Automated Treatment Scheduling System for Clinical Workflow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing healthcare appointment and scheduling systems are inefficient, leading to clerical burdens, errors in data transfer, and manual coordination of treatment plans, which wastes clinician time and results in miscommunication of treatment information.
Innovation Solution
A system that maps treatment components to multiple appointments, using an input processor to validate and generate schedules, and an interface processor to communicate treatment plans to treatment modality devices, automating the planning and delivery of patient treatments across multiple appointments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual data collation and transposition between systems is used, then information can be transferred between systems, but clinician time is wasted and errors occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical data transposition with an automated computer-based system that electronically transfers treatment planning data between the treatment planning system and scheduling system, eliminating manual copying and reducing errors
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a computer as an intermediary device that automatically receives, validates, and processes treatment planning data, serving as a mediator between the treatment planning system and scheduling system to eliminate manual data handling
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual coordination of appointments with treatment plans is performed, then treatment scheduling can be adjusted, but significant clinician time is occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual appointment coordination with an automated computer-based scheduling system that electronically links appointments to treatment plans, automatically adjusting schedules based on treatment requirements without manual intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The scheduling system automatically performs coordination tasks by itself, using the computer to match appointments with treatment plans based on predefined criteria, eliminating the need for clinician involvement in routine scheduling adjustments
3Reliability
If treatment information is communicated manually to treatment devices, then treatment instructions can be provided, but errors in transmission occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual communication of treatment information with automated electronic data transfer between the treatment planning system and treatment delivery system, ensuring accurate transmission of treatment parameters without manual transcription errors
Data Source
AI summary
A system maps components of prescribed treatments to multiple appointments of a patient, tracks patient progress through a course of treatment by recording results of treatment in a clinical information system and replaces multiple manual processes to improve concurrent monitoring of a treatment plan versus actual results. A system schedules multiple appointments for a course of patient treatment. The system uses an input processor for receiving data identifying, a treatment type, a frequency of application of the treatment, a start date of the treatment and a number of applications of the treatment. An appointment processor determines validity of the received data and uses the validated received data to generate data representing a schedule of multiple appointments for receiving the treatment. An interface processor provides data representing the schedule of multiple appointments to a destination system.