A METHOD, SYSTEM AND PROGRAM FOR IMPROVED HEALTH CARE
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 61/451,544 filed March 10, 201 1, the disclosure of which provisional
application are herein incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention is directed to providing improved health care.
Specifically, but not exclusively, embodiments of the invention are directed to a
system and method for increasing patient's well-being at reduced cost.
BACKGROUND
Traditionally, western medicine is based on pharmacology. Drugs are selected
to treat illnesses and diseases. Where an illness is chronic, the drugs treat the
symptoms, and enable the patient to live as normal a life as possible.
In many cases, the patient requires treatment for a number of conditions.
Indeed, this phenomenon is largely a sign of the success of western medicine, since
patients are able to live a productive life despite having medical conditions that in an
earlier period would have been dehabilitating if not fatal. Thus, aging patients in
particular often require medicinal treatment involving a large number of drugs for
multiple disorders. Sometimes this includes taking medicines to treat side-effects of
other drugs prescribed. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to herein as poly¬
pharmacy.
There are a number of studies that have looked at unwarranted drug-drug
interactions (e.g., adverse side effects, toxicity, and lack of efficacy) associated with
combinations of various drugs on different populations. The amount of empirical
material available is enormous, but various databases and computer programs exist to
help physicians access the relevant information available and to use it in prescribing
appropriate treatments to the individual patient. There are also various tools available
that emulate the effect of drug interactions, such as the effect of one or more effector
drugs on serum levels of concomitant drugs prescribed with the effector drug. Such
tools may provide an indication of potential deviations of drugs from their expected
serum levels, and aid in adjusting dosages.
Furthermore and due to their individual genetic profiles, various patients often
metabolize drugs to different extents resulting in increases or decreases of the drugserum
levels in such patients. For example, some patients have a specific genetic
profile that has been referred to as the "CYP2D6 poor metabolizer." Such patients
have low-activity of a metabolic enzyme that is responsible for metabolizing specific
drugs including antidepressant drugs such as Citalopram, duloxetine and maprotiline.
Such a patient prescribed such an antidepressant may be subject to much increased
serum levels of the drug, which can cause unwarranted adverse side effects, toxicity,
lack of efficacy and the like.
A number of databases have been created and software has been developed to
aid in prescribing an appropriate drug regimen for a patient.
By way of example, the GENELEX™ Database provides a commercially
available database that calculates the potential effects of various drug-drug
interactions on blood serum levels for different patient profiles. This information may
be used to optimize drug prescription.
Since 2000, GENELEX™ has offered an alternative to the "one size fits all"
and "trial and error" prescribing of drugs. In Genelex' perspective, Adverse Drug
Reactions are not medical errors, but events that occur in spite of compliance with
dosage recommendations. A 1998 meta-analysis of thirty-nine prospective studies in
U.S. hospitals estimated that 106,000 Americans die annually from adverse drug
reactions. Adverse drug events are also common (50 per 1000 person years) among
ambulatory patients, particularly the elderly on multiple medications. The 38% of
events classified as serious are also the most preventable.
FIRST DATABANK™ provides databases that mainly detail the clinical
outcomes of drug-drug interactions and provide drug monographs.
International Patent Application Publication Number
WO/05038049A2, entitled "System and Method for Optimizing Drug Therapy,"
relates to determining the dosage regimen for drug/pro-drug for the individual, and
involves determining the metabolic profile of the individual and calculating
individualized dosages of drugs according to a pharmacolcinetic model.
Systems and the use of genotyping in the individualization of therapy and/or
individualization of drug dosing are provided. More specifically, a pharmacokinetic
model is described for the individualization of drug therapy.
Drug-drug interactions, gene-drug interactions, side-effects, nonresponsiveness
and toxicity are all discussed therein to some extent. The interaction
of more than two drugs is referenced in passing. The system relates to clinical data, to
the differences between different ethnic populations and to how the drags are
metabolized. The system described is supported on the web and has a graphic user
interface designed to make accessing atypical events easy.
International Patent Application Publication Number
WO/02086663A2, entitled "Computer System for Providing Information about the
Risk of an Atypical Clinical Event Based Upon Genetic Information," describes a
system for determining if a gene is associated with the atypical information.
Specifically, a computer system and method for preventing atypical clinical
events related to information identified by DNA testing a person is described. The
method includes receiving clinical agent information. The method also relates to
determining if a gene is associated with the clinical agent information, and, if so,
obtaining a genetic test result value for the associated gene of the person. The method
further includes comparing the genetic test result value to a list of polymorphism
values associated with an atypical clinical event, and determining whether the genetic
test result value correlates to a polymorphism value on the list, and if so, outputting
information about the atypical clinical event associated with the polymorphism value.
Drug-drug interactions, genetics, efficacy and toxicity are discussed.
Personalized dosage and prescription are described. The system described therein
includes a user friendly Graphic User Interface. Warning alerts are issued where a
prescribed drag is likely to result in adverse effects.
United States Patent Number 7,716,065, entitled "Method of Generating and
Maintaining a Patient Medication Profile," describes a medical information
processing method for providing detailed medication information that involves
obtaining medication specific data, where the medication name and physical condition
are obtained from sources independent of the patient.
The publication describes methods for conveniently providing a medication
profile of a patient. A medication profile report may be obtained on-line by the
patient or by a registered provider. In addition to information regarding the expiration
of prescriptions, the patient's compliance with the preserver's directions for usage,
and the names of medications being used by a patient, the medication profile report
also provides the therapeutic classes of each medication, possible drug-drug
interactions, and possible side effects.
European Patent Application Publication Number EP01936525A1, entitled
"Integrated Health Management Platform," describes a healthcare management
method for a consumer, such as an employee of a company, which includes
identifying the target of opportunity for the consumer according to the determined
health-trajectory prediction from the multi-dimensional input data.
Apparatuses, computer media, and methods for supporting health needs of a
consumer by processing input data are described. An integrated health management
platform supports the management of healthcare by obtaining multi-dimensional input
data for a consumer, determining a health-trajectory predictor from the multi¬
dimensional input data, identifying a target of opportunity for the consumer in
accordance with the health-trajectory predictor, and offering the target of opportunity
for the consumer. Multi-dimensional input data may include claim data, consumer
behavior marketing data, self-reported data, and biometric data. A consumer may be
assigned to a cluster based on the multi-dimensional input data and a characteristic of
the consumer may be inferred. A cluster may be associated with a disease
progression, and a target of opportunity is determined from the cluster and the disease
progression. An impact of the target of opportunity may be assessed by delivering
treatment to a consumer at an appropriate time. The system uses clinical medical
data, published data from journals and metabolic biometric data from monitors
attached to patients.
The web based system combines information from a health maintenance
organization, and is a learning platform that incorporates a physician's comments,
creates rules and validates them. It uses a consumer profile and lifestyle and health
behavior to present information via an intuitive Graphic User Interface.
International Patent Application Publication Number WO/02089017, entitled
"A Method and System for Web-Based Analysis of Drug Adverse Effects," pertains
to a computer-implemented method for assessing and analyzing the risks of adverse
effects resulting from the use of at least one drug of interest for storing data regarding
the risks of adverse effects from the use of at least one drug of interest in one or more
servers linked to the Internet; updating such data regarding the risks with additional
information pertinent to the risks of adverse effects from the use of the at least one
drug of interest; permitting at least one remote user to access such data through the
World Wide Web upon proper authentication; permitting the at least one remote user
to identify the at least one drug of interest; permitting the at least one remote user to
select data stored in the one or more servers relevant to the safety of using the at least
one drug of interest; permitting the at least one remote user to analyze safety issues
resulting from use of the at least one drug of interest, and permitting the at least one
remote user to display such data and analysis.
The web based system described provides patients, government health
agencies and physicians with details of drug-drug interactions, adverse effects,
including non-responsiveness, and resistance. The system relates to some extent, to
clinical, genetic and metabolic inputs. It provides alternative treatments.
It will be appreciated that the physician has limited time with patients and has
to access relevant information as quickly and efficiently as possible. Improvements in
drug prescription affect the quality of life for the patient and benefit society as a
whole.
Despite the great steps forward with computer access to information, the
physician's time is at a premium. There is an ongoing need for more effective
treatments, cost savings to the health system and faster prescription of more
appropriate drug regimes, whilst minimizing the risk of adverse interactions.
Embodiments of the present invention address these needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to providing a platform accessible by a user
from a web browser and/or an 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 the patient from talcing a cluster including a
plurality of pharmaceutical preparations; the platform being in data communication
with, and configured to obtain information from, at least one database and at least one
tool for processing the cluster of pharmaceutical preparations in accordance with the
information to generate the alerts to the user.
Typically, the potential adverse effects include side effects of drug-drug
interactions and effects of the patient's genetic profile on drug efficacy.
In an example embodiment, the at least one database includes an electronic
medical record system including a database of patient records.
In an example embodiment, the at least one database includes details of
estimated deviations in drug serum levels in response to concomitant administration
of other drugs as well as the genetic profile of the patient.
In an example embodiment, the at least one database includes clinical data
concerning at least the cluster of pharmaceutical preparations.
In an example embodiment, the at least one tool for processing the cluster of
pharmaceutical preparations includes a Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor for
analyzing the plurality of pharmaceutical preparations in the cluster for side effects
common to at least two of the pharmaceutical preparations.
In an example embodiment, the Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor displays
the side effects common to at least two of the pharmaceutical preparations in a user
interface displayable on a web browser or EMR.
Additionally or alternatively, the Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor
displays an alert in a user interface displayable on the web browser or EMR.
In an example embodiment, the at least one tool for processing the cluster of
pharmaceutical preparations includes a Health Care Burden Estimator for predicting
costs resulting from the potential adverse effects to the patient from taking the cluster
including a plurality of pharmaceutical preparations.
In an example embodiment, the predicted costs include at least one of the
group consisting of admission to hospital, duration of hospitalization, referrals to
emergency rooms, sessions with general-practitioners and sessions with specialist
physicians.
In an example embodiment, the predicted costs include a cost associated with
at least one diagnostic technique of the group including computed tomography,
Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultra Sound and X-ray.
In an example embodiment, the platform includes an Alternative Drug
Suggestion Mechanism for suggesting at least one alternative drug to replace at least
one phamaceuticaLpreparation in a plurality of pharmaceutical preparations.
In an example embodiment, the Alternative Drug Suggestion Mechanism
assesses potential adverse affects of alternatives and suggests alternatives that do not
generate more than a preconfigured significance threshold number of alerts regarding
potential adverse affects.
In an example embodiment, the Alternative Drag Suggestion Mechanism is
configured to systematically suggest alternatives to each pharmaceutical preparation in
a plurality of pharmaceutical preparations until no more than an acceptable number of
alerts regarding potential adverse effects above a preconfigured significance threshold
are generated.
In an example embodiment, the platform includes a Rules-&-Alerts Engine
including rules for generating alerts of potentially harmful effects of drug
combinations.
Typically, the Rules-&-Alerts Engine includes at least one rule selected from
pre-defined rules and rules defined by the user.
In an example embodiment, the Rules-&-Alerts Engine includes at least one
rule relating to a healthcare burden of the cluster of pharmaceutical preparations.
In an example embodiment, the user interface is accessible via a stand-alone
web platform and/or via an icon displayed in the electronic medical record (EMR) of
the patient.
In an example embodiment, a warning is displayed in the electronic medical
record (EMR) of the patient if the platform generates an alert for the cluster of
pharmaceutical preparations prescribed.
A second aspect of the invention is directed to a method of improving poly¬
pharmaceutical prescription to a patient by displaying alerts to a user responsive to
potential adverse effects of suggested combinations of drugs, where at least one alert
relates to a predicted healthcare burden of the drugs taken in combination, such that
the healthcare burden relates to healthcare expenditures including at least one of
admission to hospital, duration of hospitalization, referrals to an emergency room,
visits to a general practitioner, appointments with specialist physicians and costs
associated with diagnostic techniques selected from the group including computed
tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultra Sound and X-ray imaging.
Thus, a system and method are provided for optimizing a drug regimen of a
patient, where the system is configured to access at least one database containing drug
information, and where, when a user suggests that the patient receives a regimen of
drugs, and three or more of the drugs are found in the database, the system analyzes
the combined effect of each 2-way combination on the metabolism and adverse effect
profile of each of the other drugs in the regimen.
In an example embodiment, a system for optimizing a drug regimen of a
patient is provided, where the system is configured to access a database containing
drug information, and where, when a user suggests that the patient receive a regimen
of drugs, and 2 or more of the drugs are found in the database, the system analyzes the
interaction of the patient's genotype with each 2-way drug combination of the drugs in
the database within the regimen.
In an example embodiment, a system for optimizing a drug regimen of a
patient is provided where the system is configured to access a database containing
drug information, and where, when a user suggests that the patient receive a regimen
of drugs, and information regarding at least two of the drugs are found in the database,
the system analyzes the health-care burden of each 2-way combination in said
regimen.
In an example embodiment, the system analyzes the healthcare burden for
three or more drugs.
In an example embodiment, the system analyzes the healthcare burden for the
entire regime.
In an example embodiment, there is provided a system for optimizing a drug
regimen of a patient receiving at least one drug, where the system is configured to
access a database containing drug information, and where, when a user suggests that
the patient receive a regimen of drugs, and information concerning a plurality of the
drugs are found in the database, the system generates an alert when a significant
deviation of the effective concentration of at least one of said drags, or an adverse
effect, is expected, where the parameters of the alert are set by the user.
Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a system for optimizing a
drug regimen of a patient receiving at least one drug, where said system is configured
to access a database containing drug information, and where the system is adaptable to
the preferences of individual users.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried
into effect, reference will now be made, purely by way of example, to the
accompanying drawings.
With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the
particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of
preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of
providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of
the principles and aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show
structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental
understanding of the invention; the description taken with the drawings maldng
apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be
embodied in practice.
Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a system of the invention supported by the
Internet, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is an exemplary screen of the GENELEX™ system provided for
information purposes.
Fig. 3 is an exemplary screen of the FIRST DATABANK™ system provided
for information purposes.
Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of the DDI+ 140, according to an example
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 5 is a screen capture of the main screen of an exemplary embodiment of
the GUI, showing the drugs prescribed the estimated deviation from serum level data
extracted from the Genelex database, the drug-drug interaction data from the First-
Databank (FDB), and the proprietary alerts of the DDI+ in an upper section, and
tabbed windows for more detail in a lower section;
Fig. 6 is a screen capture of an upper section of a main screen of a GUI
providing a comprehensive view of results and alerts generated by a system at a single
glance, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a hierarchical model of the DDI+ showing logical layers thereof,
according to an example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 8 is a summary table of results of a retrospective study conducted on
patients of a specific HMO showing an effect of alerts on first and second populations
in terms of illnesses, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 9 is a summary table of results of a retrospective study conducted on
patients of a specific HMO showing an effect of alerts on first and second populations
in terms of cost factors contributing to the health care burden, according to an
example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 10 is an exemplary screen capture from a GUI 180, according to an
example embodiment of the present invention, showing shared adverse effects of
more than two drugs in a patient's cluster sharing common side effects, the number in
brackets for each side effect indicating which drugs in the list share which effect.
Fig. 11 shows how drug clusters may be defined for each patient, according to
an example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 12 shows how a Healthcare Estimator uses rules and alerts that are
generated from data extracted from different databases and processed by the DDI+
Platform and applied to drug clusters for each patient, according to an example
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 13 is a schematic flowchart for an alternative drug suggester, according to
an example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 1 shows a table of alerts, which may be output according to an example
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 15 is an example workflow in accordance with an example embodiment
of the invention.
