Healthcare proximity services

• US 10,171,935 B1
• Filed: 07/07/2015
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Inventors: Reyes, Benjamin, Owen, Hugh, Nocedal de la Garza, Jose
• Primary Examiner(s): Magloire, Vladimir
• Assistant Examiner(s): Braswell, Donald H
• Application Number:
  US14/793,478
• Time in Patent Office: 1,274 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/68 Marker, boundary, call-sign, or like beacons transmitting signals not carrying directional information
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/01 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/02 Indoor
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02529 not involving signal parameters, i.e. only involving identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/22 Social work or social welfare, e.g. community support activities or counselling services
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

Method, systems, and computer-readable media for receiving, from an application instance operating on a client device, healthcare information that indicates a client device identifier, a wireless proximity beacon identifier, and a proximity of the identified client device to the identified wireless proximity beacon. From the received healthcare information, a determination is made whether the proximity of the identified client device to the identified wireless proximity beacon satisfies a threshold proximity. Based at least on the determination, an action is determined that the application instance operating on the identified client device is permitted to perform while the proximity of the identified client device to the identified wireless proximity beacon satisfies the threshold proximity. Healthcare information is transmitted to the identified client device that enables the application instance operating on the identified client device to perform the action.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from an application instance operating on a first client device, information indicating (i) a patient identifier corresponding to a patient associated with the first client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a healthcare facility, and (iii) a proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

estimating a physical location of the first client device within the healthcare facility based at least on (i) the beacon identifier associated with the wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) the proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon;

accessing a patient profile associated with the patient identifier, the patient profile comprising patient information corresponding to the patient;

receiving, from each of one or more application instances that operate on one or more respective second client devices associated with one or more healthcare providers of the healthcare facility, (i) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a healthcare facility, and (ii) a proximity of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

estimating, for each of the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a physical location of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider within the healthcare facility based at least on (i) the beacon identifier associated with the wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) the proximity of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

selecting, from among the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a particular second client device associated with a particular healthcare provider based at least on the estimated physical location of the first client device and the estimated physical locations of the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, at least a portion of the patient information for display at an interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, based at least on the estimated physical location of the first client device, that the patient associated with the first client device has entered an in-patient ward within the healthcare facility.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,

wherein the patient information indicates (i) a medical history, (ii) an appointment associated with a medical consultant, and (iii) a list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein selecting the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider comprises selecting, from among the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a particular client device associated with the medical consultant;

and

wherein transmitting at least the portion of the patient information for display at the interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider comprises transmitting, to the particular client device associated with the medical consultant, at least the portion of the patient information for display at an interface of the particular client device associated with the medical consultant.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein transmitting at least the portion of the patient information to the particular client device associated with the medical consultant comprises transmitting, to the particular client device associated with the medical consultant, (i) the medical history, and (ii) the list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device for display at the interface of the particular client device associated with the medical consultant.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, comprising:

determining, based at least on the list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device, a triage assigned to the patient associated with the first client device; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, information related to the triage assigned to the patient associated with the first client device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein transmitting the information related to the triage assigned to the patient associated with the first client device comprises transmitting (i) the medical history, and (ii) the list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device for display at the interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving, based on signals from one or more wireless sensor beacons associated with physical locations within one or more patient rooms within the healthcare facility, information indicating an occupancy of the one or more patient rooms within the healthcare facility;

determining, based at least on the information indicating the occupancy of the one or more patient rooms within the healthcare facility, at least one patient room that is not occupied; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, information related to the at least one patient room that is not occupied.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein transmitting the information related to the at least one patient room that is not occupied comprises transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider and in response to determining, based at least on the estimated physical location of the first client device, that the patient associated with the first client device has entered an in-patient ward within the healthcare facility, a list of room numbers indicating the at least one patient room that is not occupied.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider comprises:

determining a proximity of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider to the first client device based at least on an estimated physical location of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider and the estimated physical location of the first client device;

determining that the proximity of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider to the first client device satisfies a threshold proximity; and

selecting the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider based at least on determining that the proximity of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider to the first client device satisfies the threshold proximity.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider is a second client device that is determined to be have an estimated physical location that is proximate to the estimated physical location of the first client device.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider is a second client device that is determined to have an estimated physical location that is proximate to the physical location within the healthcare facility associated with the wireless proximity beacon having the beacon identifier received from the application instance operating on the first client device.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

determining that the proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon satisfies a threshold proximity; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, at least the portion of the patient information for display at the interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider in response to determining that the proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon satisfies the threshold proximity.

