U.S. patent application number 14/091769 was filed with the patent office on 2015-05-28 for systems and methods for intelligent radiology work allocation.
This patent application is currently assigned to General Electric Company. The applicant listed for this patent is General Electric Company. Invention is credited to Vineet Ahuja, Jeff Chu, Rhonda Eckstein, Shaoyu Feigler, Eric Jester, Brittany Melissa Johnson, Madhu Seepani, Charlotte Mae Shelton, Arun Viswanath, Jiaohuan Wang.
Application Number | 20150149206 14/091769 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53183386 |
Filed Date | 2015-05-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150149206 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jester; Eric ; et
al. |
May 28, 2015 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTELLIGENT RADIOLOGY WORK ALLOCATION
Abstract
An example system to distribute a medical exam to an examiner
includes a first interface to display a medical exam identifier
associated with a medical exam stored in a patient record database
and an examiner availability indicator to be displayed via the
first interface. The examiner availability indicator is to be
updated via a second interface. The example system includes an exam
allocator to automatically allocate the medical exam to the
examiner and an assignment tool to be displayed to a user via the
first interface and to facilitate assignment of the allocated exam
to the examiner. At least one of the exam allocator or the
assignment tool is to be communicatively associated with the
examiner availability indicator. Upon assignment of the medical
exam to the examiner, the medical exam identifier is displayed in
an examiner work queue via the first interface, the second
interface, and a third interface.
Inventors: |
Jester; Eric; (Hoffman
Estates, IL) ; Viswanath; Arun; (Lake Zurich, IL)
; Seepani; Madhu; (Lake In The Hills, IL) ;
Feigler; Shaoyu; (Barrington, IL) ; Chu; Jeff;
(Buffalo Grove, IL) ; Wang; Jiaohuan; (Schaumburg,
IL) ; Ahuja; Vineet; (Palatine, IL) ; Johnson;
Brittany Melissa; (Chicago, IL) ; Shelton; Charlotte
Mae; (Gilbert, AZ) ; Eckstein; Rhonda;
(Baileyton, AL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
General Electric Company |
Schenectady |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
General Electric Company
Schenectady
NY
|
Family ID: |
53183386 |
Appl. No.: |
14/091769 |
Filed: |
November 27, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G16H 30/20 20180101;
G06F 3/04842 20130101; G16H 40/20 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/3 |
International
Class: |
G06F 19/00 20060101
G06F019/00; G06F 3/0484 20060101 G06F003/0484 |
Claims
1. A system to distribute a medical exam to an examiner, the system
comprising: a first interface to display a medical exam identifier
associated with a medical exam stored in a patient record database;
an examiner availability indicator to be displayed via the first
interface, wherein the examiner availability indicator is to be
updated via a second interface, the second interface to be viewed
by the examiner; an exam allocator to automatically allocate the
medical exam to the examiner; an assignment tool to be displayed to
a user via the first interface, the assignment tool to facilitate
assignment of the allocated exam to the examiner, wherein at least
one of the exam allocator or the assignment tool is to be
communicatively associated with the examiner availability
indicator; and an examiner work queue, wherein upon assignment of
the medical exam to the examiner, the medical exam identifier is
displayed in the examiner work queue via the first interface, the
second interface, and a third interface, the third interface to be
viewed by a second examiner.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an examiner scorecard
to be displayed via the first interface, the examiner scorecard to
display at least one of the examiner work queue or an allocation
summary, wherein the medical exam identifier associated with the
medical exam automatically allocated by the exam allocator is to be
displayed in the allocation summary.
3. The system of claim 1, further comprising an exam decision tool
to be displayed via the second interface, the exam decision tool to
facilitate one of acceptance or rejection by the examiner of the
medical exam automatically allocated by the exam allocator.
4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a profile creator tool
to facilitate creation of an examiner profile, wherein the examiner
profile is to be created by the examiner via the second interface
and selectively displayed via the first interface.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the profile creator tool is to
facilitate creation of the examiner profile based on at least one
of a specialty of the examiner, a presence of the examiner, or an
ability of the examiner to receive the allocated exam.
6. The system of claim 4, wherein a display of the examiner work
queue via the first interface is to dynamically update based on a
selection of the examiner profile via the first interface.
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising an exam status
indicator to be displayed to the user via the first interface, the
exam status indicator representative of at least one of an
allocated exam, an assigned exam, or an accepted exam.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the exam status indicator is to
dynamically update upon assignment of the medical exam.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the examiner availability
indicator is representative of a remote availability of the
examiner, the examiner availability indicator to dynamically update
via the second interface to indicate a local availability of the
examiner.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein when the examiner availability
indicator dynamically updates to indicate a local availability of
the examiner, an exam status indicator associated with an exam in
the examiner work queue is to automatically update.
11. The system of claim 1, further comprising an examiner
allocation indicator to be displayed via the first interface and
the second interface, the examiner allocation indicator to indicate
an ability of the examiner to receive the allocated exam, the
examiner allocation indicator to be updated via at least one of the
first interface or the second interface.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the exam allocator is to
automatically allocate the medical exam to the examiner for review
via a fourth interface and wherein the assignment tool is to bypass
the examiner work queue.
13. A method to distribute a medical exam to an examiner, the
method comprising: retrieving a medical exam identifier associated
with a medical exam stored in a patient record database; processing
an examiner availability indicator, wherein the examiner
availability indicator is to be updated via a first interface;
displaying the medical exam identifier and the examiner
availability indicator via a second interface; allocating the
medical exam to the examiner; facilitating an assignment of the
allocated medical exam to the examiner via the second interface,
wherein at least one of allocating the medical exam or facilitating
the assignment of the allocated exam is to be based on the examiner
availability indicator; and displaying the medical exam identifier
in an examiner work queue upon assignment via the first interface,
the second interface, and a third interface, the third interface to
be viewed by a second examiner.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: displaying an
examiner scorecard via the first interface, the examiner scorecard
to display at least one of the examiner work queue or an allocation
summary; and displaying the allocated medical exam identifier in
the allocation summary.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: displaying an exam
decision tool to via the second interface; and facilitating one of
acceptance or rejection by the examiner of the allocated medical
exam via the exam decision tool.
16. The method of claim 13, further comprising: facilitating
creation of an examiner profile, wherein the examiner profile is to
be created by the examiner via the second interface; and
selectively displaying the examiner profile via the first
interface.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: dynamically
updating a display of the examiner work queue via the first
interface based on a selection of the examiner profile via the
first interface.
18. A machine readable storage device or disc, containing
instructions thereon, which when read cause a machine to at least:
retrieve a medical exam identifier associated with a medical exam
stored in a patient record database; process an examiner
availability indicator, wherein the examiner availability indicator
is to be updated via a first interface; display the medical exam
identifier and the examiner availability indicator via a second
interface; allocate the medical exam to the examiner; facilitate
assignment of the allocated medical exam to the examiner via the
second interface, wherein at least one of the allocation or the
assignment is to be based on the examiner availability indicator;
and display the medical exam identifier in an examiner work queue
upon assignment via the first interface, the second interface, and
a third interface, the third interface to be viewed by a second
examiner.
19. The machine readable storage device or storage disc of claim
18, wherein the instructions cause the machine to: display an
examiner scorecard via the first interface, the examiner scorecard
to display at least one of the examiner work queue or an allocation
summary; and display the allocated medical exam identifier in the
allocation summary.
20. The machine readable storage device or storage disc of claim
18, wherein the instructions cause the machine to: display an exam
decision tool to via the second interface; and facilitate one of
acceptance or rejection by the examiner of the allocated medical
exam via the exam decision tool.
21. The machine readable storage device or storage disc of claim
18, wherein the instructions cause the machine to: facilitate
creation of an examiner profile, wherein the examiner profile is to
be created by the examiner via the second interface; and
selectively display the examiner profile via the first
interface.
22. The machine readable storage device or storage disc of claim
21, wherein the instructions cause the machine to dynamically
update a display of the examiner work queue via the first interface
based on a selection of the examiner profile via the first
interface.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] [Not Applicable]
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] [Not Applicable]
MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE
[0003] [Not Applicable]
BACKGROUND
[0004] Healthcare environments, such as hospitals or clinics,
include information systems, such as hospital information systems
(HIS), radiology information systems (RIS), clinical information
systems (CIS), and cardiovascular information systems (CVIS), and
storage systems, such as picture archiving and communication
systems (PACS), library information systems (LIS), and electronic
medical records (EMR). Information stored may include patient
medication orders, medical histories, imaging data, test results,
diagnosis information, management information, and/or scheduling
information, for example.
[0005] Medical exam results stored in, for example, the radiology
information system, require review by an examining radiologist.
Distribution of the exams for review by the radiologist involves
consideration of various factors, including, for example,
radiologist workload, exam characteristics, and/or hospital
efficiency goals. Such considerations are often present across a
network of radiologists and/or hospitals. Efforts to balance
radiologist workloads and availability with exams requiring review
and institutional work flow goals are time-consuming, inefficient,
and result in inequities in distribution of the medical exams for
review. Further, radiologists lack efficient tools for managing
workflows in view of radiologist availability, specialty, and/or
the workloads and availability of other radiologists within a
network.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0006] Certain examples provide methods, systems, and machine
readable storage devices or storage discs for medical exam
distribution. Certain examples provide a system to distribute a
medical exam to an examiner. The example system includes a first
interface to display a medical exam identifier associated with a
medical exam stored in a patient record database and an examiner
availability indicator to be displayed via the first interface. The
examiner availability indicator is to be updated via a second
interface. The second interface to be viewed by the examiner. The
example system includes an exam allocator to automatically allocate
the medical exam to the examiner. The example system includes an
assignment tool to be displayed to a user via the first interface.
The assignment tool is to facilitate assignment of the allocated
exam to the examiner. In the example system, at least one of the
exam allocator or the assignment tool is to be communicatively
associated with the examiner availability indicator. The example
system includes an examiner work queue. In the example system, upon
assignment of the medical exam to the examiner, the medical exam
identifier is displayed in the examiner work queue via the first
interface, the second interface, and a third interface. In the
example system, the third interface is to be viewed by a second
examiner.
[0007] Certain examples provide a method for distributing a medical
exam to an examiner. The example method includes retrieving a
medical exam identifier associated with a medical exam stored in a
patient record database. The method includes processing an examiner
availability indicator. In the example method, the examiner
availability indicator is updated via a first interface. The
example method includes displaying the medical exam identifier and
the examiner availability indicator via a second interface. The
example method also includes allocating the medical exam to the
examiner. The example method includes facilitating an assignment of
the allocated exam to the examiner via the second interface. In the
example method, at least one of allocating the medical exam or
facilitating the assignment of the allocated medical exam is based
on the examiner availability indicator. The example method also
includes displaying the medical exam identifier in an examiner work
queue upon assignment via the first interface, the second
interface, and a third interface. In the example method, the third
interface is to be viewed by a second examiner.
