TITLE
PATIENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to patient management systems, and in particular patient diary systems for chronic disease management.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Chronic disease management is a challenging area of medicine. The costs associated with chronic disease management can be very high due to regular patient-medical practitioner consultations.
Remote health systems of the prior art exist that attempt to reduce the cost of chronic disease management. Such systems can include tele- health, where consultations are provided via an audio or video link, or similar distance communications means. These remote health systems reduce the need for travelling and maintaining expensive facilities.
A problem with remote health systems of the prior art is that they still require the presence of a medical practitioner during the consultation, and accordingly are still costly if provided regularly.
Attempts have been made to reduce costs of chronic disease management, both for regular and remote consultations, by making visits less regular. For example, it is common place in mental health management that patient-psychologist consultations occur at most 5-10 times per year.
In many cases, a reduced number of visits can be sufficient as changes in a patient's condition may occur slowly. However, if a patient's condition deteriorates quickly, the large delay between visits can result in the deterioration going largely unnoticed, and accordingly be detrimental to the health of the patient.
Another problem with extended periods between consultations is that patients can find it difficult to be motivated, causing low adherence to care. Patients will often drop out of therapy or not sufficiently engage with the care and care providers.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved chronic disease management system.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of some embodiments of the present invention to provide consumers with improvements and advantages over the above described prior art, and/or overcome and alleviate one or more of the above described disadvantages of the prior art, and/or provide a useful commercial choice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect, the invention resides in a method of patient management including:
receiving, on a data interface and from a medical practitioner, activity data corresponding to a plurality of activities, each activity being an activity to be performed at least partially by a patient, and each activity associated with a due date;
storing the plurality of activities in a shared digital diary, the shared digital diary accessible by the medical practitioner and the patient, the shared diary including a plurality of diary entries, the plurality of diary entries including a diary entry for each activity, the diary entry associated with the due date of the activity;
receiving, on a data interface and from the patient, a score of an activity of the plurality of activities, wherein the score is at least partly associated with a completion level of the activity; and
generating, by a processor, a report indicating the score of each activity of the plurality of patient activities.
The score can, for example, represent a perceived enjoyment of the activity, a perceived importance of the activity, or a feeling or mood associated with the activity. Preferably, the method further comprises:
receiving, on a data interface and from the patient, a categorisation of each activity;
sorting, by a processor, the activities based upon the categorisations; and
presenting the sorted activities to the patient for allocation of the due dates.
Preferably, the method further comprises:
receiving, on the data interface, one or more challenge statements; receiving, on the data interface, a score associated with each challenge statement; and
associating, by the processor, each of the plurality of activities with one or more of the one or more challenge statements. A challenge statement describes a challenge, a problem, a goal or otherwise, to which the patient intends to work towards, overcome or complete.
Preferably, the method further comprises:
providing to the patient a graphical user interface comprising:
a plurality of questions relating to at least one of a challenge, an impact and feelings;
a plurality of question data entry fields, each of the plurality of question data entry fields associated with a question of the plurality of questions, for allowing the user to enter responses to the plurality of questions;
a challenge statement data entry field, for allowing the user to enter a challenge statement of the one or more challenge statements;
wherein, the responses to the plurality of questions are not processed. The plurality of questions can be leading questions that assist the patient in determining the challenge statement.
Preferably, the method further comprises:
receiving, on a data interface, a revised score associated with the challenge statement. Preferably, the activity data is received at least in part from the patient. In this way, both the medical practitioner and the patient can plan and create activities, concurrently and asynchronously.
Preferably, generating the report occurs upon:
determining, by the processor, that the scores, or a compliance with the due dates, deviates from a predetermined criteria. Determining that the scores deviate from a predefined criteria can, for example, comprise detecting a trend, or determining a pattern of scores.
Preferably, the predetermined criteria include a threshold ratio of completed to non-completed activities. Alternatively or additionally, the predetermined criteria include a threshold number of non-completed activities.
