Clinical Decision Support Rule Engine Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current clinical decision support systems face challenges in efficiently expressing and evaluating clinical decision support logic, particularly in reducing message size for rule-processing servers to minimize bandwidth requirements and providing timely rule evaluation requests.
Innovation Solution
A clinical decision support system is developed with a centralized repository for tracking rule content and managing subscriptions, a stateless rule-evaluation server, and a Common Rule Engine that processes patient data and rule evaluation parameters to provide real-time recommendations, optimizing message size by sending only necessary information and allowing parameterization for provider-specific needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If comprehensive patient information is sent to the rule-processing server, then rule evaluation completeness is improved, but message size and bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary patient information fields required by the rule engine to evaluate clinical decision support rules. Instead of transmitting complete patient records, the system selectively extracts and sends only the specific data elements needed for rule evaluation, thereby reducing message size while maintaining evaluation completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments patient information into distinct fields and categories, allowing the system to transmit only the relevant segments needed for rule evaluation rather than the entire patient record. This segmentation enables efficient data transmission by separating essential information from unnecessary data.
2Measurement precision
If detailed patient data is transmitted for rule evaluation, then evaluation accuracy is improved, but bandwidth requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the specific patient data fields required for accurate rule evaluation, eliminating unnecessary data transmission. This ensures evaluation accuracy is maintained while reducing the data volume that needs to be processed, thereby improving processing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by transmitting only the necessary portion of patient data required for rule evaluation rather than complete data sets. This partial data transmission is sufficient for accurate evaluation while significantly reducing processing time and bandwidth requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If rule content is customized for each provider, then adaptability to specific practices is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses parameter changes to customize rule content for different providers. Instead of creating entirely different rule sets, the system allows providers to modify parameters such as thresholds, priorities, and filtering criteria within a unified rule framework. This enables adaptability while maintaining system simplicity through parameter-based customization rather than structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a centralized repository for tracking rule content and managing subscriptions to rule content by organizations and providers utilizing the system; a rule-evaluation server for receiving requests for rule-evaluations for specific patients, wherein the server determines content needing to be evaluated and retrieves the content to be used; a rule engine for performing the evaluations, wherein content, patient data, and rule evaluation parameters are provided to the engine, and the engine returns recommendations triggered by the evaluation, if any; an aggregator for aggregating recommendations from multiple sources, detecting and coordinating related recommendations, and applying configuration settings based on the patient and/or provider in context; and a client component for coordinating communication between an electronic health records system, the server, and the aggregator.