[0008] Certain examples provide a machine readable storage device
or storage disc storing instruction thereon, which, when read,
cause a machine to at least retrieve a medical exam identifier
associated with a medical exam stored in a patient record database.
The example instructions cause the machine to at least process an
examiner availability indicator. The examiner availability
indicator is updated via a first interface. The example
instructions cause the machine to at least display the medical exam
identifier and the examiner availability indicator via a second
interface. The example instructions also cause the machine to at
least allocate the medical exam to the examiner. The example
instructions cause the machine to at least facilitate assignment of
the allocated medical exam to the examiner via the second
interface. At least one of the allocation or the assignment is
based on the examiner availability indicator. The example
instructions also cause the machine to at least display the medical
exam identifier in an examiner work queue upon assignment via the
first interface, the second interface, and a third interface. The
third interface to be viewed by a second examiner.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example medical exam
distributor in an example healthcare system.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the example medical exam
distributor of FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates a first example screen of an example
graphical user interface associated with the example medical exam
distributor of FIG. 1.
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates a second example screen of an example
graphical user interface associated with the example medical exam
distributor of FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates a third example screen of the example
graphical user interface associated with the example medical exam
distributor of FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 6 illustrates a fourth example screen of the example
graphical user interface associated with the example medical exam
distributor of FIG. 1.
[0015] FIG. 7 depicts an interactive relationship between the
first, second, third, and fourth example screens of FIGS. 3-6.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for
distributing a medical exam via an example graphical user interface
associated with the example medical exam distributor of FIG. 1.
[0017] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for
accepting assignment of a medical exam via an example graphical
user interface associated with the example medical exam distributor
of FIG. 1.
[0018] FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of an example processor system
that may be used to implement systems and methods described
herein.
[0019] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed
description of certain examples of the present disclosure, will be
better understood when read in conjunction with the appended
drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, certain
examples are shown in the drawings. It should be understood,
however, that the present disclosure is not limited to the
arrangements and instrumentality shown in the attached
drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EXAMPLES
[0020] Although the following discloses example methods, systems,
and machine readable storage devices and storage discs including,
among other components, software executed on hardware, it should be
noted that such methods and apparatus are merely illustrative and
should not be considered as limiting. For example, it is
contemplated that any or all of these hardware and software
components could be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively
in software, exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of
hardware, software, and/or firmware. Accordingly, while the
following describes example methods, systems, and machine readable
storage devices and storage discs, the examples provided are not
the only way to implement such methods, systems, and machine
readable storage devices and storage discs.
[0021] Also, although the methods, systems and machine readable
storage mediums disclosed here are described in regards to
healthcare applications, including, but not limited to, radiology
information systems, it is to be understood that the present
methods, systems and machine readable storage mediums may also be
used to distribute information in any other
industry/application.
[0022] A medical exam conducted on patient requires review by a
healthcare practitioner for purposes of obtaining, for example,
diagnostic information from the exam. In a hospital setting,
medical exams may be ordered for a plurality of patients, all of
which require review by an examining practitioner. Each exam has
associated attributes, such as a modality, a part of the human body
under exam, and/or an exam priority level related to a patient
criticality level. Hospital administrators, in managing
distribution of exams for review by practitioners, consider the
exam attributes as well as staff availability, staff credentials,
and/or institutional factors such as service level agreements
and/or overhead costs. Balancing practitioner workloads in view of
the exams requiring review involves time-consuming efforts that
result in inefficiencies and/or inequities in exam distribution
across a network of practitioners. Further, practitioners may
habitually decline to review and/or select to review exams having
certain attributes. Load-balancing rules that automatically
allocate exams to practitioners while allowing for a user, such as
an administrator and/or a practitioner, to review the allocation
and control assignment of the exams provide for optimization in
practitioner workloads in view of hospital workflow goals and
clinical targets.
[0023] Additionally, a practitioner may wish to manage his
workload, which may include one or more exams for review. For
example, a practitioner may wish to designate select times or
capacities in which the practitioner is available and/or
unavailable to review exams. In some examples, the practitioner may
wish to manage exams distributed to his workload based on
practitioner specialty and/or exam attributes. A system that allows
the practitioner to create one or more profiles defining
radiologist-specific criteria and that distributes exams based on
the profiles provides for a practitioner-centered workflow system.
Further, in responding to profile criteria defined by practitioners
across a network, such a system provides for a dynamic,
load-balancing approach to exam distribution and shared workload
management.
[0024] Disclosed herein are example systems, methods, and machine
readable storage devices and storage discs that provide for
workload distribution of medical exams to examining practitioners.
The disclosed example systems, methods, and machine readable
storage devices and storage discs can be used as part of a
radiology information system to distribute radiology medical exams
to radiologists for review. The examples disclosed herein include
graphical user interfaces accessible by one or more examining
radiologists and/or administrators.
[0025] The disclosed example graphical user interfaces facilitate
management of the radiologist's work queue by providing for the
radiologist to define availability, workload, and/or specialty
parameters via the graphical user interfaces. For example, a first
radiologist can create profiles based on availability, specialty,
and/or other parameters associated with a capacity in which the
first radiologist performs at particular times and/or days of the
week. In distributing exams to the first radiologist,
load-balancing rules distribute exams to the first radiologist
based on one or more criteria associated with a profile. The first
radiologist can view the distributed exams associated with a
particular profile via the example graphical interfaces. The
example graphical user interfaces facilitate review of the
automatic allocation of a medical exam to the first radiologist
based on the load-balancing rules. In some examples, the disclosed
examples enable acceptance or rejection by the first radiologist of
a distributed exam as part of the first radiologist's work queue.
In further examples, an administrator can confirm allocation of a
medical exam to the radiologist by assigning the exam to the first
radiologist.
[0026] The examples disclosed herein also facilitate assignment of
an exam to a second radiologist based on availability, workload,
and/or specialty of at least one of the first radiologist and/or
the second radiologist, as well as in view of exam attributes. For
example, the load-balancing rules dynamically respond to the
availability and/or unavailability of the first radiologist by
distributing exams to the second radiologist and/or other
radiologists in the network. Also, in the disclosed examples, the
workload of the first radiologist as well as parameters such as the
availability of the first radiologist are shared with the second
radiologist via the example graphical user interfaces to promote
collaboration and consultation among the network of radiologists
reviewing exams. In the disclosed examples, information concerning
radiologist availability, workload, and/or exam attributes is
dynamically updated and shared via interfaces accessible by
radiologists and/or administrators to provide for communicative
approach to exam distribution and workflow management.
[0027] The examples disclosed herein also facilitate real-time
review of exams by automatically allocating an exam to a
radiologist for substantially immediate review of the exam. In such
examples, rather than the exam being assigned to the examiner work
queue for review at a later time, the exam is distributed for
immediate review and reporting by the radiologist via an exam
review and reporting screen (e.g., an exam reading tool). The
radiologist can selectively enable the auto-serving of exams or the
distribution of exams to the work queue based on, for example, the
radiologist's availability. Thus, the disclosed examples
accommodate various approaches to exam distribution and review to
increase workflow management and efficiency.
[0028] Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of
an example healthcare system 100 capable of implementing an example
medical exam distributor 102. The example healthcare system 100
includes the example medical exam distributor 102, a hospital
information system (HIS) 104, a radiology information system (RIS)
106, a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) 108, an
interface unit 110, a data center 112, and a workstation 114. In
the illustrated example, the HIS 104, the RIS 106, and the PACS 108
are housed in a healthcare facility and locally archived. However,
in other implementations, the HIS 104, the RIS 106, and/or the PACS
108 can be housed one or more other suitable locations. In certain
implementations, one or more of the PACS 108, RIS 106, HIS 104,
etc., can be implemented remotely via a thin client and/or
downloadable software solution. Furthermore, one or more components
of the healthcare system 100 can be combined and/or implemented
together. For example, the RIS 106 and/or the PACS 108 can be
integrated with the HIS 104; the PACS 108 can be integrated with
the RIS 106; and/or the three example information systems 104, 106,
and/or 108 can be integrated together. In other example
implementations, the healthcare system 100 includes a subset of the
illustrated information systems 104, 106, and/or 108. For example,
the healthcare system 100 can include only one or two of the HIS
104, the RIS 106, and/or the PACS 108. Information (e.g.,
scheduling, test results, exam image data, observations, diagnosis,
etc.) can be entered into the HIS 104, the RIS 106, and/or the PACS
108 by healthcare practitioners (e.g., radiologists, physicians,
and/or technicians) before and/or after patient examination.
[0029] The HIS 104 stores medical information such as clinical
reports, patient information, and/or administrative information
received from, for example, personnel at a hospital, clinic, and/or
a physician's office. The RIS 106 stores information such as, for
example, radiology reports, radiology exam image data, messages,
warnings, alerts, patient scheduling information, patient
demographic data, patient tracking information, and/or physician
and patient status monitors. Additionally, the RIS 106 enables exam
order entry (e.g., ordering an x-ray of a patient) and image and
film tracking (e.g., tracking identities of one or more people that
have checked out a film). In some examples, information in the RIS
106 is formatted according to the HL-7 (Health Level Seven)
clinical communication protocol. In certain examples, the medical
exam distributor 102 is located in the RIS 106 to facilitate
distribution of radiology exams to a radiologist workload for
review. In an alternative example, the exam distributor 102 can be
located separately or can be included in any other suitable device
of the healthcare system 100.
[0030] The PACS 108 stores medical images (e.g., x-rays, scans,
three-dimensional renderings, etc.) as, for example, digital images
in a database or registry. In some examples, the medical images are
stored in the PACS 108 using the Digital Imaging and Communications
in Medicine ("DICOM") format. Images are stored in the PACS 108 by
healthcare practitioners (e.g., imaging technicians, physicians,
radiologists) after a medical imaging of a patient and/or are
automatically transmitted from medical imaging devices to the PACS
108 for storage. In some examples, the PACS 108 can also include a
display device and/or viewing workstation to enable a healthcare
practitioner or provider to communicate with the PACS 108.
[0031] The interface unit 110 includes a hospital information
system interface connection 116, a radiology information system
interface connection 118, a PACS interface connection 120, and a
data center interface connection 122. The interface unit 110
facilities communication among the HIS 104, the RIS 106, the PACS
108, and/or the data center 112. The interface connections 116,
118, 120, and 122 can be implemented by, for example, a Wide Area
Network ("WAN") such as a private network or the Internet.
Accordingly, the interface unit 110 includes one or more
communication components such as, for example, an Ethernet device,
an asynchronous transfer mode ("ATM") device, an 802.11 device, a
DSL modem, a cable modem, a cellular modem, etc. In turn, the data
center 112 communicates with the workstation 114, via a network
124, implemented at a plurality of locations (e.g., a hospital,
clinic, doctor's office, other medical office, or terminal, etc.).
