Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02361857 2001-11-13
VISUAL DISPLAY OF ROOM INFORMATION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a hospital communication system,
and
more particularly to an apparatus and method to present patient room
information to
hospital personnel to enhance comprehension of such information.
Background of the Invention
Nurses and other attending staff in a hospital ward or hospital wing work
under
conditions involving high pressure, stress and long hours. These care givers
must remain
alert to respond to patient needs, in both emergency and non-emergency
situations. Due
to economic practicalities and the ever-increasing costs of medical care, it
is necessary to
make the most efficient use of nurses and staff on call in a hospital ward or
hospital wing,
particularly at night when nurse and staff levels are maintained at a minimum.
On the other hand, a desire to optimize the efficiency of nurse and staff
personnel
is of secondary importance relative to the primary objective, that of
providing a high level
of medical care to a patient. If nurse and staff levels are reduced for the
sake of efficiency
without any corresponding simplification of duties and responsibilities, the
level of
patient care will decrease. Therefore, it is desirable to maximize the
efficiency of nurses
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and staff on call in a hospital wing or hospital ward, but to do so in a
manner which does
not increase the work load or stress levels of these professional care givers
nor decrease
the level of patient care.
One approach to maximizing the efficiency of nurses and other hospital staff
involves providing information needed by these professionals in a location
remote from a
patient room. For instance, U.S. Patent No. 5,699,038 to Ulrich et al.
discloses a bed
status information system of hospital beds which provides remote instantaneous
retrieval
of unique identification information about the bed and provides status
information related
to the position of the bed, the configuration of the mattress surface, the
status of the safety
systems on the bed, and the current state of various patient care systems
integrated with
the bed. Monitoring of patient information therefore does not require
attendance within
the room to locally view and interpret various types of information. U.S.
Patent No.
5,867,821 to Ballantyne et al. discloses a method and apparatus for
electronically
accessing and distributing personal health care information and services in
hospitals and
homes in which certain information, ranging from patient health record
information to
patient and operating room monitoring information, is distributed to a nursing
station
within a hospital.
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Providing information to nurses and other hospital staff in a location remote
from
a patient room creates certain problems. Among the problems is presenting
information
to the medical professionals in a way that assists them in effectively
monitoring the
information without increasing their level of stress, which may occur if they
feel
.. overwhelmed by the amount of information. A need has thus been recognized
in
conjunction with responding to the aforementioned problems.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention, in accordance with at least one presently preferred
embodiment, utilizes the capabilities of computer to graphically display
selected
information in a manner which conveys the information to hospital staff in a
form which
aids in comprehension of the information. Specifically, the information is
preferably
conveyed for multiple patient units through the use of matrix type format. A
cell is used
to represent each room in patient units being displayed. Components of the
cell indicate
key considerations for every bed control or admitting department. Additional
information
may also be displayed by clicking a component of an cell.
Consequently, the present invention broadly contemplates a method whereby
hospital room information is visually displayed, thereby aiding hospital staff
in
comprehending the hospital bed information. An example of hospital staff which
could
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benefit from the present invention include nurses and the staff in the
admissions
department and who assign patients to rooms.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for the graphical
display of room information, the apparatus comprising: a display and an
arrangement for
producing a cell, the cell conveying information on a room.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for the
graphical
display of room information, the apparatus comprising: a display, an
arrangement for
producing a cell for being viewed on the display, the cell having a plurality
of modifiable
attributes, and a controller which modifies at least one of the attributes of
the cell to
convey information about the current status of a room.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of graphically
displaying room information, the method comprising the steps of: displaying a
matrix,
displaying at least one cell within the matrix, each cell corresponding to a
room and
having a plurality of modifiable attributes, and modifying at least one the
attributes of the
cell to convey information about the current status of the room.
In an additional aspect, the present invention provides a program storage
device
readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable
by the
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machine to perform method steps for the visual presentation of information
about the
status of rooms, the method comprising the steps of: displaying a matrix,
displaying at
least one cell within the matrix, each cell corresponding to a room and having
a plurality
of modifiable attributes, and modifying the attributes of the cell to convey
information
about the current status of the room.
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and
further
features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following
description, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the scope of the invention
will be
pointed out in the appended claims.
Brief Description of the Drawinlis
Figure 1 illustrates a graphical matrix for a plurality of patient units in
accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 illustrates the information provided when one of the patient rooms is
"drilled down" in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 3 illustrates the information provided when another patient room is
"drilled
down" in accordance with the present invention; and
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Figure 4 illustrates a graphical depiction of a patient unit in accordance
with an
embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
As shown in Figure 1, a matrix 110 setting forth the patient rooms within
various
patient units within a hospital is shown. Patient units are preferably
arranged in columnar
form, with information about each patient unit appear at the top of the
column. For
example, the first column displays information for patient unit 2 Tower. This
is indicated
at reference numeral 120. Other patient units shown in matrix 110 include 3
Tower, 4
Tower, 5 Tower, 6 Tower, and CCU (Critical Care Unit). Information on
additional
patient care units may also be displayed. Such additional patient care units
may include
ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and PACU (Perianesthesia Care Unit). Additional
information
relating to each patient care unit is also preferably displayed. As shown in
matrix 110,
such additional information includes the number of staffed beds (SB), the
reserved
capacity of the patient unit (RC), the number of assigned beds (AB), and the
census now
(CN). SB is the number of beds for which nursing staff currently exists to
handle, RC is
the number of beds available for pre-booking, that is, reserving twenty-four
hours or more
in advance of a scheduled admission, AB is the number of beds to which
patients have
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been assigned, and CN is the current number of occupied beds on that unit, in
other
words, the "census now" on that unit.