Fig. 16 shows alternative configurations of a system for access by multiple
HMOS and directly by physicians in a stand-alone mode, using a web browser, such
as via computers, a mobile phones, a tablets and the like, according to an example
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Patients treated with a number of drugs often exhibit substantial deviation
from expected/desired serum levels, significant adverse side effects, lack of efficacy,
as well as much increased health expenditures due to complex drug-drug and genedrug
interactions. It is estimated that between 5% and 30% of those who each
receives 2-5 drugs exhibit severe clinical consequences such as side effects, nonresponsiveness
and toxicity.
Embodiments of the present invention address this issue by presenting the
user, typically the physician, with relevant clinical and pharmacokinetic /
pharmacodynamic data regarding patients and other members of the insured
population, for quick comprehension with all relevant information summarized for
viewing in a single glance, via a user-friendly GUI.
It will be appreciated that physicians typically see patients for very short
consultations and are required to diagnose and to offer treatment, generally by
prescription, in a small time period. This is typically the case whether the doctor is a
general practitioner meeting a patient for an appointment in the clinic, or is a
specialist making rounds in hospital wards. It is advantageous for the physician to be
able to access the patient's health records, to be notified of alerts according to user
pre-definitions without having to look for the information, to be able to simulate the
likely effect of different drugs or alternative dosage regimens and to be efficiently
alerted regarding shared side effects in minimal time.
Aspects of present invention are directed to providing a platform, designed
either as a stand-alone web platform or as part of the patients' electronic medical
records (EMRs) by integration with the EMR. This platform is referred to herein
below as the DDI+™ Platform.
In the various embodiments, the user is provided with access to the DDI+ via
the EMR of the patient or via a stand-alone web system.
The DDI+ platform presents to the physician the list of currently prescribed
drugs extracted from the patient's electronic medical records (EMR) together with upto-
date research extracted from the medical literature and/or simulated by simulations
based on various algorithms and models. The DDI+ platform predicts likely effects
of alternative drug treatments, including generic equivalents, alternative treatments
and different dosage regimens. In example embodiments, the assessments are based
on rules and algorithms that are run in the background and displayed response to a
physician's/user's request in a clear and concise manner, without noticeable time lags
(e.g., within few seconds).
The deviation from serum levels of drug-drug interactions, drug-gene
interactions and metabolic pathways is estimated.
Fig. 1 shows a system according to an example embodiment of the present
invention. The system 100 is a web based system for improving the pharmaceutical
treatment for a patient. The system 100 may include an EMR system 10 of a health
care provider such as an HMO, containing an Electromagnetic Medical Record EMR
for the patient, including patient history and current drug regime, and at least one
database for providing supplementary information for improving prescriptions.
By way of non-limiting example, the databases provided may include the
commercially available GENELEX™ database 120 for assessing the likely
physiological effect of the drug on serum levels due to interactions, and the
commercially available FIRST-DATABANK™ database (FDB) 130 that mainly
reports on clinical drug-drug interactions, mostly extracted from the medical
literature. The system also includes a proprietary DDI+ Platform 140 for extracting
information from the various databases and for analyzing and processing the collected
data, generating alerts at pre-configured conditions, calculating the estimated
HealthCare burden and shared side effect and for suggesting safe alternative polypharmacology
regimens.
In an exmple embodiment, the DDI+ Platform 140 operates in the background
and generates alerts in accordance with user-definable rules. The system is accessible
over the Internet from physicians' web browsers which may be running at a personal
computer 150, a mobile phone 160 and/or a tablet 170, and the gathered and
processed data may be displayed in a comprehensive, intuitive and easily navigable
graphical user interface (GUI) 180 on the screen of the computer 150, mobile phone
160 or tablet 170 of the physician.
For specific drug combinations, the estimated deviation of drugs from their
expected serum levels is calculated by the GENELEX™ database 120, and
interactions are predicted by the FIRST-DATABANK™ database 130. Data from a
number of databases such as these is combined and presented via a single, intuitive
GUI 180. In example embodiments, the patient's genetic profile is used as one of the
inputs together with metabolic aspects affecting poly-pharmacy and potential
deviations from expected serum levels.
Warnings and alerts are displayed in accordance with physician settings. For
example, shared side effects of multiple drugs within the same drug cluster will result
in an alert showing, since shared side effects are particularly harmful.
GENELEX™ Database 120
The effects of drug combinations on blood serum levels are predicted by
commercially available software such as the GENELEX™ database and program. By
way of illustration, Fig. 2 shows a sample screen display of the GENELEX™ system.
The following information, describing capabilities of the GENELEX™
system, is taken from the GENELEX™ website.
Virtually every pathway of drug metabolism, transport and action is
susceptible to genetic variation. It is estimated that 20% - 95% of individual
variability is genetic based. Within the top 200 selling prescription drugs, 59% of the
27 most frequently cited in ADR studies are metabolized by at least one enzyme
known to have gene variants that code for reduced or non-functional proteins. This
compares with 7% of a random selection from the top 200 list. Many other factors
such as age, physiological functioning and concomitant disease are known and can be
accounted for, leaving the genotype of the patient as a major unknown factor in the
prescribing of medicines.
GENELEX™'s DNA Drug Reaction tests for the highly polymorphic
cytochromes, CYP2D6, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19. These enzymes process half of the
most commonly prescribed drugs, including many with narrow therapeutic indices
and frequent participation in drug-drug interactions. An estimated 50% of patients
have genetic variations in these genes that lead to altered or absent function resulting
in elevated patient susceptibility to adverse drug reactions. Genotyping to avoid
ADRs is a dependable tool to improve treatment.
It has been estimated that anywhere from one in five (1/5) to two out of three
(2/3) members of the general population exhibit genetic abnormalities regarding the
rate at which drugs are metabolized from their systems. In example embodiments, a
saliva/bloodsample from the patient is tested to determine the genotype and
phenotype of the patient, and the metabolic activity of the various enzymes, such as
the hepatic CYP450 enzyme, that affects the rate of elimination of drags from the
patient's serum. This information is made available to the physician and is used to
suggest corrections to dosages.
CYP2D6 (cytochrome P450 2D6) is the best studied of the drug metabolizing
enzymes (DMEs) and acts on one-fourth of all prescription drugs, including the
antidepressant and anxiolytic class of drugs named selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricylic antidepressants (TCAs), betablockers such as Inderal
and the Type 1A antiarrhythmics. Approximately 10% of the population has a slow
acting form of this enzyme and about 7% has a super-fast acting form. Thirty-five
percent of patients are carriers of a non-functional 2D6 allele, especially elevating the
risk of ADRs when these individuals are taking multiple drugs. Drugs that CYP2D6
metabolizes include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor, hydrocodone, amitriptyline,
Claritin, cyclobenzaprine, Haldol, metoprolol, Rythmol, Tagamet, tamoxifen, and the
over-the-counter diphenylhydramine drugs, Allegra, Dytuss, and Tusstat. CYP2D6 is
responsible for activating the pro-drug codeine into its active form and the drug is
therefore inactive in CYP2D6 slow metabolizers.
CYP2C9 (cytochrome P450 2C9) is the primary route of metabolism for
Coumadin (warfarin) and Dilantin (phenytoin). Approximately 10% of the population
are carriers of at least one allele for the slow-metabolizing form of CYP2C9 and may
be treatable with 50% of the dose at which normal metabolizers are treated. Other
drugs metabolized by CYP2C9 include Amaryl, isoniazid, sulfa, ibuprofen,
amitriptyline, Hyzaar, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), naproxen, and Viagra.
CYP2C19 (cytochrome P450 2C19) is associated with the metabolism of
carisoprodol, diazepam, Dilantin, and Prevacid.
CYP1A2 (cytochrome P450 1A2) is associated with the metabolism of
amitriptyline, olanzapine, haloperidol, duloxetine, propranolol, theophylline, caffeine,
diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, estrogens, tamoxifen, and cyclobenzaprine.
