WIRELESS BED CONNECTIVITY

• US 20070210917A1
• Filed: 02/07/2007
• Published: 09/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Inventors: Allen, James, Wildman, Timothy, Collins, Williams, Huster, Keith, Riley, Carl, Schuman, Richard, Vanderpohl, Irvin, Howell, Benjamin, Glidwell, Patricia
• Granted Patent: US 7,852,208 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.100
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/024 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse rate or heart rate A61B5/0205, A61B5/021 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1115 Monitoring leaving of a patient support, e.g. a bed or a wheelchair
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1117 Fall detection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/447 specially adapted for aiding the prevention of ulcer or pressure sore development, i.e. before the ulcer or sore has developed
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/746 Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms alarms per se G08B
• 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 7/018 Control or drive mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/22 using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission
• 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 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A hospital bed has wireless communication circuitry operable to transmit wirelessly bed status data. A surface supported by the bed has wireless communication circuitry operable to transmit wirelessly surface status data. The wireless communication circuitry of the hospital bed and the wireless communication circuitry of the surface communicate with a network independently. A hospital bed with an integrated surface has wireless communication circuitry operable to transmit wirelessly bed status data and surface status data. The wireless bed status data and the wireless surface status data are received by wireless access points of a network of a healthcare facility.

Claims

1. A hospital bed having wireless communication circuitry operable to transmit bed status data wirelessly to a network and to receive messages wirelessly from the network, the bed having a mattress associated therewith and the bed status data including information regarding at least one feature of the mattress.

2. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry also is operable to transmit bed location data wirelessly to the network to indicate a location in a healthcare facility at which the hospital bed is located.

3. The hospital bed of claim 2, wherein the bed location data comprises data received from a unit mounted to a wall in a room of the healthcare facility.

4. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry also is operable to transmit patient weight data wirelessly to the network.

5. The hospital bed of claim 4, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit the patient weight data wirelessly in response to a query initiated by a caregiver at a remote computer.

6. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry also is operable to transmit patient position mode data wirelessly to the network, the patient position mode data being indicative of which of a plurality of modes a patient position monitor of the hospital bed is operating.

7. The hospital bed of claim 6, wherein a first mode of the patient position monitor of the bed is a movement mode in which patient movement of a first amount is detected, a second mode of the patient position monitor of the bed is an egress mode in which patient movement of a second amount greater than the first amount is detected, a third mode of the patient position monitor is an exit mode in which patient movement of a third amount greater than the second amount is detected, and a fourth mode of the patient position monitor is a sitting mode in which the patient is detected sitting on the side of the bed.

8. The hospital bed of claim 7, wherein the wireless communication circuitry also is operable to transmit alarm data wirelessly to the network to indicate that a condition associated with the selected patient position mode has been violated.

9. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes lockout data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate that at least one bed motor has been locked out by a caregiver such that a patient is unable to operate the motor using one or more bed controls.

10. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes turn assist data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate whether a turn assist feature of the mattress of the hospital bed is being used.

11. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes max inflate data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate whether a max inflate feature of the mattress of the hospital bed is being used.

12. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes heel suspension data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate whether a heel suspension mode of the mattress of the hospital bed is being used.

13. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes surface therapy data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate whether a surface therapy feature of a mattress of the hospital bed is being used.

14. The hospital bed of claim 13, wherein the surface therapy data indicates whether at least one of the following surface therapies is being used:

low air loss, continuous lateral rotation, alternating pressure, sequential pressure, percussion, and vibration.

15. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is also operable to transmit housekeeping data wirelessly to the network to indicate that the hospital bed needs to be cleaned.

16. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes battery data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate a status of a battery of the hospital bed.

17. The hospital bed of claim 16, wherein the battery data indicates at least one of the following:

that the battery is present on the bed, that the battery is absent from the bed, that the battery is fully charged, and that the battery needs charging.

18. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes AC power data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate whether the hospital bed is connected to AC power.

19. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes service data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate that the hospital bed needs to be serviced.

20. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes CPR release data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate that a CPR release handle of the hospital bed has been activated to rapidly lower a head section of the bed.

21. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the bed status data includes head angle data transmitted wirelessly to the network to indicate an angle at which a head section of the hospital bed is inclined.

22. The hospital bed of claim 21, wherein the head angle data indicates the angle at which the head section of the hospital bed is inclined relative to some other portion of the hospital bed.

23. The hospital bed of claim 21, wherein the head angle data indicates the angle at which the head section of the hospital bed is inclined relative to horizontal or relative to vertical.

24. The hospital bed of claim 1, further comprising an indicator on the hospital bed to indicate whether the hospital bed has established wireless communications with the network.