The network 124 is implemented by, for example, the Internet, an
intranet, a private network, a wired or wireless Local Area
Network, and/or a wired or wireless Wide Area Network. In some
examples, the interface unit 110 also includes a broker (e.g., a
Mitra Imaging's PACS Broker) to allow medical information and
medical images to be transmitted together and stored together.
[0032] The interface unit 110 receives images, medical reports,
administrative information, exam workload distribution information,
and/or other clinical information from the information systems 104,
106, 108 via the interface connections 116, 118, 120. If necessary
(e.g., when different formats of the received information are
incompatible), the interface unit 110 translates or reformats
(e.g., into Structured Query Language ("SQL") or standard text) the
medical information, such as medical reports, to be properly stored
at the data center 112. The reformatted medical information can be
transmitted using a transmission protocol to enable different
medical information to share common identification elements, such
as a patient name or social security number. Next, the interface
unit 110 transmits the medical information to the data center 112
via the data center interface connection 122. Finally, medical
information is stored in the data center 112 in, for example, the
DICOM format, which enables medical images and corresponding
medical information to be transmitted and stored together.
[0033] The medical information is later viewable and easily
retrievable at the workstation 114 (e.g., by their common
identification element, such as a patient name or record number).
The workstation 114 can be any equipment (e.g., a personal
computer) capable of executing software that permits electronic
data (e.g., medical reports) and/or electronic medical images
(e.g., x-rays, ultrasounds, MRI scans, etc.) to be acquired,
stored, or transmitted for viewing and operation. The workstation
114 receives commands and/or other input from a user via, for
example, a keyboard, mouse, track ball, microphone, etc. The
workstation 114 is capable of implementing a user interface 126 to
enable a healthcare practitioner to interact with the healthcare
system 100. For example, in response to a request from a physician,
the user interface 126 presents a patient medical history. In other
examples, a radiologist can retrieve and manage a workload of exams
distributed for review to the radiologist by the medical exam
distributor 102 via the user interface 126. In further examples,
the radiologist can review the exam image data associated with the
exams distributed by the exam distributor 102 via the user
interface 126.
[0034] The example data center 112 of FIG. 1 is an archive to store
information such as, for example, images, data, medical reports,
and/or, more generally, patient medical records. In addition, the
data center 112 can also serve as a central conduit to information
located at other sources such as, for example, local archives,
hospital information systems/radiology information systems (e.g.,
the HIS 104 and/or the RIS 106), or medical imaging/storage systems
(e.g., the PACS 108 and/or connected imaging modalities). That is,
the data center 112 can store links or indicators (e.g.,
identification numbers, patient names, or record numbers) to
information. In the illustrated example, the data center 112 is
managed by an application server provider ("ASP") and is located in
a centralized location that can be accessed by a plurality of
systems and facilities (e.g., hospitals, clinics, doctor's offices,
other medical offices, and/or terminals). In some examples, the
data center 112 can be spatially distant from the HIS 104, the RIS
106, and/or the PACS 108 (e.g., at General Electric.RTM.
headquarters).
[0035] The example data center 112 of FIG. 1 includes a server 128,
a database 130, and a record organizer 132. The server 128
receives, processes, and conveys information to and from the
components of the healthcare system 100. The database 130 stores
the medical information described herein and provides access
thereto. The example record organizer 132 of FIG. 1 manages patient
medical histories, for example. The record organizer 132 can also
assist in procedure scheduling, for example.
[0036] The example medical exam distributor 102 identifies a
medical exam needing review and facilitates distribution of the
exam to an examiner, such as a radiologist. The medical exam can be
stored in the data center 112 or located in any other component of
the healthcare system 100. In some examples, the exam distributor
102 distributes one or more exams to a radiologist using
pre-defined load-balancing rules based on one or more
characteristics associated with an exam, an examiner, a network of
examiners, and/or healthcare administrators. For example, as part
of the RIS 106, the exam distributor 102 provides for the creation
of one or more radiologist profiles via, for example, the user
interface 126. A radiologist profile defines, for example, a
radiologist's availability, specialty, preferred exam attributes,
and/or other parameters associated with radiologist's workload. The
exam distributor 102 considers the radiologist's profile in
distributing radiology exams to the radiologist as well as to other
radiologists associated with the RIS 106. For example, a first exam
can be distributed by the medical exam distributor 102 to a first
radiologist based on a specialty profile of the first radiologist,
whereas a second exam can be distributed to a second examiner based
on the second examiner's availability in view of a priority level
of the exam. Further, one or more of the radiologist profile
parameters, such as the radiologist's availability, can be viewed
by other radiologists and/or users within the RIS 106 via the user
interface 126 at respective workstations 114.
[0037] An identifier associated with the medical exam distributed
by the medical exam distributor 102 can be viewed by, for example,
the radiologist to whom the exam has been distributed, other
radiologists associated with the RIS 106, and/or a hospital
administrator, via a viewer, such as the user interface 126 of the
workstation 114. While the exam distributor 102 can automatically
distribute the exam to a radiologist, the exam distributor 102 can
also receive user inputs via the user interface 126 related to
confirmation and/or rejection of the automatic allocation of the
exam to the radiologist. The medical exam distributor 102
dynamically responds to user inputs related to, for example,
allocation of exams, creation/modification of radiologist profiles,
and/or other user interaction via the user interface 126 to
efficiently distribute exams to a reviewing radiologist's workflow
in view of exam attributes. The exam distributor 102 further
facilitates dynamic sharing of exam distribution statuses and/or
radiologist characteristics, such as availability, among users
associated with the RIS 106 to provide for a shared workflow
management system.
[0038] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the exam distributor 102 of
FIG. 1. For example, the exam distributor 102 can be associated
with the radiology information system of FIG. 1. The exam
distributor 102 includes a display module 200, which may, for
example, interact with the user interface 126 of the system 100 of
FIG. 1. As will be described below (FIGS. 3-7), in some examples,
the user interface 126 is an administrator user interface 202
accessible by, for example, a hospital or radiology department
administrator. In further examples, the user interface 126 is an
examiner user interface 204a-n accessible by one or more
radiologists. The display module 200 can connect to any computer
screen, image viewer and/or other display device known to those
skilled in the art. The example exam distributor 102 also includes
a user input module 206 for receiving, for example, a user input
from one or more of the administrator interface 202 and/or the
examiner user interfaces 204a-n.
[0039] The example exam distributor 102 also includes a profile
creator 208. The profile creator 208 provides for the creation
and/or modification of one or more radiologist profiles by a
radiologist via the user input module 206. Profiles created via the
profile creator 208 define, for example, a radiologist's specialty,
availability, preferred exam attributes, workload capacity, and/or
other characteristics associated with the radiologist at select
times or on certain days of the week. A radiologist can select a
profile via, for example, the examiner user interface 204a, which
defines the radiologist's capacity to receive exams for review. In
distributing exams for review, the exam distributor 102 at least
partially considers the availability and/or workload of a
radiologist based on one or more profiles when allocating and/or
assigning an exam to the radiologist.
[0040] The example exam distributor 102 includes a rules creator
210. The rules creator 210 defines one or more rules used in
automatically allocating an exam to a radiologist. In some
examples, an administrator define, for examples, one or more
departmental and/or institutional rules via the administrator user
interface 202 and the user input module 206. Also, in some
examples, the rules creator 210 creates rules based on radiologist
profiles created by the profile creator 208. In other examples, the
rules creator 210 defines one or more load-balancing rules based
on, for example, radiologist workload thresholds, radiologist
specialties, preferred radiologists, exam priority levels, and/or
exam difficulty levels. In implementing the rules creator 210, the
example exam distributor 102 optimizes distribution of an exam to a
radiologist based a combination of rules associated with a
radiologist profile, one or more exam attributes, and/or healthcare
administration to match an exam with a reviewing radiologist. Also,
in some examples where the exam distributor 102 is implemented
across two or more institutions, the rules creator 102 performs a
mapping of identifiers associated with the exams and/or the
healthcare institutions to standardize exam distribution between
institutions. For example, factors such as exam modality, body
part, radiologist specialty, and/or institution location are
considered by the rules creator as part of defining load-balancing
rules. Such mapping across affiliated institutions provides for
consistency in applying the load-balancing rules and benchmarks for
comparing workload information between radiologists at different
institutions.
[0041] As shown, the example exam distributor also includes an
allocation manager 212. The allocation manager 212 automatically
allocates an exam to a radiologist for review. For example, the
allocation manager 212 automatically allocates the exam to the
radiologist based on one or more rules defined by the rules creator
210. In some examples, the allocation manager 212 automatically
allocates an exam to a preferred radiologist based on the
radiologist's current workload or workload threshold, specialty,
and/or availability. In other examples, the allocation manager 212
automatically allocates the exam to a radiologist based on exam
attributes, such as an exam priority level or a service level
agreement requiring the exam to be reviewed within a certain amount
of time. In further examples, the allocation manager 212 allocates
the exam to a radiologist based on one or more combinations of the
aforementioned exam and/or radiologist properties.
[0042] The example exam distributor 102 also includes an assignment
manager 214. The assignment manager 214 assigns an exam to a
radiologist. As described above, the allocation manager 212
automatically allocates the exam to the radiologist. However, prior
to the allocated exam being reviewed by the radiologist, the
radiologist and/or an administrator can review the allocation of
the exam to the radiologist via the display 200 (e.g., by
interacting with the examiner user interface 204a-n or the
administrator user interface 202). Based on, for example, the
radiologist's workload, availability, or an exam attribute, the
radiologist and/or the administrator can selectively confirm and/or
reject the allocation of the exam to the radiologist or decide to
redirect the exam to another radiologist for review. The assignment
manager 214 facilitates the radiologist's and/or the
administrator's decision by confirming assignment and/or acceptance
of the exam to the radiologist's workflow.
[0043] In other examples, the assignment manager 214 assigns the
exam to the radiologist without the allocation manager 212 first
allocating the exam to the radiologist. For example, a radiologist,
via the user interface 204a-n can direct the assignment manager 214
to assign an unallocated exam to the radiologist's work queue. In
other examples, one or more rules defined by the rules creator 210
bypass the allocation of the exam to the radiologist and cause the
assignment manager 214 to automatically assign the exam to the
radiologist's workflow without requiring further confirmation. In
other examples, the assignment manager 214 automatically assigns
the exam to the radiologist based on radiologist schedules and/or
requests for specific radiologists from referring physicians.
[0044] In further examples, the assignment manager 214
automatically assigns the exam to the radiologist for substantially
immediate review by the radiologist without assigning the exam to
the radiologist's work queue. For example, the radiologist can
select, via the examiner interfaces 204a, to be auto-served exams
by the assignment manager 214. In such examples, the assignment
manager 214 assigns the exam to the radiologist by delivering the
exam to a review and reporting screen via the examiner interface
204a. The radiologist reviews the exam and can select to receive
another exam for immediate review. In such examples, because the
radiologist is reviewing and reporting on the exams in real-time
upon exam distribution, the exams are not added to the
radiologist's work queue. However, in some examples, statistics
such as review efficiency and workload are adjusted to account for
exams reviewed in auto-serve mode. Assignment in the auto-serve
mode can be based on the load-balancing rules and/or some other
pre-defined rules defining priority for exams requiring review.
