Patient Data Flowsheet with Timeline Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current healthcare systems fail to effectively aggregate and display patient data from various formats and disparate information systems, limiting healthcare providers' ability to access and interpret a patient's complete medical history, which hinders accurate diagnosis and decision-making.
Innovation Solution
A healthcare information system that presents patient data via a flowsheet with a graphical map representation and timeline axis, allowing navigation and flagging of events, enabling comprehensive clinical documentation and efficient data review.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If patient data from multiple disparate information systems is aggregated and displayed in detail, then completeness of medical history is improved, but system complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the large longitudinal patient dataset into manageable components by creating a miniature representation (flowsheet) that divides data into discrete events plotted along a timeline. Each data point from disparate systems is segmented into individual events that can be independently viewed and navigated, making the aggregated information manageable despite its comprehensive nature.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the complexity of aggregated data by adding a temporal dimension through the timeline axis. Instead of presenting data in traditional tabular formats, events are plotted along a time axis, allowing healthcare providers to navigate through patient history chronologically. This dimensional transformation makes comprehensive data easier to interpret and manage.
2Loss of information
If comprehensive patient data is displayed in traditional formats, then data completeness is improved, but ease of operation and data review efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a temporal dimension by plotting patient data events along a timeline axis in the flowsheet. This transformation converts traditional comprehensive but difficult-to-navigate data formats into a visual temporal sequence, enabling healthcare providers to efficiently review complete patient history by simply scrolling through the timeline rather than searching through extensive records.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a miniature representation (a simplified copy) of the complete patient dataset in flowsheet format. This copied representation maintains the essential information from all source systems while presenting it in a condensed, easily navigable visual format that is much easier to operate with than the original comprehensive datasets.
3Loss of information
If detailed patient data is accessed without a structured navigation system, then information availability is improved, but time required for data review increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension through the timeline axis that organizes all patient data events chronologically. This dimensional organization allows healthcare providers to quickly navigate through complete patient information by scrolling along the time axis, dramatically reducing the time required to review comprehensive data compared to unstructured search methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary organization of patient data by automatically aggregating and plotting events along a timeline before the healthcare provider needs to review them. This pre-structured presentation of complete information eliminates the need for time-consuming data gathering and organization during patient care, making all information immediately available in an accessible format.
4Ease of operation
If a unified interface for patient data is created, then ease of operation is improved, but the ability to handle multiple disparate data formats deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal flowsheet interface that can handle multiple disparate data formats through a common event plotting mechanism. The system is designed to ingest data from various source systems in different formats and universally represent them as standardized events on the timeline, enabling a single unified interface to work with diverse data sources while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer (the event plotting mechanism) between the disparate data sources and the unified interface. This intermediary standardizes and normalizes data from multiple formats into a common event structure that can be universally displayed on the timeline, allowing the unified interface to maintain simplicity while handling diverse data formats through the mediating event representation layer.
Data Source
AI summary
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for presentation of patient data via a flowsheet including a graphical map representation of the data and a timeline axis for data navigation. Certain embodiments provide a system including a flowsheet including a patient data set represented as a map with a timeline axis for the map, wherein the map is navigated to display data collected along the timeline, and an interface for accessing the flowsheet. Certain embodiments provide a method including displaying data for a patient via a flowsheet along with a timeline of events relating to the patient, wherein the data is represented in alphanumeric as well as graphical map form; navigating the patient data using the timeline; allowing a user to flag events in the patient data along the timeline; and defining a time period for presentation of patient data along the timeline in the flowsheet.