Time management system for medical applications, particularly in a hospital setting

A time management system for medical treatments comprising:

• at least one treatment station having a first processor and a first memory coupled therewith;
• and
• a central server computer having a second processor and a second memory coupled therewith in communication with the at least one treatment station via a data network and comprising an appointment-scheduling module stored in the second memory and executable by the second processor and coupled with the at least one treatment station, the appointment-scheduling module being operative to cause the second processor of the central server to store a plurality of appointments in the second memory, each of the plurality of appointments being assigned to at least one medical procedure specified in view of one of the at least one treatment station and characterized by a predetermined duration, wherein the at least one medical procedure comprises a plurality of procedure steps;
• and
• further wherein:
• the first processor of the at least one treatment station is operative to output, upon completion of each of the plurality of procedure steps of the at least one medical procedure of the assigned appointment, a check-back signal to the appointment scheduling module indicative thereof via the data network and, in response thereto, the appointment scheduling module is operative to cause the second processor to adapt subsequent of the plurality of appointments on the basis of at least one of the check-back signals;
• the appointment scheduling module being further operative to cause the second processor of the central server to formulate each of the plurality of procedure steps of the at least one medical procedure assigned to the appointment in the form of a DICOM-standard-compatible planned procedure step;
• and
• the first processor of the at least one treatment station being further operative to generate the check-back signal based on each of the plurality of procedure steps that has been performed, the check-back signal being in the form of a DICOM-standard-compatible performed procedure step.