic format, and are retrievable. In case of emergency or trauma condition, if such data is accessed it is difficult to find all the crucial issues, such as chronic disease, current medication or allergies, and pre-existing events. Further, such information systems may exist for different health care providers for the same patient. In case of trauma emergency, the disconnected, hard to understand data repository does not result in an improved response time for the patient. [0071] In one embodiment, a patient overview is prepared and displayed by the system. The latest problem with the patient will be distinguished from the previous issues (such as red font or black or yellow or any other color). The image will have patient personal information at a location prescribed by the user (currently at a top-central location). The patient overview page comprises multiple graphs for conditions; example conditions such as glucose, temperature, respiratory rate and blood pressure are shown. The overview page is useful for doctors in general, ICU, emergency and nurses to understand the problem in one glance leading to immediate patient treatment. Patients need not to remember all of their medical history.

[0072] Turning to Figure 9, in one embodiment, the system prepares lists with patients full name and birth date (for verification) so that providers can choose appropriate patient and can change any time to different patients. An image with human body is loaded that initially has no patient details and adds the selected patient name, birth date, blood group and sex. Medical history data and their appropriate plotting points are prepared from communicating with the database. Clickable areas (either by using cursor or touchscreen or any other mechanism) are created on the GUI image to get update further update on disease or state of the patient.

[0073] Shapes may be further plotted on listed medical history and line connecting to its label. If the medical history is listed recently then it shows in color such as RED, blue or yellow or any other color. The past history is in a different color from existing condition. The image is saved by naming by patient's ID and loading it into the application. Further codes will plot temperature data from database. If no data is stored it will show that no data is available. Glucose may be populated and plotted from the database. If no data is stored it will show no data available. Similarly, these steps may be carried out for multiple data sets, including, but not limited to, blood pressure, systolic and diastolic, respiratory data, and specific incidents relating to the patient, such as surgeries or procedures, and may further include pulse, electrocardiogram (ECG), and other relevant clinical findings; all treatments provided to the patient are captured within the record. Findings from the physical assessment of the patient are contained within the medical/legal record. The clinical impression of the person responsible for care is documented along with any pertinent signs and symptoms. A narrative describing the overall incident and any relevant background is also contained within the record. [0074] As explained above, the software application Main VI accesses one or more comprehensive databases that are connected to or accessible by the computer devices that are connected to a network residing within a primary care facility (e.g., whatever health care facility that is attending to a patient using the present invention), performs a search of the patient's health issues from the one or more databases and creates the patient overview information shown in FIGS. 7-13 that presents the problems within a document and on a human body diagram on a computer device display of one or more computer devices (e.g., hand held, mobile, tablet, desktop, laptop etc. computer devices). The flow charts in FIGS. 17-19 depict the algorithms and processes undertaken by the Main VI application to accomplish the functionality described above. It should be understood that the software application Main VI may be used separate and apart from the PAAS software application and/or platform described herein. Examples of the types of information that the patient overview may display include the following: (1) Salient issues displayed as text at specified locations on a human body image in background (FIG. 9) (2) Display graphs of vital signs such as glucose level, temperature, blood pressure and heart rate (FIG. 10) (3) Display tables of medication, allergy and medical history, allergy (FIG, 10) and (4) Display multi-layered information when the salient issues are further clicked with some issue points which can plot on specified positions (FIG. 11). Figures 17-19 represent the flow chart for the steps in the algorithm that is undertaken by the Main VI software application to gather the patient information and create the patient overview information page.

