Abstract:
A method for reviewing a document using a computing device, the computing device comprising a display for displaying the document in a user interface (UI) and one or more processors, the processor for executing a plurality of computer readable instructions, the computer readable instruction for implementing the method, the method includes displaying to a user within a document one or more pinned indicators, each of the one or more pinned indicators associated with respective certain information in the document, detecting the selection of one of the one or more pinned indicators, directing the user to the certain information associated with the selected pinned indicator, and receiving a confirmation that the user has reviewed the certain information associated with the selected pinned indication.

Description:
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 
     All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in official governmental records but, otherwise, all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a mobile device. More specifically, the present invention relates to the use of a mobile device within a medical facility. 
     In a medical facility, one of the critical jobs for caring physicians, clinicians, analysts, etc., is creating and reviewing patient notes before the note is routed to the next level. Electronic health records are capable of generating patient clinical reports (e.g, a Discharge summary) that can be as short as one page, or as long as 20-30 pages. In a typical clinical workflow, the attending nurse documents the initial observations of the patient like vitals, chief complaint, review of system, social history, family history, etc. before routing the notes to the physician. The physician completes the assessment and plan, etc., reviews the entire note and signs off the note to the billing department. 
     As indicated, patient clinical reports can be as long as 20 to 30 pages. An attending nurse, for example, indicates a patient critical observation in the clinical notes to alert the attending physician. Currently, there is no way to ensure that the physician does not miss the patient critical information, nor is there a way to ensure/enforce the physician to review these critical areas before the note can be routed to the next level. 
     Therefore, there exists a need for an improved method for electronic document. This and other needs are addressed by one or more aspects of the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in, the context of healthcare applications, the present invention is not limited to use only in this context, as will become apparent from the following summaries and detailed descriptions of aspects, features, and one or more embodiments of the present invention. 
     Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention relates to method for reviewing a document using a computing device, the computing device comprising a display for displaying the document in a user interface (UI) and one or more processors, the processor for executing a plurality of computer readable instructions, the computer readable instruction for implementing the method. The method includes displaying to a user within a document one or more pinned indicators, each of the one or more pinned indicators associated with respective certain information in the document, detecting the selection of one of the one or more pinned indicators, directing the user to the certain information associated with the selected pinned indicator, and receiving a confirmation that the user has reviewed the certain information associated with the selected pinned indication. 
     In a feature of this aspect, each of the one or more pinned indicators includes a scroll bar indicator, the scroll bar indicator displayed in a scroll bar in the UI. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the user is directed to the certain information comprises automatically scrolling the document to the location of the certain information associated with the scroll bar indicator. 
     In another feature of this aspect, each of the one or more pinned indicators further includes an in-doc indicator, wherein the in-doc indicator visually highlights the certain information associated with the pinned indicator. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the method further includes receiving an indication that certain information in the document has been selected to be pinned, and generating the pinned indicator associated with the selected certain information. 
     In another feature of this aspect, generating the pinned indicator comprises, generating the in-doc indicator including visually highlighting the selected certain information, and generating and displaying the scroll bar indicator such the scroll bar indicator visually indicates where in the document the selected certain information is located. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the method further includes requesting the user confirm that the certain information associated with the selected pinned indicator has been reviewed by the user, and generating a confirm indicator when the confirmation has been received, wherein the confirm indicator is visually displayed next to the scroll bar indicator associated with the certain information. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the user is prevented from routing the document when one or more pinned indicators have not been confirmed by the user. 
     Another aspect of the present invention relates to a computing device comprising a display for displaying a document over a user interface (UI) and one or more processors, the one or more processors for executing a plurality of computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions for implementing a method for reviewing the document, the method comprising the steps of displaying to a user within a document one or more pinned indicators, each of the one or more pinned indicators associated with respective certain information in the document, detecting the selection of one of the one or more pinned indicators, directing the user to the certain information associated with the selected pinned indicator, and receiving a confirmation that the user has reviewed the certain information associated with the selected pinned indication. 
