DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office correspondence is in response to “Amendment and Response under 37 C.F.R. 1.111 filed on May 24, 2025 for application 17/795673 in response to a non-final office action dated February 25, 2025.
Claims 1 – 16 are pending.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 13, 15, and 16 are amended.
Claims 1 – 16 are rejected.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 05/24/2025 have been fully considered:
The applicant has amended claims 1, 3, 13, and 15 by replacing the generic placeholder “unit” with “device”, therein representing a hardware structure to the elements. Therein, the claims are no longer being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112 (f).
In regard to claim 16, the applicant has amended claim 16 to be a dependent claim from claim 15, which has been amended to be an independent claim. As a result, claim 16 is no longer indefinite, and the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph has been withdrawn.
In regard to claim 1 – 16, the applicant argues that the prior art combination of Wildman, Collins, and Tunnell fails to teach, anticipate or suggest:
“ the chat server generates, based on the first, second, and [[the]] third information, a chat room with the in-charge healthcare worker in charge of a subject patient who originated a call using the nurse call slave device and a nearby healthcare worker assumed to be at a location closer to the subject patient than the in-charge healthcare worker is as users, and provides the chat room to each mobile terminal held by the in-charge healthcare worker and the nearby healthcare worker.” (as recited in claim 1 and substantially replicated in claims 13 and 15)
The applicant states:
“ . . . Wildman describes a call system using a nurse call system. Collins describes a nurse call system connected to various equipment including mobile terminals and the GPS system. As to Tunnel, the office action discloses the chat server in concluding that the pending claims are obvious over Wildman, Collins, and Tunnel in combination.
Applicant describes. Tunnell does not teach that “the chat server generates a chat room with the in-charge healthcare worker in charge of a subject patient who originated a call using the nurse call slave device and a nearby healthcare worker assumed to be at a location closer to the subject patient than the in-charge healthcare worker is as users, and provides the chat room to each mobile terminal held by the in-charge healthcare worker and the nearby healthcare worker,” as claimed.
In particular, Tunnell fails to explicitly describe the relative distance between the health workers such as an in-charge healthcare worker and a nearby healthcare worker. That is, Tunnel describe not describe how close any healthcare worker is to the healthcare worker who is in-charge. Accordingly, Wildman, Collins, and Tunnel cannot provide for efficient team nursing in which an in-charge healthcare worker and a nearby healthcare worker cooperate.
Therefore, the pending claims are patentable. . .” (Applicant’s remarks page 8).
In response to the applicant’s argument:
A new search and consideration was performed and new grounds of rejection were found by combining new prior art Brown et al. (U.S. 2020/0411170 A1; herein referred to as Brown) and Anumolu et al. (U.S. 2016/0253457 A1; herein referred to as Anumolu) with the prior art combination of Wildman et al. (U.S. 2017/0287316 A1; herein referred to as Wildman) in view of Collins Jr. et al. U.S. 2012/0119890 A1; herein referred to as Collins) in further view Tunnell et al. (U.S. 2020/0146550 A1; herein referred to as Tunnell) to teach “and a nearby healthcare worker assumed to be at a location closer to the subject patient than the in-charge healthcare worker”. Therein claims 1 – 16 are rejected under the new grounds of rejection. Please refer to the rejections described below.
The examiner recommends that the applicant review the specification for disclosure that if integrated into the independent claims would distinguish the amended claims from the cited prior art. The applicant is invited to contact the examiner for an interview to discuss how to move the prosecution forward
.
Authorization for Internet Communications
The applicant has filed an authorization to communicate with the examiner via the Internet by making the following statement (from MPEP 502.03):
“Recognizing that Internet communications are not secure, I hereby authorize the USPTO to communicate with the undersigned and practitioners in accordance with 37 CFR 1.33 and 37 CFR 1.34 concerning any subject matter of this application by video conferencing, instant messaging, or electronic mail. I understand that a copy of these communications will be made of record in the application file.”
The office acknowledges receipt of the authorization.
