Generating and Processing Medical Alerts for Re-admission Reductions

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes accessing information indicative of a question to be answered by a medical patient, with the question being included in a medical assessment questionnaire of a medical service provider; receiving information indicative of a selection of one or more triggering events for answers to the question; and generating, for the question, a medical alert rule, with the medical alert rule comprising instructions to perform operations comprising: receiving an answer of the medical patient to the question; detecting, based on contents of the received answer, the triggering event for the question; and generating a medical questionnaire alert to notify the medical service provider that the medical patient has answered the question with the answer that is defined as being unacceptable.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 accessing information indicative of a question to be answered by a medical patient, with the question being included in a medical assessment questionnaire of a medical service provider;   receiving information indicative of a selection of one or more triggering events for answers to the question, with a triggering event specifying that the medical service provider has specified that a particular answer to the question is unacceptable and requires that the medical service provider be notified of the unacceptable answer; and   generating, for the question, a medical alert rule, with the medical alert rule comprising instructions to perform operations comprising:
 receiving an answer of the medical patient to the question; 
 detecting, based on contents of the received answer, the triggering event for the question; and 
 generating, based on detection of the triggering event, a medical questionnaire alert to notify the medical service provider that the medical patient has answered the question with the answer that is defined as being unacceptable. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the answer of the medical patient to the question;   following receipt of the answer, executing the medical alert rule;   detecting, based on contents of the answer and based on execution of the medical alert rule, the triggering event that the answer of the medical patient is unacceptable and requires that the medical service provider be notified of the unacceptable answer; and   generating, based on detection of the triggering event, the medical questionnaire alert to notify the medical service provider that the medical patient has answered the question with the answer that is defined as being unacceptable.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 storing, in a data repository, the medical questionnaire alert in association with information that identifies the medical patient who is associated with the medical questionnaire alert.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical patient comprises a first medical patient, and wherein the method further comprises:
 accessing appointment information for the medical service provider, with the accessed appointment information specifying one or more appointments that are scheduled with the medical service provider;   for an appointment that is scheduled with the medical service provider, determining a second medical patient who is associated with the appointment;   determining a generated medical questionnaire alerts for the second medical patient;   using the accessed appointment information,
 generating information for an appointment graphical user interface that when rendered on a display device comprises: 
 one or more first visual representations of the one or more appointments that are scheduled with the medical service provider; and 
 a second visual representation of the generated medical questionnaire alert for the second medical patient; 
 wherein the second visual representation is associated in the graphical user interface with the one of the one or more first visual representations that represents the appointment of the second medical patient, to alert the medical service provider that the second medical patient has an appointment with the medical service provider and that the second medical patient has a medical issue to be addressed by the medical service provider. 
   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical patient comprises a first medical patient, and wherein the method further comprises:
 accessing patient profile information for a second medical patient;   identifying a medical questionnaire alert for the second medical patient;   generating information for a patient profile graphical user interface that when rendered on a display device comprises:
 a first visual representation of the patient profile information; and 
 a second visual representation of the identified medical questionnaire alert for the second medical patient and a status of the medical questionnaire alert, with the status specifying whether the alert is pending or resolved; 
 wherein the second visual representation is juxtaposed to the first visual representation in the patient profile graphical user interface. 
   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 accessing information indicative of a plurality of medical questionnaire alerts for the medical service provider;   aggregating the plurality of medical questionnaire alerts together;   generating information for an alert management graphical user interface that when rendered on a display device comprises:
 visual representations of the aggregated plurality of medical questionnaire alerts. 
   
     
     