NAT2 (N-acetyltransferase 2) is a second-step DME that acts on isoniazid,
procainamide, and Azulfidine. The frequency of the NAT2 "slow acetylator" in
various worldwide populations ranges from 10% to more than 90%.
Warfarin (Coumadin) Target Dose Safety Test (2C9 and VKORC1)
predicts the maintenance dose of warfarin to within 1.5 mg per day, or less.
The physician can assess the effect of varying drug dosages and of substituting
one drug for another to the patient's health and wellbeing, to minimize the occurrence
of alerts and to reduce cost of treatment without compromising the patient's interests.
FIRST DATABANK™ (FDB) 130
The FIRST DATABANK™ database (FDB) 130 is a commercially available
collection of databases that provides indications of drug-drag interactions based on
medical literature. FIRST DATABANK™ has developed comprehensive reference
products in electronic form, for quick and direct access to detailed drug clinical and
pricing information. By way of illustration, Fig. 3 shows an example screen of the
FIRST DATABANK™ database 130 interface.
The following information is taken from the FIRST DATABANK™ website
and is provided for information purposes.
The drug knowledge bases include DIF API and NDDF Plus, which is one of
the industry's most widely-used and highly regarded sources of drug information.
Along with descriptive drug information, unique identifiers and pricing data, NDDF
Plus offers an extensive array of clinical decision-support modules. FIRST
DATABANK™ also provides powerful content integration software that enables
developers to easily embed drug information into various applications, quickly and
economically.
The DDI+ Platform 140
Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of the DDI+ Platform 140 in accordance
with an example embodiment of the present invention. The DDI+ Platform 140 may
include a:
1. A Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor (SASE Predictor) 141
2. A HealthCare Burden Estimator (HCB Estimator) 142
3. An Alternative Drug Suggestion Mechanism (ADS Mechanism) 143
4. A Rule-&- Alerts Engine (R&A Engine) 144 having pre-defined and user
configurable rules that generate alerts
5. A Statistics module 145
6. A Reporter 146
7. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) 180
Example embodiments of the DDI+ Platform 140 are integrated with the
electronic medical record EMR of the health maintenance organization (HMO) and
work in the background, providing notifications only upon significant variation from
user configurable conditions thereby not interfering with doctors' work routine. In
some embodiments the default display of the electronic medical record EMR is the
traditional display, with the DDI+ accessible via an icon, so that physicians can
continue working without interference and be notified upon violation of critical pre¬
defined and user configurable conditions by alerts generated by the Rules & Alerts
engine 144 of the DDI+ Platform 140.
Example embodiments also track and flag homeopathic treatments
and food supplements without prescription drugs.
There are, however, some types of alerts that can be ignored in a specific
scenario and DDI+ is a learning platform that can be configured to allow the user to
ignore some specific alerts. For example, an alert regarding adverse effects on
fertility will be of no interest per se when prescribing drugs for a male patient who has
undergone a vasectomy or for a post-menopausal female patient. Likewise, a risk of
blurred vision from a drug-drug interaction is not of concern to a blind patient.
It will also be appreciated that although various drug combinations may be
contra-indicated based on their monographs/regulatory requirements etc.,
nevertheless, in certain instances and based on the physicians' clinical judgment,
administering such combinations may be possible or even recommended. Such
instances might be for patients who have serious medical conditions and respond only
to such specific combinations or in cases where patients need to receive off-label
drugs because, for example, other treatments have proven ineffective. Sometimes,
there are drug shortages and preferred drugs are not available.
Thus, in an example embodiment of the present invention, DDI+ Platform 140
is a learning platform that enables the physician to ignore specific Alerts. This feature
enables the platform to be conformed to the physician's clinical judgment and specific
needs. In such implementations, the system "learns" the ignored alerts and excludes
them from the original pre-defined rules, so alerts for specific combinations of
physician, patient, rules and causative drugs will not be displayed. If required, the
physician can reactivate ignored rules and cause previously not displayed alerts to be
displayed by configuring the display settings of the DDI+ Platform 140 and the GUI
180.
Via the Statistics Module 145 and Reporter 146, the DDI+ Platform 140 logs
the override-alerts for further auditing and generates reports to both the physician and
management.
The GUI 180
With reference to Fig. 5, an example main screen 190 of the GUI 180 of the
DDI+ Platform 140 is shown. The main screen 190 includes an upper part 200 and a
lower part 300. The upper part 200 provides an immediate view of the currently
considered list of drugs, results of interactions and serum level deviations created by
the various tools and databases available, and alerts generated by the DDI+ Platform
140. The lower part 300 provides an interactive intuitive drill down display for
viewing further information regarding adverse predicted effects and the like. In Fig.
6, the upper part 200 of the main screen 190 is shown in more detail.
Thus with reference to Fig. 6, the upper part 200 of the main screen 190 of the
GUI 180 of the system 100 is shown for a patient. In the left column 210, the drugs
prescribed are automatically shown using the trade names used Paroxetine 211,
Simvastatin 212, Carbamazepine 213, Clozapine 214, selegiline 215, and Aspirin 216.
In the second column 220, estimated positive and negative deviations from serum
level is given as a percentage of efficacy, based on input from the GENELEX™
database 120. In the third column 230, drug-drug interaction data based on
information provided by the FIRST DATABANK™ (FDB) database 130 is shown in
a graphical manner, where, for example, the height, number, and/or color of bars
indicate the severity of the interaction.
In the fourth column 240, specific predefined alerts are displayed in
accordance with rules in the DDI+ Platform 140. The alerts may also refer to the data
regarding potential deviation of serum levels and drug-drug interaction (second and
third columns), and, in example embodiments, may be highlighted in red in the upper
part to draw immediate attention to the alerts. The rules may be created by the HMO
or by the physician and are responsive to the physician's prescribing, including the
possibility to consider a patient's specific profile, such as gender, age, pregnancy,
smoking, and the like.
Where the DDI+ platform 140 is integrated with the EMR, the default list of
drugs shown is the list of drugs actually prescribed, as extracted from the EMR.
The user is able to add or subtract drugs to the list in the left column 210 of the
upper part 200 of the main screen 190 and simulate the probable effect on the patient,
by viewing the changes in the second column 220 showing how the drug affects the
estimated deviation from serum level given as a percentage of efficacy, based on input
from the GENELEX™ database 120, and the drug-drug interaction data based on
information provided by the FIRST DATABANK™ (FDB) database 130 in the third
column 230. If the addition of the drug contradicts one of the rules configured into
the DDI+ Platform 140, alerts are generated and displayed in the fourth column 240.
In an example embodiment of the present invention, the alerts may relate to
the health care burden as calculated by the Health Care Burden Module 142 discussed
hereinbelow in more detail.
By virtue of the ease of use, clear presentation in the upper part 200 of the
main screen 190 and the described user-configurable rules and alerts, the physician is
able to quickly and efficiently optimize prescriptions.
Referring back to Fig. 5, the interface is designed to provide the physician or
other user with information of interest in a clear and uncrowded manner. The
interface of Fig. 5 includes side tabs to selectively view further data per specific drug
310 or per combination 320, and can then view the predicted effects of combinations
by selecting an appropriate tab such as Shared Side Effects 330, adverse side effects
340, Drug Interactions 350 such as drug-drag, drug-food and drug-gene, potential
serum level deviations 360, alerts 370 and reports 380.
In an example embodiment, the user is able to select tabs, with the tab
selection affecting the information displayed. Thus, choosing the appropriate tab and
specific drugs from the list of drugs in the first column 210, causes more associated
information to be displayed in the lower part 300 of the main screen 190, configured
in the embodiment shown as a card index (tabs), for intuitive navigation. It will be
noted that the lower part uses intuitive and graphical indications 301 such as red 302,
yellow 303 and green 304 lights, and in some embodiments a legend 305 is displayed
so that the meaning, though intuitive, is clearly displayed as well.
