Health care monitoring system and method
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring at least one device in a health care facility, comprising:
- sensing, at a first location, whether or not said at least one device is operating normally;
transmitting, at said first location, an indication of whether or not said at least one device is operating normally;
receiving, at a second location, the indication; and
sending, when the at least one device is not operating normally, an indication to a device operated by a worker at the health care facility to inform the worker that the device is not operating normally and needs to be fixed.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring apparatus and method for a hospital or other health care facility includes a plurality of sensors for determining operating states of a plurality of devices, respectively. The devices may include a refrigerator for storing blood, medicine, foods or other substances requiring close monitoring, as well as a lock box drug cabinet, for example. Each sensor provides operating state information to a transceiver, which outputs it to an access point. The access point provides the received information to a server, which determines, based on the received information, whether or not personnel at the hospital need to be notified in order to correct a problem with one or more of the devices being monitored.
43 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring at least one device in a health care facility, comprising:
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sensing, at a first location, whether or not said at least one device is operating normally;
transmitting, at said first location, an indication of whether or not said at least one device is operating normally;
receiving, at a second location, the indication; and
sending, when the at least one device is not operating normally, an indication to a device operated by a worker at the health care facility to inform the worker that the device is not operating normally and needs to be fixed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A monitoring apparatus for monitoring a device at a health care facility, comprising:
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a sensor communicatively coupled to the device and configured to determine an operating state of the device and to output a first signal indicative thereof;
a first transceiver communicatively coupled to the sensor by way of a first communication line and configured to receive the first signal and the output the first signal over-the-air as a wireless first signal;
a second transceiver located separate from the first transceiver and configured to receive the wireless first signal and to output the wireless first signal as a second signal onto a second communication line; and
a server that is configured to receive the second signal and to determine, based on the operating state of the device as determined from the second signal, whether or not to send a notification signal to at least one of a plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the server. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A monitoring apparatus for monitoring a plurality of devices at a health care facility, comprising:
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a plurality of collection points communicatively coupled to the plurality of devices, respectively, and configured to determine an operating state of the plurality of devices and to output first signals indicative thereof;
an access point configure to receive the first signals output by the plurality of collection points and to forward the first signals onto a communication line; and
a server that is configured to receive the first signals on the communication line and to determine, based on the respective operating states of the plurality of devices as determined from the first signals, whether or not to send at least one notification signal to at least one of a plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the server. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification