DISCRIMINATING PATIENT CARE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

• US 20170323555A1
• Filed: 04/26/2017
• Published: 11/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Inventors: Embree, Stephen, Davidson, Frederick C., Lerebours, Theophile R., Maloney, Phillip, Filliat, Bruno J., Girardeau, David M., Saucier, Christian, Walton, Kelly F., Lingenfelser, Joshua P., Howell, Benjamin E., Smith, Bradley T., Hassey, Laura A., Moore, Stephen N., Pipher, Britten J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,360,787 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/12 Manually actuated calamity alarm transmitting arrangements emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm, activators, e.g. details of alarm push buttons mounted on an infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols

Abstract

According to the present disclosure, devices, systems, and methods for locating, tracking, and conducting communications between care devices and networks of care facilities through local communications hubs.

Claims

1. A patient care communications system of a care facility comprising:

a patient bed having a bed ID associated therewith,

a bed communications device attached to the patient bed and configured to send and receive bed communications signals, and

a local communications device that is associated with a room of the care facility, the local communications device being configured to communicate first signals having a first wavelength and being configured to communicate second signals having a second wavelength different than the first wavelength,

wherein the local communications device is configured to receive at least one bed communications signal indicating the bed ID of the patient bed, and to send a confirmation signal indicating the bed ID.

2. The patient care communications system of claim 1, wherein the confirmation signal comprises the first signals.

3. The patient care communications system of claim 2, wherein the confirmation signal includes an infrared signal.

4. The patient care communications system of claim 3, wherein the second signals comprise one of a bluetooth signal and a wifi signal.

5. The patient care communications system of claim 3, wherein the bed communications device is configured to receive the confirmation signal indicating the bed ID from the local communications device and to establish an ad-hoc personal area network with the local communications device in response to a determination that the bed ID indicated by the confirmation signal corresponds to the patient bed.

6. The patient care communications system of claim 5, wherein the ad-hoc personal area network is a piconet.

7. The patient care communications system of claim 5, wherein the local communication device is configured to communicate with a network of the care facility.

8. The patient care communications system of claim 7, wherein the ad-hoc network provides a communications link for communication between the bed communications device and the network of the care facility.

9. The patient care communications system of claim 1, wherein the bed communication device prevents formation of an ad-hoc network with the local communications device if no confirmation signal is received.

10. A patient care communications system of a care facility comprising:

a patient bed,

a bed communications device attached to the patient bed, and

a local communications device associated with a room of the care facility and configured for communication with the bed communications device,

wherein the one of the local communications device and the bed communications device transmits at least one ID signal indicating an ID code, and forms an ad-hoc network with the other of the local communications device and the bed communications device upon receiving a confirmation signal indicating the ID code.

11. The patient care communications system of claim 10, wherein one of the ID signal and the confirmation signal includes a wavelength that is insufficient to communicate through walls of the care facility, and the other of the ID signal and the confirmation signal includes a wavelength that is sufficient to communicate through walls of the care facility.

12. The patient care communications system of claim 10, wherein one of the ID signal and the confirmation signal is an infrared signal, and the other of the ID signal and the confirmation signal is at least one of a Bluetooth signal and a Wi-Fi signal.

13. A discriminating patient care communications system for communication with a network of a care facility, the system comprising:

a plurality of communication hubs each including circuitry configured to send and receive communication signals and a signal meter configured to measure the strength of signals received, a number of the plurality of communication hubs being arranged in communication with each other, wherein at least one network hub of the plurality of communication hubs is arranged in communication with the network of the care facility,

a patient bed including communication circuitry configured to send signals indicating bed information to at least one of the plurality of communication hubs, and

at least one patient care device for attending a patient assigned to the patent bed, the at least one patient care device including communication circuitry configured to send signals indicating care device information to at least one of the plurality of communication hubs,

wherein the plurality of communication hubs are configured to determine a preferred hub of the plurality of communication hubs for communication with the at least one patient care device based on the greatest signal strength as measured by the signal meter, and to selectively operate the preferred hub to receive the signals indicating care device information from the at least one patient care device and to communicate an indication of the care device information to the network through the at least one network hub, and to selectively operate the communication hubs other than the preferred hub to disregard the signals indicating care device information.

14. A patient care communications system of a care facility having a facility communications system comprising:

a patient-care device including at least one audio speaker,

a patient-care communications device attached to the patient-care device, and

a local communications device associated with a room of the care facility and configured for communication with the facility communications system and the patient-care communications device to communicate information therebetween,

wherein the one of the local communications device and the patient-care communications device forms an ad-hoc network with the other of the local communications device and the patient-care communications device, and the local communication device configured to prioritize audio signals communicated from the facility communications system.

15. The patient care communications system of claim 14, wherein the audio speaker is configured to provide audio for one or more entertainment devices associated with the room of the care facility, and prioritizing audio signals includes stopping audio play from the one or more entertainment devices in favor of audio from the facility communications system.

16. A patient care communications system for communication with a network of a care facility, the system comprising:

a plurality of communications hubs including at least one communications hub arranged within a room of the care facility equipped with a preferred nurse call communications system and at least two communications hub arranged within a room of the care facility equipped with a non-preferred nurse call communications system, and

a number of patient care devices each including communication circuitry configured to communicate signals to at least one of the plurality of communication hubs,

wherein a first of the at least two communications hubs arranged within a room of the care facility equipped with a non-preferred nurse call communications system is in communication with the non-preferred nurse call communications system and a second of the at least two communications hubs is in communication with the network of the care facility.

17. The patient care communications system of claim 16, wherein the first of the at least two communications hubs communicates with the network through the second of the at least two communications hubs.

18. The patient care communications system of claim 16, wherein the second of the at least two communications hubs communicates with the non-preferred nurse call communications system through the first of the at least two communications hubs.

19. A patient care communications system for communication with a network of a care facility, the system comprising:

a plurality of communications hubs including at least two communications hubs arranged within a room of the care facility equipped with a non-preferred nurse call communications system, and

a number of patient care devices each including communication circuitry configured to communicate signals to at least one of the plurality of communication hubs,

wherein a first of the at least two communications hubs arranged within a room of the care facility equipped with a non-preferred nurse call communications system is in communication with the non-preferred nurse call communications system and a second of the at least two communications hubs is in communication with the network of the care facility.

20. The patient care communications system of claim 19, wherein the first of the at least two communications hubs communicates with the network through the second of the at least two communications hubs.

21. The patient care communications system of claim 19, wherein the second of the at least two communications hubs communicates with the non-preferred nurse call communications system through the first of the at least two communications hubs.