TRACKING SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20150123792A1
• Filed: 11/04/2014
• Published: 05/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Patient Innovations LLC
• Original Assignee: Patient Innovations LLC
• Inventors: Boutros, Akram, GREENBERG, KENNETH L.
• Application Number:
  US14/532,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20150123792A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.13
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/01 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/781 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0264 at least one of the systems being a non-radio wave positioning system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1091 Recording time for administrative or management purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• 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 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A tracking system for monitoring the location of a plurality of objects within a medical facility includes a plurality of wireless tags associated with and configured to be attached to the plurality of objects within the medical facility. A plurality of wireless sensors are positioned within the medical facility and configured to monitor the location of each of the plurality of wireless tags within the medical facility and generate location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags. A computing system is configured to: receive the location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags, associate time stamp information with the location information received for each of the plurality of wireless tags, and determine a time/proximity based level of performance between at least two of the plurality of wireless tags based, at least in part, upon the location information and the time stamp information.

Claims

1. A tracking system for monitoring the location of a plurality of objects within a medical facility comprising:

a plurality of wireless tags associated with and configured to be attached to the plurality of objects within the medical facility;

a plurality of wireless sensors positioned within the medical facility and configured to monitor the location of each of the plurality of wireless tags within the medical facility and generate location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags;

a computing system configured to;

receive the location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags,

associate time stamp information with the location information received for each of the plurality of wireless tags, and

determine a time/proximity based level of performance between at least two of the plurality of wireless tags based, at least in part, upon the location information and the time stamp information.

2. The tracking system of claim 1 wherein the computing system is further configured to perform operations comprising:

generating efficiency information concerning at least one of the plurality of wireless tags based, at least in part, upon the position information associated with the at least one wireless tag, and the time-based movement information associated with the at least one wireless tag.

3. The tracking system of claim 2 wherein the computing system is further configured to perform operations comprising:

comparing the efficiency information to one or more predefined quality metrics to determine a level of adherence.

4. The tracking system of claim 2 wherein:

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical professional and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be releasably attached to the medical professional,

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical patient and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be releasably attached to the medical patient, and

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical device and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be attached to the medical device.

5. The tracking system of claim 4 wherein the efficiency information is based on one or more of:

the quantity of time that the medical professional interacts with the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical professional utilizes the medical device;

the overall utilization efficiency of the medical professional;

the quantity of time that the medical professional is over-scheduled; and

the quantity of time that the medical professional is under-scheduled.

6. The tracking system of claim 4 wherein the efficiency information is based on one or more of:

the quantity of time that the medical patient interacts with the medical professional;

the quantity of time that the medical patient utilizes the medical device;

the anticipated satisfaction level of the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical patient is over-scheduled; and

the quantity of time that the medical patient is under-scheduled.

7. The tracking system of claim 4 wherein the efficiency information is based on one or more of:

the quantity of time that the medical device is utilized for the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical device is utilized by the medical professional;

the overall utilization efficiency of the medical device;

the quantity of time that the medical device is over-utilized; and

the quantity of time that the medical device is under-utilized.

8. The tracking system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of wireless tags includes a plurality of RFID/IR tag.

9. The tracking system of claim 8 wherein at least one of the plurality of RFID/IR tags is a two-component RFID/IR tag, wherein a first component is an RFID tag and a second component is an IR tag.

10. The tracking system of claim 8 wherein the plurality of wireless sensors includes a plurality of IR-based sensors and a plurality of RFID-based sensors.

11. The tracking system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of wireless sensors has a known location within the medical facility.

12. The tracking system of claim 1 wherein the computing system is configured to be coupled to the plurality of wireless sensors.