14. A system comprising:

one or more processing elements; and

non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processing elements, cause the system to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from an application instance operating on a first client device, information indicating (i) a patient identifier corresponding to a patient associated with the first client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a healthcare facility, and (iii) a proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

estimating a physical location of the first client device within the healthcare facility based at least on (i) the beacon identifier associated with the wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) the proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon;

accessing a patient profile associated with the patient identifier, the patient profile comprising patient information corresponding to the patient;

receiving, from each of one or more application instances that operate on one or more respective second client devices associated with one or more healthcare providers of the healthcare facility, (i) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a healthcare facility, and (ii) a proximity of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

estimating, for each of the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a physical location of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider within the healthcare facility based at least on (i) the beacon identifier associated with the wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) the proximity of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

selecting, from among the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a particular second client device associated with a particular healthcare provider based at least on the estimated physical location of the first client device and the estimated physical locations of the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, at least a portion of the patient information for display at an interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations comprise:

determining, based at least on the estimated physical location of the first client device, that the patient associated with the first client device has entered an in-patient ward within the healthcare facility.

16. The system of claim 14,

wherein the patient information indicates (i) a medical history, (ii) an appointment associated with a medical consultant, and (iii) a list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein selecting the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider comprises selecting, from among the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a particular client device associated with the medical consultant;

and

wherein transmitting at least the portion of the patient information for display at the interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider comprises transmitting, to the particular client device associated with the medical consultant, at least the portion of the patient information for display at an interface of the particular client device associated with the medical consultant.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein transmitting at least the portion of the patient information to the particular client device associated with the medical consultant comprises transmitting, to the particular client device associated with the medical consultant, (i) the medical history, and (ii) the list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device for display at the interface of the particular client device associated with the medical consultant.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the operations comprise:

determining, based at least on the list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device, a triage assigned to the patient associated with the first client device; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, information related to the triage assigned to the patient associated with the first client device.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein transmitting the information related to the triage assigned to the patient associated with the first client device comprises transmitting (i) the medical history, and (ii) the list of symptoms experienced by the patient associated with the first client device for display at the interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations comprise:

receiving, based on signals from one or more wireless sensor beacons associated with physical locations within one or more patient rooms within the healthcare facility, information indicating an occupancy of the one or more patient rooms within the healthcare facility;

determining, based at least on the information indicating the occupancy of the one or more patient rooms within the healthcare facility, at least one patient room that is not occupied; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, information related to the at least one patient room that is not occupied.

22. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from an application instance operating on a first client device, information indicating (i) a patient identifier corresponding to a patient associated with the first client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a healthcare facility, and (iii) a proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

estimating a physical location of the first client device within the healthcare facility based at least on (i) the beacon identifier associated with the wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) the proximity of the first client device to the wireless proximity beacon;

accessing a patient profile associated with the patient identifier, the patient profile comprising patient information corresponding to the patient;

receiving, from each of one or more application instances that operate on one or more respective second client devices associated with one or more healthcare providers of the healthcare facility, (i) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a healthcare facility, and (ii) a proximity of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

estimating, for each of the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a physical location of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider within the healthcare facility based at least on (i) the beacon identifier associated with the wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) the proximity of the second client device associated with the healthcare provider to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier;

selecting, from among the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers, a particular second client device associated with a particular healthcare provider based at least on the estimated physical location of the first client device and the estimated physical locations of the one or more second client devices associated with the one or more healthcare providers; and

transmitting, to the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider, at least a portion of the patient information for display at an interface of the particular second client device associated with the particular healthcare provider.