     In a feature of this aspect, each of the one or more pinned indicators includes a scroll bar indicator, the scroll bar indicator displayed in a scroll bar in the UI. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the user is directed to the certain information comprises automatically scrolling the document to the location of the certain information associated with the scroll bar indicator. 
     In another feature of this aspect, each of the one or more pinned indicators further includes an in-doc indicator, wherein the in-doc indicator visually highlights the certain information associated with the pinned indicator. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the method further includes receiving an indication that certain information in the document has been selected to be pinned, and generating the pinned indicator associated with the selected certain information. 
     In another feature of this aspect, generating the pinned indicator comprises, generating the in-doc indicator including visually highlighting the selected certain information, and generating and displaying the scroll bar indicator such the scroll bar indicator visually indicates where in the document the selected certain information is located. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the method further includes requesting the user confirm that the certain information associated with the selected pinned indicator has been reviewed by the user, and generating a confirm indicator when the confirmation has been received, wherein the confirm indicator is visually displayed next to the scroll bar indicator associated with the certain information. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the user is prevented from routing the document when one or more pinned indicators have not been confirmed by the user. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the pinned indicator is color coded to indicate the level of criticality of the certain information associated with the pinned indicator. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the computing device is a mobile device. 
     Another aspect of the prevention relates to a method for generating a document to be reviewed in a user interface, the user interface displayed over a computing device, the computing device comprising one or more processors for executing an application, the application comprising a plurality of computer readable instructions for implementing the method, the method including the steps of receiving an indication that certain information in the document has been selected to be pinned, generating a pinned indicator associated with the selected certain information, and visually displaying the generated pinned indicator in the document. 
     In a feature of this aspect, the pinned indicator comprises a scroll bar indicator for visually indicating the location of the selected certain information in the document, and an in-doc indicator for highlighting the selected certain information in the document. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the scroll bar indicator is displayed to a user as a mark in a scroll bar in the UI. 
     In another feature of this aspect, the pinned indicator is color coded to indicate the level of criticality of the selected certain information. 
     In addition to the aforementioned aspects and features of the present invention, it should be noted that the present invention further encompasses the various possible combinations and subcombinations of such aspects and features. Thus, for example, any aspect may be combined with an aforementioned feature in accordance with the present invention without requiring any other aspect or feature. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       One or more preferred embodiments of the present invention now will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same elements are referred to with the same reference numerals, and wherein, 
         FIG. 1  is an example illustration of an implementation of the disclosed responsive report viewer in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an example illustration of an implementation of the responsive report viewer shown in  FIG. 1  after a user has acknowledged reviewing pinned information; 
         FIG. 3  is an example illustration of an implementation of the disclosed responsive report viewer including a document that is multiple pages in length; 
         FIG. 4  is an example illustration of an implementation of the disclosed responsive report viewer of  FIG. 3  when a user has selected one of the multiple pages to review; 
         FIG. 5  is an example illustration of an implementation of the disclosed responsive report viewer wherein the user has placed the cursor over a pinned indicator for previewing; and 
         FIG. 6  is an example flow diagram of a disclosed method for reviewing a document in accordance with an implementation of the responsive report viewer. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention are next described. The following description of one or more preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its implementations, or uses. 
     As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art (“Ordinary Artisan”) that the present invention has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the invention and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure of the present invention. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the invention and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present invention. 
     Accordingly, while the present invention is described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present invention, and is made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the present invention. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself. 
     Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps of various processes or methods that are described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, although steps of various processes or methods may be shown and described as being in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps in such processes or methods generally may be carried out in various different sequences and orders while still falling within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention is to be defined by the appended claims rather than the description set forth herein. 
     Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which the Ordinary Artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the Ordinary Artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the Ordinary Artisan should prevail. 
     A computing device may be any type of device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wired and/or wireless environment. By way of example, the computing device may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals and may include a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a tablet, a personal computer and the like. The computing device includes a memory for storing, for example, an interactive application, and a processor. 