The patient's electronic medical records and information regarding the drugs
of interest are displayed to the physician in an intuitive manner. The physician has
freedom to prescribe as the physician sees fit, but due to the availability of significant
decision-support information and the intuitive way it is displayed via the GUI 190 and
using alerts, despite the small amount of time that the physician typically can dedicate
to the patient, more appropriate treatment is facilitated.
As configured in the main described and illustrated embodiment, in the
GENELEX™ database 120, patient factors are set in a manner similar to drugs. In the
FIRST DATABANK™ database 130, patient factors are considered as medical
conditions and given as the cause. In the DDI+ 140, although the patient factor is
treated, in some aspects, as another drug on the list, the main screen 190 of the GUI
180 shows the patient factors in a separate list, presented differently from the drug list
in the first column 210. It will, however, be appreciated that other display
configurations may be employed.
With reference to Fig. 7, a logical layer model of the DDI+ Platform 140 is
shown, according to an example embodiment of the present invention. The DDI+
Platform 14 interfaces with the EMR system 110 of the HMO to obtain patient
specific information, with the GENELEX™ database 120 to obtain effects on serum
levels due to patient physiology and genetic profile and drug interactions, and with the
FIRST DATABANK™ database 130 to obtain drug-drag interaction data from the
literature. The DDI+ Platform 140 processes available data using the Shared Adverse
Side Effects predictor (SASE predictor) 141, the Healthcare Burden Estimator 142,
the Alternative Drug Suggestor (ADS) 143 and the user configurable Rules & Alerts
Engine 144. Statistics and reports are made available by the Statistics Module 145
and the Report Generator 146. Serum level deviations, drug-drug interactions, health
care burden, alternative drugs, shared adverse side effects and alerts are displayed in
the web based GUI 180, and the user is able to intuitively drill down and access
evidence, relevant scientific data, etc.
The various components and features of the DDI+ Platform 140 are now
presented in more detail.
The Health Care Burden - a new approach to simultaneously improve poly¬
pharmaceutical treatments and reduce healthcare expenditure
A retrospective data analysis was conducted on a sample of 111 randomly
selected adult ambulatory patients with multiple chronic conditions that were being
treated by at least 5 drugs and typically eight or more.
The patients were selected due to their undergoing treatment under the care of
a large number of different physicians, thereby ruling out the prescriptive effects of
specific physicians.
The analysis looked at patients' medical records to see the specific drugs that
had been prescribed over time.
Known interactions between drugs were flagged and where efficacy was
expected to be adversely affected by combinations, this was also flagged. The
combined information available from GENELEX™ Database and from FIRST
DATABANK™ database was used to generate alerts and significant side effects
common to two or more of the drugs were flagged.
The list of patients was ordered by the total number of flags generated for each
drug cluster per patient, where a cluster refers to a combination of two or more drugs.
This simulation resulted in two groups of patients. One group of 77 patients
had significantly more flagged interactions than the remaining 34.
The group of 77 patients had an average age of 69.6 and 36.4% of them had
Ischaemic Heart Disease IHD, 90% suffered from hypertension, 72.7% had diabetes
and 62.35% had hyperlipidemia. The remaining 34 patients had an average age of
72.8 and 32.3% of them had Ischaemic Heart Disease IHD, 91.1% suffered from
hypertension, 70.6% had diabetes and 64.7% had hyperlipidemia. Rigorous statistical
analysis indicated that as far as age and these chronic conditions were concerned,
there was no significant difference between the two populations.
However, the first group of 77 patients was characterized by significantly
higher incidence of visits to the emergency room ER, admission to hospital, days in
hospital and expensive and time consuming imaging techniques.
Fig. 8 summarizes the age and clinical status details for the two groups.
Fig. 9 summarizes the contributory factors to the total health care burden. It
will be noted that the cost of drugs was actually higher, though not significantly, for
the first group. The other costs examined were significantly higher for the first group.
These costs are also more significant than the difference in the costs of alternative
drugs, which, due to the intense competition between manufacturers, is not
surprisingly, not a significant part of the overall cost.
This analysis clearly demonstrates the strong correlation between the number
of flagged events and their severities and the associated HealthCare costs related to
quality of the treatment.
By converting such flagged adverse effects into alerts and using the
information pro-actively, the inventors have discovered that an alert system can be
configured to alert the physician of adverse interactions between drugs, serum levels
and side effects, and can be used to improve poly-pharmaceutical treatment.
The total healthcare burden, including not merely the cost of the drugs
themselves, but also expensive diagnostics, hospital visits, days of hospitalization,
appointments with the general practitioner, appointments with specialists, visits to the
Emergency Room may be a good indicator of the success of a specific drug regimen.
This is being tested in a large scale research program that is being conducted on the
physicians and patients of an HMO.
The total health care burden is an accurate indication of the well-being of the
patient considered holistically and not merely as the sum of the symptoms, since
overall treatment costs are generally inversely correlated with a patient's well-being.
It will be appreciated that minimizing the healthcare burden of a patient by improving
drug prescription can also save the HMO vast sums of money.
The Shared Adverse Side Effects Predictor 141
One type of information that is noted and displayed in the main screen 190 and
which is also used to define rules for generating alerts in example embodiments is
shared side effects. In example embodiments, a Shared Adverse Side Effects
Predictor 141 is included. The Shared Adverse Side Effects Predictor 141 notes
possible side effects common to two or more of the drugs listed in the first column
210 of the main screen 1 0 and, to make the physician aware of cases where side
effects are shared by more than one drug and require special attention or treatment as
their shared effect may have a significant effect that would typically not be realized
when considering side effects at the single drag level only. As shown in Fig. 5, this
information may be clearly displayed to the physician (tab 350). See also Fig. 10. It
will be appreciated that such information may also by used to configure rules by the
Rules & Alert Engine 144 to trigger alerts.
HealthCare Burden Estimator 142
In some prior art database and prescription systems, the cost of drugs and of
drug dosage regimes is available to the doctor, and can be used to apparently
minimize costs to the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). It should be
appreciated, however, that the cost of the drug treatments is only a small fraction of
the real Health Care Burden (HCB) which also includes hospitalization, visits to the
Emergency Room (ER) and expensive imaging requirements.
In contradistinction to prior art approaches, examples of the present invention
provide that drug treatment is correlated with overall healthcare events which
themselves correlate with the patient's quality of life and costs/expenditures to the
HMO. The overall healthcare events of interest include, inter alia, likelihood of
hospitalization, duration of hospital stays, requirements for expensive diagnostics
including but not limited to imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT),
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRJ), Ultra Sound (US) and X-ray (XR), visits to the
Emergency Room, visits to general practitioners (GPs) and/or specialized
practitioners (SPs). This data may be collected together with details of drug clusters
prescribed for a large sample of patients and may thereby provide an indication of the
total likely cost of the drug prescription; not only the cost of the medication itself.
Such information is of interest to the treating physicians, patients as well as to
government / Federal healthcare ministries HMOs and health insurers, as the true cost
of treatment is heavily influenced by such correlations. Although the economic
macro-effects of treatment regimes are examined for populations, it is suggested that
these economic macro-effects are valuable indicators of the true health and wellbeing
of the patient.
The actual cause of hospitalization may not be known but average costs are
readily available. The HMO may also allow this data to be extracted from the EMR
system for an average patient or for an average patient with similar profile.
8215
It little matters if hospital admission is the result of the drugs ingested
themselves, or of complex negative drug interactions, including accidents resulting
from side effects such as dizziness of dehydration. Furthermore, it is immaterial if
these interactions are properly diagnosed or not. Indeed, it little matters if lack of
hospitalization is the result of more effective treatment of the symptoms, or even of a
beneficial side effect where two drugs act symbiotically to create a feeling of
wellbeing. The fact remains that a patient feeling better and not suffering from
serious side effects will be less likely to be hospitalized or to require treatment in an
emergency room (ER), or expensive imaging tests, etc. The lack of hospital and/or
ambulatory based treatment is in the common interest of the patient, physician and of
the HMO. Thus, it will be appreciated that economic data of interest to the HMO is
also of interest to the patient.
