Sanitization Compliance Monitoring System
First Claim
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1. A sanitization compliance monitoring system for a health care environment having patient beds, comprising:
- badges wearable by persons, said badges having indicia representing a first-state indicating a sanitary compliant condition of the person, a second-state representing a cautionary state indicating the person'"'"'s contact with a first patient, and a third-state representing an unsanitary state indicating the person'"'"'s contact with a second patient after contact with, and different from, a first patient, said badges also having a wireless transmitter/receiver for communicating an identification signal unique to a single badge, and the current state of the badge;
patient bed beacons, each associated with a different respective patient bed, each bed beacon having a transmitter/receiver capable of wirelessly communicating with said badges;
dispenser beacons, each associated with a sanitization dispenser, and having a transmitter/receiver capable of wirelessly communicating with said badges; and
wherein a badge in said first-state changes to said second-state when located in a certain proximity to a patient bed beacon, and transmits a status change signal indicating such first-to-second-state change to the patient bed beacon with the badge identification signal;
wherein a badge in said second-state changes to said third-state when located in a certain proximity to a patient bed beacon different from the patient bed beacon which caused the badge to change from the first-state to the second-state, and transmits a status signal indicating such second-to-third-state change to the patient bed beacon with the badge identification signal, andwherein a dispenser beacon causes a badge to change from the second-state or third-state to the first-state when the person has performed a sanitization procedure at a sanitization dispenser beacon.
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Abstract
A sanitization compliance monitoring system comprises care giver badges, patient bed beacons associated with patient beds, dispenser beacons associated with sanitization dispensers, and a central unit for wirelessly communicating with the badges.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sanitization compliance monitoring system for a health care environment having patient beds, comprising:
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badges wearable by persons, said badges having indicia representing a first-state indicating a sanitary compliant condition of the person, a second-state representing a cautionary state indicating the person'"'"'s contact with a first patient, and a third-state representing an unsanitary state indicating the person'"'"'s contact with a second patient after contact with, and different from, a first patient, said badges also having a wireless transmitter/receiver for communicating an identification signal unique to a single badge, and the current state of the badge; patient bed beacons, each associated with a different respective patient bed, each bed beacon having a transmitter/receiver capable of wirelessly communicating with said badges; dispenser beacons, each associated with a sanitization dispenser, and having a transmitter/receiver capable of wirelessly communicating with said badges; and wherein a badge in said first-state changes to said second-state when located in a certain proximity to a patient bed beacon, and transmits a status change signal indicating such first-to-second-state change to the patient bed beacon with the badge identification signal; wherein a badge in said second-state changes to said third-state when located in a certain proximity to a patient bed beacon different from the patient bed beacon which caused the badge to change from the first-state to the second-state, and transmits a status signal indicating such second-to-third-state change to the patient bed beacon with the badge identification signal, and wherein a dispenser beacon causes a badge to change from the second-state or third-state to the first-state when the person has performed a sanitization procedure at a sanitization dispenser beacon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for monitoring sanitization compliance for a health care environment having patient beds, comprising:
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providing badges wearable by persons, said badges having indicia representing a first-state indicating a sanitary compliant condition of the person, a second-state representing a cautionary state indicating the person'"'"'s contact with a first patient, and a third-state representing an unsanitary state indicating the person'"'"'s contact with a second patient after contact with, and different from, a first patient, said badges also having a wireless transmitter/receiver for communicating an identification signal unique to a single badge, and the current state of the badge; providing patient bed beacons, each associated with a different respective patient bed, each bed beacon capable of wirelessly communicating with said badges; providing dispenser beacons, each associated with a sanitization dispenser, and having a transmitter/receiver capable of wirelessly communicating with said badges; changing the state of a badge from said first-state to said second-state when located in a certain proximity to a patient bed beacon, and transmitting a status change signal indicating such first-to-second-state change to the patient bed beacon with the badge identification signal; changing the state of a badge from said second-state to said third-state when located in a certain proximity to a patient bed beacon different from the patient bed beacon which caused the badge to change from the first-state to the second-state, and transmitting a status signal indicating such second-to-third-state change to the patient bed beacon with the badge identification signal; changing the status of a badge from the second-state or third-state to the first-state when the person has performed a sanitization procedure at a sanitization dispenser. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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16. The method of claim 16, wherein, in response to a badge coming in a certain proximity to a dispenser beacon, the badge transmitter/receiver and the dispenser transmitter/receiver increase their respective transmitter/receiver ranges to permit communication over a wider communication-range, and wherein the respective badge and dispenser beacon lock communication to the exclusion of other badges and dispenser beacons, until communication between the badge and dispenser beacon is complete.
Specification