A cell displaying information on each room preferably contains three levels.
The
first level preferably displays the room number. A user may optionally choose
to display
a bed "abbreviation" instead of the bed number in this space. The background
of this
portion of the cell preferably indicates the sex of the patient assigned to
the bed, with blue
indicating male and pink indicating female. The second level preferably shows
the
current status of the bed, and optionally, the "pre-admit status" of the bed.
The third level
preferably contains space for four user defined attributes.
Presently, the preferred set of current status (or status indicators) of a bed
are:
occupied, clean, inprogress, stat, next, blocked, Udef8, Udef9, and dirty.
Occupied
indicates a patient has been admitted to this bed. Clean indicates the bed is
clean, empty
and ready for a new patient. InProgress indicates a hospital employee is in
the process of
cleaning the bed. Stat indicates the bed is empty and dirty and needs to be
cleaned
immediately. Next indicates the bed is empty and dirty and should be clean as
soon as
possible. Blocked indicates the bed can not be used for an inpatient
admission. Udef8
denotes the user has created a unique "user defined" category for this status.
Udef9
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denotes the user has created a unique "user defined" category for this status
(which
should be different than Udef8). Dirty indicates the bed is empty and needs to
be cleaned.
Presently, the preferred "pre-admit status" indicators of the bed are
assigned,
pending discharge, pending transfer or confirmed discharge. Assigned indicates
the bed
.. has been reserved for a specific patient. Pending Discharge indicates the
bed will be
empty soon, as the patient is supposed to be going home. Pending Transfer
indicates the
bed will be empty soon as the patient is supposed to be placed in another bed
in the
hospital. Confirmed Discharge indicates the bed will be empty soon, and the
patient will
be leaving the hospital for sure.
to Presently
there are four preferred user defined attributes; currently contemplated
examples include: whether the bed is an isolation bed, a telemetry bed, and a
bed side
terminal bed. While the drawings reflect the presence of a user defined
attribute, the user
defined attribute itself has not been defined. A user defined attribute may be
any attribute
which is important to a user of the present invention. The presence of a user
defined
.. attribute is also preferably shown through the use of color. In the present
example, an
isolation bed be indicated by red, a telemetry bed by yellow, a bed side
terminal bed by
green, and the remaining user defined option by light blue.
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CA 02361857 2001-11-13
Reference numeral 130 denotes the cell for Room 523451. On the first level of
this cell, the room number is displayed, with a plain background. The second
level of this
cell indicates the bed status (clean), and the third level indicates this bed
has one
predefined user selected attribute. The plain background of the first level
indicates no
patient is currently in this room. The background of the second level is
preferably green
to provide a visual indication of the status of the room. The third level
indicates the bed
has one of the user defined attributes, which in this case is the bed is a
telemetry bed. As
discussed above, preferably this indication would appear in yellow.
Reference numeral 140 denotes the cell for Room 123451. One the first level of
this cell, the room number is displayed with a colored background. The second
level of
this cell indicates the bed status (occupied), and the third level indicates
this bed has a
predefined user attribute. The blue colored background of the first level
indicates the
patient currently in this room is a male. The background of the second level
is preferably
orange to provide a visual indication of the occupied status of the room. The
third level
indicates the bed has one of the user defined attributes, which (as discussed
above), is an
undefined attribute and preferably appears in light blue.
Reference numeral 150 denotes the cell for Room 100001. One the first level of
this cell, the room number is displayed with a colored background. The second
level of
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this cell indicates the bed status (occupied), and the third level indicates
this bed has a
predefined user attribute. The pink colored background of the first level
indicates the
patient currently in this room is a female. The background of the second level
is
preferably orange to provide a visual indication of the occupied status of the
room. The
third level indicates the bed has one of the user defined attributes, which in
this case is the
bed is a telemetry bed. As discussed above, this indication would preferably
appear in
yellow.
Reference numeral 160 denotes the cell for Room 100026. One the first level of
this cell, the room number is displayed without a colored background. The
second level
to of this cell indicates the bed status (dirty), and the third level
indicates this bed has two
predefined user attributes. The absence of a background color indicates there
is no
patient in this bed. The background of the second level is preferably brown to
provide a
visual indication of the dirty status of the room. The third level indicates
the bed has two
of the user defined attributes, which in this case is the bed is an isolation
bed having a bed
side terminal bed. As discussed above, these indication would preferably
appear in red
and green.
