Method, system and program for improved health care
Inventors
Assignees
Publication Number
US-10387406-B2
Publication Date
2019-08-20
Expiration Date
2032-03-08
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Abstract
A platform accessible by a user from a web browser/HMO's electronic medical record (EMR) for providing the user with information regarding a patient's drug regimen as well as generating alerts concerning potential adverse effects to a patient from taking a cluster including a plurality of pharmaceutical preparations and various food supplements/herbals may be in data communication with and configured to obtain information from at least two databases and at least one tool for processing the cluster of pharmaceutical preparations in accordance with the information to generate the alerts to the user.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a platform accessible via a web browser or integrated within a Health Maintenance Organization's (HMO) electronic medical record (EMR) that supplies information concerning a patient’s drug regimen and generates alerts about potential adverse effects arising from taking clusters of multiple pharmaceutical preparations. This platform communicates with at least two databases and includes tools that process the pharmaceutical clusters according to obtained data to produce alerts to the user.
The platform aims to address the challenges faced in poly-pharmacy, especially in aging patients requiring multiple drug treatments, by improving healthcare outcomes while reducing costs. It integrates clinical, genetic, metabolic, and drug interaction data to predict side effects, drug interactions, deviations in serum drug levels, and the overall healthcare burden associated with a drug regimen. Special features include a Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor, a Health Care Burden Estimator, and an Alternative Drug Suggestion Mechanism to optimize prescribed drugs.
The problem solved relates to the complexity of prescribing multiple medications, where adverse drug-drug, drug-gene, and metabolic interactions can cause side effects, toxicity, lack of efficacy, increased healthcare utilization, and costs. Physicians have limited time to access comprehensive interaction data, and current systems lack holistic integration of genetic profiles, drug interactions, healthcare burden prediction, and alternative suggestions in a single intuitive platform. This invention addresses the need for effective, cost-efficient, and patient-specific poly-pharmaceutical treatment optimization through an accessible, fast, and configurable alert system.
Claims Coverage
The patent contains one main independent claim detailing a drug-to-drug interaction platform with multiple inventive features focused on poly-pharmaceutical treatment optimization via a graphical interface.
Drug-to-drug interaction platform with user interface integration
The platform allows interactive user access via a graphical user interface (GUI) from a web browser or an electronic medical record (EMR) and identifies prescribed drugs from the patient's EMR for poly-pharmaceutical treatment management.
Shared adverse side effect prediction and alerting
It obtains side effect data for prescribed and potential new drugs from a drug interaction database, identifies shared side effects between drugs with severity levels below alert thresholds individually, and runs a shared adverse side effect predictor to detect if combined severity exceeds predefined alert thresholds, triggering alerts to the user.
Dynamic drug regimen modification and iterative alert updating
The system dynamically receives user input to modify drug regimens by replacing, adding, or removing drugs, iteratively updates the GUI, queries the database, and reruns predictions and alerts to reflect the latest drug combinations and associated risks.
Alternative drug suggestion mechanism
The platform suggests alternative drugs to replace prescribed or potential drugs and systematically proposes alternatives until no more than an acceptable number of adverse effect alerts above a significance threshold are generated.
Rule-based alert generation including healthcare burden assessment
Generated alerts are based on pre-defined or user-defined rules, including those relating to healthcare burdens of drug combinations, integrating clinical and cost-related considerations.
Integration of blood serum level data
The platform incorporates data from blood serum level databases to assess effects of drug combinations on patient serum drug concentrations.
Statistical data collection and aggregation
It collects and aggregates statistical information about prescribed drugs, shared side effects, and interactions to support analysis and reporting.
Alerts displayed in the patient’s EMR
When alerts are generated, warnings are displayed within the patient’s electronic medical record to notify users about drug-to-drug interaction concerns and shared side effects surpassing severity thresholds.
The inventive features collectively provide an interactive, dynamic, and configurable platform that integrates patient-specific drug regimen data with multiple databases and predictive tools to optimize poly-pharmaceutical treatments by alerting users to significant shared adverse side effects, suggesting safer alternatives, and including assessments of healthcare burden and serum drug levels, all accessible via intuitive graphical interfaces integrated with existing medical records.
Stated Advantages
Improves patient well-being by optimizing poly-pharmaceutical regimens to minimize adverse drug interactions and side effects.
Reduces healthcare expenditures by predicting and decreasing hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and costly diagnostic procedures related to drug adverse effects.
Provides physicians with a clear, comprehensive, and easy-to-navigate graphical user interface allowing quick comprehension and efficient decision-making within limited consultation times.
Offers personalized treatment recommendations based on patient-specific genetic profiles and drug interactions to enhance efficacy and reduce toxicity.
Facilitates safer prescription practices by suggesting alternative drugs that generate fewer or no significant alerts, thereby improving treatment safety.
Includes a learning platform that adapts to physician input to refine alerting and minimize unnecessary notifications, enhancing usability.
Documented Applications
Use by physicians in clinics or hospitals to access patient drug regimens integrated within electronic medical records for prescribing decisions.
Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) utilizing the system for population health management by predicting and reducing healthcare burdens associated with poly-pharmacy.
Standalone web-based access by healthcare providers on personal computers, mobile phones, tablets, and other devices to simulate and optimize drug regimens prior to prescription.
Use in personalized medicine to incorporate patient genetic data for optimized drug dosing and interaction alerts.
Generating statistical reports and auditing physician alert overrides to monitor and improve quality of care.
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