| abstract |
A system and related techniques automatically generate optimized, best-match or sufficient assignments of care providers, such as physicians, nurses or technicians, to a patient based on clinical evidence, documentation, workload, infectious status and other factors. In embodiments, the patient's chart or other clinical record may be accessed by a rules-based engine configured with rules which relate a patient's clinical status and needs to the qualifications, certifications, capabilities and skills of care providers and select the care provider best qualified to service that patient's clinical requirements. The pool of available care providers may for example be ascertained from personnel systems recording staff schedules and estimated workload, while the qualifications of each provider indicating the categories of patient care and support that provider is qualified to provide may be accessed from a provider data store. For instance, nurses or technicians trained or certified in acute, emergency or surgical care may be identified for assignment to high acuity patients, or those presenting special or advanced care demands. According to the invention in a further regard, the provider's potential infectious exposure to other patients or from other sources may be screened to prevent that provider from being assigned to immune-compromised or other patients. Embodiments of the invention may present floor managers with a graphical display of available providers and generated assignments, which in embodiments the manager may override at their clinical discretion. Because patient needs are automatically aligned with provider capabilities, availability and other factors, the errors, oversights and inefficiencies of manual or informal assignment systems are avoided and better health care delivery can be realized. |