Preferably, the method further comprises sending a reminder to the patient prior to the due date. More preferably, the reminder is automatically generated based upon the due date. Alternatively, the reminder is manually set by the patient and/or medical practitioner.
Preferably, the method further comprises:
marking a diary entry of the plurality of diary entries as preliminary; receiving, on a data interface and from a patient, a request to modify the diary entry;
modifying, by the processor, the diary entry according to the request; and
marking the diary entry as final, wherein diary entries marked as preliminary can be modified by the patient and diary entries marked as final cannot.
Preferably, modifying the diary entry comprises modifying the due date associated with the diary entry.
According to a second aspect, the invention resides in a system for patient management including:
a data interface;
a processor coupled to the data interface; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including computer readable instruction code for performing a method of the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
To assist in understanding the invention and to enable a person skilled in the art to put the invention into practical effect, preferred embodiments of the invention are described below by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a system for chronic disease management, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates a screenshot of an add activities page of the system of FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates a screenshot of an activity classification page of the system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates a screenshot of an activity allocation page of the system of FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 illustrates screenshot of a patient assessment page of the system of FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 illustrates screenshot of a care plan generation page of the system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 illustrates a screenshot of a challenge definition page of the system of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 illustrates a screenshot of a goal entry page of the system of
FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 illustrates a screenshot of a care plan review screen of the system of FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 illustrates a screenshot of a share care plan page of the system of FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11 illustrates a screenshot of a care plan page of the system of FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 12 illustrates a screenshot of a track action point page of the system of FIG. 1. according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 13 illustrates a method of patient management according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 14 diagrammatically illustrates a computing device, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that minor deviations from the layout of components as illustrated in the drawings will not detract from the proper functioning of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention comprise chronic disease management systems and methods. Elements of the invention are illustrated in concise outline form in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are necessary to the understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, but so as not to clutter the disclosure with excessive detail that will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the present description.
In this patent specification, adjectives such as first and second, left and right, front and back, top and bottom, etc., are used solely to define one element or method step from another element or method step without necessarily requiring a specific relative position or sequence that is described by the adjectives. Words such as "comprises" or "includes" are not used to define an exclusive set of elements or method steps. Rather, such words merely define a minimum set of elements or method steps included in a particular embodiment of the present invention.
The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.
According to one aspect, the invention resides in a method of patient management including: receiving, on a data interface and from a medical practitioner, activity data corresponding to a plurality of activities, each activity being an activity to be performed at least partially by a patient, and each activity associated with a due date; storing the plurality of activities in a shared digital diary, the shared digital diary accessible by the medical practitioner and the patient, the shared diary including a plurality of diary entries, the plurality of diary entries including a diary entry for each activity, the diary entry associated with the due date of the activity; receiving, on a data interface and from the patient, a score of an activity of the plurality of activities, wherein the score is at least partly associated with a completion level of the activity; and generating, by a processor, a report indicating the score of each activity of the plurality of patient activities.
Advantages of the present invention include an ability to provide patient management that is improved and/or less expensive than the prior art. Advantages of certain embodiments include an ability to provide an improved behavioural activation system for treating depression, or an improved chronic disease management system that can monitor patient activity in real or near real time, and generate reports for medical professionals when necessary. This reduces the need for regular consultations, and allows for monitoring and reporting to occur via distance and thus reduces travel costs.
Through presence of a shared digital diary, changes to diary entries and reports/status updates for diary entries are instantly available for the other party to see. This allows a medical practitioner to act promptly when, for example, a patient's behaviour deteriorates.
According to certain embodiments, reminders in the form of electronic messages aid in providing a higher compliance with diary entries. Furthermore, a system according to the present invention can provide more motivation to a patient than the systems of the prior art.
FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for chronic disease management, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 includes a data interface 105, a processor 110 coupled to the data interface 105 and a memory 115 coupled to the processor 1 0. The memory 115 includes computer readable instruction code 120 for chronic disease management as discussed further below.
The system 100 further includes a first user device 125 and a second user device 130, the first and second user devices 125, 130 connected to the processor 110 via a data communications network 135 such as the internet.