Embodiments of the invention include a Health Care Burden Estimator 142
that estimates potential hospital events which may result from specific drug
combinations. The healthcare burden is not merely the cost of the drugs themselves,
but additional costs that have been found to be correlated, such as hospital
admissions, numbers of days hospitalized, visits to ER and expensive diagnostic
techniques such as imaging requirements that are symptomatic of overall healthcare.
The present invention predicts these potential costs and uses the prediction as an
indication of the effectiveness (success or failure) of a drug regimen. The approach
favors preventative medicine, improves quality of life for the patient, minimizes costs
to the HMO and provides a useful indication of the likely overall health effect on the
patient to the doctor.
The Healthcare Burden Estimator 142 of the DDI+ Platform 140 may be
configured using a look up table (LUT) maintaining cost-associated parameters that is
updated periodically by or on behalf of the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO).
Preferably, however, the Healthcare Burden Estimator 142 is correlated to records of
the HMO to extract a statistically relevant prediction of the cost of the Health Care
Burden based on treating similar patients.
Fig. 1 1 shows how, for each patient ( 1 to N), the various drugs taken in
combination, considered herein as a drug cluster, may be tracked over time. In
Fig. 11, each different drug is indicated by a capital letter.
Fig 12 shows how the Healthcare Burden Estimator 142 processes and
calculates the generated alerts for each cluster for each patient, by reference to
8215
information mined from the GENELEX™ 120 and FIRST DATABANK™ 130
databases.
Alternative Drug Suggester 143
The DDI+ platform 140 of the system 100 includes an alternative drug
suggestor 143 that suggests proper and safe alternatives to the patient's drug regimen
based on predicted drug-drug, drug-gene and metabolic-genetic profile related
interactions.
Drug alternatives sorted by number of alerts (by criteria predefined by the
user) will be presented to the physicianThus, inappropriate combinations will be
screened out, enabling the physician to actively consider appropriate options only.
The alternatives are clearly labeled and are safe. In example embodiments of
the present invention, the system considers and prepares a list of alternative drug
options in an ongoing manner in the background, for display to the physician
immediately when alternative options are demanded. In this manner, complex
interactions and side effects are evaluated in the background and there is no
significant delay waiting for the algorithms to generate and display results.
With reference to Fig. 13, essentially, the alternative drug suggestor 143
systematically substitutes candidate alternatives for specific prescribed drugs in turn,
and extracts relevant data from the patient's history and from the databases 110, 120,
130. The DDI+ Platform 140 sorts the results by number of alerts that are generated
for each drug, so that alternative drugs that do not generate more than a preset
acceptable number of alerts (preferably none) are shown first to the physician to
assure a safe alternative. The physician can, however, suggest a specific additional or
alternative drug via the GUI 80 and see the potential effects thereof.
User Configurable Rules & Alerts Engine 144
Example embodiments of the present invention provide a Rules & Alerts
Engine 144. An exemplary detail of the type of alerts provided is shown in Fig. 14.
In example embodiments of the present invention, alerts are displayed to the
physician. In example embodiments of the present invention, a powerful, flexible,
rule based engine 144 is provided that enables the type and number of alerts displayed
to be tailored to the HMO and the physician's judgment and specific needs as well as
to the patient's specific scenario..
The alerts are in accordance with rules in the Rule & Alerts Module 144, some
of which can be set by the doctor, so that only information of interest is displayed.
Current global clinical databases evaluate drug interactions based on their
clinical outcome. Embodiments of the present invention additionally provide
evaluation of economic outcome via the Health Care Burden Estimator 142. It will be
appreciated that this is not merely a question of cost of drugs, but rather the total cost
of treatment.
The Rules & Alerts Engine 144 allows user-configuration of rules in order to
generate alerts; activation and deactivation of rules, defining whether rules will be
applied to all the patients of a specific physician or to a specific patient; modification
and customization of rules based on the inputs from databases including the patient's
history from the electronic medical record database 1 0, serum level deviations from
GENELEX™ database 120 and drug interactions from FIRST DATABANK™
database (FDB) 140, shared adverse side effects, healthcare burden that exceed preset
values and other parameters derived from the processing performed by the DDI+
Platform 140 and from the databases.
In an example embodiment of the present invention, the Rules & Alert Engine
144 supports a hierarchical arrangement of privileges. Some rules and threshold
values are set by the service provider and cannot be over-ridden by the user. A lower
level of rules and/or threshold values may be set by the service provider or the HMO
and can be over-ridden. In example embodiments, the physician will be able to set
some rules in accordance with personal preferences. In some embodiments, changing
rules or resetting threshold values will be according to user's permission levels (e.g.,
determined by passwords, magnetic swipe carts, biometric identification and the like).
Preferably the rules of the Rules & Alert Engine 144 and their hierarchical
arrangement use operands available in a list, perhaps from a drop down menu, so that
the programmer or user can configure the system using common symbols such as
"o+-=" and the like.
In an example embodiment, at least at an administrator level, complex rules
can be configured using a plurality of conditions (AND, OR), and severities. For
example, the type of rales for a combination of conditions and or severities that may
be supported might include:
1. If Increased Serum Level deviation > 70 AND NT (Narrow Therapeutic index)
= Yes then generate Alert.
2. For HCB calculation - If there is [1 Severe value AND 2 Moderate AND 2
Serum Deviations > 50%] then generate Alert.
3. If Side Effect (Select specific Side Effect from list), e.g., 'Side Effect' =
"Bleeding," and 'Frequency' = "More Frequent" and 'Severity' = "Severe," then
generate Alert
4. If Side Effect (Any side effect), e.g., 'Side Effect' = "All," and 'Frequency* =
"More Frequent" and 'Severity' = "Severe," then generate Alert.
Example embodiments support user-configurable rules based on information
provided by proprietary tools such as the Shared Adverse Side Effects Predictor 141,
the HCB Estimator 142 as well as on patient factors such as gender, race and genetics,
sensitivities, smoking, alcohol and pregnancy, in addition to alerting on drug-drug
interactions and potential deviations from serum levels using data provided by
commercially available tools, such as the GENELEX™database 120 and the FIRST
DATABANK™ database 130. In some embodiments, these rules are switched ON
and OFF in accordance with the patient's medical record EMR. In other
embodiments, these rules are set to defaults that, to prevent the user being flooded
with alerts, are typically switched OFF but may be switched ON or OFF.
There are different kinds of rules and alerts which different level users can add
or cancel. High level alerts may be built into the Rules & Alert Engine 144 of the
DDI+ platform 140 and cannot be over-ruled or switched OFF and will always be
displayed to the treating physician or other user, whereas lower level alerts may be set
by the user for all patients, a group of patients, such as geriatrics, those treated within
a particular framework, those hospitalized, etc. or for individual patients considered
individually. Although the physician may not be able to switch off some alerts and
can prevent others from being displayed, the alerts are provided for display in the GUI
180 of the DDI+ platform 1 0 and have no direct effect on what drugs the physician
may or may not prescribe.
In an example, the Rules & Alert Engine 144 may be a learning platform that
takes into account the physician's remarks as input into the system and empirical
evidence for the patient collected over time as part of the patient's personal medical
history, to adjust the number and types of alerts provided. In embodiments, the
physician may overrule alerts and may configure the rules of the alert-based engine
144 of the DDI+ 140 to display alerts of specific types or not to display them. The
overrides are logged / documented for monitoring by the physician and/or
management and the report generator 145 provides such information, which is an
indication of the quality of the treatment.
One particular type of alert supported by the Rules & Alerts Engine 1 4 is an
alert of the Health Care Burden (HCB) of a particular combination of drugs. This
alert uses information extracted by the health care estimator 142. In addition to
helping generate and display alerts, the Health Care Burden estimator 142 calculates
and presents the contribution of some or each (e.g., the main) drug at the drug level to
the Health Care Burden score so that physician can take it into consideration.