Reference numeral 170 denotes the cell for Room 100003. One the first level of
this cell, the room number is displayed without a colored background. The
second level
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of this cell indicates the bed status (in progress), and the third level
indicates this bed has
two predefined user attributes. The absence of a background color indicates
there is no
patient in this bed. The background of the second level is preferably yellow
to provide a
visual indication of the in progress status of the room. The third level
indicates the bed
has two of the user defined attributes, which in this case is the bed is an
isolation bed
having a bed side terminal bed. As discussed above, these indication would
preferably
appear in red and green.
Reference numeral 180 denotes the cell for Room 223454. One the first level of
this cell, the room number is displayed with a blue background. The second
level of this
to cell indicates the bed status (occupied), and the third level indicates
this bed has three
predefined user attributes. The first level blue background color indicates
there is a male
patient in this bed. The background of the second level is preferably orange
to provide a
visual indication of the in occupied status of the room. The third level
indicates the bed
has three of the user defined attributes, which in this case is the bed is an
isolation
telemetry bed having a bed side terminal bed. As discussed above, these
indications
would preferably appear in red, yellow, and green.
Referring now to Figure 2, a display matrix is shown. This display matrix is
similar to that shown in Figure 1. Reference numeral 210 corresponds to
reference
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numeral 170, and denotes the cell for Room 100003. Clicking on this cell
("drilling
down") brings up secondary information about the status of the bed, which is
shown at
reference numeral 220. This information includes an indication at reference
numeral 230,
along with other information, that the room is being cleaned. At reference
numeral 240
the status of the room is shown (in progress). At reference numeral 250 the
time and date
of the status is shown. At reference numeral 260 the employee involved in the
status is
indicated, and the job number is shown at reference numeral 270.
Certain second cell levels in Figure 2 include information in addition to the
status
of the room. By way of example, at reference numeral 280, an "A" appears on
the second
to level. This indicia indicates that the bed has been assigned to a
patient, even though the
room is not yet occupied. Currently, other preferred indicia include "D",
which indicates
the patient will be discharged; "C", which indicated the patient is a
confirmed or more
certain status of a pending discharge; and "T", which indicates a transfer is
pending.
Additional indicia may also be used to indicate other conditions. A room is
not limited to
a single indicia; one or more indicia may be used for each bed.
Referring now to Figure 3, a display matrix is shown. This display matrix is
similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2. Room 123452 is shown in both of
these figures.
Clicking on the cell for this room also brings up secondary information about
the status of
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the bed, which is shown at reference numeral 310. This information includes an
indication at reference numerals 320 and 330, along with other information,
that the room
is occupied by a patient. The information displayed at reference numeral 330
includes the
name of the patient, the bed number, the age of the patient, and the sex of
the patient.
Additional information may also be displayed. At reference numeral 240 an
indication of
the attributes associated with the bed are displayed. Here "user defined" is
checked,
which corresponds to the bed attributes shown for this room in Figures 1 and
2.
At reference number 350, additional secondary information is displayed. This
information includes the date and time of the patient's admission, the date
and time of the
patient's discharge, the current status of the patient, the pending status of
the patient and
the room number (current location). Additional information may also be
displayed. The
current status of the patient indicates the real time (present) status of the
patient. Pending
status of the patient is non-real time status. Presently, the preferred status
indicators are
similar to the "pre-admit status" indicators discussed above and include:
admit, pending
discharge, pending transfer or confirmed discharge. Admit indicates the
patient has been
admitted. Pending Discharge indicates the patient is supposed to be going
home.
Pending Transfer indicates the patient is supposed to be placed in another bed
in the
hospital. Confirmed Discharge indicates the patient will be leaving the
hospital for sure.
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It is presently preferred that a user of the present invention be given the
option of
viewing the location of a room of interest in the patient unit. Referring now
to Figure 4, a
floor plan of a patient unit is shown. This permits personnel to fix the
location of the
room of interest. In Figure 4, the room of interest (Room 323454) appears in
the bottom
right hand corner of the floor plan.
It should be understood that information may be visually displayed in
accordance
with the present invention on a typical CRT computer monitor. It is preferred,
however,
to to display such visual information on a flat panel monitor to the
visibility of the
information. It should be further understood that the patient units for which
information
is visually displayed in accordance with the present invention may be selected
by a user
of the present invention. For example, it may be desirable to view all patient
units with a
similar focus, for example, all cardiac units.
In recapitulation, the present invention, in accordance with at least one
presently
preferred embodiment, provides a manner of visually displaying information in
a manner
to enhance comprehension of the information. As such, it is to be understood
that the
present invention, in accordance with at least one presently preferred
embodiment, may
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be utilized in environments other than hospitals, such as hotels, dorms, or
any other
situation where information about rooms is desired to be graphically
displayed.
It is to be understood that the present invention, in accordance with at least
one
presently preferred embodiment, includes: a display and an arrangement for
producing a
matrix for being viewed on the display, the matrix comprising a plurality of
cells, and
each cell conveying information on a room. Together, these may be implemented
on at
Least one general-purpose computer running suitable software programs. These
may also
be implemented on at least one Integrated Circuit or part of at least one
Integrated Circuit.
Thus, it is to be understood that the invention may be implemented in
hardware, software,
or a combination of both.
Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described
herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood
that the
invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other
changes and
modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art without
departing from the
scope of the invention.
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