Smart Agent for EMR Context Interception
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing health information exchange systems face challenges in seamlessly integrating and accessing medical data across disparate, non-compatible software systems, leading to inefficiencies in data retrieval and presentation, particularly in healthcare providers' workflows.
Innovation Solution
A Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)-based platform that creates a virtual patient record by logically connecting care providers and organizations, enabling ubiquitous access to integrated patient information without requiring replacement of existing systems, and providing context-based information directly within healthcare providers' work environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If messages are exchanged between HIE and EMR systems for information transfer, then data can be transferred between systems, but software compatibility issues and inability to semantically resolve variations limit effective integration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a smart agent as an intermediary component that bridges HIE and EMR systems. This agent captures context from the EMR environment, translates it into HIE queries, and presents results back to the user, thereby mediating between incompatible systems and enabling semantic resolution without requiring direct integration between HIE and EMR platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The smart agent is designed with multi-functional capabilities: it captures user context, identifies relevant patient information, queries the HIE system, and presents results within the EMR environment. This universal approach allows a single component to handle multiple integration challenges across different healthcare information systems.
2Ease of operation
If a tab in the EMR main application is used to view HIE information, then users can access patient information, but users cannot manipulate or import the information
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts the information presentation based on user needs and context. The smart agent captures the current EMR workflow state and dynamically queries the HIE for relevant information, allowing the system to transition from static viewing to dynamic information retrieval that can be contextually manipulated within the workflow.
Solution Approach 2:
The smart agent autonomously captures user context, formulates queries, and retrieves information without requiring manual intervention. This self-service capability enables the system to automatically provide relevant HIE information within the EMR environment while maintaining user control over the workflow.
3Reliability
If an EMPI is used to match patient records from disparate systems, then a complete view of the patient can be obtained, but dependency on EMR vendors increases and system complexity grows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the patient identification and context capture functionality from the complex EMR-HIE integration process and concentrates it in the smart agent component. This extraction simplifies the overall system architecture by isolating the EMPI matching logic in a dedicated agent that operates independently of vendor-specific EMR implementations.
4Productivity
If existing systems are not replaced but integrated through SOA platform, then workflow efficiency is improved, but software compatibility challenges persist
Solution Approach 1:
The smart agent serves as a mediator that operates within the existing EMR environment without requiring system replacement. It captures context from the EMR, translates it into HIE queries, and presents results back, thereby enabling integration while maintaining compatibility with existing vendor-specific systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for using a health information exchange system which stores patient record data regarding a multiplicity of patients, to serve a first plurality of EMRs each interacting with an EMR community including a set of at least one EMR, the method comprising: for each individual EMR within the first plurality of EMRs, performing a computerized context interception process using a processor to intercept context from the individual EMR and to identify there within an event whereby a health provider using the individual EMR calls up an individual patient's record from said individual EMR; and responsive to identification of the event, using a computerized output device for providing patient record data, pertaining to the individual patient, to the health provider.