     The interactive application (software) comprises a set of machine readable code stored on a machine readable medium and is executed by a processor included in the computing device. The application provides user interface tools in the form of graphical screen displays which allow the user to access information. 
     An implementation of the disclosed responsive clinical report viewer assists clinicians, caregivers, billing providers, etc., in quickly reviewing critical areas of the patient notes or discharge summary with intuitive navigational options. In accordance with the disclosed implementation, an computing device includes one or more processors for executing a software application. The software application includes a plurality of computer readable instructions for executing the disclosed responsive clinical report viewer. 
     An example illustration of an implementation of the clinical report viewer overlaid in an EMR system is shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is an example Discharge Summary displayed within the responsive report viewer  100 . The clinical report viewer  100  preferably allows a user to include a plurality of pinned indicators directly on the document being reviewed, in this example the Discharge Summary. The pinned indicators may include in-doc indicators  115 ,  125 ,  135  and/or scrollbar indicators  110 ,  120 ,  130 . The pinned indicators  110 ,  120 ,  130 ,  115 ,  125 ,  135  identify those areas of a Discharge Summary that a health care provider needs to be aware of when reviewing the responsive report viewer  100 , e.g., critical information. Preferably, the pinned indicators  110 ,  120 ,  130 ,  115 ,  125 ,  135  also indicate to the healthcare provider the level of criticality of the information associated with the indicator  110 ,  120 ,  130 ,  115 ,  125 ,  135 . 
     The in-doc indicators  115 ,  125 ,  135  identify the critical information directly on the critical information. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , “Admitting Diagnosis: 1. Cardiac arrest” is identified by the in-doc indicator  135 . The in-doc indicators  115 ,  125 ,  135  may be any indication that can be placed directly on the critical information itself. For example, the information may be highlighted or an icon placed on or next to the information, for example an arrow. In the example Discharge Summary, the in-doc indicators  115 ,  125 ,  135  identify the critical information with highlighting. 
     The scroll indicators  110 ,  120 ,  130  identify where in the document critical information is located. When the user of the responsive report viewer  100  identifies the critical information and generates an in-doc indicator  115 ,  125 ,  135 , scroll indicators  110 ,  120 ,  130  are preferably automatically generated. The scroll indicators  110 ,  120 ,  130  are located in the scroll bar  150  adjacent to the critical information in the document. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the scroll indicator  130 , located in the scroll bar  150 , is adjacent to the in-doc indicator  135 , which highlights the critical information “Admitting Diagnosis: 1. Cardiac arrest”. Similarly, the scroll indicator  120 , located in the scroll bar  150 , is adjacent to the in-doc indicator  125 , which highlights the critical information “Discharge Condition: Good”. 
     In an implementation of the disclosed responsive report viewer, the level of criticality may be indicated to the reviewing user of the responsive report viewer  100  using color coding, for example. In the example illustrated in  FIG. 1 , pinned indicators  110 ,  115 , illustrated in dark grey, indicates to the healthcare provider that the information associated with the indicator  110 ,  115  is very critical. The pinned indicators  120 ,  125 , illustrated in medium grey, indicates to the healthcare provider that the information is important but not as critical as pinned indicators  110 ,  115 . The pinned indicators  130 ,  135 , illustrated in light grey, indicates to the healthcare provider that the information needs to be reviewed but is not as critical as the others. Although the pinned indicators  110 ,  120 ,  130 ,  115 ,  125 ,  135  are shown in dark grey, medium grey, and light grey, on a color display the color coding may be displayed as red, yellow and green, respectively. 
     As indicated above, there is a real need to make sure that all critical information has been reviewed by the user reviewing a document. In an implementation of the disclosed responsive report viewer  100 , the user must acknowledge that the critical information has been made. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the user may be required by the application to acknowledge that the information was reviewed by clicking on the pinned indicator associated with the information. In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , the user must click on the in-doc indicator to acknowledge reviewing the information. Acknowledgement of reviewing the information though may also be accomplished by hovering over the in-doc indicator  115 ,  125 ,  135 , which would indicate to the processor that the information is being, or has been, reviewed by the user. Those having skill in the art know that other methods of confirming that the user has reviewed the information associated with the pinned indicators are available, and are therefore within the scope of the disclosed responsive report viewer. 
