Importance

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Abstract

A critical event notification system continuously monitors patient statistics and lab data to detect critical events, and automatically pages a responsible physician or physicians, each having an alphanumeric pager. In particular, a computer is used to continually access real-time data and multiple hospital databases which are periodically updated. These databases include patient chart databases, databases corresponding to patient history and databases maintained by various labs. The computer, preferably a clinical information system, is automatically provided with certain data, or periodically extracts it from other, relational databases. The computer automatically reviews this data, makes the critical event determination, and formulates an alphanumeric message that is informative as to the patient's condition and the reasons why a critical event was detected. After automatically retrieving from a database a personal identification number ('PIN') for a remote pager of each physician responsible for the patient, the computer automatically establishes modem contact with a paging network, and causes the network to page each responsible physician and transmit to them the alphanumeric message. The alphanumeric message preferably indicates patient name, diagnosis, the event prompting the page, and the name and return telephone number of medical personnel at the hospital who are attending the particular patient.

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First Claim