METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADVANCED PATIENT COMMUNICATION

• US 20120278104A1
• Filed: 04/30/2012
• Published: 11/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eloquence Communications, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Eloquence Communications, Inc.
• Inventors: TRAUGHBER, BRYAN JAMES, Patak, Lance S., Morphopoulos, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,361,769 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/045 with a separable interface unit, e.g. for communication
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7475 User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0211 Combination with medical sensor, e.g. for measuring heart rate, temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0277 Communication between units on a local network, e.g. Bluetooth, piconet, zigbee, Wireless Personal Area Networks [WPAN]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/222 Personal calling arrangements or devices, i.e. paging systems selective calling systems and call receivers H04W84/00, H04W68/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• 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
• 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: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72409 by interfacing with external accessories hands-free H04M1/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724094 Interfacing with a device worn on the user's body to provide access to telephonic functionalities, e.g. accepting a call, reading or composing a message

Abstract

A method and system for advanced patient communication have been disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises providing a patient communication device through which a patient communicates a first message from a hospital bed. The first message is received at a central processing server. The first message is processed to identify an urgency level of the message. One or more additional messages are generated based on the first message. The one or more additional messages are transmitted to specific health care provider devices of specific health care providers who are expected to respond to the patient.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a first message from a patient communication device at a central processing server;

processing the first message to identify a context of the first message;

generating one or more additional messages based on the first message;

transmitting the one or more additional messages to specific health care provider devices of specific health care providers expected to respond to the patient,

wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to specific health care provider devices based on the context of the first message and a skillset associated with each specific health care provider.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on an availability associated with each specific health care provider.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising processing the first message to identify an urgency level of the message;

wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on the urgency level of the first message.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on a second urgency level of the first message, wherein the second urgency level is based on the urgency level and a lapse in time between receiving the first message and responding to the first message.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising gathering and storing information related to responding to the patient, the information including time of request, the urgency level, responding health care professional, time of response, patient number, nurse number, doctor number, bed number, and treatment.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating nurse metrics from the information; and

generating patient metrics from the information.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the information is automatically stored in a database that is searchable.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising translating the message of a first language generated from the patient communication device to a second language.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the message translated into the second language is displayed on a device selected from the group consisting of the specific health care provider device, the patient device, a central display at the nursing station, a device capable of accessing a web-based program and mixtures thereof.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising customizing one or more displays of the patient communication device based on a specific condition of the patient.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising automatically prioritizing multiple messages from a plurality of patient communication devices according to pre-determined parameters.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising automatically generating interactive messages to the patient communication device and the specific health care provider devices to ensure predetermined treatment protocols are followed.

13. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, said plurality of instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to perform:

receiving a first message from a patient communication device at a central processing server;

processing the first message to identify a context of the first message;

generating one or more additional messages based on the first message;

transmitting the one or more additional messages to specific health care provider devices of specific health care providers expected to respond to the patient,

wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to specific health care provider devices based on the context of the first message and a skillset associated with each specific health care provider.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on an availability associated with each specific health care provider.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform processing the first message to identify an urgency level of the message;

wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on the urgency level of the first message.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on a second urgency level of the first message, wherein the second urgency level is based on the urgency level and a lapse in time between receiving the first message and responding to the first message.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform gathering and storing information related to responding to the patient, the information including time of request, the urgency level, responding health care professional, time of response, patient number, nurse number, doctor number, bed number, and treatment.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform:

generating nurse metrics from the information; and

generating patient metrics from the information.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the information is automatically stored in a database that is searchable.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform translating the message of a first language generated from the patient communication device to a second language.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform displaying the message translated into the second language on a device selected from the group consisting of the specific health care provider device, the patient device, a central display at the nursing station, a device capable of accessing a web-based program and mixtures thereof.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform customizing one or more displays of the patient communication device based on a specific condition of the patient.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform automatically prioritizing multiple messages from a plurality of patient communication devices according to pre-determined parameters.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, having stored thereon-additional instructions, said additional instructions when executed by a computer, cause said computer to further perform automatically generating interactive messages to the patient communication device and the specific health care provider devices to ensure predetermined treatment protocols are followed.

