Pet evaluation and triage system

Abstract

A system is provided to provide triage recommendations for animals. The system accesses a syndrome mapping of syndromes to complaints, each syndrome having a triage category. The system accesses a complaint mapping of complaints to symptoms. Each symptom for a complaint has a weight. The system receives indications of a current complaint and current symptoms of an animal. Each current symptom has a score. The system identifies the triage category based on a syndrome to which the current complaint and the current symptoms apply, factoring in the weights and the scores. The system provides a recommendation for the animal based on the identified triage category.

1 . A method performed by one or more computing systems for providing triage recommendations for animals, the method comprising:
 accessing a syndrome mapping of syndromes to complaints, each syndrome having a triage category;   accessing a complaint mapping of complaints to symptoms, each symptom for a complaint having a weight;   receiving indications of a current complaint and current symptoms of an animal, each current symptom having a score;   identifying the triage category based on a syndrome to which the current complaint is mapped, the current complaint, and the current symptoms and based on the weights and scores; and   indicating a recommendation for the animal based on the identified triage category.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each symptom for a complaint has a weight and the identifying of the triage category is based on a combination of the scores of the weights of the current symptoms. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the identifying of the triage category is based on a current temperature of the animal. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each complaint is associated with a minimum triage category and the identifying of the triage category is based on the minimum triage category for the current complaint. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each symptom is associated with a minimum triage category and the identified triage category is based on the minimum triage category for a current symptom. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a triage category is selected from a group consisting of emergency, urgent, seek medical advice, worrisome, and non-threatening. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each triage category is associated with a time within which care is to be provided. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 indicating that an electronic consultation is not available based on the current complaint, based on the triage category being emergency, and based on the triage category being seek medical advice when a base response time for seeking medical advice cannot be met; and 
 when an electronic consultation is available, setting a response time based on hours of operation of a clinic. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 indicating the response time; 
 receiving an indication that an electronic consultation is approved; and 
 directing the conducting of the electronic consultation. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the conducting of the electronic consultation proceeds only after review of the indications of the current complaint and current symptoms. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving a request for an electronic check; 
 when an electronic check is due,
 receiving an indication of whether the animal is not improving; and 
 when the animal is not improving, receiving an indication of a symptom; and 
 
 conducting the electronic check. 
 
     
     
         12 . A method performed by one or more computing systems for specifying a syndrome relating to analysis of a condition of an animal, the method comprising:
 receiving specifications of complaints;   receiving specifications of symptoms;   for each complaint,
 receiving an indication of one or more symptoms associated with that complaint; and 
 generating a mapping of that complaint to those symptoms; and 
   for each syndrome,
 receiving a minimum triage category for that syndrome; 
 receiving a signalment for that syndrome; 
 receiving one or more complaints for that syndrome; and 
 generating a mapping of that syndrome to the minimum triage category, the signalment, and the one or more complaints. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the complaints include a chief complaint and a secondary complaint. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising, for each complaint, receiving a weight for each symptom associated with that complaint. 
     
     
         15 . One or more computing systems for providing triage recommendations for animals, the one or more computing systems comprising:
 one or more computer-readable storage mediums for storing:
 a syndrome mapping of syndromes to complaints, each syndrome having a triage category; 
 a complaint mapping of complaints to symptoms, each symptom for a complaint having a weight; and 
 computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more computing systems to:
 receive indications of a current complaint and current symptoms of an animal, each current symptom having a score; 
 identify the triage category based on a syndrome to which the current complaint is mapped, the current complaint, and the current symptoms and based on the weights and scores; and 
 indicate a recommendation for the animal based on the identified triage category; and 
 
   one or more processors for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the one or more computer-readable storage mediums.   
     
     
         16 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 15  wherein each symptom for a complaint has a weight and the identification of the triage category is based on a combination of the scores and the weights of the current symptoms. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 15  wherein each complaint is associated with a minimum triage category and the identifying of the triage category is based on the minimum triage category for the current complaint. 
     
     
         18 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 15  wherein each symptom is associated with a minimum triage category and the identified triage category is based on the minimum triage category for a current symptom. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 15  wherein the instructions further control the one or more computing systems to:
 indicate that an electronic consultation is not available based on the current complaint, based on the triage category being emergency, and based on the triage category being seek medical advice when a base response time for seeking medical advice cannot be met; and 
 when an electronic consultation is available, set a response time based on hours of operation of a clinic. 
 
     
     
         20 . The one or more computing systems of  claim 19  wherein the instructions further control the one or more computing systems to:
 indicate the response time; 
 receive an indication that an electronic consultation is approved; and 
 direct the conducting of the electronic consultation.