Abstract:
A method for analyzing records in a data base which collects predetermined data and creates or appends a record, assigns individual conditions to homogeneous groups, retrieves rules, applies the rules to the data, reviews results generated from applying the rules to the data and generates at least one message.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to the evaluation and management of health problems and related disabilities. More particularly, this invention relates to the use of integrated structured methods, information systems, decision rules and practice guidelines to improve outcomes. 
     The present processes of medical diagnosis, treatment, and management of functional recovery are inconsistent. Often, the processes used for different individuals having similar health problems will vary significantly, yielding different results for each individual. Problems with the acquisition, recording, sharing, storage, comparison, and use of health and functional data underlie much of the observed inconsistency as detailed in the recent National Institute of Medicine reports on health care quality, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Inconsistent care can be a major cause of medical errors, unnecessary lost time, and unnecessary costs. To the extent that people with health problems seek or receive diagnosis and treatment from a variety of sources or practitioners, the problems can be compounded. 
     Common problems with medical and disability data can include:
         Incomplete collection of information needed for decision-making   Vague or incomplete descriptions of mechanisms of injury or illness, symptoms or signs   Conclusions or labels rather than underlying mechanisms of injury or illness, symptoms and signs   Illegible recording of data   Recording in chronological order rather than by problem   Use of paper records which cannot be easily sequenced, sorted, arrayed, compared, processed, or summarised   Existence of records in multiple locations   Lost, misfiled, or inaccessible records       

     Even when electronic medical and disability management record keeping systems are used, common problems can include:
         Storage of data in a manner such that it cannot be easily sequenced, sorted, arrayed, compared, processed, or summarised   Incompatible record formats or information systems within institutions and among parties involved in managing health or disability to another   Difficulty transferring information from one party involved in managing health or disability to another       

     Practitioners rely on a knowledge base that was acquired during their initial training, reinforced or changed by experience, as well as continuing education, which is often sporadic and of variable quality itself. Consequently, problems often observed with the process of medical care are not only due to data collection, but can also be due to lack of a systematic approach to each class of health problems. Because comparisons to medical evidence are often not made during the process of care with respect to a class of health problems, errors in diagnosis and treatment result. The usual clinical and medical management approach is not systematic due to failure to compare each situation with validated information about:
         Sensitive and specific, uniquely diagnostic symptoms, signs, manoeuvres and tests   Proven effective treatments   The effect of prior tests and treatments   The history and time course of a health problem   The context of the patient&#39;s health complaints       

     Failure to consider the context and history of a health problem also contributes to variation in care. In making medical decisions, practitioners may not take into account:
         The context and history of health complaints   Prior health problems and care   Previous provision and effectiveness of tests and treatment   The natural history, or course of a problem if untreated, compared to the course if treated   The course and effectiveness of the body&#39;s own healing process, sometimes in the face of continued exposures to etiologic factors for disease or injury   The contribution, or lack thereof, of a patient&#39;s own responsibility for health, health behaviours, and compliance with activity and treatment recommendations   The patient&#39;s social and work situation       

     Problems frequently observed in the management of functional disability management include:
         Assumptions that inactivity will enable healing and recovery   Lack of attention to the typical recovery period for a given health problem   Lack of attention to the essential physical and mental demands of work or school   Inattention to the social and work context of functional disability   Failure to use limited activity at work or school to support functional recovery
 
Finally, most health care systems lack timely and effective methods to measure patient and provider satisfaction with care, or to measure functional outcomes of care and disability management. There is therefore no way to correlate the process of care with its outcomes. Feedback of these data can lead to improvement in care.
 
Practitioners often do not give patients enough understandable information to make informed decisions about their care and functional recovery. Valid information is not easily available elsewhere. Consequently, patients may ask for ineffective or unnecessary care, or may acquiesce to care or activity restriction that is not in their best interest based on the medical evidence.
       

