Method and apparatus for displaying a patient worklist

A method for displaying patient data, said method comprising:

• storing patient information, including cautionary information and scheduled medical procedures, in a memory of a computing apparatus;
• displaying the patient information on a display screen of the computing apparatus in a worklist of patient listings for individual patients, wherein the displayed patient information includes scheduled medical procedures for each patient and a visual cautionary indication in a consistent position relative to each patient in the worklist for whom cautionary information is stored;
• opening a preview pane on the display screen upon selecting the visual cautionary indication with a pointing device of the computing apparatus, wherein the preview pane contains cautionary details associated with the corresponding patient for the selected visual cautionary indication, and wherein the preview pane can be viewed in its entirety without scrolling contents of the display screen;
• detecting either radiation passing through a patient, radiation generated or induced within a patient, or both;
• and
• selectively displaying an image of the patient on the display screen using the detected radiation.

A machine-readable medium having instructions recorded thereon to instruct a processor to:

• store patient information, including cautionary information and scheduled medical procedures, in a memory of a computing apparatus;
• display the patient information on a display screen of the computing apparatus in a worklist of patient listings for individual patients, wherein the displayed patient information includes scheduled medical procedures for each patient and a visual cautionary indication in a consistent position relative to each patient in the worklist for whom cautionary information is stored;
• open a preview pane on the display screen upon receiving a selection of the visual cautionary indication, wherein the preview pane contains cautionary details associated with the corresponding patient for the selected visual cautionary indication and the preview pane is entirely contained within the display screen;
• operate at least a radiation detector to detect either radiation passing through a patient, radiation generated or induced within a patient, or both;
• and
• selectively display an image of the patient on the display screen using the detected radiation.

An apparatus comprising:

• a display screen having a viewing area;
• and
• a computer programmed to:
• determine a number of patients scheduled for a medical procedure;
• identify at least one patient of the number of patients having cautionary information associated therewith;
• populate the viewing area with a list of the number of patients awaiting a medical procedure with a single visual identifier assigned to each of the patients in the list having cautionary information associated therewith;
• operate at least a radiation detector to detect either radiation passing through a patient, radiation generated or induced within a patient, or both;
• and
• selectively display an image of the patient on the display screen using the detected radiation.