Patent ID: 7917376

Claim:
A method, executed on a computing device, for facilitating management of patient care, the method comprising: building a cohort or event collection of interest by performing a series of steps, including receiving in the computing device data defining one or more events relating to the cohort or event collection, where each of the events is applicable to a plurality of patient records; receiving in the computing device data specifying logical relationships between the one or more events; composing a logical expression including the one or more events in accordance with the relationships, where the logical expression relates to a clinical question of a user; receiving in the computing device data specifying a limiting condition on the logical expression, said specified limiting condition including at least one calendar time period relating to at least one of the one or more events, and one of inclusion and exclusion of at least one of the one or more events within a time interval, said at least one event having a specified temporal relationship to a start time or to another event; accessing a computer-readable memory storing a database of patient records; identifying patient records in the database consistent with the logical expression; including in a set of patient records, for each patient having at least one of said identified patient records consistent with the logical expression, either only one of said identified patient records for each patient, said set of patient records then being characterized as a cohort, or all of said identified patient records for each patient, said set of patient records then being characterized as an event collection, and labeling said set of patient records as a cohort or an event collection; performing a query on said set of patient records for the cohort or event collection to yield a query result, the query including the clinical question; and generating a report including the query result, wherein said defining is performed via a first portion of a user interface executing on said computing device affording a user access to data for defining the events, the limiting condition is specified via a second portion of the user interface, and the label of the cohort or event collection is displayed on a third portion of the user interface, affording the user access to a definition of the cohort or event collection.