System and method for monitoring clinician responsiveness to alarms
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring clinician desensitization to alarms generated by patient monitors, the method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of alarm events from one or more patient monitors at a central monitor;
determining an alarm initiation time for each of the alarm events;
receiving at the central monitor an acknowledgement from the clinician of each of the alarm events;
calculating an event response time for each of the plurality of alarm events as the time between the alarm initiation time and the acknowledgement of the alarm event by the clinician;
computing a responsiveness score based on the plurality of event response times for the plurality of alarm events, wherein the responsiveness score is indicative of a level of alarm fatigue experienced by the clinician over the plurality of alarm events; and
generating an alarm fatigue alert when the responsiveness score trends downward at a rate greater than a threshold rate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of monitoring clinician responsiveness to alarms generated by patient monitors. The method includes the steps of: receiving an alarm event from a patient monitor at a central monitor, determining an alarm initiation time for the alarm events, receiving at the central monitor an acknowledgement of the alarm event by a clinician, calculating an event response time as the time between the alarm initiation time and the acknowledgement of the alarm event by the clinician, determining a total number of alarm events, determining event response times for each of the total number of alarm events, and computing a responsiveness score based on the event response time for each of the total number of alarm events.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring clinician desensitization to alarms generated by patient monitors, the method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of alarm events from one or more patient monitors at a central monitor; determining an alarm initiation time for each of the alarm events; receiving at the central monitor an acknowledgement from the clinician of each of the alarm events; calculating an event response time for each of the plurality of alarm events as the time between the alarm initiation time and the acknowledgement of the alarm event by the clinician; computing a responsiveness score based on the plurality of event response times for the plurality of alarm events, wherein the responsiveness score is indicative of a level of alarm fatigue experienced by the clinician over the plurality of alarm events; and generating an alarm fatigue alert when the responsiveness score trends downward at a rate greater than a threshold rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of monitoring clinician desensitization to alarms generated by patient monitors, the method comprising:
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receiving at a central monitor a notification of an alarm event from a patient monitor, wherein the notification includes an alarm initiation time and an alarm type; determining an allowable response period for the alarm event based on the alarm type; receiving at the central monitor an acknowledgement of the alarm event by a clinician; calculating an event response time for each alarm event as the time between the alarm initiation time and the acknowledgement of the alarm event; computing a responsiveness score for the clinician over a plurality of alarm events based on the event response time and the allowable response period for each of the plurality of alarm events, wherein the responsiveness score is indicative of a level of alarm fatigue experienced by the clinician over the plurality of alarm events; and generating an alarm fatigue alert when the responsiveness score trends downward at a rate greater than a threshold rate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A system for monitoring clinician desensitization to alarms, comprising:
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a patient monitor configured to receive physiological patient data, to detect an occurrence of an alarm condition, and to transmit notification of the alarm condition; a central monitor configured to receive the notification of the alarm condition from the patient monitor and to receive an acknowledgement of the alarm condition by a clinician; and a control unit configured to receive the notification of the alarm condition and the acknowledgment of the alarm condition from the central monitor, calculate an event response time as the time it took the clinician to acknowledge the alarm condition, determine a total number of alarm events, compute a responsiveness score based on the event response time for each of the total number of alarm events;
wherein the responsiveness score is indicative of a level of alarm fatigue experienced by the clinician, over the plurality of alarm events;generate an alarm fatigue alert when the responsiveness score trends downward at a rate greater than a threshold rate; and store the responsiveness score on a computer-readable memory device.
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Specification