     In response to variations in care and disability management and consequent unnecessary costs and functional disability, self-insured employers, insurers and other payers have attempted to manage care and disability. They have effectively become part of the health care system. However, the ability of case managers, utilisation review personnel, disease managers, and others acting on behalf of employees or payers to make logical, consistent decisions suffers from the same problems as those confronting health care professionals. Their access to data and consistent processes is in fact often worse, as they are one level removed from health care transactions and are hampered by communication problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a method for analysing records in a data base which collects predetermined data and creates or appends a record, assigns individual conditions to homogeneous groups, retrieves rules, applies the rules to the data, reviews results generated from applying the rules to the data and generates at least one message. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings, the present invention is shown first as a physical representation of information, information repositories, rules and output such as case profiles and reports. Second, the process is shown as a continuing sequence of actions interrelating a number of roles in the medical and disability management process. 
         FIG. 1  is an exemplary embodiment of the physical components for the guideline-based, rules-guided, computer-assisted medical and disability management system. 
         FIG. 2   a  is an exemplary embodiment of the methods for inputting and indexing data into the electronic database. 
         FIG. 2   b  is an exemplary embodiment of the process followed to compare new and accumulated data to embedded guideline rules, and use the results to reduce errors and variation in care and absence. 
         FIG. 2   c  is an exemplary embodiment of the generation for output from the system by applying descriptive and analytic techniques to the data in the database and collected outcome, action and satisfaction data and reporting the results in actionable form. It also shows use of the reports to facilitate discussion and plan improvements. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An exemplary physical embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 1  in a physical model for a rules-guided, guideline-based, computer assisted medical and disability management system. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the present invention physically includes computer graphic user interfaces or other means of data entry to capture patient information. For example, the patient information can include demographics, employment information, mechanism of injury, etiologic factors of disease, medical history, physical examination data, job data, functional abilities, satisfaction, and other types of information. The patient information can be acquired by call center personnel, care managers  1 , or directly from providers&#39; computers or other data entry devices  2 . In addition or in the alternative, patient information can also be acquired from employers  3  or from the patients themselves  4 . A search engine  5  processes these data to determine if the entity, such as a patient, employer or policy holder has records already stored in a database  8  related to these entities. Additional components are a rules base  6 , one or more rules engines  7 , analytic processes to analyse output in the aggregate  10 , printers  11  to print hard copy reports  12  and display devices to display information to care managers or providers  13 , and printers for authorisation letters  14 . 
     A process for using the present invention in accordance with exemplary embodiments is shown in  FIG. 2  includes: data input; [demographic data; wherein demographic data comprises; patient name, patient age, patient gender, patient residence, patient education level, patient income, number or names of patient&#39;s dependants, patient&#39;s spouse name, and spouse&#39;s occupation. Health data; wherein health data comprises; current symptoms, mechanism of illness or injury, other current and past medical problems and treatments, previous episodes, outcomes, level of function, satisfaction with care; Occupational and environmental data; wherein occupational and environmental data comprises; occupation, job functions, work and home exposures, work and home psychosocial environment, job satisfaction, work relationships, absence history. Current and past patient medical history, current observations and findings, test results, diagnoses, past observations and treatments, current prescribed treatments, proposed or planned tests or treatments, patient compliance, psychosocial and work factors affecting disability, planned or proposed time off work, activities the patient can perform safely, activities that should be avoided, protective or assistive equipment or devices, a plan of increasing activity to reduce symptoms and restore functional abilities, an analysis of work-relatedness if relevant; Specific incidents or exposures in the workplace: Data for management of disability; wherein data for management of disability comprises; job type, requirements and essential functions, patient income, patient education and training, work relationships and other employment factors, personnel issues, absence history, previous episodes and outcomes records matching or new records creation; matching against guideline-based rules and criteria for scoring questionnaires; return of feedback to providers, care managers and others; discussions or changes in plans if proposed actions or opinions do not match criteria; analysis and display of aggregate resource use, time off work, outcomes, satisfaction, and so on; discussion and planning for improvement; and collection, distribution and discussion of outcome and satisfaction data correlated with care and activity modification. 
     The manner of using the guideline-based, rules-guided, computer assisted medical and disability management process differs from most processes currently in use. As an overview, the structure of the components described above and the embedded business process result in much less variation in care and disability management, fewer errors, better satisfaction with care, better functional outcomes, and lower costs and risks. 