16. The tracking system of claim 4 wherein the efficiency information is based on one or more of:

the quantity of time that the medical professional interacts with the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical professional utilizes the medical device;

the overall utilization efficiency of the medical professional;

the quantity of time that the medical professional is over-scheduled;

the quantity of time that the medical professional is under-scheduled;

the quantity of time that the medical patient interacts with the medical professional;

the quantity of time that the medical patient utilizes the medical device;

the anticipated satisfaction level of the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical patient is over-scheduled;

the quantity of time that the medical patient is under-scheduled;

the quantity of time that the medical device is utilized for the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical device is utilized by the medical professional;

the overall utilization efficiency of the medical device;

the quantity of time that the medical device is over-utilized; and

the quantity of time that the medical device is under-utilized.

22. The tracking system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of wireless sensors has a known location within the medical facility.

13. A tracking system for monitoring the location of a plurality of objects within a medical facility comprising:

a plurality of wireless tags associated with and configured to be attached to the plurality of objects within the medical facility;

a plurality of wireless sensors positioned within the medical facility and configured to monitor the location of each of the plurality of wireless tags within the medical facility and generate location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags;

a computing system configured to;

receive the location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags,

associate time stamp information with the location information received for each of the plurality of wireless tags,

determine a time/proximity based level of performance between at least two of the plurality of wireless tags based, at least in part, upon the location information and the time stamp information, and

generate efficiency information concerning at least one of the plurality of wireless tags based, at least in part, upon the position information associated with the at least one wireless tag, and the time-based movement information associated with the at least one wireless tag.

14. The tracking system of claim 13 wherein the computing system is further configured to perform operations comprising:

comparing the efficiency information to one or more predefined quality metrics to determine a level of adherence.

15. The tracking system of claim 13 wherein:

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical professional and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be releasably attached to the medical professional,

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical patient and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be releasably attached to the medical patient, and

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical device and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be attached to the medical device.

17. A tracking system for monitoring the location of a plurality of objects within a medical facility comprising:

a plurality of wireless tags associated with and configured to be attached to the plurality of objects within the medical facility;

a plurality of wireless sensors positioned within the medical facility and configured to monitor the location of each of the plurality of wireless tags within the medical facility and generate location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags;

a computing system configured to;

receive the location information for each of the plurality of wireless tags,

associate time stamp information with the location information received for each of the plurality of wireless tags,

determine a time/proximity based level of performance between at least two of the plurality of wireless tags based, at least in part, upon the location information and the time stamp information,

generating efficiency information concerning at least one of the plurality of wireless tags based, at least in part, upon the position information associated with the at least one wireless tag, and the time-based movement information associated with the at least one wireless tag, and

comparing the efficiency information to one or more predefined quality metrics to determine a level of adherence;

wherein;

the plurality of wireless tags includes a plurality of RFID/IR tag, and

the plurality of wireless sensors includes a plurality of IR-based sensors and a plurality of RFID-based sensors.

18. The tracking system of claim 17 wherein:

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical professional and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be releasably attached to the medical professional,

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical patient and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be releasably attached to the medical patient, and

at least one of the plurality of objects is a medical device and at least one of the wireless tags is configured to be attached to the medical device.

19. The tracking system of claim 18 wherein the efficiency information is based on one or more of:

the quantity of time that the medical professional interacts with the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical professional utilizes the medical device;

the overall utilization efficiency of the medical professional;

the quantity of time that the medical professional is over-scheduled; and

the quantity of time that the medical professional is under-scheduled.

20. The tracking system of claim 18 wherein the efficiency information is based on one or more of:

the quantity of time that the medical patient interacts with the medical professional;

the quantity of time that the medical patient utilizes the medical device;

the anticipated satisfaction level of the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical patient is over-scheduled; and

the quantity of time that the medical patient is under-scheduled.

21. The tracking system of claim 18 wherein the efficiency information is based on one or more of:

the quantity of time that the medical device is utilized for the medical patient;

the quantity of time that the medical device is utilized by the medical professional;

the overall utilization efficiency of the medical device;

the quantity of time that the medical device is over-utilized; and

the quantity of time that the medical device is under-utilized.