The first and second user devices 125, 130 can be personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, smart phones, digital assistants, internet enabled devices running a web-browser, or other suitable devices.
The first and second user devices 125, 130 can, for example, communicate with the processor 110 through a web based application, or through a dedicated software application. Alternatively or additionally, the first and second user devices 125, 130 can be purpose built devices such as a telecare terminal devices with embedded software application.
The processor 110, the data interface 105 and a memory 115 can reside on a single server (not shown), or be part of several computing devices operating in a distributed manner (again not shown), such as a virtual computing device operating in a server cloud.
The system 100 further includes a database 140, coupled to the processor 110, for storing data. The data can include, for example, a shared diary as discussed further below, or any other persistent data.
The following description focuses on mental health and chronic disease management, but the system 100 can be easily adapted to other uses such as primary prevention, outpatient care and programs for improving problematic behaviours such as excessive gambling and drug abuse.
Certain embodiments of the present invention are particularly suited to behavioural activation. Behavioural activation is a type of therapy for treating depression. In this case, activities are identified for a planning period, which are then categorised. A hierarchy is then created for each listed activity based upon the categorisation and/or other input such as perceived difficulty. The patient and medical practitioner are then able to schedule each activity and thus complete a shared digital diary. The patient can then report a score of each activity, which is then used to generate a report for the medical practitioner.
The system 100 used in the context of behavioural activation is described in further detail below with reference to FIGs. 2-4.
Certain embodiments of the present invention are particularly suited for use with collaborative care planning models such as the Flinders Program of Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. In this case, the patient performs a baseline assessment which is followed by a structured interview with the medical practitioner. The patient and medical practitioner independently assess the patient in a number of key areas, and the clinician and patient then identify and agree on problem areas and issues that need improvement. Problems (or challenges) and goals are identified and scored and a care plan is generated including detailed activities, also known as interventions. The activities are stored in a shared digital diary, and the patient will record progress towards any goals and update a score of the activities. This care plan is then reviewed and scored at regular intervals and reports are generated for the medical practitioner.
The system 100 used in the context of the Flinders Program is described in further detail below with reference to FIGs. 5-12.
In both the Flinders Program and behavioural activation model, the medical practitioner and the patient can work remotely on a single and shared diary residing on the database 40.
FIG. 2 illustrates a screenshot 200 of an add activities page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The add activities page is used to generate a list of activities for a patient for a week. The add activities page includes a plurality of activity entry fields 205, which can be used by a user to specify a plurality of activities that are to be performed by a user within the next week.
In association with each activity entry field 205 is a categorisation field 210 for defining the activity as either 'routine', 'pleasurable' or 'necessary'. As will be understood by a person skilled in the art, other categorisations may be used for other types of treatment.
The activities page includes a plurality of rows 215, one row 215 for each activity and category combination. New rows 215 may be added using a new row , button 220, enabling essentially any number of activities to be entered. As will be readily understood by the skilled addressee, a new row 215 may be automatically added each time an earlier row 215 is entered.
Finally, a next step button 225 is present, enabling the user to navigate to an activity classification page.
Both the medical practitioner and the patient can plan and create activities, concurrently and asynchronously. However, in many scenarios, the medical practitioner will create activities initially, after which the patient will plan and create the activities themselves.
FIG. 3 illustrates a screenshot 300 of an activity classification page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The activity classification page is used to classify the patient's activities for the week, as provided in the add activities page discussed earlier.
The activity classification page includes a plurality of activity fields 305 and a plurality of category fields 310, corresponding to the activities entered into the activity entry fields 205 of FIG. 2 and the categories entered into the categorisation field 210 of FIG. 2.
The activities are advantageously sorted according to category as defined in the category fields 310.
In association with each activity is a difficulty categorisation entry field 315. The difficulty categorisation entry field 315 can be used by the user to categorise each activity according to a perceived level of difficulty.
Examples of levels of difficulty include 'easy', 'medium' and 'difficult'.