     In an alternative implementation, the user may be required only to confirm reviewing those pinned indicators that represent a high level of criticality. For example, all red and yellow pinned indicators, pinned indicators  110 ,  115 ,  130 ,  135  in the example illustrated in  FIG. 1 , may required the user to acknowledge that the information associated with these indicators have been reviewed. All green pinned indicators, pinned indicators  120 ,  125  in  FIG. 1 , may not require confirmation due to the lower level of criticality. The requirement to acknowledge the review of the information associated with the pinned indicators helps to ensure that the user, e.g., healthcare provider, has reviewed all critical information in the document, e.g., Discharge Summary. 
     In accordance with a feature of the disclosed implementation, once the user reviews and acknowledges the review of the information associated with a pinned indicator, a confirm indicator is displayed on the responsive report viewer that visually indicates to the user that the critical information associated with the pinned indicator has been reviewed. An example illustration of responsive report viewer  200  including pinned indicators  210 ,  215 ,  220 , 225 ,  230 ,  235  and a confirmation indicator  260  is shown in  FIG. 2 . The healthcare provider in this example has confirmed reviewing the critical information associated with pinned indicators  210 ,  215 . Once the healthcare provider has confirmed this, the confirm indicator  260  is displayed to the user. In this example, the confirm indicator  260  is located next to the scroll indicator  210 , providing the healthcare provider with a visual indication that he/she has reviewed the information associated with the pinned indicator  210 . Although the confirm indicator  260  is illustrated as a check mark, any visual indication may be used to visually confirm to the user that the information has be reviewed. 
     In an alternative implementation, when the user confirms reviewing the information associated with a pinned indicator, the pinned indicator may be removed from the responsive report viewer. Alternatively, when the user confirms the review of the information, only the scroll indicator is removed from the response report viewer. Each of these alternatives confirms to the user which of the pinned indicators have not been reviewed. 
     As those skilled in the art know, many documents do not include only one page. Therefore, in another implementation of the disclosed responsive report viewer, the responsive report reviewer may include page number indicators. When the document runs into multiple pages, the page numbers are displayed as page number indicators on the horizontal scroll bar. This allows the user to have a quick view of all the scroll indicators and their respective criticality across the entire document. An example illustration of this implementation is shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     As illustrated, the Discharge Summary includes multiple pages, for example four (4) pages. In accordance this implementation, the Responsive Report Viewer  300  includes a plurality of pinned indicators  310 ,  320 ,  330 ,  315 ,  325 ,  335  and page indicators  370 . The in-doc indicators  315 ,  325 ,  335  highlight the critical information on the currently viewed page of the Discharge Summary. As exemplified, the scroll indicators  310 ,  320 ,  330  indicate to the user that selected information must be reviewed by the user and is located on one of the pages at that location. For example, scroll indicator  330   1 , associated with the critical information highlighted by in-doc indicator  335   1 , is related to the current page being viewed. 
     Scroll indicator  310   2 , conversely, is not adjacent to an associated in-doc indicator. Accordingly, scroll indicator  310   2  indicates to the healthcare provider that there is an associated in-doc indicator on a different page in the document. 
     It is preferable that for a scroll indicator associated with information on a different page than currently displayed, the scroll indicator be displayed near the page indicator on which the information associated with the scroll indicator is associated. For example, in  FIG. 3 , the scroll indicator  310   2  is associated with information located on Page 4 of the Discharge Summary. 
     As indicated, the page indicators  370  allow the user to select the page indicator  370  associated with the page the user is interested in reviewing. For example, the user may select the page indicator  370  that is identified as “4”. When the user selects the page indicator  370 , the application takes the user to the document page associated with the selected page indicator  370 , for example page 4. It is preferable that the page indicator  370  of the current page being displayed to the user is darker in color than the other page indicators  370  to visually indicate to the user what page he/she is reviewing, as exemplified by page indicator  370   1 . 
