Patent ID: 7315825

Claim:
A rules-based patient care system comprising: a telecommunications network; monitoring stations comprising monitoring equipment, wherein the monitoring equipment comprises instructions for monitoring data elements from geographically dispersed hospitalized patients and for sending the monitored data elements to a remote command center via the telecommunications network, wherein the remote command center comprises instructions for: receiving the monitored data elements from the geographically dispersed hospitalized patients; accessing patient data elements indicative of a medical condition associated with each of the geographically dispersed hospitalized patients; establishing patient-specific rules associated with each of the geographically dispersed hospitalized patients; and applying the patient-specific rules continuously using a rules engine, wherein the rules engine comprises instructions for: selecting data elements from the monitored data elements and the patient data elements associated with a hospitalized patient; applying a patient-specific rule in an automated fashion to the selected data elements to produce an output indicative of a change in the medical condition of the patient; and utilizing the output to determine in an automated fashion 24 hours per day 7 days per week if intervention is warranted; and a patient rules generator connected to the telecommunications network, wherein the patient rules generator comprises instructions for: creating the patient-specific rule; acquiring rules performance measures indicative of the ability of the patient-specific rule to predict the change in the condition of the patient; and determining from the rules performance measures whether to revise the patient-specific rule.