Method and system for identifying and anticipating adverse drug events

Abstract

The present invention is a system and method for anticipating potential Adverse Drug Events (ADE) in a patient's medication regimen by integrating data typically located in laboratory and pharmacy information systems and filtering the data using predefined criteria. The present invention includes a system for anticipating a possible ADE through the use of a search engine that compares integrated data from laboratory and pharmacy information systems and compares it to predefined ADE rules defining normal ranges for a particular laboratory test. If an abnormal test value is received and a drug in the patient's medication regimen satisfies a drug included in an ADE rule then an alert procedure is triggered which allows for a period of time wherein the patient's lab and pharmacy data is monitored in order to determine if a proper corrective action is undertaken, and if no corrective action or an improper corrective action is taken within that period of time, the healthcare provider is warned of a potential ADE.

1 . A method of anticipating adverse drug episodes comprising:
 defining a plurality of ADE rules having data fields for a lab test name, a value for the lab test, and a drug; and   filtering a patient's lab data and pharmacy data using the plurality of definitions.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising the additional step of creating a normalized drug table from a patient's pharmacy data, the pharmacy table having data fields for each drug administered, a dosage, and a time administered. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , and further comprising the additional step of creating a normalized lab table from a patient's lab data, the lab table having data fields for a patient id, time of test, name of test, and a test result. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the step of filtering includes the steps of extracting a lab name, a result of the lab from the lab table and a drug from the drug table and matching it to a lab name, lab result and drug within an ADE rule. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising the additional step of importing laboratory data and pharmacy data from a healthcare facility. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , and further comprising the additional step of verifying imported lab data or pharmacy data is formatted in accordance with a predefined format. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising the additional steps of computing a cumulative dosage for a drug within a 24 hour period from a date of administration. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ADE rules also includes a data field containing a waiting period for a proper corrective action. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , and further comprising the additional steps of filtering subsequent lab data or pharmacy data to determine if a proper corrective action has occurred. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , and further comprising the additional step of alerting a health care provider when a waiting period for a proper corrective action has expired without a proper corrective action occurring. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , and further comprising the additional step of adjusting a waiting period based on a test lab value. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8  and further comprising the additional step of adjusting a waiting period based on previous lab test values. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the lab/data definition includes data fields for associated drugs. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the additional step of filtering a patient's previous pharmacy data for an associated drug. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the lab/data definition includes data fields for an associated test lab and result. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the additional step of filtering a patient's lab data for an associated test lab and result. 
     
     
         17 . A system for anticipating adverse drug events comprising:
 a central processor having a search engine therein; and   an ADE rule database in communication with the server.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the central processor is in communication with a computer network. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the computer network. is an intranet. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , and further comprising a laboratory and a pharmacy database. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the central processor includes a web server hosting a web site therein and in communication with an intranet. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the central processor is in communication with a pharmacy information system and a laboratory information system. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the central processor is in communication with a nursing station at a medical facility. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the central processor is in communication with a paging system. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the central processor includes a web server, an application server, a database server, and a directory server. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the central processor includes an application for reformatting and integrating pharmacy data and lab data. 
     
     
         27 . A method of anticipating adverse drug episodes comprising:
 defining a plurality of ADE rules having data fields for a lab test name, a value for the lab test, and a drug;   storing the ADE rules within an ADE rules database;   importing a patient's lab data and pharmacy data;   storing a patient's lab result, the lab test name, and a name of a drug administered to the patient within a database;   matching a patient's lab result, test name, and administered drug with a lab value, lab name and drug within an ADE rule.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , and further comprising the additional steps of extracting a lab test name, a lab test result from a patient's lab data and extracting a drug name from a patient's pharmacy data. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of storing includes the steps of storing a patient's lab result and the lab test name within a lab database and storing a name of a drug administered within a pharmacy database. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , and further comprising the additional steps alerting a health care provider when a match occurs. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , and further comprising the additional step of storing a patient's hospital unit, doctor, diagnosis, gender, and age within a database. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the ADE rule includes a data field for storing a hospital unit, doctor, diagnosis, gender, and age. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , and further comprising the additional steps of matching a patient's hospital unit, doctor, diagnosis, gender, and age with a respective value in an ADE rule.