[0075] As shown in FIGS. 17-19, starting at block SI and ending at block S23, the software application is executed to access the one or more comprehensive databases, retrieve the relevant patient information, and display the patient information in the form of charts, graphs, human body diagrams and text such that a health care provider may view certain patient information, change/amend/add patient information to the information that is presented, and save these amendments back to the database(s) where the patient information is stored. As shown in block SI in FIG. 17, the Main VI application is used to select a patient. A patient may be identified by either the patient's name, address, SSN (social security number), birth date, password and/or username, some type of scanned information through the utilization of a scanner (e.g. , QR codes, barcodes, puzzles, matrix scanning utility, images). Once a patient is identified, the application moves to block S2. The relevant patient data is retrieved from one or more comprehensive databases connected to the primary facility network. Variable Pid is set based upon the patient identification numbers that are assigned to the query and/or the patient. The application then moves to block S3 where it is determined if the queries to the one or more patient information comprehensive databases resulted in the retrieval of patient information. If the answer is no, the application moves to block S24 where an error message is displayed on the screen of the computer device. The application then moves to block S25 that will be described in more detail in connection with FIG. 19 below.

[0076] If patient information is retrieved at block S3, the application moves to block S4 wherein the patient's first name, last name, DOB (date of birth), blood group/type and sex are displayed on the computer device screen at predefined locations within the patient overview displays. For example, the aforementioned information is shown in the background of one patient overview display in FIG. 9, although any suitable location within the display may be utilized. The application then moves to block S5 wherein patient data is retrieved from the one or more databases using problem point and point variables corresponding to the Pid field in block S2. The problem point variable lists the coordinates of the health issue listed in the issue point variable. The issue point variable lists the particular health issue for which the patient information will be displayed. The application then moves to block S6 where set counter i set to 1. At block S7, the application determines if i is less than the number of patient records received from the one or more databases concerning the relevant patient. If no, then the application moves to block SI 1. If yes, then the application moves to block S8 wherein the associated date field for the relevant patient information that resides in the database is checked to determine the temporal significance to the patient encounter. In this manner, potentially relevant patient information conceming the proximity in time to the patient encounter may be highlighted on the computer display. For example, although any time period may be used, patient information that is relevant to the patient encounter and determined to be dated within, for example, 3 months of the encounter may be displayed in a style that is different than the surrounding information (e.g. , in another color (e.g., red), another font, and/or another size, etc.). If the relevant patient information is not with a predetermined amount of time, than the information may be displayed in another style and format, such as in black text. The application will then move to block S10 wherein the application will display one or more ovals over the diagram of the human body (as seen in for example, FIGS. 9, 11, 12, 13) that signifies the portion of the human body that may be affected by the condition described within the relevant patient information stored in the database(s). The application may also display one or more lines that lead to a description, diagnosis, observation and/or condition of the patient based upon or included within the relevant patient information. At block S10, the value of i is also increased by 1 and the application moves to block S7.