Fig. 14 shows a table of alerts according to an example embodiment of the
present invention. By providing a system of alerts it is possible to tweak treatment to
make alerts go away. In example embodiments, the physician can overrule alerts or
prevent them being displayed due to knowledge of the patient's case and specific
needs. Nevertheless, a system of alerts, which may be set by the Health Maintenance
Organization (HMO), the general practitioner or specialist doctor, and which includes
patient's factors and estimates from the Health Care Burden Estimator, would
statistically improve the quality of the treatment by reducing required hospital
treatment.
Thus, the DDI+ 140 in general and the alerts generated thereby, are tools that
provide information to the physician, and facilitate better decision making, more
effective prescription and better treatment, but are in no way limiting on the
physicians freedom to treat his or her patients.
The Reporter Generator 145
The Reporter Generator 145 generates reports concerning the physician's
usage of the DDI+ Platform 140 and other statistics, efficiency parameters, etc. Such
reports may be of interest to various parties such as the product developers, the HMO,
the physician, the patient, academic researchers and the like.
Statistical Module 146
The statistical module 146 may collect and aggregate statistical information,
including logs and poly-pharmaceutical alerts relating to the patient's drug cluster
level, and may, using associated analysis software, enable statistical analysis at
various scales, such as for all patients of a number of HMOs, the patients of a specific
HMO, hospital, or clinic, the patients of a specific physician and / or the individual
patient. The statistical information may be used by the various tools of the system
such as the reporter 5, the HCB Estimator 144, the Rules & Alert Engine, etc.
For example the statistical module 146 may be configured to track the
physician's success in overcoming alerts over a time period by prescribing alternative
treatments.
Method of Operation
The above description describes the features and the functional elements of the
system, which includes commercially available databases and tools and the
proprietary DDI+ Platform 140. With reference to Fig. 15, in an example
embodiment of the present invention, the DDI+ Platform 140 integrates and
synchronizes data from various databases. In the current embodiment shown, these
include the GENELEX™ database 120, which primarily provides information about
serum level deviations and genetic information, and the FIRST DATABANK™
(FDB) 130 which provides information results regarding drug-drag interactions, side
effects and the like.
In an integrated mode, the DDI+ Platform 140 is integrated with the
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) of the patient from the EMR database 110 held by
the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). In other modes, this may be
freestanding.
An icon for the DDI+ Platform 140 appears in the electronic medical record
(EMR) with a color coding that indicates status, typically Green indicating No Alerts,
and Red indicating that Alerts were generated. (The icon for the DDI+ could be
configured to itself change color or an indicator light can be displayed alongside).
When a user, typically the physician, enters a specific patient's EMR, such as
by passing the patient's magnetic card (1) or by entering the national insurance or
identity number of the patient, the EMR system 110 triggers the DDI+ Platform 140
with the following information:
• Encoded Doctor ID
Patient ID
• Patient's drug regimen (i.e., the list of drugs consumed by the patient,
Drug Cluster)
• Additional patient factors if within the EMR, such as Genetics, Age,
Gender, Pregnancy, etc. (2).
The DDI+ Platform 140 then starts its processing in the background, not
interfering with the user's routine work of patient treatment and prescription.
The DDI+ Platform 140 queries the FDB database 130 which in the
embodiment illustrated is maintained locally, but in other embodiments may be
accessed remotely, with details of the drug cluster to obtain results concerning
potential interactions, side effects, etc, for the drag specific cluster. The DDI+
Platform 140 also runs the Alternative Drug Suggestor 143 in the background in order
to prepare in advance the list of proper alternative drugs for each drug in the patient's
drug cluster (3).
Additionally, the DDI+ Platform 140 queries the GENELEX™ Database 120
using GENELEX™ API with the Drug Cluster in order to get results about potential
serum level deviations for the specific drug cluster.
The DDI+ Platform 140 runs the Alternative Drug Suggestor 143 in order to
prepare in advance a list of proper alternative drugs for each drug in the patient's drug
cluster.
Upon receipt of the results from GENELEX™ 120 and FDB 130 (4), the
DDI+ Platform 140 runs the Shared Adverse Side Effect Module (SASE) 141, the
HealthCare Burden Estimator (HCB) 142 and the Rule & Alert Engine 144 with pre¬
defined user configurable rules that are variously definable by the HMO and / or user
as most critical to trigger Alerts, and checks for and displays Alerts triggered thereby.
In case of a violation of any of the pre-defined rules, the DDI+ Platform 0
generates an alert. In an example, the results of the Shared Adverse Side Effect
Module 141 and the HealthCare Burden Mechanism 142 may be also used as input
for setting user-configurable rules.
The DDI+ Platform 140 then triggers the EMR system with a status indication
concerning whether Alerts have been generated or not (5). If Alerts have been
generated, the EMR system changes the DDI+ icon in the main screen of the EMR to
Red in order to indicate to the user that Alerts have been generated and require his/her
attention (6). The user can then access the web-based GUI 180 of the DDI+ Platform
140 in order to explore the reasons for the generated alert(s). The results and the
alerts are displayed to the user immediately, via the main screen 190 of the GUI 180
(Fig. 5) in an intuitive, comprehensive and user-friendly manner, thereby doing away
with the need to navigate between multiple screens and irrelevant information. As
shown in Fig. 5, the main screen 190 of the GUI 180 of the DDI+ Platform 140 is
configured to allow the user to intuitively drill down to access further details for
further analysis such as drug monographs, details of the interactions, relevant
references, side effects, shared adverse side effects and the like.
The user may decide to look for an alternative drug to a specific drug
previously prescribed, based on the alerts provided by the system. Because DDI+
1 0 runs in the background before the GUI 180 is even opened, the alternative drugs
for each drug prescribed are already prepared and checked by DDI+ 140 to ensure
that no more than an acceptable number of alerts are generated in cases where the
specific alternative drug is chosen, thus ensuring safe treatment for the patient and
minimizing the time required by the user to access the desired information. In
examples, only alternatives generating fewer alerts than the number generated by the
drug it is replacing within the current drug regimen are suggested. In one example
embodiment, for most patients and in most scenarios, no alerts are acceptable (i.e., if
any alert is triggered, the system does not output the possibility of the drug's use as
an alternative).
Furthermore, the DDI+ Platform 140 runs the Shared Adverse Side Effects
(SASE) Predictor 141 that enables detection and user-configurable alerting upon side
effects having pre-defined frequencies and severities that are shared by two or more
drugs in the patient's drug combination (Shared Adverse Side Effects) (7).
Upon any change in the patient EMR, such as prescription of a new drug,
replacing a drug or stopping a drug, the DDI+ Platform 140 is triggered again by the
EMR and the above described worldlow takes place (8, 9, 10, 11, 12). The DDI+ 140
again checks for Alerts 210 and runs the relevant processes including the Shared
Adverse Side Effects Predictor 141, the HCB Estimator 142 and the Rule & Alert
Engine 144, on the updated patient's drug cluster.
The user may also use the DDI+ Platform 140 for simulation purposes by
accessing it directly and not via the EMR, and can perform a variety of actions such
as Add, Delete, Replace drug and the like, to obtain relevant data from the DDI+
Platform 140 before making any changes within the EMR (13, 14).
With reference to Fig. 16, in example embodiments, the DDI+ 140 may
interact with the clients 150A, 150B of more than one HMO, via the EMR Databases
thereof 110A, HOB, making GENELEX™ 120, and FDB 130 available to more than
one HMO. The DDI+ may also be directly accessed over the Internet, via a client
terminal 150C, a freestanding PC, or via a mobile phone 160.
Concluding Remarks
Thus, example embodiments of the present invention include the following
features of interest:
The platform is either a stand-alone web platform or integrated with
HMO's Patients EMR.
A personalized solution based on the patient's EMR and genetic
profile is offered.
The system comprehensively, amalgamates clinical, genetic and
metabolic data.
Drug-drug interactions are indicated, preferably for any two
combinations of drugs and most preferably for the multiple
interactions of more than two drugs. Gene-drug interactions for the
patient are predicted and displayed. The interactions indicated
include, among others, side-effects, reductions in efficacy including
non-responsiveness and toxicity.
The platform may be self educating. It incorporates physicians
comments and applies them thereafter.
Alerts may be provided based on pre-defined rules set by the
user/HMO. The alerts generated can cover all aspects of both data
extracted by the DDI+ Platform from commercially available tools
and databases as well as data outputs processed by proprietary tools
of the DDI+ Platform.
Alerts generated relate to shared side effects, potential deviation of
drugs from their expected serum levels, contra-indications and the
overall Healthcare Burden.
A unique alternative drugs suggestion mechanism may suggest
alternative drugs to patients' regimens. A uniqueness of this
mechanism is that it screens a plurality of potential alternative drugs
and lists them to the user/HMO while showing if such alternatives
exert any user-predefined alerts.
• The user can select and prescribe an alternative drug while Icnowing,
in advance, that it will or will not generate any activated alerts in the
system when combined with other drugs in the patients' current drugregimen.
The potential costs of patients' treatment due to the drug cluster
considered, mainly potential indirect costs related to increased
referrals to emergency rooms, increased hospitalization rates &
duration, increased referrals to imaging procedures (CT, M , US,
RX etc.) are presented to the user/HMO and by that enables to shift
patients from a current drug regimen which might greatly increase
the healthcare burden associated with the patient to an alternative and
preferable drug combination which is predicted to decrease the usage
and costs of such healthcare resources.
• The system is web based and can be accessed by relevant parties
such as physicians using any web browsers, including mobile and
desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones, i-pads, i-phones and the
like.
• An intuitive GUI is provided to help navigate the information
available in an efficient manner.
It will be seen, therefore, that the method and system described herein will
facilitate improved treatment regimes and higher quality of life for patients. By
minimizing the necessity of expensive treatments, it will enable resources to be better
used and have a further knock on effect to other patients.
Although GENELEX™ 120 and FIRST DATABANK™ (FDB) 130 are given
as databases of information regarding drug interactions and serum levels respectively,
it will be appreciated that other commercially available or proprietary databases may
be added or substituted.
In an example embodiment, data relating to drug effects on serum levels,
genetic and racial effects on drugs, patient sex, age and weight, and literature
information are all used in optimizing the prescribing of drugs to the patient. Simpler
systems missing any or all of the above considerations can, nevertheless also be used.
An example embodiment of the present invention is directed to one or more
processors, which may be implemented using any conventional processing circuit and
device or combination thereof, e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU) of a Personal
Computer (PC) or other workstation processor, to execute code provided, e.g., on a
hardware computer-readable medium including any conventional memory device, to
perform any of the methods described herein and/or to provide any of the user
interface functionality described herein, alone or in combination. The one or more
processors may be embodied in a server or user terminal or combination thereof. The
user terminal may be embodied, for example, as a desktop, laptop, hand-held device,
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), television set-top Internet appliance, mobile
telephone, smart phone, etc., or as a combination of one or more thereof. The
memory device may include any conventional permanent and/or temporary memory
circuits or combination thereof, a non-exhaustive list of which includes Random
Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Compact Disks (CD), Digital
Versatile Disk (DVD), and magnetic tape.
An example embodiment of the present invention is directed to one or more
hardware-implemented computer readable media, e.g., as described above, having
stored thereon instructions executable by a processor, which, when executed, cause
one or more processors to perform the example methods described above, or portions
thereof, for example, to provide the user interface functionality and/or make the
various therapy determinations described herein.
An example embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of
transmitting instructions executable by one or more processors, the instructions, when
executed, causing the processor(s) to perform the example methods described above,
or portions thereof.
Features shown with some specific embodiments may be incorporated with
other embodiments. Preferred embodiments are described, and simpler embodiments
and alternatives may be within the scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the
present invention encompasses the embodiments described above, each alone or in
combination, and includes both combinations and sub combinations of the various
features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications thereof, which
would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.
What is claimed is:
1. A platform accessible by a user from a web browser and/or an 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 the
patient from taking a cluster comprising a plurality of pharmaceutical
preparations;
the platform being in data communication with and configured to obtain
information from at least one database and at least one tool for processing the
cluster of pharmaceutical preparations in accordance with the information to
generate the alerts to the user.
2. The platform of claim 1, wherein the potential adverse effects include at least two
of the group comprising: drug-drug interactions, effects of the patient's genetic
profile on drug efficacy.
3. The platform of claim 1, wherein the at least one database comprises an electronic
medical record system including a database of patient records.
4. The platform of claim I , wherein the at least one database comprises details of
estimated deviations in drug serum levels in response to concomitant
administration of other drags as well as the genetic profile of the patient.
5. The platform of claim 1, wherein the at least one database comprises clinical data
concerning at least the cluster of pharmaceutical preparations.
6. The platform of claim 1, wherein the at least one tool for processing the cluster of
pharmaceutical preparations comprises a Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor for
analyzing the plurality of pharmaceutical preparations in the cluster for side effects
common to at least two of the pharmaceutical preparations.
7. The platform of claim 6, wherein the Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor
displays the side effects common to at least two of the pharmaceutical preparations
in a user interface displayable on the web browser or EMR.
8. The platform of claim 6, wherein the Shared Adverse Side Effect Predictor
displays an alert in a user interface displayable on the web browser or EMR.
9. The platform of claim 1, wherein the at least one tool for processing the cluster of
pharmaceutical preparations comprises a HealthCare Burden Estimator for
predicting costs resulting from the potential adverse effects to the patient from
talcing the cluster comprising a plurality of pharmaceutical preparations.
10. The platform of claim 9, wherein the predicting costs include at least one of the
group consisting of admission to hospital, duration of hospitalization, referrals to
emergency rooms, sessions with general practitioners and sessions with specialist
physicians.
11. The platform of claim 9, wherein the predicting costs include cost for at least one
diagnostic techniques of the group consisting of computed tomography, Magnetic
Resonance Imaging, Ultra Sound and X-ray.
12. The platform of claim 1, comprising an Alternative Drug Suggestion Mechanism
for suggesting at least one alternative drugs to replace at least one pharmaceutical
preparation in plurality of pharmaceutical preparations.
13. The platform of claim 12, wherein the Alternative Drug Suggestion Mechanism
assesses potential adverse affects of alternatives and suggest alternatives that do
not generate more than a preconfigured significance threshold number of alerts
regarding potential adverse affects.
14. The platform of claim 12, wherein the Alternative Drug Suggestion Mechanism is
configured to systematically suggest alternatives to each pharmaceutical
preparation in a plurality of pharmaceutical preparations until no more than an
acceptable number of alerts regarding potential adverse effects above a
preconfigured significance threshold are generated.
15. The platform of claim 1, comprising a Rules & Alerts Engine comprising rules for
generating alerts of potentially harmful effects of drug combinations.
16. The platform of claim 15, wherein the Rules & Alerts Engine comprises at least
one rule selected from pre-defined rules and rules defined by the user.
17. The platform of claim 15, wherein the Rules & Alerts Engine comprises at least
one rule relating to healthcare burden of the cluster of pharmaceutical preparations.
18. The platform of claim 1, comprising a user interface accessible via a stand-alone
web platform and/or via an icon displayed in the electronic medical record (EMR)
of the patient.
19. The platform of claim 18, wherein a warning is displayed in the electronic medical
record (EMR) of the patient if the platform generates an alert for the cluster of
pharmaceutical preparations prescribed.
20. A method of improving poly-pharmaceutical prescription to a patient by displaying
alerts to a user responsive to potential adverse effects of suggested combinations of
drugs, wherein at least one alert relates to predicted healthcare burden of the drugs
taken in combination, such that the healthcare burden relates to healthcare
expenditures including at least one of admission to hospital, duration of
hospitalization, referrals to an emergency room, visits to general practitioner,
appointments with specialist physicians and diagnostic techniques selected from
the group consisting of computed tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
Ultra Sound and X-ray imaging.