METHOD AND SYSTEM TO DETECT THAT A DEVICE HAS BEEN CLEANED

• US 20120116803A1
• Filed: 06/15/2010
• Published: 05/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Reid, W. Scott, Gross, Brian D.
• Granted Patent: US 10,004,823 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/28 Devices for testing the effectiveness or completeness of sterilisation, e.g. indicators which change colour apparatus involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M1/34; methods involving enzymes or microorganisms C12Q1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A room monitoring system includes a plurality of in-room units. The in-room units collect information relating to a clean or dirty status of a plurality of patient rooms and/or equipment in the rooms. A monitoring station receives clean or dirty status information from the in-room units and determines which rooms are clean, and ready for a patient, which are dirty and in need of cleaning, and which are occupied.

Claims

1. A room monitoring system comprising:

a plurality of in-room units which collect information relating to a clean or dirty status of a plurality of patient rooms and/or equipment in the rooms;

a monitoring station which receives clean or dirty status information from the in-room units and determines which rooms are clean, and ready for a patient, which are dirty and in need of cleaning, and which are occupied.

2. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a housekeeping unit which displays at least which rooms are waiting to be cleaned, which rooms are in a process of being cleaned, which rooms have been cleaned and a list of available cleaning personal.

3. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a bed assigning unit which receives patient waiting information and room status information from the monitoring station and matches waiting patients with available clean rooms.

4. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the in-room units each include:

one or more sensors positioned in the room and configured to measure cleanliness of the patient room and/or equipment in the room.

5. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the in-room units each include:

a memory which stores cleaning specification; and

a processor which receives input from the sensors and from the sensor inputs determines if the stores cleaning specifications have been met.

6. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the in-room units each include:

a sensor which senses an ID of a patient in the room; and

a sensor which senses whether each piece of equipment is clean or dirty; and

wherein a monitoring system controller classifies the equipment as in-use when equipment sensed as dirty remains associated with the sensed patient ID and as dirty when the equipment becomes disassociated from the sensed patient ID.

7. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring station can change the status of the sensors which sense whether each piece of equipment is clean or dirty.

8. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring station includes:

a controller programmed to or including means to;

receive room status information from one or more sensors in each of a one or more rooms;

determine a status for each of the one or more rooms from the room status information received from the one or more sensors in each of the one or more rooms;

display the status of each of one or more rooms in a central display; and

notify cleaning personal in response to determining one or more rooms having a dirty status.

9. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring station includes:

a user interface configured to input the clean or dirty status information relating to the plurality of patient rooms and/or equipment in the rooms.

10. The room monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring station includes:

a controller with a processor programmed to or including means to control at least one of a in-room unit display, a monitoring station display, and a housekeeping unit display to display a checklist for each of the plurality of rooms, the checklist displaying at least a status of the patient room and/or equipment in the room.

11. An in-room unit for use in the system of claim 1, comprising:

a display which displays the status of portions of the patient room and the equipment in the room; and

a controller which receives clean or dirty status information from the one or more sensors and one of determines if the room is clean, and ready for a patient, is dirty and in need of cleaning, and is occupied, and transfers the information from the sensors to the monitoring station.

12. A method of displaying the status of one or more medical rooms, the method comprising:

receiving room status information from one or more sensors in each of the one or more medical rooms;

determining a status for each of the one or more medical rooms from the room status information received from the one or more sensors in each of the one or more medical rooms;

displaying the status of each of one or more rooms in a display; and

generating a notification for cleaning personal in response to determining one or more medical rooms has a dirty status.

13. The method according to claim 12, further including:

controlling at least one of a room display and central display to display a checklist for each of the one or more medical rooms, the checklist displaying a status of each of the one or more sensors in each of the one or more medical rooms.

14. The method according to claim 12, further including:

with one or more sensors, determining a status of the one or medical rooms by detecting a presence of a cleaning solution on a surface for an appropriate duration of time for disinfection.

15. The method according to claim 12, further including:

determining whether one or more mobile medical equipment in the room have left the room for sterilization/disinfection.

16. The method according to claim 12, further including:

notifying a admitting personal that a patient can be moved in response to determining one or more rooms having a clean status; and

displaying an estimation of a time remaining until a room is in a clean status or displaying a checklist for each of the one or more rooms, the checklist displaying a status of each of the one or more sensors in each of the one or more rooms for rooms having a cleaning in process status.

17. The method according to claim 12, further including:

in response to a patient ID becoming disassociated with a room, classifying the room and each piece of equipment in the room with the dirty status.

18. The method according to claim 12, further including:

in response to mobile equipment associated with a room or patient ID being sent to a cleaning unit, classifying the mobile equipment with the dirty status.