[0077] The algorithm in the form of a flow chart depicted in FIG. 18 provides for the steps performed by the Main VI software application that are undertaken to display charts, graphs and tables displayed in the patient overview displays. Block S l l is a carry-over from FIG. 17. Once the application reaches block S 12, the application sets and executes the queries to the database(s) and retrieves the vital signs data for the relevant patient. There are four primary vital signs for which the application may execute queries: body temperature, blood pressure, pulse (heart rate), and breathing rate (respiratory rate), often notated as BT, BP, HR, and RR. Additionally, the application may retrieve any information that may be displayed to a health care giver in the form of a chat or graph, information including but in no way limited to laboratory and test measurements and/or results, clinician findings, etc. The values that may be charted and/or displayed in graphs may include glucose measurements, blood cell counts, hemoglobin, potassium, sodium, oxygen, hematocrit, orthostatic hypotension, platelets, cardiac markers, troponin, partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, WBC, and other measurable and associated values too numerous to cite herein. The application will then move to block S13 wherein it is determined if the returned query of the database(s) resulted in zero records being returned. If the query did not return any records, the application moves on to block S14 wherein the application will display a message on the computer display that indicates there were no records found. This message may be, for example, "No data found." If at block S13 the query did return medical records containing the type of information that may be charted and/or graphed, the application move to block S17 and present the patient information in the form of one or more tables, charts and/or graphs. Examples of the types of charts, tables and/or graphs that may be displayed on a computer screen by the application are shown in, for example, FIGS. 10 and 11 wherein graphs for vital signs are shown. The application will then move on to block S15 wherein the application queries the database(s) to retrieve additional patient medical records and information concerning, for example, medical history, medication and allergy data. The application moves on to block S16 wherein tables, graphs, or charts are created and displayed for the additional patient records and information retrieved from the query. Blocks S12 and S 15 may also be collapsed into one step and all of the relevant graphs, tables and charts may be created and displayed in on or more patient overview displays on a computerized screen. For example, FIGS. 7, 8, 10, and 11 depict the type of graphs, charts and tables that may be created and displayed by the application of one or more embodiments of the present invention. The application also gives the healthcare provider an option to update patient information as is seen, for example, with respect to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. For example, as may be seen in FIG. 7, drop-down menus may be provided such that a health care provider may add patient information (e.g., information concerning cancer) to the patient's medical records. Once added, the patient information will be saved in the database(s) at the primary health care facility. Similarly, a healthcare provider may also add information concerning a patient's medications, allergies, surgeries, conditions, results, findings, etc., some of which are shown in FIG. 8. For example, FIG. 8 allows for the health care provider to add patient information concerning medication, allergies, and surgeries. In these examples, the application will store all of the new patient information in the database(s) and associate with the same the patient under the relevant patient records and associated files. The application will then move on to block SI 8.

[0078] The algorithm in the form of a flow chart depicted in FIG. 18 provides for the steps performed by the Main VI software application that are directed to additional patient information and/or salient issues concerning the relevant patient. At block SI 8, the application moves to block S 19 wherein it is determined if a caregiver interacts with a specific patient issue that is displayed on one of the patient overview displays. The Main VI application allows a caregiver to interact with the patient overview displays in real time by selecting the relevant issue to gather more information, amend (e.g., change data, add additional data, delete data, etc.) the displayed information, or display the displayed information in a different format. If a health care provider selects a portion of the display to requests more information, the application moves to block S20 which creates and displays more patient information in one or more visual formats, such as a popup image, chart, graph, table, diagram, etc., that will be displayed over the relevant image(s) displayed on the computer display. For example, in FIG. 11, if a caregiver selects the text, oval and/or line associated with the "Asthma" part of the human body diagram, an additional display will appear that on the computer display that includes more information related to the patient. In this example, a box appeared that includes more information about the patient's condition of "Asthma," including when it was last detected, measurements directed to the patient's 02 level and lung capacity. The box is just one example of the type of display in which other patient information may be configured. The additional patient information may be displayed in graph, table, chart, diagram or any other form that may be utilized to convey the relevant information. The application moves to block S21 that determines if the additional image (e.g., popup image) is selected (e.g., clicked) and, if yes, goes to block S22, otherwise goes to block S25. At block S22, the application queries the database(s) to determine if a document associated with the additional and/or salient patient information is available by comparing the image name id and an associated document file id in a directory (not shown). The directory may be stored within the database(s), ROM, RAM, or within some other type of system memory that is accessible by the software application. If the associated document is not available, the application moves to block S21 to determine if the option to close the additional image display has been selected. If the document is available, the document is displayed in a window as directed in block S23. If the close option for any window is selected by the user, then the application moves on to block S25 wherein the application displays the patient overview display (s) that were available to the user before the selections were made to display additional data, and the document display is removed from the user's display. If the user chooses to close the original image display (e.g. , image popup), then the application moves to block S26 and, thereafter, S27 wherein the additional image is removed and the original patient overview data is displayed. At this point, the application moves to block S19 to determine if a user has selected any more areas of the patient overview display to determine if their exist any additional information about the relevant patient information.

