| abstract |
A system for providing expert care to a basic care medical facility (OPCL) from a remote location. The system facilitates real-time, continuous assessment of patients receiving care in an OPCL that is not generally equipped to provide expert medical care on a twenty-four basis. Patient monitoring equipment acquires monitored data elements from a patient monitoring station and transmits the monitoring data over a network to a remote command center. The remote command center also receives other patient data to the extent available from the OPCL. Alternatively, the patient monitored data is sent to a remote command center along with patient data at a pre-established time or when requested by remote command center. The delivery of stored monitoring data and patient data may be expedited if an urgent consultation is warranted. A rules engine continuously applies a patient-specific rule or rule set to the data elements selected from the assessment data from each OPCL monitored patient to determine whether intervention is warranted. Patient-specific rules may be created that are consistent with the capabilities of the OPCL. |