Radiology Viewer Indexing by Billable Order Codes

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Solution Overview

Problem

Radiologists face challenges in efficiently and accurately identifying relevant past radiology examinations due to limited indexing information, leading to unnecessary review of irrelevant exams and potential missed useful information during current examination readings.

Innovation Solution

A radiology viewer system that retrieves and organizes prior radiology examinations by date, imaging modality, anatomical region, and billable order codes, such as ICD codes, to provide a more comprehensive and user-adjustable index, facilitating efficient retrieval and display of relevant past examinations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If prior radiology examinations are indexed only by date, imaging modality, and anatomical region, then the indexing system remains simple, but the radiologist cannot efficiently identify relevant past examinations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveefficiency of identifying relevant examinationsVSAvoidcomplexity of indexing system

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the indexing system by introducing multiple dimensions of organization beyond the traditional three (date, modality, anatomy). Examinations are segmented and grouped by billable order codes, creating distinct categories that allow radiologists to filter and navigate prior studies more efficiently. This segmentation transforms a flat list into a multi-dimensional organized structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent adds another dimension to the indexing system by incorporating billable order codes as a fourth organizing parameter. This dimensionality change allows examinations to be viewed and filtered from multiple perspectives simultaneously, enabling radiologists to identify relevant studies by clinical indication rather than just by anatomical or temporal criteria.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Reliability

If radiologists review more prior examinations to ensure relevance, then the chance of finding useful information increases, but the time spent on each reading increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccuracy of identifying relevant examinationsVSAvoidtime spent reviewing prior examinations

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-organizing prior examinations into groups based on billable order codes before the radiologist needs to review them. This pre-grouping allows radiologists to immediately access only the clinically relevant studies without having to manually evaluate each one, thus maintaining high reliability while reducing time investment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts and highlights only the most relevant prior examinations by grouping them according to billable order codes. Instead of presenting all prior studies equally, the system extracts and prioritizes those that match the current clinical context, allowing radiologists to focus on a smaller, more relevant subset of examinations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Loss of information

If the index displays more information about prior examinations, then the radiologist can better assess relevance, but the interface becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecompleteness of examination informationVSAvoidcomplexity of display interface

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple pieces of information about prior examinations into unified groups based on billable order codes. Rather than displaying separate metadata fields that require individual interpretation, the system combines related examinations into meaningful clusters, presenting comprehensive information in an integrated, easier-to-navigate format.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS11189026B2Intelligent organization of medical study timeline by order codes

Publication Date: 2021.11.30 KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV

AI summary

A radiology viewer includes an electronic processor (10, 22), a display (12), input device(s) (14, 16), and a non-transitory storage medium storing executable instructions. Retrieval instructions (42) are executable to retrieve an index of prior radiology examinations (24, 26) from an electronic patient chart (20) in which the prior radiology examinations are indexed by at least date, imaging modality, and anatomical region and to retrieve billable order codes for the prior radiology examinations from an order management system (30). Organizing instructions (44) are executable to organize the prior radiology examinations into groups using features of the prior radiology examinations including features comprising or generated from the billable order codes for the prior radiology examinations. Viewer instructions (50) are executable to display an organized index of the prior radiology examinations on the at least one display in which the prior radiology examinations are organized into the groups.