Priority
This application is a National Stage Entry of PCT/JP2021/001752 filed on January 20, 2021, which claims priority from Japanese Patent Application 2020-020462filed on February 10, 2020. Therein, the instant application is entitled to a priority date of February 10, 2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/02/2025 was filed on or after the mailing date of the non-final office action on 02/25/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
35 USC § 101 Analysis – Judicial Exception
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
The claimed invention is directed to statutory subject matter and are not rejected under 35 USC 101 because of a judicial exception. The claimed subject matter is integrated into a practical application under prong 2 of the Step 2A analysis as documented in MPEP 2016.04(d). The claims are directed to non-abstract improvements in computer related technology. A claim is non-statutory when it is directed to a judicial exception (e.g. either one of mathematical concepts, mental processes, or certain methods of organizing human activity) without significantly more. The claimed invention is not directed to a judicial exception. Instead, the claimed invention is directed to a technological improvement for a nurse call system for supporting a plurality of nurses working together to take care of a patient in a stationary location wherein the system includes a nurse call slave unit provided for patient-use, a nurse call master unit having the slave unit connected thereto, a mobile terminal carried by a healthcare worker, an access point for relaying communications between the mobile terminal and the nurse call main unit, a private branch exchange having a plurality of the nurse call master units installed in a facility connected thereto and being configured to control communications between the nurse call slave unit and the mobile terminal, a chat server configured to generate a chat room to be delivered to the mobile terminal in response to a call originated from the nurse call slave unit, in which the private branch exchange has first information indicating corresponding relationship between the mobile terminal and the healthcare worker, second information indicating corresponding relationship between the patient and an in-charge healthcare worker who is in charge of the patient among the healthcare workers, and third information indicating location information of the nurse call slave unit and the mobile terminal, and the chat server generates, based on the first and the third information, a chat room with the in-charge healthcare worker in charge of a subject patient who originated a call using the nurse call slave unit and a nearby healthcare worker assumed to be at a location closer to the subject patient than the in-charge healthcare worker is as users, and provides the chat room to each mobile terminal held by the in-charge healthcare worker and the nearby healthcare worker. The ordered steps of the claim language impose meaningful limits on the scope of the claims and provides an improvement for the work efficiency of team nursing by generating a chat room that includes both the in-charge healthcare workers and additional healthcare workers that are nearby to the patient.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1 – 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being un-patentable over Wildman et al. (U.S. 2017/0287316 A1; herein referred to as Wildman) in view of Collins Jr. et al. U.S. 2012/0119890 A1; herein referred to as Collins) in further view Tunnell et al. (U.S. 2020/0146550 A1; herein referred to as Tunnell) in further view of Brown et al. (U.S. 2020/0411170 A1; herein referred to as Brown) in further view of Anumolu et al. (U.S. 2016/0253457 A1; herein referred to as Anumolu).