25. The hospital bed of claim 24, wherein the indicator comprises a light emitting diode on a siderail of the bed.

26. The hospital bed of claim 24, wherein the indicator comprises a light emitting diode on a base frame of the bed.

27. The hospital bed of claim 1, further comprising an indicator on the hospital bed to indicate whether a template of alarm conditions has been set up for the hospital bed at a remote computer device coupled to the network.

28. The hospital bed of claim 27, wherein the indicator comprises a light emitting diode on a siderail of the bed.

29. The hospital bed of claim 27, wherein the indicator comprises a light emitting diode on a base frame of the bed.

30. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the hospital bed is programmable with new firmware that is downloaded to the bed from the network.

31. The hospital bed of claim 30, wherein the firmware is downloaded to the bed according to a file transfer protocol (FTP).

32. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit a message in which is embedded an IP address associated with a remote computer to which the message is destined.

33. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit a message in which is embedded an IP address associated with the hospital bed.

34. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit a message in which is embedded a MAC address of the hospital bed.

35. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit an XML message.

36. The hospital bed of claim 35, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to convert the XML message into ASCII format prior to transmission.

37. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit a message to a preprogrammed e-mail address in response to a preprogrammed event occurring on the hospital bed.

38. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit a heartbeat signal.

39. The hospital bed of claim 38, wherein the heartbeat signal includes a copyright notice.

40. The hospital bed of claim 39, wherein the copyright notice comprises a company name and a year.

41. The hospital bed of claim 38, wherein the heartbeat signal is transmitted at least once per minute.

42. The hospital bed of claim 41, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is configured to resend the heartbeat signal if a heartbeat received message is not received by the hospital bed within a predetermined period of time that is less than one minute.

43. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit configuration data to indicate the capabilities included on the hospital bed.

44. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the hospital bed has a TCP/IP port to which at least one other device is couplable and the wireless communication circuitry of the hospital bed is operable to transmit wirelessly device data received from the at least one other device.

45. The hospital bed of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit wirelessly according to the 802.11b or 802.11g protocol.

59. The hospital bed of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is operable to transmit wirelessly a currently selected mode of the patient position monitor in response to a query initiated by a caregiver at a remote computer.

60. The hospital bed of claim 6, wherein the hospital bed is operable to change from a currently selected mode of the patient position monitor to another mode of the patient position monitor in response to a wireless message that is received by the wireless communication circuitry and that is initiated by a caregiver at a remote computer.

46. A system for use with a network of computer devices in a healthcare facility, the system comprising

a hospital bed having first wireless communication circuitry operable to transmit bed status data wirelessly to the network, and

a surface supported by the hospital bed and having second wireless communication circuitry operable to transmit surface status data wirelessly to the network, the second wireless communication circuitry being operable independent of the first wireless communication circuitry.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein a frequency at which the first wireless communication circuitry transmits is different than a frequency at which the second wireless communication circuitry transmits.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein the first and second wireless communication circuitry transmit wirelessly according to the 802.11b or 802.11g protocol.

49. The system of claim 46, further comprising a computer device coupled to the network remotely from the hospital bed and the surface, the computer device being operable to receive the bed status data, and the computer device being operable to transmit a control message to the surface in response to the bed status data received from the hospital bed.

50. The system of claim 46, further comprising a computer device coupled to the network remotely from the hospital bed and the surface, the computer device being operable to receive the surface status data, and the computer device being operable to transmit a control message to the hospital bed in response to the surface status data received from the surface.

51. A system for use with a network of computer devices in a healthcare facility, the system comprising

a hospital bed having communication circuitry operable to transmit messages to the network, and

a workflow computer system coupled to the network, the workflow computer system being operable to assign tasks to staff members, at least one task assigned to at least one of the staff members being assigned by the workflow computer system in response to receipt of a message transmitted from the communication circuitry of the hospital bed over the network.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the at least one task assigned to at least one of the staff members in response to the message comprises a housekeeping task.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the housekeeping task comprises cleaning the hospital bed.

54. The system of claim 52, wherein the message is transmitted by the communication circuitry of the hospital bed in response to a housekeeping button on the bed being pressed.

55. The system of claim 51, wherein the at least one task assigned to at least one of the staff members in response to the message comprises a bed service task.

56. The system of claim 51, wherein the message transmitted from the communication circuitry comprises a wireless message.

57. The system of claim 51, wherein the hospital bed automatically transmits the message in response to a sensed condition of the hospital bed.

58. The system of claim 51, wherein the hospital bed transmits the message in response to a button on the bed being pressed by a person.