[0079] In some embodiments, the interface may be a web based user interface to receive input from a user to submit data, information or messages and/or receive data, information or messages. For example, the interface may comprise a web page for a user to select a name of a patient and query patient information. The interface may include executable instructions to send, receive and view documents. In some embodiments, the interface may be integrated with, included in or constructed in any of the applications. The interface may include any database interfaces or drivers to access any records repository or application database. The interface may include any application programming interfaces or libraries for accessing any records repository or application database. The interface may include any application programming interfaces for interfacing or communicating with any application.

[0080] FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred network communication protocol within the database system discussed herein. In accordance with some embodiments, the system may generate, process and store records referred to as patient records. The system may further identify any data and information regarding a patient from any transmission or exchange of data traversing the various database systems as illustrated in FIGs. 3-4.

Upon incorporating a new patient, the page will be shown to the user for adding biographical information. The patient and or admissions personnel can add the biographical information on this page and save it for future use. A few fields are mandatory which are: name, address, city, birth date, home phone, zip code and email or other contact information. The user has the option to clear the form or back to the previous screen. The biographical information fields (Name, DOB etc.) can be modified as per the customer's requirements. The system allows for user data entry by heath providers or patients using an interactive interface to populate forms pre-loaded with previous visit information to save form filling time prior to admittance.

[0081] While most states require electronic communication of this data to their state repositories, communications within a hospital environment and other healthcare facilities is often provided via printed documents. This manual, paper based process increases the chance of human error and the risk of unauthorized disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for both the health care provider receiving the patient. Additionally, because there is often a delay in transfer of this information, the clinical staff at the receiving facility may not have access to critical assessment and treatment information found in the patient care record.

[0082] According to some embodiments, annotations may be viewed as new encounters and/or as an event. In some embodiments, after receiving the data, patient care is given to the patient which can result in annotations, notes or comments to the patient's records. In some embodiments, after receiving the data, patient care can be provided to the patient which can result in annotations, notes, comments or an occurrence of care to the patient's records. These annotations, or additions of data to the patient's record can be uploaded in real-time via the system to the storing entity, or can be subsequently uploaded and transmitted to, for example, a hospital network for continued care of the patient upon admission of the patient. According to some embodiments, annotations and/or additions of data can be uploaded via a handheld device as discussed herein, as an asynchronous response. The asynchronous response can come in multiple parts to make a whole outcome and billing data set to be returned to the originator in part or accumulated into a whole before transmission depending on configuration. Such types of information provided via annotations can include, but are not limited to: Incident response information, incident location, transport information, incident times, etc. ; Patient demographic, injury categorization, physician, living will, insurance information, etc. ; Patient medication history, medications and known allergies; vital signs, including, but not limited to, blood pressure, respiratory rate, pulse, electrocardiogram (ECG), blood glucose, temperature and other relevant clinical findings; all treatments provided to the patient are captured within the record; pertinent signs and symptoms, and a narrative describing the overall incident and any relevant background.

[0083] At least some embodiments of the present disclosure are related to the use of computer system for implementing some or all of the techniques described herein. According to one embodiment, those techniques are performed by computer system in response to processing unit executing one or more sequences of one or more processor instructions contained in memory. Such instructions, also called computer instructions, software and program code, may be read into memory from another computer-readable medium such as storage device or network link. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in memory causes processing unit to perform one or more of the method steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hardware, such as ASIC, may be used in place of or in combination with software. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software, unless otherwise explicitly stated herein.

[0084] The signals transmitted over network link and other networks through communications interface, carry information to and from computer system. Computer system can send and receive information, including program code, through the networks, among others, through network link and communications interface. In an example using the Intemet, a server host transmits program code for a particular application, requested by a message sent from computer, through Intemet, ISP equipment, local network and communications interface. The received code may be executed by processor as it is received, or may be stored in memory or in storage device or other non-volatile storage for later execution, or both.

