1. An amount measuring apparatus for measuring, on the basis of weight, the remaining fuel amount in a gas fuel container carried on board a vehicle, said amount measuring apparatus comprising:
a weight gauge that is disposed between said vehicle and said gas fuel container, and measures the weight of said gas fuel container;
an acceleration gauge that measures acceleration of said vehicle; and
a calculating module that samples measured weight at times that acceleration measured by said acceleration gauge is 0, samples measured weight after a predetermined time period if the measured acceleration exceeds a predetermined acceleration, and calculates the amount of fuel remaining in said gas fuel container from said measured weight.
2. An amount measuring apparatus according to claim 1 wherein
said calculating module uses an average value of the sampled measured weights as said measured weight to calculate said fuel amount.
3. An amount measuring apparatus according to claim 2 wherein
said gas fuel container is an elongated body having a first end and second end, and fixed to said vehicle via elastic elements in proximity to said first and second ends, and
said weight gauge is disposed on said vehicle in such a way as to indicate a value of 0 when the empty container weight of said gas fuel container counterbalances the resilient force of said elastic elements.
4. An amount measuring apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said gas fuel container is an elongated body having a first end and second end, and fixed to said vehicle via elastic elements in proximity to said first and second ends, and
said weight gauge is disposed on said vehicle in such a way as to indicate a value of 0 when the empty container weight of said gas fuel container counterbalances the resilient force of said elastic elements.
5. An amount measuring apparatus according to claim 1 wherein
said gas fuel container is an elongated body having a first end and second end, in proximity to said first end thereof supported rotatably in the vertical direction on said vehicle, and in proximity to said second end thereof disposed on said vehicle via said weight gauge.
6. A method of measuring, on the basis of weight, the remaining fuel amount in a gas fuel container carried on board a vehicle, said amount measuring method comprising:
measuring the weight of said gas fuel container;
measuring acceleration of said vehicle;
sampling measured weight at times that acceleration measured by said acceleration gauge is 0, and if the measured acceleration exceeds a predetermined acceleration, sampling measured weight after a predetermined time period; and
calculating the remaining fuel amount in said gas fuel container using said measured weight.
7. An amount measuring method according to claim 6, wherein
calculation of said remaining fuel is executed by using an average value of the sampled measured weights as said measured weight.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-22. (canceled)
23. A method of clinical tracking, comprising:
gathering healthcare data from a plurality of sources;
processing the healthcare data, wherein processing comprises identifying, mapping and normalizing healthcare data elements,
wherein the mapping comprises assigning data to a field of a database according to a hierarchically organized lexicon of healthcare data elements, wherein multiple data element entries in the lexicon are mapped to a single field for at least one field;
analyzing the healthcare data to obtain at least one report; and
presenting the report in a graphical user interface, wherein the report can be customized based on a criterion.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the report identifies at least one risk relevant to at least one patient based at least in part on the gathered healthcare data.
25. The method of claim 23, wherein the report comprises an alert relating to at least one risk associated with at least one patient based at least in part on the gathered healthcare data, such alert presented in at least one of an audible or visual manner.
26. The method of claim 23, wherein the report comprises an alert identifying at least one patient care error and at least one recommendation for correcting such at least one error.
27. The method of claim 23, wherein the report comprises instructions for the manner in which one or more healthcare providers are to provide care to one or more patients based at least in part on the gathered healthcare data.
28. The method of claim 23, wherein the report identifies a disparity between the available healthcare resources and the patient needs identified based at least in part on the gathered healthcare data.
29. The method of claim 23, wherein the report identifies a high-cost patient based at least in part on the gathered healthcare data.
30. The method of claim 23, wherein processing the healthcare data also comprises validating the healthcare data elements.
31. The method of claim 23, wherein the data are gathered on a periodic basis.
32. The method of claim 23, wherein the data are gathered on a real-time basis, the report comprises instructions for the manner in which one or more healthcare providers are to provide care to one or more patients based at least in part on the gathered healthcare data and the report is updated on a real-time basis.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein the real-time basis is at least as frequent as every five minutes.
34. The method of claim 23, wherein the graphical user interface is presented via a software-as-a-service architecture.
35. The method of claim 23, wherein the report relates to at least one of a patient, a medical care protocol, an outcome, a demographic, a behavioral risk factor, a disease risk factor, a procedure, a therapeutic, a therapeutic over a given time period, a risk level, a cost, an admission information, a utilization, readmission information, mortality, and a complication.
36. The method of claim 23, wherein the criterion comprises at least one of a patient name, an issue, a physician, a location, a due by time for care or therapy, a risk level, a clinical measure, a procedure completed and an image taken.
37. A method of optimizing a healthcare resource plan, comprising:
gathering healthcare data relating to a plurality of patients from a plurality of sources, wherein the data are gathered on a periodic basis;
processing the healthcare data, wherein processing comprises identifying, mapping and normalizing healthcare data elements, wherein processing is repeated when new healthcare data are gathered,
wherein the mapping comprises assigning data to a field of a database according to a hierarchically organized lexicon of healthcare data elements, wherein multiple data element entries in the lexicon are mapped to a single field for at least one field;
analyzing the healthcare data to obtain at least one patient risk identification and patient tracking report, wherein analyzing is repeated when new healthcare data are gathered and processed; and
preparing a healthcare resource plan for care of the plurality of patients and optimizing the healthcare resource plan based on the data contained in the at least one patient risk identification and patient tracking report.
38. The method of claim 37, wherein the periodic basis is in real-time.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein the real-time basis is at least as frequent as every five minutes.
40. The method of claim 37, wherein processing the healthcare data also comprises validating the healthcare data elements.
41. The method of claim 37, further comprising, re-optimizing the healthcare resource plan when new healthcare data are gathered, processed, and analyzed.
42. The method of claim 37, further comprising, re-optimizing the healthcare resource plan when a manual change is made to an element of the plan.
43. The method of claim 37, wherein the tracking report relates to at least one of a patient, a medical care protocol, an outcome, a demographic, a behavioral risk factor, a disease risk factor, a procedure, a therapeutic, a therapeutic over a given time period, a risk level, a cost, an admission information, a utilization, readmission information, mortality, and a complication.
44. The method of claim 37, wherein patients at risk are automatically detected by the analysis and an alert is generated identifying such patients.
45. The method of claim 37, wherein high-cost patients are automatically detected by the analysis and an alert is generated identifying such patients.
46. The method of claim 37, wherein the healthcare resource plan is presented in a graphical user interface via a software-as-a-service architecture.