Method and system for detecting location of fixed wireless asset in a hospital environment

• US 8,917,173 B2
• Filed: 10/19/2011
• Issued: 12/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Beaudry, Serge
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Labbees, Edny
• Application Number:
  US13/277,033
• Publication Number:
  US 20130103419A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.13, 340/539.1, 340/286.01, 340/286.07, 705/2, 705/1.1, 705/3
• US Class Current: 340/539.13
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/90 Identification means for patients or instruments, e.g. tags
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/98 using electromagnetic means, e.g. transponders
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 1/08 using electric transmission ; transformation of alarm signals to electrical signals from a different medium, e.g. transmission of an electric alarm signal upon detection of an audible alarm signal
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/40 for data related to laboratory analysis, e.g. patient specimen analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• 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 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• 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: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

A system is disclosed for determining the location of fixed wireless assets (FWAs). The system includes at least one FWA having an asset tracking number, at least one mobile device wirelessly coupled to the FWA via a first communication link, and a database having information that associates people with locations. The mobile device is assigned to one of these people. The system also includes a computer that is coupled to the FWA via a second communication link and to the database. The FWA is configured to forward the data received from the mobile device to the computer along with the FWA'"'"'s asset tracking number. The computer is configured to determine the location of the FWA based at least in part on the data received from the FWA and the information retrieved from the database.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one fixed wireless asset (FWA) having an asset tracking number;

at least one mobile device wirelessly coupled to the at least one FWA, the at least one mobile device assigned to a person and configured to provide data in one or more messages to the at least one FWA, each message provided to the at least one FWA at predetermined intervals, each message including data associated with the person that has been accumulated between the intervals;

a database comprising information associating the person with a location; and

a computer coupled to the at least one FWA and to the database;

wherein the at least one FWA is configured to forward to the computer at least a portion of the data received from the at least one mobile device along with the FWA'"'"'s asset tracking number;

wherein the computer is configured to receive the data and asset tracking number from the at least one FWA and retrieve the information from the database;

wherein the computer is further configured to determine the location of the at least one FWA based at least in part on the data received from the at least one FWA and the information retrieved from the database.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information retrieved from the database comprises:

a patient identifier (ID) associated with a person; and

identification of a location associated with the patient.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the person is a patient that has been admitted to a hospital;

the patient ID is assigned to the patient upon admission;

the location is a room in the hospital that is assigned to the patient;

the at least one mobile device is assigned to the patient; and

the association of the at least one mobile device with the patient ID is provided to the computer.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein:

the at least one mobile device is configured to accept the patient ID;

the at least one mobile device is assigned an asset tracking identifier; and

the data provided by the at least one mobile device comprises the patient ID and the asset tracking number of the respective mobile device.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the computer is configured to determine that the at least one FWA is located proximate to the room that is assigned to the patient when the mobile device provides data related to the patient at least one time to the FWA.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer is configured to determine the location of the at least one FWA based on data received by the FWA within at least one determined time period.

7. A system for locating a FWA within a hospital, the system comprising:

a plurality of FWAs having respective asset tracking numbers;

a database comprising associations of a plurality of patients having patient IDs with respective identified rooms in the hospital;

at least one personal care device (PCD) configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one FWA, the PCD having been assigned to one of the patients, the PCD configured to provide to the FWA at least the patient ID of the patient to whom the PCD is assigned and one or more messages at predetermined intervals, each message including data associated with the patient that has been accumulated between the intervals; and

a computer coupled to the plurality of FWAs and to the database via a communication network, wherein the FWAs are configured to provide at least the data received from the PCD along with the asset tracking number of the FWA providing the data, the computer configured to receive from the FWA the data and asset tracking number and retrieve from the database at least the patient-room association for the patient identified in the data received from the PCD;

wherein the computer is further configured to determine the location of at least one of the FWAs based on the patient ID received from the PCD, the asset tracking number of the FWA, and the patient-room association retrieved from the database.

8. A method of determining a location of a FWA in a hospital environment, comprising the steps of:

receiving, by a computer, at least one message from the FWA that comprises a patient ID and an identification of a PCD that is paired with the patient, the PCD configured to provide to the FWA one or more messages at predetermined intervals, each message including data associated with the patient that has been accumulated between the intervals;

receiving, by the computer, patient-room information comprising the patient IDs of a plurality of patients admitted to the hospital and identification of the hospital rooms that are assigned to the patients; and

determining, by the computer, the location of the FWA based on the at least one received message and the patient-room information.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

receiving at the PCD the patient ID; and

providing a pairing message to the computer, the pairing message comprising the patient ID and the identification of the PCD.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving the patient-room information comprises the steps of:

sending a message to a Admission-Discharge-Transfer (ADT) system, the message comprising the patient ID; and

receiving from the ADT system a message comprising the identification of the hospital room that is assigned to the patient having the patient ID of the message sent to the ADT system.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of determining the location of the FWA comprises determining a most-often-reported patient ID for the FWA.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of determining the location of the FWA comprises evaluating only messages received from the PCD during a determined time period.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the time period is limited to the time during which patients are typically in their respective assigned rooms.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the time period is at least a portion of the time between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform a method of determining a location of a FWA in a hospital environment, the method including the steps of:

receiving one or more messages from the FWA that comprises a patient ID and an identification of a PCD that is paired with the patient, the one or more messages provided by the PCD to the FWA at predetermined intervals, each message further comprising data associated with the patient that has been accumulated between the intervals;

receiving patient-room information comprising the patient IDs of a plurality of patients admitted to the hospital and identification of the hospital rooms that are assigned to the patients; and

determining the location of the FWA based on at least one received message and the patient-room information.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving the patient-room information comprises the steps of:

sending a message to a Admission-Discharge-Transfer (ADT) system, the message comprising the patient ID; and

receiving from the ADT system a message comprising the identification of the hospital room that is assigned to the patient having the patient ID of the message sent to the ADT system.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the step of determining the location of the FWA comprises determining a most-often-reported patient ID for the FWA.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the step of determining the location of the FWA comprises evaluating only messages received from the PCD during a determined time period.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the time period is limited to the time during which patients are typically in their respective assigned rooms.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the time period is at least a portion of the time between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am.