     The process starts when a person  20  seeks health care from a health professional  19  or reports a health concern to his or her employer  21  or makes a claim for benefits to a payer  22  by telephone  15 , electronically  16  or on paper  17 . The health professional  19  then reports case data by telephone  15 , to a care manager or payer via a call center  22  or on paper  17 , or directly to the application electronically  16 , typically via the Internet  18 . Paper records and bills can be mailed and received at the payer or care management organisation  23 . Telephonic and paper input is entered into the data system by the care manager or someone else at the payer or care management organisation  1 . The received data is stored in a database  8 . It is matched against existing records  25  so that additional records for existing cases or other records can be appended to those cases  27 . If there is no existing case or other record is found, a new record is created  26 . 
     In some instances of the system, an algorithm can be used to separate cases by the likely degree of management needed. 
     A rules engine  7  then matches collected data against rules for indications for potentially serious medical conditions  28 . If any of these indications are present, a message to that effect  34  is sent to the provider, on-line or by other means, and to the care manager  22 , if involved in the case. The provider should then order tests or refer the patient to confirm or rule out the presence of such health conditions  40 , and treat or refer them. The care manager should ensure that this is done and so note the actions in the database. 
     The rules engine  7  then matches the past medical history, risks for disease, biological or chemical exposure or mechanism of injury, reported symptoms, physical signs, and provider-diagnosis reported diagnosis to criteria for that diagnosis  29 . This process also assigns the diagnosis to a proprietary diagnostic group of synonymous diagnoses, generally those with similar treatment patterns. If the data match the criteria, a message to that effect  36  is sent to the provider and the care manager. If not, a message suggesting rethinking the diagnosis  35  is sent. 
     The rules engine  7  also matches the patient&#39;s current functional abilities, prescription for graded increases in activity, and provider-imposed activity restrictions to guideline-based criteria  30 . It is aimed at assisting or supporting functional recovery by providing modified work that does not aggravate the situation but does provide psychosocial support by returning the person to work or school. We are also checking that the provider has prescribed progressive activity to recondition the person and prevent recurrences. Increasing activity relieves pain and other symptoms as well. Activity modification, both initial restriction and later graded increases, is a key element in recovery from many common health problems. 
     The rules engine  7  compares the data input to known risk factors for delayed functional recovery  31 . It compiles a list of any such factors located, and sends a message with the list  37  to the care manager  22  and the health care professional, suggesting that the care manager or provider formulate and input a plan to manage these risks and ensure timely functional recovery. 
     If a referral is listed in a treatment plan or is requested, the rules engine  7  compares the submitted indications, diagnosis, contraindications, prior tests and treatment, results of prior tests and treatment, and time from the date of onset to guideline-based criteria  32 . If the request and associated data match the criteria, a message  38  is sent to the provider stating that the request was appropriate. A similar message  39  suggesting authorising payment for the referral is sent to the care manager, who then makes the authorisation, in the absence of other information to the contrary. 
     If a significant test or procedure is listed in a proposed treatment plan or requested independently, the rules engine  7  compares the submitted indications, diagnosis, contraindications, prior tests and treatment, results of prior tests and treatment, and time from the date of onset, to guideline-based criteria  33 . If the request and associated data match the criteria, a message  38  is sent to the provider stating that the request was appropriate. A similar message  39  suggesting authorising payment for the test or procedure is sent to the care manager, who then makes the authorisation, in the absence of other information to the contrary. If the request does not match criteria, a message to that effect is sent to the provider and the care manager, who should then discuss more appropriate alternatives for testing or treatment  42 . 
     This series of actions  28 - 33  is repeated for each set of data from a subsequent contact with the health system or as other relevant data become available. 
     The present invention includes a series of processes to track statistics and match data to provide a quantitative basis for quality improvement. The software application can compile and display reports on variance in resource use and time loss  43 , typically control charts, run charts and comparative tables  47 ; statistics on individual resource use and appropriateness  44 , typically provider or care manager profiles  48 ; and performance comparisons  45 , including benchmark comparisons  49 . These data can then be used to discuss opportunities for improvement in medical care quality, planning and target setting to measure improvement  52 . 
     The application also generates the comparison messages described above  46 , in aggregate and sends them to the supervisor  55  as well as the provider and care manager. 
     Another aspect of the system is the collection, correlation and feedback of patient surveys of satisfaction and functional and other outcome data  58 . Satisfaction and outcome data are indicators of dimensions of medical quality. Outcome data can enhance the research support, or lack thereof, for the effectiveness of various treatments and activity modifications, as well as provider and employer behaviours that enhance or delay functional recovery. 
     Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. For example, the guideline-based, computer assisted medical and disability management process can use other hardware platforms or software, for example a server installation or palm device. 
     Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.