Device and method for routing a medical alert to a selected staff member

• US 9,652,960 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2013
• Issued: 05/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Cuppen, Roel Peter Geert, Rajae-Joordens, Rosemarie Jolanda Elise, Daemen, Elke Marieke Lambert, Flinsenberg, Ingrid Christina Maria, Van Loenen, Evert Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Syed, Nabil
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCCORMACK, THOMAS S
• Application Number:
  US14/396,985
• Publication Number:
  US 20150116112A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,492 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• 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 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

A method for routing a medical alert to a selected staff member 151-153, the method comprising receiving an alert signal generated by an alert generation device 121-126, obtaining the current location and identity of multiple staff members from a location tracking system 141-146 configured to track the locations of the multiple staff members, upon receiving the alert signal, selecting from the multiple staff members a selected staff member by at least determining that the distance between a location of the alert generation device and the location of the selected staff member is shorter than the distance between the location of the alert generation device and the location of at least one of the multiple staff members other than the selected staff member, and sending an alert signal to an individually addressable mobile device associated with the selected staff member.

Claims

1. A method for routing a medical alert to a selected staff member in a hospital, the method comprising

receiving first alert signal generated by an alert generation device carried by, connected to, or in the vicinity of a patient,

obtaining the current location and identity of multiple staff members from a location tracking system configured to track the locations of the multiple staff members,

upon receiving the first alert signal,

determining which staff members of the multiple staff members are available to respond to the alert, including determining that a current location of a particular staff member matches a room within the hospital designated in a database as unavailable, and classifying the particular staff member as unavailable in response to the determination that the current location matches the room designated in the database as unavailable,

selecting from the multiple suitable staff members a selected staff member that is available to respond to the alert type and by at least determining that the distance between a location of the alert generation device and the location of the selected staff member is shorter than the distance between the location of the alert generation device and the location of at least one of the multiple suitable staff members other than the selected staff member that is also available to respond,

sending a second alert signal to an individually addressable mobile device associated with the selected staff member;

selecting, from a list of multiple output devices and associated locations stored in the database or a different database, a selected output device closest to the location of the alert generation device; and

sending a message to the selected output device for rendition to the patient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected output device comprises a display.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected output device comprises a speaker.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert generation device is a mobile alert generation device, the method further comprising

obtaining the current location of the mobile alert generation device from a location tracking system configured to track the location of the mobile alert generation device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the mobile alert generation device comprises a fall detector, the mobile alert generation device being configured to generate the alert upon the fall detector detecting the fall of a person carrying the mobile alert generation device.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising

detecting that the location of the mobile alert generation device remains in an alert area for a period exceeding an alert period.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising

receiving from the selected staff member an expected response time, and wherein the message for rendition to the patient on the selected output device comprises the expected response time.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a computing system to perform all the steps of claim 1 when the instructions are executed by the computing system.

8. An alert router for routing a medical alert to a selected staff member in a hospital, the alert router comprising

a receiver configured to receive a first alert signal generated by an alert generation device carried by, connected to, or in the vicinity of a patient,

a location obtainer configured to obtain the current location and identity of multiple staff members from a location tracking system configured to track the locations of the multiple staff members,

a selector configured to upon receiving the first alert signal,

determine which staff members of the multiple staff members are available to respond to the alert, a particular staff member is determined as unavailable if its location is in a defined unavailability room within the hospital,

select from the multiple suitable staff members a selected staff member that is available to respond to the alert type and by at least determining that the distance between a location of the alert generation device and the location of the selected staff member is shorter than the distance between the location of the alert generation device and the location of at least one of the multiple staff members other than the selected staff member that is also available to respond,

an alert signal sender configured to:

send a second alert signal to an individually addressable mobile device associated with the selected staff member;

select, from a list of multiple displays and associated locations stored in a database, a selected display closest to the location of the alert generation device; and

sending a message to the selected display for display to the patient.

10. The alert router of claim 8, wherein determining that a particular staff member is unavailable if its location is in a defined unavailability room of the hospital includes determining that a current location of the particular staff member matches the defined unavailability room, and classifying the particular staff member as busy in response to the determination that the current location matches the defined unavailability room.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution of the instructions by a computing system, cause the computing system to:

detect that a location of a mobile alert generation device carried by a patient remains in an alert room of a hospital for a period exceeding an alert period, wherein the alert room is associated in a database with the alert period;

raise a first alert signal in response to the detecting;

obtain the current location and identity of multiple staff members from a location tracking system configured to track the locations of the multiple staff members;

upon receipt of the first alert signal;

determine that one or more current locations of one or more particular staff members match one or more rooms designated in a database as unavailable;

classify the one or more particular staff members as unavailable in response to the determination that the one or more current locations of the one or more particular staff members match one or more rooms designated in the database as unavailable;

select from multiple suitable staff members a selected staff member that is available to respond to the alert type and by at least determining that the distance between a location of the alert generation device and the location of the selected staff member is shorter than the distance between the location of the alert generation device and the location of at least one of the multiple suitable staff members other than the selected staff member that is also available to respond; and

send a second alert signal to an individually addressable mobile device associated with the selected staff member.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that, in response to execution of the instructions by the computing system, further cause the computing system to:

select from multiple output devices a selected output device closest to the location of the alert generation device; and

upon receipt of the first alert signal, send a message to the selected output device for rendition to the patient.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the selected output device comprises a display.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the selected output device comprises a speaker.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions that, in response to execution of the instructions by the computing system, further cause the computing system to receive from the selected staff member an expected response time, and wherein the message for rendition to the patient on the selected output device comprises the expected response time.