FIG. 4 illustrates a screenshot 400 of an activity allocation page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The activity allocation page enables a user to allocate activities to day/time in a shared calendar residing in the database 1 0.
The activity allocation page includes a plurality of activity fields 405 and a plurality of category/difficulty fields 410, corresponding to the activities entered into the activity entry fields 205 of FIG. 2, the categories entered into the categorisation field 210 of FIG. 2 and the difficulty entered into the difficulty categorisation entry field 315 of FIG. 3.
The activities are sorted according to difficulty as defined in the difficulty categorisation entry field 315.
In association with each activity is a time allocation entry field 415. The time allocation entry field 415 can be used by the user to chose a time when which the activity should be done. The time can be coarse, such as a day of the week, or precise and include a time of day. Similarly, the time can be specified as a range when the activity must be done, such as on a particular day, or in a date range.
By sorting the activities prior to categorisation according to a level of difficulty, a user is able to allocate the activities in a group wise manner.
Preferably, the easy activities appear at the top of the list and most difficult at the end of the list. This way a patient can be nudged or encouraged to schedule the easy activities first, which also results in a more even distribution of the easy, medium and difficulty activities over time.
Alternatively, the system can mandate that the easy activities are scheduled first.
The shared diary can then be updated and changed many times until a pre-set due date, upon which the diary is finalised and can no longer be changed. According to certain embodiments, the diary is finalised on a week by week basis on the Sunday before the week. According to certain embodiments, reminders are automatically generated for each of the activities. Reminders can be sent at any time prior to a due date. Alternatively or additionally, the patient and medical practitioner can manually schedule reminders for the planned activities.
Reminders can take the form of Short Message Service (SMS) message, an e-mail, an automated telephone call, a further calendar entry, or any other type of electronic message to the patient to remind him/her about upcoming activities in the diary.
The patient can track and/or score each activity, either on the day the activity is due, prior to the due date of the activity, or within some other time interval. The activity tracking and scoring information is stored on the database 140 and is used to generate reports that can be used to evaluate the patient's adherence to the care plan. Additionally, the system 100 may monitor adherence to the care plan / shared diary, and automatically generate a report if the patient's behaviour falls outside predetermined criteria. An example of predetermined criteria is the missing of one or more due dates.
Each activity has a corresponding score, which is entered by the user. Preferably the score includes at least "completed" and "not completed" statuses, or 0 or 1. Otherwise, the score can, for example, be between 1-10 and describe a rate of achievement, a perceived enjoyment, a perceived importance, or a level of a feeling or mood associated with the activity. The score can essentially relate to any outcome associated with the activity.
The database 140 stores a complete history of the patient's weekly diaries and the related tracking and scoring data. The medical practitioner can produce statistical analysis and reports based on the stored historical data and evaluate a number of outcomes.
FIG. 5 illustrates screenshot 500 of a patient assessment page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The patient assessment page includes a plurality of questions 505, and a plurality of radio buttons 510 forming multiple choice responses to each of the questions 505.
As will be understood by the skilled addressee, the radio buttons 510 can be replaced by a sliding bar, or any other suitable means for registering a response from a user.
The patient assessment page is completed by the patient and corresponds with a baseline assessment, such as a baseline assessment according to the Partners In Health Scale (PIH).
FIG. 6 illustrates screenshot 600 of a care plan generation page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The care plan generation page is used by the medical practitioner, preferably during a consultation with the patient.
The care generation plan includes a plurality of questions 605 that correspond with the questions 505 from the patient assessment page of FIG. 5. The questions 605 can include extra detail over the questions 505 of FIG. 5, or be identical. The questions 605 form part of a structured interview with the patient according to a Cue and Response interview^ The interview may be face-to-face, via teleconference or video conference.
In association with each question 605 is a notes field 610, a clinician score entry field 615, a patent score field 620, an agreed score entry field 625, and an issue checkbox 630.
The notes field 610 is for adding notes relating to the question 605. The medical practitioner may add a note specific to an issue that has been identified when answering the question 605, or any other suitable note.
