Online Multi-Physician Consultation Consensus System
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Solution Overview
Problem
The overwhelming volume of medical information and conflicting opinions from various sources complicate decision-making in healthcare, making it difficult for patients to obtain a clear consensus on their health care concerns, and existing systems for generating consensus opinions are slow, non-specific, and unable to address individual nuances.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented system that provides contemporaneous, multi-physician online consultations, where users submit medical cases, and a panel of selected professionals review and provide opinions via the internet, with the results displayed in real-time, including graphical representations of consensus, to ensure unbiased and easily understandable medical opinions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If expert committees are used to generate consensus opinions, then medical expertise and reliability are improved, but the system becomes slow and cannot address individual patient nuances
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the expert committee function into individual physician consultants who work independently through an online platform. Multiple physicians are selected based on specific case requirements and provide opinions separately, then aggregated by the system. This segmentation maintains expert reliability while enabling parallel processing that dramatically reduces response time and allows for individualized patient case analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical assembly of expert committees with an automated computer-based selection and coordination system. The system automatically selects appropriate physicians based on case characteristics, manages consultations, and aggregates opinions electronically. This substitution of manual committee organization with automated information technology enables rapid response while maintaining expert quality.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple medical sources and opinions are made available, then information completeness is improved, but patient confusion and difficulty in understanding increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary layer that aggregates and synthesizes multiple physician opinions into a unified consensus format. Rather than presenting raw individual opinions that may conflict or confuse patients, the system processes these inputs and presents a consolidated view with clear indication of consensus strength. This intermediary processing maintains information completeness while dramatically improving patient understandability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses visual indicators (such as graphical representations showing consensus strength) to translate complex medical opinion data into easily understandable formats for patients. By visually representing the degree of consensus among physicians, the system makes abstract information concrete and comprehensible without losing the underlying complexity or volume of expert input.
3Reliability
If individual physician opinions are collected independently, then medical expertise and unbiased views are improved, but the system complexity and coordination difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal online consultation platform that handles multiple functions: physician selection, case distribution, opinion collection, consensus aggregation, and result presentation. This single multi-functional system replaces what would otherwise require multiple separate coordination mechanisms, reducing overall system complexity while enabling independent physician input collection and automated consensus generation.
4Productivity
If rapid consensus opinions are provided, then patient decision-making speed is improved, but the thoroughness and depth of medical analysis may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-selecting appropriate physicians based on case characteristics before the actual consultation occurs. This advance preparation ensures that when cases are assigned, the right experts are already in place, enabling rapid response without sacrificing analysis depth. The preliminary matching and selection process occurs in advance, so the actual opinion generation can proceed quickly with appropriately qualified physicians.
Data Source
AI summary
The computer-implemented system of providing online medical consultation services by a team of medical professionals begins when a user accesses the system website. The user selects the level of consultation services desired and a case submission form is provided to the user requesting information relating to desired medical consultation. The user provides the requested information on case submission form. If additional information is required, it is obtained. When the case is ready for submission, members of the medical professional team are selected for consultation on the case and forwarded the particulars of the submitted case via the Internet. The selected team members review the submitted case particulars and each member provides their medical opinion via Internet. The submitted opinions are recorded and displayed in real time on the system website, to which the user has access. In addition, the submitted opinions to structured questions are compiled to determine if there is a consensus. A graphical representation of the compiled opinions is generated and displayed in real time on the website, as well. This system can provide nearly instant information as to the sum of the opinions of medical experts for a variety of case scenarios and establishes whether, and to what extent, a consensus exists among the consulting medical professionals.