INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATION AND LOCATING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A healthcare communication system comprisinga plurality of RFID transmitters carried by persons or assets in a healthcare facility, each transmitter periodically transmitting a transmitter signal unique to that transmitter,a plurality of receivers, each corresponding to a location in the healthcare facility, each configured to receive the transmitter signals and output a receiver signal, anda computer configured to substantially simultaneously monitor the location and tracking of persons or assets carrying the transmitters and control patient-nurse communications by defining transition zones within the healthcare facility and determining confidence levels associated with located persons and assets, wherein the confidence levels are determined only if the persons or assets are located in a transition zone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A nurse call system includes an integrated locating system. The system includes room-level IR/RFID tracking features. Transition zones incorporate hysteresis to identify transition lines for entering a specific room or location. Capabilities of located persons or assets may be associated with patient treatment plans and/or care alerts based on proximity. Confidence levels may be determined based on information received from multiple tracking systems.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A healthcare communication system comprising
a plurality of RFID transmitters carried by persons or assets in a healthcare facility, each transmitter periodically transmitting a transmitter signal unique to that transmitter, a plurality of receivers, each corresponding to a location in the healthcare facility, each configured to receive the transmitter signals and output a receiver signal, and a computer configured to substantially simultaneously monitor the location and tracking of persons or assets carrying the transmitters and control patient-nurse communications by defining transition zones within the healthcare facility and determining confidence levels associated with located persons and assets, wherein the confidence levels are determined only if the persons or assets are located in a transition zone.
- 9. A healthcare communication system comprising a patient-nurse communication subsystem and a locating and tracking subsystem coupled to the patient-nurse communication system, the locating and tracking subsystem being configured to monitor transition zones and use hysteresis to determine the location of a person or asset being monitored by the locating and tracking subsystem.
- 15. A healthcare communication system comprising a combined patient-nurse communication and locating and tracking system, the combined system including a decision engine configured to associate one or more capabilities of a located person or asset with one or more care recommendations and issue an alert regarding the one or more care recommendations.
- 19. A healthcare communication system comprising a combined patient-nurse communication and locating and tracking system, the combined system including a program executable to determine a confidence level associated with a located person or asset based on information received from a plurality of locating and tracking mechanisms including an IR tracking mechanism and an RFID tracking mechanism.
Specification