The clinician score entry field 615 is used for the medical practitioner to independently score the question. In association with the clinician score entry field 615 is the patient score field 620, which provides the patient's score from radio buttons 510 of FIG. 5. The agreed score entry field 625 is also in association with the clinician score entry field 615 and is for entering a score agreed by both the patient and the medical practitioner.
The patient and medical practitioner then discuss and identify any issues in the patient's self-management skills that need improvement and are to be addressed in the final care plan. The issue checkbox 630 can be used by the medical practitioner to flag that an issue has been identified in association with the question 605.
FIG. 7 illustrates a screenshot 700 of a challenge definition page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The challenge definition page is advantageously used by the medical practitioner to enter identify a main problem/challenge of the patient.
The term challenge is used in a broad sense, and a challenge can include a problem, a goal or otherwise, to which the patient intends to work towards, overcome or complete
The challenge definition page includes a challenge description entry field 705, for entering a summary of the challenge, an impact field 710, for entering an impact of the challenge, e.g. what does or does not happen because of the challenge, and a feelings entry field 715, for entering details of how the challenge makes the user feel.
The user is then prompted to enter a challenge statement into the challenge statement entry field 720, which should include details of the challenge, impact and feelings as entered into the challenge description entry field 705, the impact field 710, and the feelings entry field 715.
The data entered into the challenge description entry field 705, the impact field 710, and the feelings entry field 715 is not processed by the challenge definition page, but is instead used to lead the patient when entering the challenge statement.
The challenge definition page includes a challenge score field 725, which can be used by the user to enter a score of how much of a challenge the challenge is for the user.
Finally, the challenge definition page includes a review date entry field 730 and a recurring frequency review entry menu 735, for specifying when the next review is due to take place and how often the reviews will subsequently occur, respectively.
According to certain embodiments, multiple challenge statements and/or multiple goals may be entered. Goals can be linked to specific challenge statements in order to form a hierarchical structure of challenges and underlying goals, as further described below.
FIG. 8 illustrates a screenshot 800 of a goal entry page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The goal entry page includes a list of goals 805, and a goal entry/editing component 810.
The goal entry/editing component 810 includes an activity entry field 815, for entering details of an activity that forms part of the goal, a timeliness entry field 820 for entering timing details of the goal, and a conditions entry field 825, for entering conditions associated with the goal.
The timing details of the goal can include how long an activity is to be performed, how often, or any other suitable timing information. The conditions associated with the goal can include that the activity is to be performed alone, with friends, or any other suitable condition.
The goal entry/editing component 810 then includes a client/patient goal statement field 830, which can be used to specify a goal statement. The system 100 prompts the user to enter a goal statement that is specific, measurable, action-based, realistic and timely. Associated with the goal statement field 830 is a progress score field 835, which can be used to specify the user's current progress towards the goal.
Finally, the goal entry/editing component 810 includes a review date entry field 840 and a recurring frequency review entry menu 845, which are similar to the review date entry field 725 and a recurring frequency review entry menu 730 of FIG 7.
The activity can consist of an appointment, an assessment, an intervention, exercise, a meeting, attending education, training, goal and challenge statement reviews or any other activity that the patient may need to take in order to manage his/her health. FIG. 9 illustrates a screenshot 900 of a care plan review screen of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The care plan review screen enables a user to modify entries to a care plan before generating a patient care plan, or add new identified issues.
The care plan review screen includes a challenge statement field
905, a challenge score field 910, a goal statement field 915 and a progress record field 920, as presenting the challenge statement, challenge score, goal statement field and progress as defined earlier.
The care plan review screen further includes a plurality of identified issues 925, which were defined earlier. Each identified issue 925 includes a goal field 930, an activities field 935, a responsible field 940, a review date 945 and a progress field 950.
The goal field 930 specifies what the patient wants to achieve, the activities field 935 specifies how the goal will be achieved, the responsible field 940 specifies who is responsible for the goal, the review date 945 specifies the date when the goal is to be reviewed, and the progress field 950 specifies the current progress towards the goal.
