System and method for clinical workforce management interface

Abstract

A system and related techniques generate and present a clinical workforce management interface to assign nurses, technicians, therapists and others in a hospital or other clinical setting. According to embodiments, the interface may present components including an aggregate patient population profile which lists individual patients in a unit, as well as the projected workload capacity the care for those patients represents as well as an assignment bar depicting the continuity of provider assignments for that patient over a shift, 24 hour, or other period. The workforce management interface may likewise present a counterpart provider population profile which lists available care providers in a unit, as well as their capacity ratings, skill sets, shifts or other schedule and other data characterizing available clinical stuff. According to embodiments of the invention in one regard, a charge nurse or other staff manager may visually or graphically view and manipulate the provider-to-patient assignments, for instance by dragging and dropping icons or other visual elements to perform assignments. According to embodiments of the invention in another regard, compliance monitoring functions such as maintaining mandated patient to nurse or other provider ratios may be automatically performed, and the staff manager may be alerted when those or other ratios or criteria violate limits.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] The subject matter of this application is related to the subject matter of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 679,836 filed Oct. 6, 2003, entitled “Computerized System and Method for Determining Work in a Healthcare Environment”; and to the subject matter of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 917,337 filed Aug. 13, 2004, entitled “System And Method For Automatically Generating Evidence-Based Assignment Of Care Providers To Patients”, each of which applications is assigned or under obligation of assignment to the same entity as this application, and each of which applications is incorporated by reference herein.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not applicable.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0003] The invention relates to the field of clinical information technology, and more particularly to a system and method for a management interface which presents a charge nurse or other staffing manager with a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a system and method for managing a clinical workforce, which allows a staff manager to automatically organize and drive assignment ratios and options with compliance, capacity, and best practice criteria in mind. The interface presents a patient list with visual representations of the continuity and types of assigned provider care, and allows for manipulation of the assignment bar, provider names, and icons to effect assignments or changes. The system also monitors compliance with mandated patient-to-provider ratios and alerts when they are violated. Overall, the invention streamlines the process of timely workforce assignments, ensures better compliance with clinical demands, and manages capacity more effectively.

Problems solved by technology

Those regulatory considerations combined with operational needs such as the need to continuously mix and adjust provider assignments under day to day schedule changes such as vacation time, lunch and other breaks, sick days, and other absences or developments make the task of promulgating shift-by-shift patient assignments a challenging one, for charge nurses and other clinical managers tasked with staffing duties.

Those staff managers moreover are frequently confronted with the need to generate provider / patient assignments with no formal or computerized tools to assist in that workforce management.

Staff managers may moreover often have little time to generate such a floor schedule for the next shift, week or other period even on a manual basis.

Other problems in clinical workforce management exist.

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