25. A patient communications processor, comprising:

a message receiver configured to receive a first message from a patient communication device;

a message processor configured to process the first message to identify a context of the first message;

a message generator configured to generate one or more additional messages based on the first message;

a message transmitter configured to transmit the one or more additional messages to one or more health care provider devices of health care providers expected to respond to the patient,

wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the one or more health care provider devices based on the context of the first message and a skillset associated with each health care provider.

26. The patient communications processor of claim 25, wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on an availability associated with each specific health care provider.

27. The patient communications processor of claim 25, wherein the message processor is configured to process the first message to identify an urgency level of the message;

wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on the urgency level of the first message and a second urgency level, and

wherein the second urgency level is based on the urgency level and a lapse in time between receiving the first message and responding to the first message.

28. The patient communications processor of claim 25, wherein the one or more additional messages are coded and routed to the specific health care provider devices based on a second urgency level of the first message, wherein the second urgency level is based on the urgency level and a lapse in time between receiving the first message and responding to the first message.

29. The patient communications processor of claim 25, wherein the patient communication device comprises a touch screen flat panel display.

30. The patient communications processor of claim 25, wherein the health care provider devices are mobile devices.

31. The patient communications processor of claim 25, further comprising a searchable database.

32. The patient communications processor of claim 31, further comprises a message translator configured to translate the message of a first language generated from the patient communication device to a second language.

33. The patient communications processor of claim 25, wherein the message transmitter transmits the message translated into the second language to a medium where it will be displayed on a device selected from the group consisting of the specific health care provider device, the patient device, a central display at the nursing station, a device capable of accessing a web-based program and mixtures thereof.

34. A patient device, comprising:

a selection input mechanism, the selection input mechanism being one or more of a button and a touch screen selection; and

a display for generating a message by a patient,

wherein the selection input mechanism is utilized by the patient to generate a message for transmission to another device, and wherein the selection input mechanism enables the patient to escalate an urgency of the message.

35. The patient device of claim 34, the display further for providing confirmation to the patient that a nurse call request has been initiated.

36. The patient device of claim 34, further comprising a selection input mechanism for canceling a nurse call request.

37. The patient device of claim 34, the display further for informing the patient that a care provider has acknowledged their message.

38. The patient device of claim 34, wherein the patient device is wearable around a patient wrist or a patient neck, and wherein the patient device includes a button for urgent requests and a button for non-urgent requests.

39. The patient device of claim 34, the display further for displaying a message to the patient in response to the patient initiating a request when a context of the patient'"'"'s initiated message suggests the patient would benefit from receiving the message.

40. The patient device of claim 39, wherein a message selected from the group consisting of “

Please, do not get out of bed by yourself”

, “

You are at great risk of falling” and

“

Someone is on the way to help you”

is displayed in response to the patient'"'"'s initiated message if the patient'"'"'s initiated message is one of the group consisting of “

get out of bed”

, “

go for a walk”

, “

go back to bed”

, or “

go to the bathroom”

when the patient is at high risk for falling.

41. The patient device of claim 34, wherein a message generated by a patient is routed to an initial provider based on both the context of the message and the provider'"'"'s skill level, and wherein the message can be automatically re-routed to another provider of like skill level based upon a predetermined threshold having been reached, wherein the threshold is a programmable number of unacknowledged requests, outstanding requests or unfulfilled requests of the initial provider/recipient.

42. The patient device of claim 41, wherein the provider'"'"'s skill level is selected from the group consisting of registered nurse, nurse assistant, physician and mixtures thereof.

