Pre-fetching patient data for virtual worklists

A healthcare enterprise network system of workstations and servers, comprising:

• an imaging device capable of generating patient images in communication with the healthcare enterprise network system;
• a diagnostic workstation in communication with the healthcare enterprise network system;
• and
• a computer readable storage memory coupled to the healthcare enterprise network system having stored thereon a Virtual Workflow Manager configured to provide interoperability between different information and imaging systems by causing at least one processor on the healthcare enterprise network system to perform the steps of:
• prefetching one or more study orders for a patient, wherein the study order originates from a first workstation on the healthcare enterprise network;
• storing the prefetched one or more study orders in a Master Worklist as an uncompleted study order;
• storing the prefetched one or more study orders for the patient in one or more Filtered Worklists, wherein each Filtered Worklist is associated with a designated group;
• receiving a request for one or more of the prefetched study orders;
• in response to the received request, for each prefetched study order:
• automatically determining a destination group for the study order by:
• comparing (A) current workflow loads at various destinations and at least one of (a) a modality of an image in the study order, (b) a body part in the image in the study order, (c) a referring physician, (d) a location of the patient, and (e) the patient's insurance carrier to (B) each of a plurality of workflow routing rules in a workflow routing rule database that define workflow routing;
• selecting, by a server of the healthcare enterprise network, at least one of the workflow routing rules in the workflow routing rule database to be applied to the study order based on the results of the comparing, wherein selection of the at least one workflow routing rule that defines workflow routing is based on any combination of the comparison of (A) to (B);
• and
• applying the at least one selected workflow routing rule to the study order by the server of the healthcare enterprise network to determine the destination group for the study order;
• and
• automatically making accessible to the diagnostic workstation patient images associated with the study order, wherein the diagnostic workstation is in the destination group;
• upon receiving the study order for a patient, automatically locating available network sources of relevant historical information about the patient associated with the received study order by querying network nodes for patient records, archived studies, and reports about the patient associated with the study order;
• in response to results of querying the network nodes, automatically fetching, compressing, packaging, reformatting for the diagnostic workstation, and forwarding any located relevant historical information about the patient associated with the received study order to a designated memory for the destination group that is accessible by a plurality of workstations associated with the destination group and that includes the diagnostic workstation;
• presenting, on the plurality of workstations associated with the destination group, the study order in the Filtered Worklist specific to the destination group;
• receiving a selection of a study order presented on the diagnostic workstation via the Filtered Worklist specific to the destination group;
• automatically making accessible to the second workstation the historical information about the patient associated with the selected study order by loading the information about the patient associated with the selected study order to the diagnostic workstation from the designated memory for the destination group in response to receiving the selection;
• and
• automatically adjusting the Filtered Worklist specific to the destination group to prevent loading the information about the patient associated with the selected study order from the designated memory of the destination group to another workstation in the plurality of workstations in response to receiving the selection.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for automating and managing workflow for medical data across different information and imaging systems on a healthcare enterprise network, the computer executable instructions configured to cause one or more processors on the healthcare enterprise network to perform steps comprising:

• prefetching one or more study orders for a patient, wherein the study order originates from a first workstation on the healthcare enterprise network;
• storing the prefetched one or more study orders in a Master Worklist as an uncompleted study order;
• storing the prefetched one or more study orders for the patient in one or more Filtered Worklists, wherein each Filtered Worklist is associated with a designated group;
• receiving a request for one or more of the prefetched study orders;
• in response to the received request, for each prefetched study order:
• automatically determining a destination group for the study order by:
• comparing (A) current workflow loads at various destinations and at least one of (a) a modality of an image in the study order, (b) a body part in the image in the study order, (c) a referring physician, (d) a location of the patient, and (e) the patient's insurance carrier to (B) each of a plurality of workflow routing rules in a workflow routing rule database that define workflow routing;
• selecting, by a server of the healthcare enterprise network, at least one of the workflow routing rules in the workflow routing rule database to be applied to the study order based on the results of the comparing, wherein selection of the at least one workflow routing rule that defines workflow routing is based on any combination of the comparison of (A) to (B);
• and
• applying the at least one selected workflow routing rule to the study order by the server of the healthcare enterprise network to determine the destination group for the study order;
• and
• automatically making accessible to a second workstation in the destination group an image of a primary study of the patient associated with the study order;
• upon receiving the study order for a patient, automatically locating available network sources of relevant historical information about the patient associated with the received study order by querying network nodes for patient records, archived studies, and reports about the patient associated with the study order;
• in response to results of querying the network nodes, automatically fetching, compressing, packaging, reformatting as necessary for the second workstation, and forwarding any located relevant historical information about the patient associated with the received study order to a designated memory for the destination group that is accessible by a plurality of workstations associated with the destination group and that includes the second workstation;
• presenting, on the plurality of workstations associated with the destination group, the study order in the Filtered Worklist specific to the destination group;
• receiving a selection of a study order presented on the second workstation via the Filtered Worklist specific to the destination group;
• automatically making accessible to the second workstation the historical information about the patient associated with the selected study order by loading the information about the patient associated with the selected study order to the second workstation from the designated memory for the destination group in response to receiving the selection;
• and
• automatically adjusting the Filtered Worklist specific to the destination group to prevent loading the information about the patient associated with the selected study order to be loaded from the designated memory of the destination group to another workstation in the plurality of workstations in response to receiving the selection.