Integration of a point-of-care blood analyzer into a prehospital telemedicine system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10950341-B2
Application number	US-201615364176-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 29, 2016
Priority date	Nov 30, 2015
Publication date	Mar 16, 2021
Grant date	Mar 16, 2021

Abstract

A prehospital telemedicine system comprises a physiologic monitor; an electronic patient care reporting system (ePCR) system; and a point-of-care blood analyzer communicatively coupled to the physiologic monitor and the ePCR system. The point-of-care blood analyzer is configured to perform an analysis of a blood sample based on an indication of a need for a specific blood analysis provided by one of the physiologic monitor and the ePCR system, and to automatically transmit a result of the analysis to a remote data receiving system. The indication of a need for a specific blood analysis may be based upon any one of the following: vital signs data obtained for a patient by the physiologic monitor; and/or current documentation or past medical history captured on or available through the ePCR system.

First claim

We claim:

1. A prehospital telemedicine system configured to be carried in an emergency medical services (EMS) vehicle, the prehospital telemedicine system comprising:
a physiologic monitor configured to obtain information concerning a patient's need for an angiography procedure and to obtain physiological data for the patient;
an electronic patient care reporting (ePCR) system; and
a point-of-care blood analyzer communicatively coupled to the physiologic monitor and the ePCR system, wherein the point-of-care blood analyzer is configured to perform an analysis of a blood sample,
wherein an execution of the analysis is contingent upon completion of an electronic checklist or clinical decision rule implemented on the physiologic monitor using the physiological data for the patient,
wherein the physiologic monitor is configured to restrict use of the point-of-care blood analyzer prior to completion of the electronic checklist or clinical decision rule,
wherein completion of the electronic checklist or the clinical decision rule triggers the physiologic monitor to display a prompt indicating that it is appropriate to perform the analysis and to electronically enable the point-of-care blood analyzer to perform the analysis, and
wherein the prehospital telemedicine system is configured to:
extract specific patient data from the ePCR system;
calculate a risk score using both a result of the analysis and the specific patient data extracted from the ePCR system, wherein the risk score represents the patient's risk for contrast-induced nephropathy; and
transmit, to a remote data receiving system of a hospital before the patient arrives at the hospital, the information concerning the patient's need for the angiography procedure and the risk score.

2. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein completion of the electronic checklist or the clinical decision rule is further based on current documentation or past medical history captured on or available through the ePCR system.

3. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein the remote data receiving system is configured to activate at least one of an alert, resource mobilization, or care protocol upon receiving the result of the analysis.

4. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein the prehospital telemedicine system is configured to inform the remote data receiving system that a specific blood analysis is in progress, and to initiate a timer at the remote data receiving system indicating a wait time until the result of the analysis will be available.

5. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 4 , wherein the result of the analysis is transmitted to the remote data receiving system following a preconfigured data routing path.

6. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 5 , wherein the preconfigured data routing path is used to transmit an associated diagnostic test result.

7. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 6 , wherein the associated diagnostic test result relates to an electrocardiograph (ECG).

8. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 7 , wherein the information concerning the patient's need for the angiography procedure comprises a 12-lead electrocardiograph (ECG) indicative of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI).

9. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 8 , wherein the remote data receiving system is configured to alert the hospital to begin mobilizing resources and preparing for care of the patient.

10. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein the prehospital telemedicine system is configured to document, in the ePCR system and/or in the physiologic monitor, at least one of: a type of blood analysis performed, a time the analysis was initiated, a time the analysis was completed, the result of the analysis, and a time the result of the analysis was transmitted to the remote data receiving system.

11. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein, upon initiation of the analysis, the physiologic monitor is triggered to display a countdown timer indicating remaining time until the result of the analysis will be available.

12. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 11 , wherein the physiologic monitor is further configured to display a care protocol or checklist relevant to the analysis being performed.

13. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 11 , wherein the physiologic monitor is further configured to provide an alert when the countdown timer approaches or reaches zero.

14. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 11 , wherein the physiologic monitor is configured to acquire a 12-lead electrocardiograph (ECG) as a result of initiation of the analysis.

15. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein the specific patient data includes information from a remotely stored electronic medical record.

16. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein the prehospital telemedicine system is configured to prompt a user to enter the specific patient data.

17. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein the prehospital telemedicine system includes a gateway device configured to communicate wirelessly with a cloud network, and wherein the remote data receiving system is linked to the cloud network.

18. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 17 , wherein the remote data receiving system is configured to execute a rules-based algorithm to determine a treatment protocol.

19. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 17 , wherein the remote data receiving system is configured to execute a rules-based algorithm to determine whether the analysis needs to be rerun, or whether additional tests are needed.

20. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 1 , wherein the point-of-care blood analyzer is further configured to perform multiple simultaneous instances of blood analyses searching for the same analyte in the blood sample.

21. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 20 , wherein interpretation of a composite result of the multiple simultaneous instances of blood analyses is performed external to the point-of-care blood analyzer, in a component communicatively coupled to the point-of-care blood analyzer.

22. The prehospital telemedicine system of claim 20 , wherein interpretation of a composite result of the multiple simultaneous instances of the blood analyses is performed external to the point-of-care blood analyzer, in a component communicatively coupled to, but remotely located from, the point-of-care blood analyzer.

23. A prehospital monitor-defibrillator local-area-network of an emergency medical services (EMS) vehicle, the prehospital monitor-defibrillator local-area-network comprising a point-of-care blood analyzer communicatively coupled to at least one of a physiologic monitor and an electronic patient care reporting (ePCR) system,
wherein the physiologic monitor is configured to obtain information concerning a patient's need for an angiography procedure and to obtain physiological data for the patient, wherein the point-of-care blood analyzer is configured to perform an analysis of a blood sample,
wherein an execution of the analysis is contingent upon completion of an electronic checklist or clinical decision rule-implemented on the physiologic monitor using the physiological data for the patient,
wherein the physiologic monitor is configured to restrict use of the point-of-care blood analyzer prior to completion of the electronic checklist or

Assignees

• Physio Control Inc

Inventors

• Walker Robert G
• Taylor Tyson G
• Esibov Alexander
• Smith Mitchell A

Classifications

• G16H10/40

  for data related to laboratory analysis, e.g. patient specimen analysis · CPC title

• G16H80/00

  ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring · CPC title

• A61N1/3993

  User interfaces for automatic external defibrillators · CPC title

• G16H50/30

  for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment · CPC title

• A61B5/201

  Assessing renal or kidney functions · CPC title