System and method for displaying a health status of hospitalized patients

Abstract

A system and method for displaying a health status of hospitalized patients. Patient data associated with hospitalized patients is selected according to display rules. A display module selects selected patient data, applies display rules to the selected patient data, and displays the selected patient data. A smart alert module generates and applies patient specific rules to other selected patient data elements. If a patient-specific rule for a hospitalized patient has been contravened, an alert is issued from the remote command center. Graphical attributes may be assigned to patients for whom an alert has been issued and to selected patient data elements that fall outside of an acceptable range. The graphical attributes determine how selected patient data appear on a display screen.

Description

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 443,072, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,656, filed Nov. 18, 1999. The 09 / 443,072 application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to the care of patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). More particularly this invention is a system and method for care of the critically ill that combines a real-time, multi-node telemedicine network and an integrated, patient care management system to enable specially-trained Intensivists to provide 24-hour / 7-day-per-week patient monitoring and management to multiple, geographically dispersed ICUs from both on-site and remote locations. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] While the severity of illness of ICU patients over the past 15 years has increased dramatically, the level of and type of physician coverage in most ICUs has remained constant. Most ICU patients r...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This solution reduces clinical complications, mortality rates, and costs by ensuring continuous, standardized care, optimizing resource utilization, and minimizing adverse events through timely interventions and evidence-based practices.

Problems solved by technology

The result of this mismatch between severity of illness and physician coverage is an unacceptably high ICU mortality rate (10% nationwide), and a high prevalence of avoidable errors that result in clinical complications.

In another prominent 1998 study of 1000 patients, 46% experienced an avoidable adverse event in care, with 40% of these errors resulting in serious disability or death.

The physicians who can remedy this situation are in critically short supply.

With the rapid aging of the population, this shortfall of expertise is going to increase dramatically.

Even where Intensivists are present (and especially where they are not), patients suffer from unnecessary variation in practice.

There is little incentive for physicians to develop and conform to evidence-based best practices (it takes significant work and a change in behavior to develop and implement them).

While these inventions provide useful records management and diagnostic tools, none of them provides a comprehensive method for monitoring and providing real time critical care at disparate ICUs.

Further, none of these inventions provide for the care of a full time intensivist backed by appropriate database and decision support assistance in the intensive care environment.

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