     As indicated, when the user selects a page indicator  370 , for example            , the application jumps to page 3, and displays the contents of the page to the user. An example of the displayed screen of the Responsive Report Viewer  400  in accordance with this feature of the implementation is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . As illustrated, there are no pinned indicators on page 3 of the Discharge Summary, which was also illustrated by the scroll bar  350  shown in  FIG. 3 .
     It is preferable that when the responsive report viewer jumps to the selected page, the scroll indicators are rearranged such that any scroll indicators associated with critical information on the respective page is located adjacent to the critical information in the scroll bar. 
     As indicated above, when the user land on a page that includes critical information, the user may be required to acknowledge that the information has been reviewed. When the user acknowledges the review of the critical information, a confirm indicator is displayed, indicating that the information associated with the scroll indicator has been reviewed. 
     In another feature of the disclosed implementation, the user is able to review the identified critical information prior to going to the page where the critical information exists. An example illustration of this feature is shown in  FIG. 5 . As illustrated, the user may place a cursor  577  over a scroll indicator  530  in the scroll bar  550 . When the cursor  577  is placed over the scroll indicator  530 , the information  580  associated with the scroll indicator  530  is displayed in the UI, preferably as a pop up message. The information  580  is displayed to the user for as long as the user holds the cursor  577  over the scroll indicator  530 . It is preferable that when the information  580  is displayed in the pop up message, the page  570  being displayed is muted in the background. 
     In order for the user to confirm that the information  580  has been reviewed, the user must select the scroll indicator  530  by clicking on the scroll indicator  530  using the cursor  577 . When the user clicks on the scroll indicator  530 , the page including the information  580  is displayed to the user. As indicated above, the user must then click on the information and acknowledge that the information has been reviewed. 
     In accordance with the disclosed implementation, it is preferable that the user acknowledge reviewing all information that has been pinned prior to routing the document to another person. For example, in a healthcare facility wherein the document being reviewed by a healthcare provider is a Discharge Summary as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the healthcare provider is preferably required to confirm reviewing all of the pinned indicators  215 ,  225 ,  235  that have been displayed to the user within the Responsive Report Viewer  200 , i.e, a confirm indicator  260  next to each scroll indicator  210 ,  220 ,  230  as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Once the viewer detects that all information has been reviewed by the healthcare provider, the document, e.g., Discharge Summary, can be routed to the next level. 
     An example flow diagram of the disclosed implementation of the Responsive Report Viewer is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The responsive report viewer displays one or more pinned indicators in the UI that indicate the location of important information that has been identified by a first user. STEP  600 . The user then reviews the document within the responsive report viewer and selects one of the one or more pinned indicators. STEP  601 . After the user reviews the information associated with the pinned indicator, the user acknowledges reviewing the information, STEP  602 , and a confirm indication is displayed in the UI next to the pinned indicator associated with the confirmed information. STEP  603 . 
     If all of the pinned indicators have not been acknowledged, the user selects another pinned indicator for review. STEP  601 . Once all of the pinned indicators have been acknowledged by the user, the document may be forwarded to the next level. STEP  604 . 
     The disclosed implementation provides protection against physicians/clinicians missing critical information in a clinical document, especially when the document is greater than 10 to 15 pages long. The visual indicators provided to the user indicating the location of important information within the document assist the user with making sure that the information is found and reviewed. Further, a user/physician is able to glance through the indicators to ensure that all pinned information has been acknowledged. If all information has not been acknowledged, the document cannot be signed or routed to the next level, preventing the user from skipping information in the document. 
     Another advantage of the responsive report viewer is that it may also be used by a billing analyst navigate through the document to locate the billable item codes, for example, problem, medication, etc., helping to ensure that the right amount is billed and/or reimbursed to the patient and the physicians. 
     Based on the foregoing description, it will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those specifically described herein, as well as many variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing descriptions thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to one or more preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for the purpose of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications or equivalent arrangements, the present invention being limited only by the claims appended hereto and the equivalents thereof.