[0045] The example exam distributor 102 also includes a database
216. The database 216 stores information concerning distribution
rules, exam allocation information, and/or allocation information.
The database 216 also stores information related to one or more
radiologists, such as availability and/or profiles. In some
examples, the database 216 stores information associated with one
or more affiliated institutions in view of exams performed at the
individual institutions. The database 216 also stores information
provided to the exam distributor 102 via the user input module
206.
[0046] In the example shown, the components of the exam distributor
102, including the display module 200, the user input module 206,
the profile creator 208, the rules creator 210, the allocation
manager 212, the assignment manager 214, and/or the database 218,
are in communication with each other via a communications link 218.
The communications link 218 may be any type of wired connection
(e.g., a databus, a USB connection, etc.) and/or any type of
wireless communication (e.g., radio frequency, infrared, etc.)
using any past, present, or future communication protocol (e.g.,
Bluetooth, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, etc.). Also, the components of the
example exam distributor 102 can be integrated in one device or
distributed over two or more devices.
[0047] While an example manner of implementing the exam distributor
102 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more of the
elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 can be
combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or
implemented in any other way. Further, the display module 200, the
user input module 206, the profile creator 208, the rules creator
210, the allocation manager 212, the assignment manager 214, the
database 216 and/or, more generally, the example exam distributor
102 of FIG. 2 can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware
and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus,
for example, any of the example display module 200, the user input
module 206, the profile creator 208, the rules creator 210, the
allocation manager 212, the assignment manager 214, the database
216 and/or, more generally, the example exam distributor 102 could
be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic
circuits, programmable processor(s), application specific
integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s)
(PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When
reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to
cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least
one of the example display module 200, the user input module 206,
the profile creator 208, the rules creator 210, the allocation
manager 212, the assignment manager 214, the database 216, and/or
the exam distributor 102 is/are hereby expressly defined to include
a tangible computer readable storage device or storage disk such as
a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a
Blu-ray disk, etc. storing the software and/or firmware. Further
still, the example exam distributor 102 of FIG. 2 can include one
or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or
instead of, those illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, and/or can include
more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes
and devices.
[0048] FIG. 3 shows an example user interface 126 for interacting
with the example exam distributor 102 of FIG. 2. The example user
interface 126 includes, for example, the administrator user
interface 202 and/or the examiner user interfaces 204a-n of FIG. 2.
The example user interface 126 includes one or more screens for
interacting with the example exam distributor 102, as will be
discussed herein in connection with FIG. 3 and FIGS. 4, 5, and 6
(below).
[0049] FIG. 3 depicts an example first screen 300 of the example
user interface 126. The example first screen 300 displays
information in association with distribution of exams via the exam
distributor 102. In some examples, the first screen 300 is a
dashboard providing an overview of one or more exams requiring
review across a radiology department, a hospital, and/or a network
of departments and/or healthcare institutions.
[0050] The first screen 300 includes an exam identifier 302. In
some examples, the exam identifier 302 is a visual representation
of one or more exams requiring review by a radiologist. The exam
identifier 302 includes, for example, a name of a patient on which
the exam was conducted, an image of the patient, a procedural code,
a body part on which the exam was conducted, an exam modality,
and/or a time at which the exam was conducted. The exam identifier
302 can also include other, customizable information regarding the
exam.
[0051] Exam attribute identifiers 304, 306, 308 that are
representative of one or more exam attributes can also be displayed
on the first screen 300. For example, an exam priority indicator
304 may represent a priority level associated with an exam. If a
patient is in critical condition and the exam requires urgent
review by a practitioner, the exam priority indicator 304 is
highlighted. Other exam attribute identifiers 306, 308 indicate
whether an exam has been dictated by a practitioner, a name of an
prescribing radiologist, a name of radiologist to which the patient
has been referred, whether the exam is associated with a service
level agreement that specifies a time period for review of the exam
in order to receive payment and/or a payment schedule, and/or a
relative value unit representative of a difficulty level of the
exam. In some examples, the exam attribute identifiers 306, 308
include an alert displayed on the example first screen 300 to
indicate that an exam is reaching a time limit for review. Other
exam attributes can be selectively displayed, hidden, and/or
removed from the example first screen 300. Also, in some examples,
the exam attribute identifiers 306, 308 are shared across the
administrator and examiner user interfaces 202, 204a-n to provide
for monitoring of exam urgency levels across the network and to
facilitate a response, if necessary, by the administrator and/or
radiologists with respect to prioritizing review of the exams.
[0052] The example first screen 300 of the user interface 126
displays one or more exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314. The
exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314 are visual indications of the
status of the distribution of an exam to a radiologist based on
implementation of the exam distributor 102 (including, for example,
implementation of the rules defined by the rules creator 210 of
FIG. 2). Further, the exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314
dynamically update in response to communicative interactions with
the exam distributor 102 via, for example, the user interface
126.
[0053] For example, a first exam status identifier 310 indicates
whether an exam has been assigned, via, for example, the assignment
manager 214, to a radiologist. A second exam status identifier 312
indicates whether the exam has been allocated to a radiologist,
via, for example, the allocation manager 212. A third exam status
identifier 314 represents whether, for example, an exam assigned to
a radiologist has been accepted for review by the radiologist and
moved to the radiologist's work queue (FIG. 4).
[0054] The example first screen 300 selectively displays an
examiner scorecard 316. In some examples, the scorecard 316 is
displayed on a different screen of the user interface 126. The
scorecard 316 includes an examiner summary viewer 318. As shown in
FIG. 3, the examiner summary viewer 318 includes a table containing
information about one or more radiologists, including, for example,
name, specialty, experience level, seniority, and/or total number
of assigned, allocated, and/or accepted exams. In some examples,
the example first screen 300 provides a messaging and/or other
communication tool for users to interact with radiologists listed
in the scorecard 316.
[0055] A user interacting with the first screen 300 can select to
view additional information about a radiologist listed in the
examiner summary viewer 318. Upon selecting a radiologist, the
screen 300 of the user interface 126 displays, for example, an
examiner identifier 320. The examiner identifier 320 includes, for
example, an image of the selected radiologist. An examiner
availability indicator 322 can also be displayed. The examiner
availability indicator 322 is a visual representation of an online
status of a radiologist. For example, if a radiologist is
accessing, for example, the radiology information system 106 of
FIG. 1, the radiologist can be considered to be available for
purposes of reviewing the allocated exam. The examiner availability
indicator 322 represents a local presence of the radiologist, a
remote presence, an offline status, and/or another status
associated with an availability of the radiologist. In some
examples, the radiologist can selectively set the status of the
examiner availability indicator 322, for example, via the first
screen 300 or another screen (e.g., an example second screen 400 of
FIG. 4 below). In further examples, the examiner availability
indicator 322 is associated with one or more profiles created by
the radiologist. For example, the radiologist can select a profile
as an active profile (FIG. 4), which may result in the examiner
availability indicator 322 reflecting the availability of the
radiologist based on the selected profile.
[0056] Any of the exam identifier 302; the exam priority indicator
304; exam attribute identifiers 306, 308; exam status identifiers
310, 312, 314; the scorecard 316; the examiner summary viewer 318;
the examiner identifier 320; and/or the examiner availability
indicator 322 can be dynamically updated based on, for example,
implementation of the exam distributor 102 and/or a user's
interaction with the user interface 126, including, for example,
the administrator interface 202 or the examiner user interfaces
204a-n. In some examples, the identifiers, indicators, and/or
scorecard of the example first screen 300 are updated to reflect
that a radiologist is reviewing exams in auto-serve mode. Further,
any of the exam or examiner identifiers and/or indicators can be
represented on the first screen 300, or any other screens of the
user interface 126, by a variety of means of visual display,
including, but not limited to, being flagged/unflagged,
highlighted/unhighlighted, displayed/hidden, and/or
activated/deactivated. The identifiers and indicators displayed on
the example first screen 300 can also be selectively tailored based
on, for example, whether the example first screen displays
information for a radiology department at a hospital or across a
network of healthcare institutions. Also, the identifiers and
indicators of the example first screen 300 can be selectively
represented by more or fewer icons. For example, instead of
multiple exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314 to indicate the
distribution status of an exam, a single exam status identifier can
be provided. In some examples, the single exam status identifier
can be selectively expanded or collapsed to provide more details
about the exam distribution status.
[0057] In operation, for example, the example first screen 300 of
the user interface 126 provides a user, such as one or more
radiologists in a network, with an overview of one or more exams
requiring review and associated exam attribute information. The
first screen 300 further portrays information concerning
distribution of one or more exams to a reviewing radiologist.
Additionally, the first screen 300 allows a user to selectively
view a summary of one or more radiologists' workloads and/or
availability status. In some examples, the first screen 300
provides a snapshot of exam distribution status as well as the
factors, such as radiologist availability, that influence workflow
distribution of exams by the exam distributor 102. Further, in some
examples, a user considers the information provided on the first
screen 300 in managing distribution of exams. Thus, the example
first screen 300 serves as a dashboard for an overview of the exam
distribution system and/or a launch pad for further review of
workload allocation.
[0058] FIG. 4 illustrates an example second screen 400 of the
example user interface 126 for interacting with the exam
distributor 102 of FIG. 2. The second example screen 400 displays,
for example, information concerning a radiologist's workload based
on exams assigned and/or allocated to the radiologist by the exam
distributor 102. In some examples, the second screen 400 serves as
a workflow notification page for a radiologist by listing exams
that the radiologist has been assigned to review, for example, on a
certain day or in a certain order. In further examples, the second
screen 400 provides for a radiologist to designate a capacity in
which the radiologist is available to review exams, which may
determine the allocation of exams to the examiner by the exam
distributor 102 and, as such, the exams that are identified on the
example second screen 400.
[0059] In some examples, a user views the second example screen 400
by selecting an examiner identifier 320 associated with a
particular radiologist from the examiner summary viewer 318 of the
example first screen 300 (FIG. 3). In other examples, a user
reaches the example second screen 400 via links provided on one or
more other screens of the example user interface 126, or directly
upon accessing the user interface 126.
[0060] A first portion of the screen 400 displays identifying
information about the radiologist, including, for example, the
examiner identifier 320 and/or the examiner availability indicator
322. In some examples, a radiologist sets the status of the
examiner availability indicator 322 by interacting with the example
screen 400. The status of the examiner availability indicator 322
(e.g., available, remote, away, offline) can be selected via, for
example, a drop-down menu or another means of changing the status
displayed by the examiner availability indicator 322.