A patient care report can be generated using the generate report button 955.
FIG. 10 illustrates a screenshot 1000 of a share care plan page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The share care plan page includes a patient checkbox 1005 and a plurality of medical practitioner checkboxes 1010, each medical practitioner checkbox corresponding to a medical practitioner that is associated with the patient. Additionally, a free text email field 1015 can be used to specify further email addresses to which the care plan is to be sent.
By selecting checkboxes and using the free text email field, the user can select to whom the care plan is sent.
The review dates and other due dates associated with the care plan can be sent in a format suitable for integration directly with the recipients calendar. Examples of suitable formats include the Microsoft Outlook Calendar Invitation Format by Microsoft of Washington, USA. FIG. 11 illustrates a screenshot 1100 of a care plan page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The care plan page comprises a visual representation of the shared calendar.
The care plan page comprises a list of action points 1105, including activity related action points 1110, goal related action points 1115, and challenge review related action point 1120.
Each action point 1105 includes a due date 1125, and the action points of each category 1110, 1115, 1120 are sorted based upon the due date 1125.
As will be readily understood by the skilled addressee, the care plan page can take the form of a traditional calendar, where action points 1 05 are placed in the calendar in association with the due date 1125.
Upon selection of an action point 1105, a track action point page is opened.
FIG. 12 illustrates a screenshot 1200 of a track action point page of the system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The track action point page enables a user to score a goal or action point. Action points and goals are scored according to a completion rate using a completion menu 1205. The completion menu 1205 can include discrete completion intervals, such as 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%.
Challenge scoring is performed using a challenge importance menu 1210. The challenge importance menu 1210 includes a set of discrete challenge importance measures. The challenge importance measure can, for example, comprise a scale of 1 to 8, where 1 indicates that the challenge is not a challenge to the patient and 8 indicates that the challenge is a large challenge.
The term score is used in a broad sense, and can, for example, be used to represent a perceived enjoyment of the activity of challenge, a perceived importance of the activity or challenge, or a feeling or mood associated with the activity or challenge. The system 100 then generates reports based upon the tracking data. The patient and/or the medical practitioner can view the tracking and scoring information in order to evaluate the adherence to the care plan and measure progress. The tracking and scoring information can be presented in a table, list, graphical chart or any other suitable format.
According to certain embodiments, the system 100 allows several users to access the care plan and shared calendar concurrently. This can be used when the patient and the medical practitioner are answering questions simultaneously. Similarly, monitoring of a previous weeks care plan may take place while the current weeks care plan is being generated.
The system may have different user rights for different users and user groups. For example, some users may be able to only view the data but not edit or create new action points.
Reports can be generated corresponding to the care plan or activation dairy, adherence to the care plan or diary, or corresponding to different stages of the care planning process.
Furthermore, the system 100 enables users to partially complete a care plan at one point of time, and fully complete it at a later time. Similarly, users are able to navigate back and forward in the different stages of the planning in order to modify information that has already been entered. Furthermore, the system can include functionality that prevents a user from moving forward in the care plan until a minimum amount of data associated with each step is entered.
FIG. 13 illustrates a method of patient management according to an embodiment of the present invention.
At step 1305 activity data is received, on a data interface and at least from a medical practitioner, corresponding to a plurality of activities, each activity being an activity to be performed at least partially by a patient, and each activity associated with a due date.
At step 1310, the plurality of activities are stored in a shared digital diary, the shared digital diary accessible by the medical practitioner and the patient, the shared diary including at an entry for each activity, the entry associated with the due date of the activity. Preferably, the patient and the medical practitioner can concurrently and asynchronously plan and create activity data. According to certain embodiments, the medical practitioner will initially generate the activity data, but with the intention that the patient will eventually take over and create their own activity data.
At step 1315, a score of an activity of the plurality of activities is received, on a data interface and from the patient, wherein the score is at least partly associated with a completion level of the activity.
At step 1320, a report indicating the score of each activity of the plurality of patient activities is generated, by a processor.
