Remote control for a hospital bed

• US 20020014951A1
• Filed: 05/04/2001
• Published: 02/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Inventors: Riley, Carl William, Kramer, Kenneth L., Reeder, Ryan A., Jacques, William L. II
• Application Number:
  US09/848,941
• Publication Number:
  US 20020014951A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.8
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0443 Modular apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0456 Apparatus provided with a docking unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7475 User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 12/00 Accommodation for nursing, e.g. in hospitals, not covered by groups A61G1/00 - A61G11/00, e.g. trolleys for transport of medicaments or food service or tea-tables, trolleys or wagons A47B31/00; Prescription lists
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/12 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/46 for temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/70 with special adaptations, e.g. for safety or comfort
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/018 Control or drive mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/05 Parts, details or accessories of beds devices for prevention against falling out A47C21/08, A47D7/00 ; mattresses A47C27/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/0506 Head or foot boards head or foot boards for comfort or ergonomics A47C19/022
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/008 Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/222 Personal calling arrangements or devices, i.e. paging systems selective calling systems and call receivers H04W84/00, H04W68/00
• 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 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/60 : for the operation of medical equipment or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 : for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/903 : Radio telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/904 : Telephone telemetry

Abstract

A remote control system includes beds, remote controls, and a master station in communication with the beds and the remote controls. Each bed is adapted to receive requests from a patient associated with the bed, and each remote control is adapted to present requests to a caregiver associated with the remote control. The master station is adapted to receive a nurse call request from a patient via a bed, to identify a remote control that is associated with a caregiver for the patient, and to transmit the nurse call request to the remote control identified as being associated with the caregiver for the patient.

Claims

1. A system for remotely servicing a patient associated with a bed, comprising:

a badge that transmits an identification signal that identifies a caregiver associated with the badge;

a remote control comprising an input device that receives input from the caregiver, and a transmitter that transmits control signals based upon the input received from the caregiver;

a receiver associated with the bed that receives the caregiver identification signal from the badge and the control signals from the remote control; and

a control unit that controls operation of the bed and that responds to control signals received from the remote control only if the receiver associated with the hospital bed has received the caregiver identification signal from the badge associated with the caregiver.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a record keeping device that stores information about the patient associated with the bed, wherein

the remote control is adapted to request information from the record keeping device, and present the information received from the record keeping device to the caregiver associated with the remote control.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein

the bed comprises a resting surface, a frame that supports the resting surface, and a frame device that adjusts the frame, and

the remote control is adapted to adjust the frame of the bed via the frame device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein

the bed comprises a resting surface, a frame that supports the resting surface, and a resting surface device that adjusts the resting surface, and

the remote control is adapted to adjust the resting surface of the bed via the resting surface device.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a testing device that tests physical characteristics of the patient associated with the bed, wherein

the remote control is adapted to request information from the testing device, and present the information received from the testing device to the caregiver associated with the remote control.

6. A remote control system, comprising:

a plurality of beds, each bed adapted to receive requests from a patient associated with the bed;

a plurality of remote controls, each remote control adapted to present requests to a caregiver associated with the remote control; and

a master station in communication with the plurality of beds and the plurality of remote controls, the master station adapted to receive a nurse call request from a patient via a bed of the plurality of beds, to identify a remote control of the plurality of remote controls that is associated with the caregiver for the patient, and to transmit the nurse call request to the remote control identified as being associated with the caregiver for the patient.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein

each bed of the plurality of beds is adapted to receive audio signals from the patient associated with the bed,

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to present audio signals to the caregiver associated with the remote control, and

the master station is adapted to cause the audio signals associated with the patient to be transmitted to the remote control identified as being associated with the caregiver for the patient in response to receiving the nurse call request from the patient.

8. The system of claim 6, further comprising

a plurality of cameras adapted to provide video signals of patients associated with the plurality of beds, wherein

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to present video signals to the caregiver associated with the remote control, and

the master station is adapted to cause video signals of the patient to be transmitted to the remote control identified as being associated with the caregiver for the patient in response to receiving the nurse call request from the patient.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein

each bed of the plurality of beds is adapted to present audio signals to the patient associated with the bed,

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to receive audio signals from the caregiver associated with the remote control, and

the master station is adapted to cause audio signals received by the remote control associated with the caregiver for the patient to be transmitted to the bed of patient in response to receiving the nurse call request from the patient.

10. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a plurality of monitoring devices that monitor status of the plurality of beds and that generate alarm conditions if an undesirable bed state is sensed, wherein

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to present the alarm conditions to the caregiver associated with the remote control, and

the master station is adapted to receive an alarm condition from a monitoring device of the plurality of monitoring devices, and cause the alarm condition to be transmitted to the remote control associated with the caregiver for the patient that corresponds to the monitoring device.

11. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a plurality of monitoring device that monitor status of patients associated with the plurality of beds and that generate alarm conditions if an undesirable patient state is sensed, wherein

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to present the alarm conditions to the caregiver associated with the remote control, and

the master station is adapted to receive an alarm condition from a monitoring device of the plurality of monitoring devices, and cause the alarm condition to be transmitted to the remote control associated with the caregiver for the patient that corresponds to the monitoring device.

12. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a plurality of monitoring devices that monitor status of treatment devices used to treat patients associated with the plurality of beds and that generate alarm conditions if an undesirable device state is sensed, wherein

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to present the alarm conditions to the caregiver associated with the remote control, and

the master station is adapted to receive an alarm condition from a monitoring device of the plurality of monitoring devices, and cause the alarm condition to be transmitted to the remote control associated with the caregiver for the patient that corresponds to the monitoring device.

13. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a plurality of record keeping devices that store information about patients associated with the plurality of beds, wherein

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to request information from the plurality of record keeping devices, and present the information received from the plurality of record keeping devices to the caregiver associated with the remote control.

14. The system of claim 6, wherein

each bed of the plurality of beds comprises a resting surface, a frame that supports the resting surface, and a plurality of frame devices that adjust the frame, and

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to adjust each frame of the plurality of beds via the plurality of frame devices.

15. The system of claim 6, wherein

each bed of the plurality of beds comprises a resting surface, a frame that supports the resting surface, and a plurality of resting surface devices that adjust the resting surface, and

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to adjust each resting surface of the plurality of beds via the plurality of resting surface devices.

16. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a plurality of testing devices that test physical characteristics of patients associated with the plurality of beds, wherein

each remote control of the plurality of remote controls is adapted to request information from the plurality of testing devices, and present the information received from the plurality of testing devices to the caregiver associated with the remote control.

18. The remote control of claim 17, wherein

the transceiver receives audio signals from the selected bed via at least one of the plurality of transceivers, and

the output device comprises a speaker that presents the audio signals received from the selected bed.

19. The remote control of claim 17, wherein

the transceiver receives video signals depicting the patient associated with the selected bed via at least one of the plurality of transceivers, and

the output device comprises a display that presents the video signals depicting the patient associated with the selected bed.

20. The remote control of claim 17, further comprising

a microphone that receives audio signals from the caregiver, wherein

the transceiver transmits the audio signals to the selected bed via at least one of the plurality of transceivers.

21. The remote control of claim 17, wherein

the request received by the input device requests information stored in a record keeping device of the selected bed, and

the output device presents the information received from the record keeping device of the selected bed.

22. The remote control of claim 17, wherein

the input device receives a request to adjust a frame of the selected bed that supports a resting surface of the selected bed, and

the transceiver transmits the request to adjust the frame to the selected bed via at least one of the plurality of transceivers.

23. The remote control of claim 17, wherein

the input device receives a request to adjust a resting surface of the selected bed, and

the transceiver transmits the request to adjust the resting surface to the selected bed via at least one of the plurality of transceivers.

24. The remote control of claim 17, wherein

the request received by the input device requests information from a testing device associated with the selected bed, and

the output device presents the information received from the testing device associated with the selected bed.

26. The remote control of claim 25, wherein

the alarm condition received by the receiver indicates that an undesirable state of the bed has been sensed, and

the output device informs the caregiver of the undesirable state of the bed.

27. The remote control of claim 25, wherein

the alarm condition received by the receiver indicates that an undesirable state of the patient associated with the bed has been sensed, and

the output device informs the caregiver of the undesirable state of the patient.

28. The remote control of claim 25, wherein the alarm condition received by the receiver indicates that an undesirable state of a treatment device used to treat the patient associated with the bed has been sensed, and the output device informs the caregiver of the undesirable state of the treatment device.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

a record keeping device that stores information about the patient associated with the bed, wherein

the remote control is adapted to request information from the record keeping device, and present the information received from the record keeping device to the caregiver associated with the remote control.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein

the bed comprises a resting surface, a frame that supports the resting surface, and a frame device that adjust the frame, and

the remote control is adapted to adjust the frame of the bed via the frame device.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein

the bed comprises a resting surface, a frame that supports the resting surface, and a resting surface device that adjust the resting surface, and

the remote control is adapted to adjust the resting surface of the bed via the resting surface device.

33. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

a testing device that tests physical characteristics of the patient associated with the bed, wherein

the remote control is adapted to request information from the testing device, and present the information received from the testing device to the caregiver associated with the remote control.

17. For use in a facility comprising a plurality of rooms, a locating and tracking system comprising a plurality of transceivers, and a plurality of beds in communication with the locating and tracking system, a remote control, comprising

an input device via which a caregiver selects a bed of the plurality of beds that is in a different room of the facility than the caregiver and via which the caregiver requests information from the selected bed;

a transceiver that transmits a request to the selected bed via at least one of the plurality of transceivers of the locating and tracking system in response to the input device receiving the request from the caregiver, and that receives information from the selected bed via at least one of the plurality of transceivers in response to the selected bed receiving the request; and

an output device that presents the information received from the selected bed to the caregiver.

25. For use in a facility comprising a plurality of rooms, a locating and tracking system comprising a plurality of transceivers and a master station, and a plurality of beds in communication with the master station that is adapted to determine location of caregivers based upon identification signals received from the plurality of transceivers and to identify the caregiver assigned to care for a patient associated with a bed of the plurality of beds, a remote control, comprising

a transmitter that transmits to the master station via at least one of the plurality transceivers an identification signal that identifies a caregiver associated with the remote control;

a receiver that receives via at least one of the plurality of transceivers an alarm condition that the master station has routed to the caregiver from a bed in a different room than the caregiver in response to determining that the caregiver is assigned to care for the patient associated with the bed, and

an output device that presents the alarm condition to the caregiver.

29. A system for remotely servicing a patient associated with a bed, comprising:

a transmitter associated with the bed that transmits a bed identification signal that identifies the bed;

a remote control comprising an input device that receives input from the caregiver, a receiver that receives the bed identification signal, and a transmitter that transmits control signals based upon the input received from the caregiver and the bed identification signal received by the remote control; and

a control unit that controls operation of the bed and that responds to control signals received from the remote control only if the transmitter of the remote control transmitted the control signals based upon the bed identification signal that identifies the bed.