[0061] The screen 400 also includes a workload availability
identifier 402. The workload availability identifier 402 indicates
a radiologist's availability to be allocated and/or assigned exams.
For example, based on one or more load-balancing rules defined by
the rules creator 210, the allocation manager 212 and/or the
assignment manager 214 (FIG. 2) can refrain from allocating and/or
assigning exams to the radiologist if the radiologist's workload
has surpassed a threshold. Accordingly, the workload availability
indicator 402 can be deactivated to visually represent that the
radiologist is not to be allocated and/or assigned exams. In other
examples, the workload availability indicator 402 is activated to
reflect that the examiner is available to receive exams based on a
current state of the radiologist's workload. In some examples, the
status of the examiner availability indicator 322 is distinct from
the workload availability indicator 402. For example, a radiologist
can access and/or log into the radiology information system 106
(FIG. 1) and thus, have an online presence, but is unable to be
allocated and/or assigned exams because of a workload
threshold.
[0062] A second portion of the example second screen 400 displays
an allocated/assigned exam summary 404. The allocated/assigned exam
summary 404 includes a listing of one or more exams that have been
allocated to the radiologist by the allocation manager 212 (FIG. 2)
and/or assigned to the radiologist by the assignment manager 214
(FIG. 2). In some examples, one or more allocated and/or assigned
exams are represented in the allocated/assigned exam summary 404 by
the exam identifier 302 and/or the exam attribute identifiers 304,
306, 308. In further examples, the allocated/assigned exam summary
404 displays one or more of the exam status identifiers 310, 312,
314 associated the exam. The exams in the allocated/assigned exam
summary 404 can be attributed to assignment by an administrator
and/or a radiologist. The exams can also appear in the
allocated/assigned exam summary 404 as a result of assignment based
on the radiologist's schedule and/or because the radiologist was
requested by a referring physician.
[0063] A third portion of the example second screen 400 of the user
interface 126 displays an examiner work queue 406. The examiner
work queue 406 contains exams that have, for example, been accepted
by the examiner for review, as will be described below in
connection with FIG. 6. Additionally or alternatively, the examiner
work queue 406 contains exams that a radiologist has assigned to
him/herself to review prior to distribution of the exam to the
radiologist by the allocation manager 212 and/or the assignment
manager 214. For example, a radiologist can view a status of one or
more exams via the example first screen 300 using, for example, the
examiner user interface 204a. The radiologist can decide to assign
one or more the exams to him/herself without the exam being
distributed to the radiologist by the allocation manager 212 and/or
the assignment manager 214. In other examples, if a radiologist is
no longer available to receive exams after reaching a workload
threshold, as represented by the workload availability indicator
402, one or more exams can be populated in the examiner work queue
406, but the allocation/assignment summary 404 is empty.
[0064] An exam can be represented in the examiner work queue 406
by, for example, the exam identifier 302, the exam attribute
identifiers 304, 306, 308, and/or one or more of the exam status
identifiers 310, 312, 314 associated with the exam. In some
examples, the third exam status identifier 314 is flagged to
reflect that the exam is in the radiologist's examiner work queue
406.
[0065] When an exam is in a radiologist's examiner work queue 406,
the radiologist has confirmed that he/she will be reviewing the
exam and/or is required to review the exam based on a decision by
an administrator. The radiologist can review the exam while
accessing the radiology information system 106 via, for example,
the workstation 114 (FIG. 1). For example, the radiologist can
access the exam via the examiner work queue 406 such that
selecting, for example, the exam identifier 302 opens the exam in
an exam review and reporting screen of the examiner interface
204a-n. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the exam
is not added to the examiner's work queue 406, but rather, the
radiologist reviews the exam in real-time upon allocation of the
exam via the exam review and reporting screen of the examiner
interface 204a-n. In such examples, although the exam does not
appear in the examiner's work queue 406, the radiologist's
exam-reviewing activity is recorded by the exam distributor
102.
[0066] In some examples, the radiologist may decide to review an
exam in the examiner work queue 406 while working remotely, for
example, from a location where the radiologist is not accessing the
radiology information system 106 and/or the user interface 126. In
such examples, the example second screen 400 provides for the
radiologist to selectively update the examiner availability
indicator 322 to reflect that the radiologist is offline, but
working.
[0067] Further, the example second screen 400 provides for the
radiologist to indicate that the radiologist is working on the exam
remotely. For example, the examiner work queue 406 of the example
second screen 400 includes an exam decision tool 407 that allows
the radiologist to take selective action with respect to exams
identified in the radiologist's examiner work queue 406. As will be
described below in connection with FIG. 6, the exam decision tool
407 facilitates acceptance and/or rejection of an exam from the
examiner's work queue 406. In other examples, the exam decision
tool 407 provides for the radiologist to optionally indicate that
he/she will be reviewing the exam offline. The exam decision tool
407 includes a flag, button, menu selection, and/or other means for
the radiologist to indicate via the second screen 400 that the exam
is being reviewed offline. Such information regarding the status of
the exam is considered by the exam distributor 102 in distributing
other exams to the radiologist and/or monitoring the status of the
assigned exam and/or the examiner's work queue 406. In such a
manner, the example second screen 400 allows a radiologist to
manage his/her workflow with respect to working online and/or
offline.
[0068] After working remotely, the radiologist can re-access the
radiology information system 106, the user interface 126 and/or the
example second screen 400. The radiologist can update the examiner
availability indicator 322 to reflect that the radiologist is
online and/or available. The exam distributor 102 provides for the
radiologist, for example, to upload information related to the exam
that was reviewed while the radiologist was offline. Such
information is stored in the database 216. For example, the exam
status identifiers 310, 312, 314; the exam attribute identifiers
306, 308; and/or other identifiers and indicators provided on the
example first and second screens 300, 400 can be dynamically
updated in response to the radiologist accessing the user interface
126 after reviewing an exam while offline. The exam distributor 102
updates and/or synchronizes information about the exam reviewed
offline upon the radiologist re-accessing the user interface 126.
In such a manner, the exam distributor 102 dynamically monitors the
status of the exam and provides current exam information to other
radiologists and/or administrators in the network.
[0069] The second screen 400 also includes a profile selector 408.
As described above, the profile creator 208 (FIG. 2) optionally
provides for a radiologist to create one or more profiles. The one
or more profiles can be based on, for example, availability and/or
specialty practiced during certain times or on particular days of
the week (FIG. 5, below). A profile affects the distribution of
exams to the radiologist by the allocation manager 212 and/or the
assignment manager 214. For example, when a radiologist is
associated with a certain profile, he/she may be allocated and/or
assigned no exams, only a certain number of exams, and/or only
exams having certain exam attributes.
[0070] The profile selector 408 provides for a radiologist to
designate a profile as an active profile. By selecting a profile on
the example second screen 400 (e.g., via a drop down menu), the
radiologist can designate the capacity in which he/she is currently
able to receive exams. Selecting a profile as an active profile
updates, for example, the examiner availability identifier 322
and/or the workload availability identifier 402 based on the
parameters of the selected profile. The display status of the
examiner availability identifier 322 and/or the workload
availability identifier 402 is updated on the user interfaces 202,
204a-n accessed by, for example, the other radiologists in the
network, to provide an indication of the current availability of
the radiologist to review exams. Additionally or alternatively, the
exam distributor 102 dynamically applies the parameters of the
active profile when allocating exams to the radiologist as well as
to other radiologists in the network. In some examples, the exam
distributor 102 distributes exams to the radiologist based on the
scheduling attributes associated with the selected profile.
[0071] The profile selector 408 also provides for a user, such as
the radiologist, to view the allocation/assignment summary 404
and/or the examiner work queue 406 for a selected profile. For
example, upon selecting a profile via the profile selector 408, the
second screen 400 dynamically updates to display only exams in in
the examiner work queue 406 that the radiologist is assigned to
review when the radiologist is associated with the selected
profile. From the example second screen 400, the radiologist can
use the profile selector 408 to view exams distributed on a
profile-specific basis.
[0072] In operation, the example second screen 400 of the user
interface 126 provides for a user to view a radiologist-specific
workload. The example second screen 400 can be viewed by a
radiologist to provide the radiologist with a listing of exams that
have been allocated to, assigned to, and/or accepted by the
radiologist. Additionally or alternatively, the example second
screen 400 enables the radiologist to designate his/her
availability to review exams, by, for example, updating an online
status indicator and/or selecting a profile as an active profile to
influence allocation of the exams by the exam distributor 102. In
further examples, the example second screen 400 is viewed by one or
more radiologists in a shared network to view the allocation and/or
assignment of exams within the network. In viewing, for example,
the availability of a particular radiologist and/or exams assigned
to the radiologist, the example second screen 400 promotes
collaboration and/or consultation among radiologists reviewing
exams. Thus, the example second screen 400 provides for a
radiologist-level review of exam distribution and workload
allocation and serves as tool for facilitating shared interactions
among reviewing radiologists.
[0073] Also, the example second screen 400 provides for the
radiologist to indicate that he/she is reviewing an exam offline by
updating one or more status identifiers associated with the exam
and/or radiologist's availability. Further, when the radiologist
updates his/her availability after being offline, the exam
distributor 102 provides for information about the exam reviewed
offline to be dynamically updated so that the current status of the
exam is accurately reflected across the user interfaces accessed by
the radiologists and/or administrators of the network.
[0074] FIG. 5 illustrates an example third screen 500 of the
example user interface 126 for interacting with the exam
distributor 102 of FIG. 2. The example third screen 500 provides
for a user, such as a radiologist, to optionally create and/or view
profiles that are used in managing distribution of exams to the
radiologist in connection. The creation and/or modification of
profiles via the example third screen 500 can be implemented
association with the profile creator 208 (FIG. 2). For example, as
shown in FIG. 5, the radiologist can selectively affiliate certain
times and/or days with a profile by designating portions of the day
to be associated with one or more profiles. For example, a first
profile 502, a second profile 504, and/or a third profile 506
represent one or more parameters, including, but not limited to,
the radiologist's availability, specialty, expertise, location,
preferred exam attributes at different times of the day. In some
examples, one or more of the example profiles 502, 504, 506 is a
default profile, representing, for example, a default availability
and/or specialty of the radiologist. As described above, in
allocating and/or assigning exams to the radiologist and/or other
radiologists in the network, the exam distributor 102 incorporates
the characteristics, parameters, and/or criteria associated with
one or profiles when implementing the load-balancing rules defined
by the rules creator 210.
[0075] The example third screen 500 displays, for example, the
examiner identifier 320 and/or the examiner availability indicator
322. In some examples, the radiologist selects and/or updates the
status of the examiner availability indicator 322 from the third
screen 500. The example third screen 500 can be accessed from the
example second screen 400, via, for example, the profile selector
408 and/or other links provided on the example second screen 400
and/or other screens of the user interface 126. Also, upon creating
a profile via the example third screen 500, the profile appears in
the profile selector 408 of the example second screen 400. In such
as manner, the user interface 126 allows for a user to optionally
create one or more profiles and select a profile as an active
profile for managing workflow and exam distribution.