         7 . A method, comprising:
 transmitting, to a client computing device associated with a user, information indicative of a risk factor questionnaire, with the risk factor questionnaire comprising a plurality of questions regarding risk factors of a medical procedure performed on the user;   periodically receiving, from the client computing device, information indicative of answers to the plurality of questions regarding the risk factors of the medical procedure;   analyzing, by one or more processing devices and over a predefined period of time, the information that is periodically received;   detecting, by the one or more processing devices and based on analyzing, that the user is at risk of readmission to a medical facility;   generating, by the one or more processing devices, an action to be performed by a member of the medical facility, with performance of the action reducing the risk of readmission relative to other risks of readmission that are independent of performance of the action; and   transmitting, to a client computing device associated with the medical facility, an alert of the generated action to promote the member of the medical facility to perform the action.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein detecting, by the one or more processing devices and based on analyzing, that the user is at risk of readmission to a medical facility comprises:
 detecting an increase in a severity of a medical condition of the user during one or more time intervals in predefined period of time, relative to a severity of the medical condition during other time intervals in the predefined period of time.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 determining that the detected increase exceeds a threshold level; and   wherein detecting, by the one or more processing devices and based on analyzing, that the user is at risk of readmission to a medical facility comprises:
 based on determining that the detected increase exceeds the threshold level, detecting, by the one or more processing devices and based on analyzing, that the user is at risk of readmission to a medical facility comprises. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 waiting, for a predefined period of time, for information specifying that the member of the medical facility has performed the action;   after the predefined period of time has elapsed, escalating the alert to one or more other members of the medical facility, wherein the alert is escalated by notifying the one or more other members of the medical facility.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 generating information for a graphical user interface that when rendered on a display device comprises:   a first visual indicator of first answers of the user to a first question pertaining to a first one of the risk factors, with the first answers being displayed in the graphical user interface over a period of time; and   a second visual indicator of second answers of the user to a second question pertaining to a second one of the risk factors, with the second answers being displayed in the graphical user interface over the period of time.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 exporting the generated information for the graphical user interface, with the information being exported to a client computing device associated with one or more of a government entity, a history, an electronic medical record entity, and a business intelligence entity.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the graphical user interface further comprises:
 a visual indicator of the alert and an explanation of the reason for the alert.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the risk of readmission is associated with a particular risk factor from the risk factors, wherein the information indicative of answers to the plurality of questions comprises first information, and wherein the method further comprising:
 receiving information specifying that the member of the medical facility has performed the action;   following receipt of the information specifying that the member of the medical facility has performed the action,
 periodically receiving, from the client computing device, second information indicative of answers to questions regarding the particular risk factor; 
 analyzing, by one or more processing devices and over a predefined period of time, the second information in comparison to the first information; 
 determining, by the one or more processing devices and based on analyzing, that performance of that action has decreased the risk of readmission relative to the risk of readmission prior to performance of the action. 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the risk of readmission is associated with a particular risk factor from the risk factors, wherein the information indicative of answers to the plurality of questions comprises first information, and wherein the method further comprising:
 receiving information specifying that the member of the medical facility has performed the action;   following receipt of the information specifying that the member of the medical facility has performed the action,
 periodically receiving, from the client computing device, second information indicative of answers to questions regarding the particular risk factor; 
 analyzing, by one or more processing devices and over a predefined period of time, the second information in comparison to the first information; 
 determining, by the one or more processing devices and based on analyzing, that the risk of readmission following performance of the action is unchanged; and 
   generating, by the one or more processing devices, another action to be performed by a member of the medical facility, with performance of the other action reducing the risk of readmission relative to other risks of readmission that are independent of performance of the other action.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the risk of readmission is associated with a particular risk factor from the risk factors, wherein the information indicative of answers to the plurality of questions comprises first information, and wherein the method further comprising:
 receiving information specifying that the member of the medical facility has performed the action;   following receipt of the information specifying that the member of the medical facility has performed the action,
 periodically receiving, from the client computing device, second information indicative of answers to questions regarding the particular risk factor; 
 analyzing, by one or more processing devices and over a predefined period of time, the second information in comparison to the first information; 
 determining, by the one or more processing devices and based on analyzing, that the risk of readmission following performance of the action is above a threshold level; and 
   generating, by the one or more processing devices, another action to be performed by a member of the medical facility, with performance of the other action reducing the risk of readmission relative to other risks of readmission that are independent of performance of the other action.   
     
     
         17 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 transmitting, to a client computing device associated with a medical patient, information indicative of a risk factor questionnaire of a medical service provider, with the risk factor questionnaire comprising a plurality of questions regarding risk factors of the medical patient;   periodically receiving, from the client computing device, information indicative of answers to the plurality of questions regarding the risk factors of the medical procedure;   accessing, from a data repository, a medical alert rule, with the medical alert rule specifying one or more instructions for detecting a triggering event, with the triggering event specifying that the medical service provider has specified that a particular answer to a question is unacceptable and requires that the medical service provider be notified of the unacceptable answer;   detecting, by one or more processing devices in the received information indicative of answers, the triggering event for at least one of the answers, with the triggering event specifying that the medical service provider has specified that the at least one of the answers to the question is unacceptable and requires that the medical service provider be notified of the unacceptable answer;   determining, based on detection of the triggering event, that the user is at risk of readmission to a medical facility;   generating, by the one or more processing devices, an action to be performed by a member of the medical facility, with performance of the action reducing the risk of readmission relative to other risks of readmission that are independent of performance of the action; and   transmitting, to a client computing device associated with the medical facility, an alert of the generated action to promote the member of the medical facility to perform the action and to notify the member of the unacceptable answer.