[0085] For the purposes of this disclosure a module is a software, hardware, or firmware (or combinations thereof) system, process or functionality, or component thereof, that performs or facilitates the processes, features, and/or functions described herein (with or without human interaction or augmentation). A module can include sub-modules. Software components of a module may be stored on a computer readable medium for execution by a processor. Modules may be integral to one or more servers, or be loaded and executed by one or more servers. One or more modules may be grouped into an engine or an application.

[0086] For the purposes of this disclosure the term "user", "subscriber" or "customer" should be understood to refer to a consumer of data supplied by a data provider. By way of example, and not limitation, the term "user" or "subscriber" can refer to a person who receives data provided by the data or service provider over the Internet in a browser session, or can refer to an automated software application which receives the data and stores or processes the data.

[0087] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems of the present disclosure may be implemented in many manners and as such are not to be limited by the foregoing exemplary embodiments and examples. In other words, functional elements being performed by single or multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and software or firmware, and individual functions, may be distributed among software applications at either the client level or server level or both. In this regard, any number of the features of the different embodiments described herein may be combined into single or multiple embodiments, and altemate embodiments having fewer than, or more than, all of the features described herein are possible.

[0088] Functionality may also be, in whole or in part, distributed among multiple components, in manners now known or to become known. Thus, myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations are possible in achieving the functions, features, interfaces and preferences described herein. Moreover, the scope of the present disclosure covers conventionally known manners for carrying out the described features and functions and interfaces, as well as those variations and modifications that may be made to the hardware or software or firmware components described herein as would be understood by those skilled in the art now and hereafter.

[0089] Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented and described as flowcharts in this disclosure are provided by way of example in order to provide a more complete understanding of the technology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations and logical flow presented herein. Alternative embodiments are contemplated in which the order of the various operations is altered and in which sub-operations described as being part of a larger operation are performed independently.

[0090] While various embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, such embodiments should not be deemed to limit the teaching of this disclosure to those embodiments. Various changes and modifications may be made to the elements and operations described above to obtain a result that remains within the scope of the systems and processes described in this disclosure.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:

at least one computing device comprising:

memory storing computer-executable instructions; and

one or more processors for executing said computer-executable instructions, comprising:

receiving a request from a first entity, said request comprising an unsolicited request for information associated with a patient;

determining that said information associated with said patient exists on said network, said determination comprising identifying an existence said information, said existence of said patient profile based upon a second entity housing said patient profile for said patient;

communicating a request to said second entity for release of said information comprised within said patient profile, said release request based upon said request from said first entity and said determination of said existence of said patient profile; receiving a message from said second entity, said message comprising said requested information;

communicating said message to said first entity, said communication; and receiving of said message comprising automatically updating said patient profile information with said first annotation in a graphical user interface.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface integrates data from various database and EMRs related to the patient profile for user friendly graphical display accessible by multiple electronic devices.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the graphical user interface is used with a feedback mechanism selected from the group consisting of: a touch screen, bar code, finger print, voice recognition, or biometric feature to connect smart phones, tablets, laptops or any other electronic device.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the graphical user interface comprises several panels that may be hierarchically arranged providing additional detail with regard to the one or more aspects of the patient profile information by selecting, clicking, or via touch screen, the desired image on a lower level panel in order to interrogate the additional patient user profile information provided in an higher level panel.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the information panels could remain on the image or the side depending on the user's preference.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the graphical user interface is customizable by the user in order to provide desired information or emphasized issues such as by color designation or callout.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface updates the patient profile, comprising:

communicating from the first entity a request to said second entity for entry of new information comprised within said patient profile generated at the first entity, said new information based upon said user entry into said first entity and said determination of said existence of said patient profile; and

receiving a message from said second entity, said message comprising said requested information incorporated into the applicable patient EMR located with said second entity.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface updates the patient profile for purposes of completing admission documentation.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface is GUI is platform independent and allows comprehension of EMR over any internet or wireless enabled device such as a cell phone, laptop, tablet, desktop computer, or other devices.