[0076] FIG. 6 illustrates an example fourth screen of the example
user interface 126 for interacting with the exam distributor 102 of
FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 6, the example fourth screen 600 can be
accessed from the example second screen 400. The exam decision tool
407 associated with the examiner work queue 406 provides menu
options to facilitate acceptance, rejection, and/or reassignment of
the exam, which can be further implemented via the example fourth
screen 600. In other examples, the example fourth screen 600 is
accessed from the example first screen 300, by for example,
selecting an exam identifier 302 displayed on the first screen
300.
[0077] The example fourth screen 600 includes an exam assignment
tool 602. The exam assignment tool 602 can be accessed via the
first screen 300 (FIG. 3), the second screen 400 (FIG. 4), and/or
any other screens of the administrator user interface 202. For
example, in FIG. 6, the exam assignment tool 602 is accessed via
the example second screen 400.
[0078] In some examples, the exam assignment tool 602 facilitates
acceptance and/or rejection of an exam allocated to a radiologist.
For example, the radiologist can interact with the exam assignment
tool 602 to accept an exam that has been allocated to the
radiologist by the allocation manager 212. The radiologist can
select a menu option provided by the exam decision tool 407
associated with the allocated exam via the example second screen
400, which causes the exam assignment tool 602 to display to
facilitate assignment and/or acceptance of the allocated exam. Upon
acceptance of the exam via the assignment tool 602, one or more of
the allocation/assignment summary 404, the examiner work queue 406,
and/or the exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314 dynamically
updates to reflect the status of the exam for display on the
administrator user interface 202 and/or the examiner user
interfaces 204a-n. For example, the display of the exam identifier
302 associated with the accepted exam moves from the
allocation/assignment summary 404 to the examiner work queue 406 to
reflect that the radiologist has accepted the exam. In some
examples, upon acceptance of the allocated exam by the radiologist,
the exam is no longer available for allocation by the allocation
manager 212.
[0079] In other examples, if the radiologist declines to review the
assigned exam, the exam identifier 302 is be no longer be displayed
in the allocation/assignment summary 404 and/or the examiner work
queue 406 for the radiologist. In some examples, the assignment
tool 602 provides for the radiologist and/or an administrator to
reassign the exam to another radiologist. Upon rejection and/or
reassignment, the exam distributor 102 automatically allocates
another exam to the radiologist. In some examples, the exam
distributor 102 stores information regarding acceptance and/or
rejection of allocated exams by the radiologist as part of the
load-balancing rules of the rules creator 210.
[0080] In further examples, the radiologist can use the exam
assignment tool 602 to assign and/or accept an exam that has not
been allocated to a radiologist. For example, the radiologist can
view an exam identifier 302 displayed on the first screen 300 (FIG.
3) representing an exam that has not been allocated to a
radiologist. The radiologist can decide to assign the unallocated
exam to him/herself. In such examples, the exam assignment tool 602
can be accessed via the first screen 300 by selecting the exam
identifier 302 to facilitate manual assignment of the unallocated
to the radiologist. Also, in such examples, one or more of the
allocation/assignment summary 404, the examiner work queue 406
and/or the exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314 displayed on the
screens of the user interface 126, including the administrator
interface 202 and/or the examiner user interfaces 202a-n update to
reflect the status of the exam.
[0081] In some examples, the exam assignment tool 602 is accessed
by an administrator via the administrator user interface 202. For
example, in some examples, an administrator plays a role in
assigning exams to a radiologist and the radiologist may or may not
have the option to accept and/or decline assigned exams. For
example, an administrator viewing the fourth screen 600 via the
administrator user interface 202 can decide to assign an exam that
has been allocated to a radiologist to the radiologist, based on,
for example, the radiologist's workload as displayed via the
example second screen 400 and/or the metrics provided in the
scorecard 316 (FIG. 3). In some examples, the administrator selects
an exam identifier 302 associated with the allocated exam via the
example second screen 400, which causes the exam assignment tool
602 to display to facilitate assignment of the allocated exam.
Using the exam assignment tool 602, the administrator assigns the
allocated exam to the radiologist. Upon assignment of the exam to
the radiologist, the exam identifier 302 appears in the
allocated/assignment summary 404 associated with the radiologist.
Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the patient
identifier appears in the examiner's work queue 406 associated with
the radiologist. In other examples, an administrator defines one or
more rules via the rules creator 210 for automatic assignment of an
exam to the examiner work queue 406 of the radiologist.
[0082] In further examples, if the radiologist has declined to
review the assigned exam, the administrator can override the
rejection of the exam via the exam assignment tool 602 and/or by
defining one or more automatic rules via the rules creator 208. In
other examples, the administrator and/or the exam distributor 102
can manually and/or automatically override the radiologist's
availability, profile settings, preferred exam attributes, and/or
one or more rules defined by the rules creator 208 using the exam
assignment tool 602 to facilitate assignment of the exam to the
radiologist. For example, the administrator can assign an exam to a
radiologist whose availability indicator indicates that he/she is
offline.
[0083] In other examples, the radiologist does not have an option
to accept or decline an assigned exam via the exam assignment tool
602. In such examples, only the administrator has access to the
exam assignment tool 602. In those examples, upon assignment of the
exam to the radiologist, the exam identifier 302 is displayed in
the examiner work queue 406 and can be viewed, but not removed,
from the examiner work queue 406 by the assigned radiologist via
the examiner user interface 204a.
[0084] In operation, the example fourth screen 600 provides for the
acceptance of an allocated exam by a radiologist and facilitates
inclusion of the allocated exam in the radiologist's work queue.
The example fourth screen 600 also provides for a radiologist to
reject and/or reassign an allocated exam and/or manually assign an
unallocated exam to the radiologist's workflow. In further
examples, an administrator defines a degree to which the
radiologist is capable of accepting, rejecting, and/or reassigning
an allocated exam through manual review and/or by defining
automatic rules related to assignment of exams.
[0085] FIG. 7 depicts an interactive relationship 700 between the
components of the screens 300, 400, 500 of the user interfaces 126,
202, 204a-n and users via one or more administrator and/or examiner
workstations 114. For example, a first radiologist can access the
examiner user interface 204a at a workstation 114 and provide one
or more examiner user inputs 702 via the examiner user interface
204a. Additionally or alternatively, an administrator can access
the administrator user interface 202 at the respective workstation
114 and provide one or more administrator user inputs 704 via the
administrator user interface 202. Also, one or more radiologists n
in a shared network can view, for example, the examiner
availability indicator 322 and/or the examiner work queue 406
associated with the first radiologist via the examiner user
interface 204n accessed at the respective workstation 114.
[0086] As shown in FIG. 7, the first radiologist views one or more
of the components of the example first, second, and/or third
screens 300, 400, 500, 600 via the user interface 204a. As
described above, the example screens 300, 400, 500, 600 display
components related to exam distribution. For example, the exam
identifier 302 is displayed along with exam attribute identifiers
304, 306, 308 as well as the exam status indicators 310, 312, 314.
Additionally or alternatively, the first radiologist can view one
or more of the examiner availability indicator 322, the workload
availability indicator 402, the profile selector 408, and/or, more
generally, the allocation/assignment summary 404 via the example
first, second, third, and/or fourth screens 300, 400, 500, 600.
[0087] The first radiologist can provide one or more user inputs
702 via the examiner user interface 204a. For example, the first
radiologist can update the examiner availability indicator 322 via
the screens 300, 400, 500 to reflect that the first radiologist is
online, remotely working, and/or not available. The first
radiologist can also select a profile 502, 504, 506 via the profile
selector 408 of the example second screen 400. As described above,
one or more components of the screens 300, 400, 500, 600 updates
based on a profile selection, including, for example, the examiner
availability indicator 322, the workload availability indicator
402, the allocation/assignment summary 404, and/or the examiner
work queue 406. Also, as described above, the user input 702 by the
first radiologist to accept an allocated exam and/or manually
assign an unallocated exam via the exam assignment tool 602
dynamically updates the examiner's work queue 406.
[0088] Additionally or alternatively, the first radiologist can
provide a user input 702 to open the assigned and/or accepted exam
in an exam reading tool 706. In some examples, the exam reading
tool 706 is a screen accessible via the examiner user interface
204a-n that provides for viewing of the exam (e.g., an x-ray) and
reporting on the exam by the first radiologist. In some examples,
the first radiologist provides the user input 702 to direct the
assigned exam to open in the exam reading tool 706 and bypass the
examiner work queue 406. In such examples, the exam reading tool
706 provides for substantially immediate review of the assigned
exam by the first radiologist. Also, in some examples, the first
radiologist performs successive review of assigned exams via the
exam reading tool 706. For example, a first exam is assigned via
the exam assignment tool 602 and opened in the exam reading tool
706. After the first radiologist reviews the first exam, the first
radiologist provides a user input 702 via the exam reading tool 706
indicating that first radiologist is ready to review another exam.
In response to such a user input, a second exam that has been
assigned to the first radiologist is directly delivered to the exam
reading tool 706 for review. In some examples, the exam status
indicators 310, 312, 314 dynamically update to reflect that the
exam is being reviewed by the first radiologist in an auto-serve
mode.
[0089] In other examples, the accepted and/or assigned exam is
first placed in the examiner work queue 406, where the exam is
represented by the exam identifier 302. The exam is then opened in
the exam reading tool 706 at a later time in response to, for
example, a user input 702 by the first radiologist (e.g., selecting
the exam identifier 302). In further examples, the first
radiologist selectively moves between the examiner work queue 406
and the exam reading tool 706 to select an exam from the examiner
work queue 406 for review via the exam reading tool 706, return to
the examiner work queue 406 after completing the exam review for
further workload management, and optionally select another exam for
review via the exam reading tool 706. In some examples, the exam
status indicators 310, 312, 314 dynamically update to reflect that
the exam is in the examiner work queue 406 and/or has been
reviewed.
[0090] Changes to the one or more components of the screens 300,
400, 500, 600 in response to the user inputs 702 by the first
radiologist can impact the allocation and/or assignment of exams by
the exam distributor 102 to the first radiologist as well as to one
or more radiologists n. As illustrated in FIG. 7, changes to the
one or more components of the screens 300, 400, 500, 600 in
response to the user inputs 702 by the first radiologist are
dynamically shared via the administrator user interface 202 and/or
the examiner user interface 202n associated with one or more other
radiologists in the network. For example, in response to a change
in a status of the examiner availability status 322 associated with
the first radiologist from "available" to "unavailable", the exam
distributor 102 automatically allocates an exam that would have
been assigned to the first radiologist to a second radiologist n.
