Method and system for computer-aided patient stratification based on case difficulty

Abstract

When evaluating patient cases to determine complexity thereof, a computer-aided stratification technique is applied to analyze historical patient case diagnoses and correctness thereof in order to calculate a stratification score (20) for each of a plurality of abnormality types and/or anatomical locations. When a new patient case is received, the computer-aided stratification technique is applied to evaluate the patient case in view of historical data and assign a stratification score thereto. A ranked list (21) of current patient cases can be generated according to stratification scores, and physician workload can be adjusted as a function thereof so that workload is balanced across physicians and/or according to physician experience level.

Description

technical field [0001] The innovation finds application in medical diagnostic technology, in particular with regard to computer-aided diagnosis therein. However, it will be appreciated that the described techniques may also be applied to other patient diagnostic systems, other diagnostic situations, other stratification techniques, and the like. Background technique [0002] Accurate diagnosis is important for disease management and treatment of patients. Physicians often spend long hours reading, studying, and creating recommendations for "difficult" cases (ie, uncommon or complex cases) in order to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. On the other hand, for cases that are easier to diagnose, a doctor's diagnosis and advice for the next step can be generated in a very short time. This is especially true for junior doctors, who often need to seek second opinions from more senior colleagues, for example when they are given difficult cases. That is, evaluating difficult cases v...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

These systems generally do not take into account the "difficulty" of a case, but instead classify patients based solel

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