Healthcare Network Data Association System

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Solution Overview

Problem

Healthcare networks face challenges in integrating disparate proprietary and unstructured data sources, requiring healthcare professionals to manually retrieve relevant data from multiple sources, which is inefficient and time-consuming, especially for multidisciplinary teams like tumor boards.

Innovation Solution

A system that maintains associations between various data sources and healthcare data, allowing it to detect and store new associations, retrieve, and transmit requested healthcare data to user devices, thereby integrating disparate data sources and reducing response times.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If healthcare data is stored in disparate proprietary data sources, then data storage flexibility is improved, but data accessibility and integration are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata storage flexibilityVSAvoiddata accessibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary system that maintains associations between healthcare data and multiple data sources. This intermediary layer enables seamless access to data from disparate sources without requiring direct integration between them, thus preserving storage flexibility while improving accessibility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates a universal association mechanism that works across different proprietary data sources. By maintaining a centralized association database that maps healthcare data to multiple sources, the system provides a unified access point for diverse data sources, improving ease of operation without sacrificing adaptability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Measurement precision

If healthcare professionals manually retrieve data from multiple sources, then data accuracy is improved, but time consumption and efficiency are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata accuracyVSAvoidefficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing associations between healthcare data and data sources in a centralized database. When data is needed, the system can quickly retrieve it using these pre-computed associations, eliminating the need for manual searching while maintaining data accuracy through verified association paths.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system enables self-service data retrieval by automatically querying the appropriate data sources based on the association database. The system autonomously identifies and retrieves the correct data without requiring manual intervention from healthcare professionals, thus improving efficiency while maintaining accuracy through systematic data access.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Quantity of substance

If all healthcare data from all data sources is made accessible, then data completeness is improved, but system complexity and processing overhead are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata completenessVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the data access system into distinct components: a centralized association database, query processing logic, and data source interfaces. This segmentation allows the system to manage complete healthcare data across multiple sources while reducing overall complexity by organizing functionality into modular, independently manageable segments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system adds a new dimension to data access by introducing an association layer between healthcare data and data sources. This additional dimensional layer organizes data relationships without requiring direct integration between data sources, thereby achieving data completeness while managing system complexity through dimensional organization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

4Adaptability or versatility

If the system maintains associations with multiple data sources, then data retrieval capability is improved, but memory requirements and storage overhead are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata retrieval capabilityVSAvoidstorage overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSVolume of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a logical copy of data relationships in the association database rather than physically duplicating the actual healthcare data. The association database stores references and mapping information that enable data retrieval from multiple sources without requiring substantial storage overhead for maintaining multiple copies of the actual data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentEP3489958B1Healthcare network
Publication Date: 2022.03.16 SIEMENS HEALTHCARE GMBH
  • EP3489958B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3489958B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3489958B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

A system operable to provide healthcare data to a user device in a healthcare network comprising a plurality of data sources comprising healthcare data. The system maintains a first plurality of associations between a first plurality of the data sources and healthcare data stored therein. In response to a request for healthcare data from the user device, the system determines whether the requested healthcare data can be retrieved based on the first plurality of associations. If the requested healthcare data cannot be retrieved, the system causes a second association in relation to a second data source comprising the requested healthcare data to be detected and stored. The system retrieves the requested healthcare data from the second data source and transmits it for receipt by the user device.