The generation of the report can be periodic, or based upon determining that the scores deviate from a predefined criteria. Examples of determining that the scores deviate from a predefined criteria include detecting a trend, or determining a pattern in the scores. Any trend or pattern may be flagged in a report.
FIG. 14 diagrammatically illustrates a computing device 1400, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 can be implemented using the computing device 1400. Similarly, the method 1300 of FIG. 13 can be implemented using the computing device 1400.
The computing device 1400 includes a central processor 1402, a system memory 1404 and a system bus 1406 that couples various system components, including coupling the system memory 1404 to the central processor 1402. The system bus 1406 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The structure of system memory 1404 is well known to those skilled in the art and may include a basic input/output system (BIOS) stored in a read only memory (ROM) and one or more program modules such as operating systems, application programs and program data stored in random access memory (RAM). The computing device 1400 can also include a variety of interface units and drives for reading and writing data. The data can include, for example, a displacement between the camera and the display screen as discussed above.
In particular, the computing device 1400 includes a hard disk interface 1408 and a removable memory interface 1410, respectively coupling a hard disk drive 1412 and a removable memory drive 1414 to the system bus 1406. Examples of removable memory drives 1414 include magnetic disk drives and optical disk drives. The drives and their associated computer-readable media, such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) 1416 provide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computer system 1400. A single hard disk drive 1412 and a single removable memory drive 1414 are shown for illustration purposes only and with the understanding that the computing device 1400 can include several similar drives. Furthermore, the computing device 1400 can include drives for interfacing with other types of computer readable media.
The computing device 1400 may include additional interfaces for connecting devices to the system bus 1406. FIG. 14 shows a universal serial bus (USB) interface 1418 which may be used to couple a device to the system bus 1406. For example, an IEEE 1394 interface 1420 may be used to couple additional devices to the computing device 1400. Examples of additional devices include cameras for receiving images or video, or microphones for recording audio.
The computing device 1400 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers or other devices, such as a server, a router, a network personal computer, a peer device or other common network node, a wireless telephone or wireless personal digital assistant. The computing device 1400 includes a network interface 1422 that couples the system bus 1406 to a local area network (LAN) 1424. Networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks and home computer systems. A wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, can also be accessed by the computing device, for example via a modem unit connected to a serial port interface 1426 or via the LAN 1424. Transmission of data can be performed using the LAN 1424, the WAN, or a combination thereof.
It will be appreciated that the network connections shown and described are exemplary and other ways of establishing a communications link between computers can be used. The existence of any of various well-known protocols, such as TCP/IP, Frame Relay, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like, is presumed, and the computing device 1400 can be operated in a client-server configuration to permit a user to retrieve data from, for example, a web-based server.
The operation of the computing device 1400 can be controlled by a variety of different program modules. Examples of program modules are routines, programs, objects, components, and data structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The present invention may also be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal digital assistants and the like. Furthermore, the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
In summary, advantages of the present invention include an ability to provide patient management that is improved and/or less expensive than the prior art. Advantages of certain embodiments include an ability to provide an improved behavioural activation system for treating depression, or an improved chronic disease management system that can monitor patient activity in real or near real time, and generate reports for medical professionals when necessary. This reduces the need for regular consultations, and allows for monitoring and reporting to occur via distance and thus reduces travel costs.
Through presence of a shared digital diary, changes to diary entries and reports/status updates for diary entries are instantly available for the other party to see. This allows a medical practitioner to act promptly when, for example, a patient's behaviour deteriorates.
According to certain embodiments, reminders in the form of electronic messages aid in providing a higher compliance rate for diary entries.
The above description of various embodiments of the present invention is provided for purposes of description to one of ordinary skill in the related art. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to a single disclosed embodiment. As mentioned above, numerous alternatives and variations to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art of the above teaching. Accordingly, while some alternative embodiments have been discussed specifically, other embodiments will be apparent or relatively easily developed by those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, this patent specification is intended to embrace all alternatives, modifications and variations of the present invention that have been discussed herein, and other embodiments that fall within the spirit and scope of the above described invention.