In other examples, the second examiner n views the examiner
availability indicator 322 indicating that the first radiologist is
available via the examiner user interface 204n. In view of the
availability of the first radiologist, the second radiologist n
decides, for example, to reassign an exam to the first radiologist,
facilitate an exchange of allocated exams, and/or send a message to
the first radiologist.
[0091] In some examples, the administrator provides one or more
administrator user inputs 704 related to, for example, assignment
of exams, workload thresholds for first radiologists and/or other
radiologists in the shared network, exam attributes, and/or other
administrative criteria related to exam distribution. The user
inputs 704 by the administrator result in dynamic updates to the
components of the screens 300, 400, 500, 600 as viewed by the
radiologists via the examiner user interfaces 204a-n. For example,
upon viewing the allocation/assignment summary 404 associated with
the first radiologist, the administrator may decide to assign the
exam to the first radiologist. Such an assignment dynamically
updates the examiner work queue 406 associated with the first
radiologist and viewable via the examiner user interfaces 204a-n.
In other examples, the administrator can implement one or more
rules modifying a workload threshold of the first radiologist, as
represented by the workload availability indicator 402. Such a
change in the workload availability indicator 402 of the first
radiologist impacts the distribution of exams to other radiologists
n in the network by the exam distributor 102. Thus, in such a
manner, the exam distributor 102, the user interface 126, and, more
generally, the radiology information system 106 provide for a
community-oriented exam distribution and workload management
system.
[0092] A flowchart representative of example machine readable
instructions for implementing the example exam distributor 102 of
FIG. 2 is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. In these examples, the machine
readable instructions comprise a program for execution by a
processor such as the processor 1012 shown in the example processor
platform 1000 discussed below in connection with FIG. 10. The
program can be embodied in software stored on a tangible computer
readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard
drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory
associated with the processor 1012, but the entire program and/or
parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other
than the processor 1012 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated
hardware. Further, although the example program is described with
reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIGS. Band 9, many other
methods of implementing the example exam distributor 102 can
alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the
blocks can be changed, and/or some of the blocks described can be
changed, eliminated, or combined.
[0093] As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 8 and 9
can be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or
machine readable instructions) stored on a tangible computer
readable storage medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory,
a read-only memory (ROM), a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile
disk (DVD), a cache, a random-access memory (RAM) and/or any other
storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for
any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for
brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of
the information). As used herein, the term tangible computer
readable storage medium is expressly defined to include any type of
computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude
propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. As used
herein, "tangible computer readable storage medium" and "tangible
machine readable storage medium" are used interchangeably.
Additionally or alternatively, the example processes of FIGS. 8 and
9 can be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer
and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory
computer and/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive,
a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital
versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other
storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for
any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for
brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of
the information). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer
readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of
computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude
propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. As used
herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as the transition term
in a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as
the term "comprising" is open ended.
[0094] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 800
to distribute a medical exam to a radiologist. The example method
800 implements the exam distributor 102 of FIG. 2. In particular,
the example method 800 includes a method for assigning a medical
exam to a radiologist via the administrator user interface 202 of
FIG. 2. In some examples, the example method 800 can be performed
manually by an administrator. In other examples, the example method
800 can be implemented via one or more rules defined by, for
example, the administrator via the rules creator 210 (FIG. 2).
[0095] The example method 800 begins at block 802 with identifying
an exam that has been automatically allocated to a first
radiologist. In some examples, the exam is automatically allocated
to the first radiologist by the allocation manager 212 based on one
or more rules defined by the rules creator 210 of FIG. 2. The
allocated exam can be represented on a screen (e.g., a first and/or
second screen 300, 400 of FIGS. 3 and 4) of the administrator user
interface 202 by an exam identifier 302.
[0096] At blocks 804-808, the example method 800 includes
identifying one or more characteristics associated with the
allocated exam and/or the first radiologist. For example, at block
804, attributes associated with the allocated exam are identified.
As mentioned above, exam attributes includes, for example, a
modality, a body part under review, a priority level of the exam in
view of patient criticality, and/or a service level agreement that
specifies a time period for review of the exam in order to receive
payment and/or a payment schedule. One or more of the
aforementioned example exam attributes can be represented on a
screen of the administrator user interface 202 by the exam
attribute identifiers 304, 306, 308 (FIGS. 3 and 4).
[0097] At block 806, an availability status of the first
radiologist is identified. For example, the availability of the
first radiologist to review an exam can be represented on screens
300, 400 of the administrator user interface 202 by an examiner
availability indicator 322. In some examples, if the first
radiologist is accessing, for example, the radiology information
system 106, the first radiologist is considered to be available for
purposes of reviewing the allocated exam and the examiner
availability indicator 322 will be highlighted. In other examples,
the examiner availability indicator 322 reflects that the first
radiologist is online but unavailable, working remotely, and/or
offline.
[0098] In some examples, at block 806, the availability of the
first radiologist identified at block 406 is selectively associated
with a profile created using the profile creator 208 (FIG. 2). For
example, the first radiologist can select a profile by interacting
with the profile selector 408 (FIG. 4) and the first radiologist's
availability, workload threshold, and/or workflow are based on the
selected profile. The example method 800 includes considering the
parameters defined by the selected profile in relation to
allocation and/or assignment of the exam.
[0099] At block 808, the example method 800 includes identifying
the radiologist's work queue. As described above, the first
radiologist's examiner work queue 406 (FIG. 4) includes one or more
exams previously assigned to and/or accepted by the first
radiologist. In some examples, the example method 800 includes
identifying the first radiologist's work queue in view of other
radiologists' work queues. For example, block 808 includes
identifying one or more metrics provided by the scorecard 316 (FIG.
3). An administrator can review the total number of assigned,
allocated, and/or accepted exams for the first radiologist relative
to other radiologists, as provided in the examiner summary viewer
318. Other metrics, such as priority levels and/or difficulty
levels of exams allocated to the first radiologist, can also be
considered.
[0100] In reviewing the radiologist work queue at block 808, the
example method 800 includes identifying the first radiologist's
history in accepting exams allocated and/or assigned to the first
radiologist (block 810). The example method 800 at block 810 also
includes identifying the first radiologist's history in initiating
assignment of exams without allocation of the exam by the
allocation manager 212. In some examples, the example method 800 at
block 810 includes identifying historical patterns and trends of
the first radiologist in, for example, rejecting assigned exams
having certain attributes. The historical information identified at
block 810 is based on, for example, the profile creator 208, the
rules creator 210, the allocation manager 212, and/or the
assignment manager 214 (FIG. 2).
[0101] The information concerning the allocated exam at block 802
and the exam characteristics associated with the allocated exam
and/or the first radiologist of blocks 804-810 is stored in the
database 216 of FIG. 2. Additionally, the information of blocks
802-810 can be selectively viewed via the examiner user interfaces
204a-n.
[0102] The example method 800 includes a decision whether to assign
the allocated exam to the first radiologist (block 812). A decision
whether to assign the allocated exam to the first radiologist can
be based on the information related to the exam and/or the first
radiologist identified at blocks 802-810. In considering the one or
more factors of blocks 802-810, the example method 800 provides for
review of exam distribution in view of load-balancing rules.
[0103] At block 814 of the example method 800, a decision is made
to assign the allocated exam to the first radiologist. Assignment
of the exam to the first radiologist is facilitated by the exam
assignment tool 602 (FIG. 6) and implemented by the assignment
manager 214 (FIG. 2). The exam identifier 302 associated with the
assigned exam is displayed via the allocated/assigned exam summary
404 and/or the examiner work queue 406 associated with the first
radiologist and displayed via, for example, the example second
screen 400 (FIG. 4). Additionally, in some examples, the exam
status identifiers 310,312,314 and/or the scorecard 316 are updated
by the exam distributor 102 to reflect the assignment of the exam
to the first radiologist's work queue. Also, in some examples, the
administrator has reviewed the characteristics associated with the
allocated exam and/or the first radiologist of blocks 804-810, but
decides to assign the exam to the first radiologist in spite of one
or more of the characteristics. For example, the administrator can
assign the exam to the first radiologist even if the first
radiologist is not currently available (e.g., is offline).
[0104] At block 816, the administrator has decided not to assign
the allocated exam to the first radiologist. If the exam is not
assigned to the radiologist to whom the allocation manager 212
allocated the exam, block 816 of the example method 800 involves
identifying a second radiologist to review the exam. For example,
the second radiologist can be identified based on availability of
the second radiologist (block 818). In some examples, the second
radiologist's availability is associated with profile created via
the profile creator 208 (FIG. 2) and selected via the profile
selector 408 (FIG. 4). In some examples, the second radiologist is
identified based on the workload of the second radiologist (block
820). For example, if the second radiologist has a workload below a
threshold defined by the rules creator 210 and/or if the second
radiologist's work queue 406 is empty or only partially filled, the
second radiologist is identified as a candidate to review the exam.
Identification of the second radiologist as a candidate can be
performed by the administrator and/or automatically by the exam
distributor 102.
[0105] At block 822, the exam is assigned to the second
radiologist. Assignment of the exam to the second radiologist is
facilitated by the exam assignment tool 602 (FIG. 6) and
implemented by the assignment manager 214 (FIG. 2). The exam
identifier 320 associated with the assigned exam is displayed via
the allocated/assigned exam summary 404 and/or the examiner work
queue 406 associated with the second radiologist and displayed via,
for example, the example second screen 400 (FIG. 4). Additionally,
in some examples, the exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314 and/or
the scorecard 316 are updated by the exam distributor 102 to
reflect the assignment of the exam to the second radiologist's work
queue. Additionally, because the exam has been assigned to the
second radiologist, the exam is removed from the first examiner's
allocated/assigned exam summary 404.
[0106] In operation, the example method 800 provides for an
administrator to review automatic allocation of a medical exam to a
first radiologist and facilitates a decision of the administrator
to assign the allocated exam to the examiner in view of one or more
properties associated with the first radiologist, the exam, and/or
the distribution of exams across the network. Further, the example
method 800 enables the administrator to assign the exam to a second
radiologist based on the second radiologist's availability and/or
workload. In such a manner, the example method 800 provides for
management of exam distribution in view of load-balancing rules as
well as user review of the application of the rules.
[0107] FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 900
for accepting assignment of a medical exam. The example method 900
implements the exam distributor 102 of FIG. 2. In particular, the
example method 900 depicts a method for accepting a medical exam
assigned to a radiologist via the examiner user interface 202a of
FIG. 2. The example method 900 begins at block 902 with updating
the radiologist's availability status. As described above, when the
radiologist accesses the radiology information system 106 (FIG. 1),
the radiologist updates his/her availability status. The examiner
availability indicator 322 visually represents the radiologist's
online availability with respect to, for example, a local presence
at a hospital or a remote presence.
