METHOD, SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR VOICE MESSAGE RECORDING AND PLAYBACK AT POINT OF CARE

• US 20140056417A1
• Filed: 08/23/2012
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Inventors: Wildman, Timothy D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,298,881 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/67.1
• 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: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656

Abstract

A method and system for voice messaging at a point of care includes at least one point of care communication device configured to record voice messages and play back voice messages that have previously been created. The point of care communication device may be, among other things, a nurse call station or console. The recorded messages may be selectively transcribed and/or routed to other systems and/or point of care devices.

Claims

1. A user station for a patient-nurse communication system, the user station comprising:

a housing locatable in a patient care environment, the housing defining an interior region;

a processor located in the interior region;

communication circuitry operably coupled to the processor, the communication circuitry configured to receive one or more real-time voice calls at the user station and route the real-time voice calls to one or more recipients via the patient-nurse communication system;

a voice recorder supported by the housing;

at least one speaker supported by the housing;

a user interface supported by the housing, the user interface comprising at least one user-activatable control; and

a memory device having embodied therein at least one processor-executable routine configured to;

receive, at the user interface, a first request to activate the voice recorder to record a spoken message;

in response to the first request, activate the voice recorder to record a message spoken by a person adjacent the user station;

store the recorded message;

receive, at the user interface, a second request to play the recorded message; and

in response to the second request, play the recorded message at the at least one speaker.

2. The user station of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to transcribe the recorded message and store the transcribed message.

3. The user station of claim 2, comprising communication circuitry configured to send the transcribed message to a remote electronic medical record system.

4. The user station of claim 3, wherein the communication circuitry is configured according to a Health Level 7 protocol.

5. The user station of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to validate the transcribed message prior to sending the transcribed message to the remote electronic medical record system.

6. The user station of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to validate the first request prior to activating the voice recorder.

7. The user station of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises a first display portion configured to display information relating to the real-time voice calls and a second display portion configured to display information relating to the recorded message.

8. The user station of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises an indicator configured to indicate to a person that a recorded message is stored at the memory device.

9. The user station of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to validate the second request prior to playing the recorded message.

10. The user station of claim 1, comprising a sensor to detect the presence of a person adjacent the user station, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to play the recorded message in response to the detecting of the person.

11. A point of care communication device comprising:

a housing locatable in a patient care environment;

a voice recorder supported by the housing;

a user control activatable by a person to initiate a request to activate the voice recorder to record a spoken message;

a processor operably coupled to the voice recorder and the user control;

communication circuitry operably coupled to the processor and configured to connect the point of care device to a patient-nurse communication system; and

a memory device having embodied therein at least one processor-executable routine configured to;

determine whether the person initiating the request to activate the voice recorder is authorized to activate the voice recorder;

activate the voice recorder in response to determining that the person initiating the request is authorized to activate the voice recorder;

record the spoken message; and

store the recorded message for future playback at the point of care device or at another device connected to the patient-nurse communication system.

12. The point of care communication device of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to receive information identifying the person recording the spoken message and associate the recorded message with the information identifying the person recording the spoken message.

13. The point of care communication device of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to receive information identifying at least one intended recipient of the recorded message other than the person recording the spoken message and associate the recorded message with the information identifying the at least one intended recipient.

14. The point of care communication device of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to play the recorded message in response to a request for playback received from at least one of the intended recipients.

15. The point of care communication device of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to send the recorded message to another device associated with at least one of the intended recipients.

16. The point of care communication device of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to determine a message type associated with the recorded message, the message type comprising at least one of:

a message intended for playback by the person who recorded the spoken message, a message intended for playback by one or more other persons, a message intended to be associated with a person'"'"'s electronic medical record, a message intended to be associated with the point of care communication device, a message intended to be associated with location at which the point of care communication device is located, a message intended to be associated with a device or piece of equipment at the location at which the point of care device is located; and

determining whether to allow playback of the recorded message at the point of care communication device based on the message type.

17. The point of care communication device of claim 11, comprising a display configured to display a list of recorded messages available for playback at the point of care communication device, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to determine whether to include a recorded message in the list of recorded messages displayed at the point of care communication device based on at least one of the message type and information about a person requesting playback of a recorded message.

18. A user station for a healthcare communication system, the user station comprising:

a housing locatable in a patient care environment;

a voice recorder supported by the housing;

a processor operably coupled to the voice recorder; and

a memory device having embodied therein at least one processor-executable routine configured to;

record a message spoken by a person at the voice recorder; and

store the recorded message; and

communication circuitry operably coupled to the processor and configured to make the recorded message available for playback at a second user station connected to the healthcare communication system over a communication network.

19. The user station of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to determine the second user station based on a location of the person who spoke the recorded message.

20. The user station of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor-executable routine is configured to determine the second user station based on a location of an intended recipient of the recorded message.