43. The patient device of claim 34, wherein a message generated by a patient is routed to an initial provider based on both the context of the message and the provider'"'"'s skill level, and wherein the message is automatically re-routed to another provider of different skill level based upon a predetermined threshold having been reached, and wherein threshold is a programmable number of unacknowledged requests, outstanding requests or unfulfilled requests of either the initial provider/recipient or other providers/recipients of like skill level.

44. The patient device of claim 43, wherein the provider'"'"'s skill level is selected from the group consisting of registered nurse, nurse assistant, physician and mixtures thereof.

45. The patient device of claim 34, the display further for providing the patient with more than one contextually specific nurse call request, whereby more than one request can be active simultaneously, whereby the recipient of such request may be notified of the context of each request with a plurality of requests;

whereby the initial recipient of each request can be routed or automatically re-routed based on the context of each message, the skill level required to fulfill each request, the skill level of the recipient and the number of unacknowledged requests, outstanding requests or unfulfilled requests of the initial provider/recipient.

46. The patient device of claim 34, wherein a message generated by a patient is routed to an initial provider based on both the context of the message and the provider'"'"'s skill level and wherein the message is manually reassigned by the recipient to another provider from their receiving device or from another device that displays the message.

47. The patient device of claim 46, wherein the provider'"'"'s skill level is selected from the group consisting of registered nurse, nurse assistant, physician and mixtures thereof.

48. The patient device of claim 34, wherein a message generated by a patient is routed to an initial provider based on both the context of the message and the provider'"'"'s skill level, and wherein the message is manually reassigned to another provider from a central interactive display station.

49. The patient device of claim 48, wherein the provider'"'"'s skill level is selected from the group consisting of registered nurse, nurse assistant, physician and mixtures thereof.

50. The patient device of claim 34, the display screen further for illustrating a context of each nurse call request by location, the type of request, level of urgency of the request, status of request and type of provider that should first respond to the request for each patient, capable of organizing this information by provider and/or by patient room number and displaying this information accordingly, capable of providing nurse call request reassignment from one provider to another.

51. The patient device of claim 50, wherein the status of request is selected from the group consisting of unfulfilled, initiated, acknowledged, in-progress, transferred to another provider, fulfilled and mixtures thereof.

52. A provider device for communicating with a patient device, the provider device comprising a display for listing patients and requests, wherein the listing of patients is color coded based on context of nurse call request, provider currently accountable to that request, and time since request was initiated and the status of the request.

53. The patient device of claim 52, wherein the status of request is selected from the group consisting of unfulfilled, initiated, acknowledged, in-progress, transferred to another provider, fulfilled and mixtures thereof.

54. The provider device of claim 52, further comprising a touch screen display of patients, the display organizable by urgency of request, by time elapsed since initiated, by room number, and by assigned provider type.

55. The provider device of claim 52, further comprising a touch screen displaying a status of a nurse call request and an ability to choose to respond, and further providing for direct speaking communication into a patient room or sending a text message for display on a patient'"'"'s device.

56. The provider device of claim 52, further providing for the provider to change or update a status of a nurse call request.

57. The provider device of claim 52, further comprising a touch screen whereby a recipient is able to redirect or transfer the request to another provider if the recipient of the request is unable to respond.

58. The provider device of claim 53, wherein any unfulfilled nurse call request is automatically entered into and retained within a checklist accessible and modifiable by the provider, and wherein the checklist is sortable by patient, time due, and wherein the checklist enables generating of prompts/reminders based on time due or manually scheduled times.

59. The provider device of claim 52, further enabling providers to signal appropriate staff with both visual and audio queues on their devices as to the initiating provider'"'"'s location.

60. The provider device of claim 52, further for displaying one of more of the presence of a patient in their room using RFID, the presence of a patient in their bathroom using RFID, the presence of a provider to determine if a provider has entered the patient room using RFID.

61. The provider device of claim 60, further for modifying the status of a call light request when the provider is the active recipient for the patient'"'"'s active call light request.

62. The provider device of claim 60, further for updating the status or type of provider making rounds when a provider has entered the room who is one of assigned to or qualified to perform patient rounds.