[0108] In some examples, the radiologist is not presently accessing
the radiology information system 106, but is working offline. In
such examples, the examiner availability indicator 322 reflects
that the radiologist is not available. In further examples, when
the examiner accesses the radiology information system 106 and the
radiologist's availability status is updated to reflect an online
presence, the example method 900 include syncing the work the
radiologist completed while offline with the radiology information
system 106 (block 904). For example, if the radiologist started
and/or completed review of one or more exams while working offline,
the exam status indicators 310, 312, 314 update accordingly to
reflect the current status of the exams.
[0109] At block 906, the example method 900 optionally includes
selecting a radiologist profile. As described above, the
radiologist can create one or more profiles via the profile creator
208. Allocation and/or assignment of exams to the radiologist is at
least partially based on the properties of the profile with respect
to radiologist availability and/or specialty. The example method
900 includes creating one or more profiles (block 908) and/or
updating properties associated with one or more profiles (block
910). In selecting a radiologist profile at block 906, the
radiologist can view exams allocated and/or assigned to the
radiologist by the exam distributor 102 based on the criteria of
the selected profile. In some examples, the radiologist profile is
selected by the radiologist interacting with the profile selector
408 via one or more screens of the examiner user interface 204a.
Information associated with one or more profiles is stored in the
database 216 (FIG. 2).
[0110] At block 912, the example method 900 includes identifying
one or more exams assigned to the radiologist by, for example, the
assignment manager 214 based on, for example, the load-balancing
rules defined by the rules creator 210. In some examples, the exam
has been assigned to the examiner by an administrator as described
with respect to the example method 800 of FIG. 8. An assigned exam
is represented in the allocated/assigned exam summary 404 by the
exam identifier 302 (FIG. 4). Information associated with one or
more assigned exams is stored in the database 216.
[0111] At block 913 of the example method 900, implementation of
the exam distributor 102 involves a decision whether to allow the
radiologist to accept and/or reject an assigned exam. In some
examples of the example method 900, the radiologist can only review
assigned exams, update availability status, and/or create/update
profiles without the option of accepting or rejecting an assigned
exam. Such examples of the example method 900 can be implemented to
prevent a radiologist from repeatedly accepting and/or rejecting
exams having only certain exam attributes. If the radiologist is
prevented from accepting and/or rejecting the assigned exam,
according to, for example, one or more rules defined by the rules
creator 210, the example method 900 restricts the radiologist to
viewing the assigned exams as described at block 912. If the
example method 900 provides for the option for the radiologist to
accept and/or reject the assigned exam, the example method 900
proceeds to block 914.
[0112] At block 914, the example method 900 includes a decision
whether to accept the assigned exam. For example, a radiologist can
decide to accept or decline an assigned exam based on one or more
factors, including, but not limited availability, specialty, and/or
exam difficulty level. Acceptance or rejection of the exam is
facilitated via the assignment tool 602 (FIG. 6). The exam
distributor 102 stores information about the acceptance or
rejection of the exam by the radiologist and/or characteristics of
the accepted exam in the database 216 (FIG. 2) for use in future
exam distributions.
[0113] If the radiologist decides to accept the exam, the example
method 900 includes a decision by the radiologist at block 916
whether or not to review the exam at the present time (e.g.,
substantially immediately upon the exam being allocated to the
radiologist and/or upon the radiologist accepting the exam).
[0114] In some examples, the radiologist is available to review
exams and prefers to have the exam delivered for immediate review
via the examiner interface 204a-n (e.g., the exam is opened via the
exam reading tool 706 of FIG. 7) rather than first being delivered
to the radiologist's work queue (e.g., the examiner work queue 406
of FIG. 4). In such examples, at block 918, the exam distributor
102 auto-serves the assigned exam to the radiologist such that the
exam is presented for review substantially in real-time. In some
examples of the example method 900, the radiologist can selectively
decide to have exams successively delivered in auto-serve mode by
the exam distributor 102. For example, after reviewing a first exam
delivered in auto-serve mode, the exam distributor 102 auto-serves
a second exam that has been assigned to the radiologist such that
the radiologist's workflow progresses from reviewing the first exam
to the second exam without the radiologist returning to the work
queue to access the second exam. In such examples, identification
of the assigned exams (e.g., block 912), acceptance of the assigned
exams (e.g., block 914), and review of the exams (e.g., block 916)
occurs without the radiologist leaving the exam reading tool 706 of
the examiner interface 204a-n. In some examples, the exam status
identifiers 310, 312, 314 and/or the scorecard 316 are updated by
the exam distributor 102 to reflect the acceptance and review of
the exam by the radiologist to inform, for example, an
administrator and/or other radiologists in the network that the
exam is a part of the radiologist's workload.
[0115] In other examples, the radiologist accepts an assigned exam,
but chooses not to review the accepted exam at the present time.
For example, the radiologist can review assigned exams as part of
managing his/her workflow, but decide to review and report on the
exam at a later time. In such examples, block 920 includes moving
the accepted exam to the radiologist's work queue, where the exam
identifier 322 associated with the accepted exam is displayed in
the examiner work queue 406. Additionally, in some examples, the
exam status identifiers 310, 312, 314 and/or the scorecard 316 are
updated by the exam distributor 102 to reflect the assignment of
the exam to the radiologist's work queue. In some examples, to
review the exam at a later time, the radiologist returns to the
examiner work queue 406 to selectively open the exam for review via
the exam reading tool 706.
[0116] At block 922, the exam is rejected from review by the
radiologist. Upon rejection of the exam by the radiologist, the
exam is reallocated and/or reassigned by the allocation manager 212
and/or the assignment manager 214 in accordance with one or more
rules defined by the rules creator 210 (FIG. 2). In other examples,
one or more rules prevent the rejected exam from being reallocated
to the radiologist. As described above, upon acceptance and/or
rejection of the allocated exam, corresponding status information
is provided to the administrator and/or the other radiologists of
the network via respective user interfaces 202, 204n.
[0117] The example method 900 also provides for self-assignment of
an exam to the radiologist's work queue. At block 924, the example
method includes identifying exams that have not been allocated by
the allocation manager 212 and/or assigned by the assignment
manager 214. An unallocated exam is identified, for example, based
on a status represented by one or more of the exam status
identifiers 310, 312, 314. At block 926, the example method 900
includes a decision for a radiologist to assign the unallocated
exam to his/her workload. If a decision is made to assign the
unallocated exam to the radiologist, the example method 900
includes the decision whether to review the exam at the present
time as described at block 916 with respect to acceptance of an
assigned exam. For example, the radiologist can identify an
unallocated exam, decide to assign the unallocated exam to himself,
and then review the exam in real-time by having the exam
distributor 102 auto-serve the exam such that the exam is opened
for immediate review (e.g., block 918). In other examples, the
radiologist selects to add the unallocated exam to his/her work
queue (e.g., block 920). Assignment of the unallocated exam is
facilitated by the assignment tool 602 accessed, for example, via
the example first screen 300, which displays an overview of pending
exams. Self-assignment of an exam at block 924 dynamically updates
the status of the self-assigned exam as represented on the
respective user interfaces 202, 204a-n accessed by the
administrator and radiologists. If a decision is made not to
self-assign an unallocated exam, the example method 900 ends.
[0118] In operation, the example method 900 provides for a
radiologist to review exams assigned to the radiologist's work
queue and facilitates acceptance and/or rejection of the assigned
exams from the radiologist's work queue. Further, the example
method 900 accommodates offline work by the radiologist by syncing
the examiner's work and updating exam status accordingly when the
radiologist accesses the radiology information system. The example
method 900 provides for the radiologist to create and/or update
profiles that at least partially control allocation and/or
assignment of the exams. Further, the example method 900 provides
for flexibility in either allowing a radiologist to accept or
reject an assigned exam or limiting the radiologist to only
reviewing exams in the radiologist's work queue to facilitate
balanced distribution of exams. Implementation of the example
method 900 also dynamically updates respective user interfaces
viewed by other radiologists and/or administrators of the network
to provide for collaborative, interactive workflow management.
[0119] The example method 900 also provides for flexibility in
delivering an exam that has been distributed to the radiologist
based on the load-balancing rules. A radiologist can select to
review the exam immediately or substantially immediately upon the
exam being allocated and/or assigned to the radiologist via
auto-serve mode. Auto-serve mode provides for the radiologist to
maximum his/her time by successively delivering exams to the
radiologist via an exam reading screen of the examiner interface,
without requiring the radiologist to switch between the examiner
work queue and the exam reading screen to retrieve assigned exams.
However, the example method 900 also provides for the radiologist
to save the exam to the examiner work queue where the exam can be
identified as part of the radiologist's workload and retrieved for
review at a later time. Such examples provide for the radiologist
to view the exam in the radiologist's work queue as part of
workload management. The radiologist can evaluate the exam's
priority in view of other exams contained in the radiologist's work
queue. Thus, the example method 900 provides for an
efficiency-driven approach to exam assignment and review by
accommodating for radiologist workflow preferences.
[0120] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example processor platform
1000 capable of executing the instructions of FIGS. 7 and 8 to
implement the exam distributor 102 of FIG. 2. The processor
platform 1000 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a
mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as
an IPAD.TM.), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet
appliance, or any other type of computing device.
[0121] The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example
includes a processor 1012. The processor 1012 of the illustrated
example is hardware. For example, the processor 1012 can be
implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits,
microprocessors or controllers from any desired family or
manufacturer.
[0122] The processor 1012 of the illustrated example includes a
local memory 1013 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1012 of the
illustrated example is in communication with a main memory
including a volatile memory 1014 and a non-volatile memory 1016 via
a bus 1018. The volatile memory 1014 can be implemented by
Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random
Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM)
and/or any other type of random access memory device. The
non-volatile memory 1016 can be implemented by flash memory and/or
any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory
1014, 1016 is controlled by a memory controller.
[0123] The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also
includes an interface circuit 1020. The interface circuit 1020 can
be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an
Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI
express interface.
[0124] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1022
are connected to the interface circuit 1020. The input device(s)
1022 permit(s) a user to enter data and commands into the processor
1012. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an
audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard,
a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball,
isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.
[0125] One or more output devices 1024 are also connected to the
interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example. The output
devices 1024 can be implemented, for example, by display devices
(e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting
diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display
(CRT), a touchscreen, a tactile output device, a light emitting
diode (LED), a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1020
of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics
driver card, a graphics driver chip or a graphics driver
processor.
[0126] The interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example also
includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver,
a transceiver, a modem and/or network interface card to facilitate
exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of
any kind) via a network 1026 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a
digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a
cellular telephone system, etc.).
[0127] The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also
includes one or more mass storage devices 1028 for storing software
and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 1028 include
floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray
disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD)
drives.
[0128] The coded instructions 1032 of FIGS. 7 and 8 can be stored
in the mass storage device 1028, in the volatile memory 1014, in
the non-volatile memory 1016, and/or on a removable tangible
computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.
[0129] Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of
manufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of
this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent
covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly
falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.
* * * * *