Integrated Care Scheduling Using Acuity Scores Across Specialties
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current healthcare systems face inefficiencies in scheduling follow-up visits and laboratory investigations across multiple specialties, leading to duplicative and costly processes, poor coordination of care, and delayed access to timely interventions, particularly for patients with complex conditions like cardiovascular disease.
Innovation Solution
A multi-specialty integrated care clinic and laboratory scheduling system that uses an automated scheduling method based on a Specialty Acuity (SPA) score and Total Overall Risk (TOR) score to optimize appointment scheduling and laboratory procedures, incorporating autonomous vehicles for patient transport and remote medical assessments, and a computer program for coordinating care across multiple specialties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional individualized physician office scheduling systems are used, then each physician can manage their own appointments independently, but coordination of visits across multiple specialties becomes nearly impossible leading to duplicated lab investigations and increased healthcare costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges previously separate physician scheduling systems into a unified multi-specialty clinic scheduling system. The system integrates appointment scheduling, lab investigation scheduling, and patient management across multiple specialties into a single coordinated platform, eliminating the need for separate individualized scheduling while maintaining physician autonomy through role-based access and specialized views.
2Adaptability or versatility
If follow-up visits and lab investigations are scheduled randomly and non-standardized, then scheduling flexibility is maintained, but timeliness of follow-up deteriorates leading to increased emergency room utilization and hospitalization needs
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic scheduling that adapts to varying clinical needs while maintaining standardized protocols. The scheduling algorithm automatically adjusts appointment timing based on patient acuity scores, clinical priorities, and physician availability, allowing flexible yet reliable follow-up scheduling that responds to changing conditions while ensuring timely care.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes scheduling parameters based on patient-specific factors such as acuity scores, clinical condition, and priority levels. By dynamically adjusting scheduling parameters rather than using fixed random scheduling, the system maintains flexibility while ensuring reliable and timely follow-up for all patients according to their clinical needs.
3Loss of information
If multiple separate lab investigations are conducted for different specialists, then each specialist receives necessary test results, but duplication of investigations increases costs and patient time away from productive activity
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a universal lab investigation scheduling module that serves all specialists within the multi-specialty clinic. Instead of each specialist ordering separate investigations, the centralized system consolidates lab requisitions, schedules single visits to the lab, and distributes results to all relevant specialists, eliminating duplication while ensuring complete information availability.
4Device complexity
If individual physician EMR systems are used, then each physician has their own electronic medical record system, but integration and coordination of care across different specialties deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized scheduling and coordination system that acts as an intermediary between individual physician EMR systems. This intermediary platform consolidates scheduling functions, lab management, and patient information while maintaining connections to individual physician systems, enabling integrated care coordination without eliminating physician autonomy or existing EMR infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of automated medical scheduling of an autonomous vehicle to pick up a patient including the steps of receiving data on a processor via a checklist, said data being a plurality of predetermined physical conditions of a patient, each of the plurality of predetermined physical conditions having a predetermined assigned weight based on level of severity, generating a summation of the total weight for each predetermined physical condition, generating a predetermined specialty acuity score by comparing the corresponding range of the total weight and generating a report to output of the specialty acuity score, the specialty acuity score used to determine priority of scheduling patients in a system. A specialty acuity score may be generated for each system affected, the systems each assigned a value of 1. A comorbidity score may be generated by the summation of each system.