In regard to claim 1, Wildman teaches A nurse call system (see abstract “ . . . A system is provided that monitors information from locating equipment and nurse call equipment and that provides notifications to caregivers so that patient care processes are maintained or modified to ensure high levels of patient satisfaction or patient safety . . .”). comprising:
a nurse call slave device provided for patient-use (see Fig. 1 nurse call button 18 see ¶ [0053] “. . . bed 16 has a nurse call button 18 which is pressed by a patient send a nurse call to the nurse call equipment 14 of system 10. Alternatively or additionally, some rooms may have a handheld pillow speaker unit 22 with its own nurse call button 24 as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1. Nurse calls originating from the various patient rooms of units 1-3 in response to buttons 18, 24 being pressed are represented by arrows 20 in FIG. 1. Buttons 18, 24 and/or handheld pillow speaker unit 22 may be considered part of nurse call equipment 14 . . .”);
a nurse call master device (see Fig. 1 Room station 32- Nurse call server-master nurse station) having the nurse call slave device connected (e. g. I/O board 30) thereto (see ¶¶ [0054-0055] “ . . . nurse call equipment 14 also includes, in each room, an input/output (I/O) board 30 that receives nurse call signals from the one or more beds 16 and units 22 in the room. Nurse call equipment 14 also includes at least one room station 32 in each room and at least one indicator assembly 34 (sometimes referred to as a dome light assembly or just a dome light) located in a hallway adjacent to the room. Each I/O board 30 is communicatively coupled to a respective server 26, room station 32, and indicator assembly 34. In the illustrative example, a wall connector 36 is provided for coupling to a cable extending from unit 22 and the connector 36 is coupled to I/O board 30. I/O board 30 passes any nurse calls 20 made by a patient using button 18 or button 24 to server 26. Information concerning the nurse calls 20 made in the various rooms is displayed on display screens, such as graphical user interfaces (GUI's), of room stations 32 and master nurse station 28 . . .”);
a mobile terminal carried by a healthcare worker (see ¶ [0067] “ . . . computer devices that receive alerts and notifications initiated by the patient experience module include wireless communication devices carried by caregivers. As shown in FIG. 1, such wireless communication devices include, for example, telephone handsets 52, pagers 54, smart phones 56, and tablet computers 58. Each of these wireless devices 52, 54, 56, 58 have a display screen on which the message and/or alert is displayed . . .”);
an access point(e.g. RTLS receiver 40 and WIFI 62) for relaying communications between the mobile terminal and the nurse call master device (see ¶ [0056] “ . . . locating equipment 12 includes a real-time locating system (RTLS) server 38, a multitude of RTLS receivers 40 located throughout the healthcare facility, and a multitude of RTLS badges or tags 42 that are worn by caregivers, such as by being clipped to the caregiver's clothing for example. As the caregivers travel throughout the healthcare facility, tags 42 transmit signals to the receivers 40 at the caregiver's location. The signals from tags 42 each include a unique tag identification code or number (ID) that is correlated in a database of server 38 to the identity of the caregiver to which the particular tag 42 has been assigned . . . “see ¶ [0067] “ . . . One or more communications servers 60 are provided in system 10 in the illustrative example to facilitate the communication of such alerts or notifications from one or more of servers 26, 38, 46 to devices 52, 54, 56, 58. One or more of servers 60 may be a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) server in some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, system 10 includes other communication infrastructure, such as wireless access points 62 that are communicatively coupled to server 60 and that are mounted throughout the healthcare facility. . . .”) ;
Wildman fails to explicitly teach but Collins teaches
a private branch exchange (see Fig. 10 PBX 150) having a plurality of the nurse call master device (e.g. master control units 164) installed in a facility connected thereto and being configured to control communications between the nurse call slave device (e.g. audio system 158) and the mobile terminal (e.g. wireless communication device146)( see Fig 10 ¶ ¶ [0065-0067] “ . . . Communication server 134 executes application software to send and receive communication data to/from one or more communication units 144 which, in turn, communicate wirelessly with portable wireless communication devices 146 carried by caregivers. In the illustrative example, server 134, units 144, and devices 146 are configured to support voice communications between users of devices 146 and the other portions of the network 110. Server 134 determines what other portion of network 110 users of devices 146 are intending to communicate with and transmits data representative of the voice communications to that portion of network 110. For example, the healthcare system's standard telephone system includes one or more private branch exchanges (PBX's) 150 and a plurality of telephones 152. Server 134 is coupled to the one or more PBX's 150 to communicate therewith. Network 110 also includes one or more Digital Phone Switch (DXP) units 154 that are coupled to the PBX's 150 via associated T1 lines 156. A plurality of Audio Stations 158 of nurse call system 112 are located throughout the healthcare facility, typically in patient rooms, and are also coupled to the DXP units 154. Thus, users of portable wireless communication devices 146 can speak to and hear from users of telephones 152 and users of audio stations 158. . . . Devices 146 and units 144 which communicate according to wireless communications protocols other than 802.11b, such as the Bluetooth protocol, for example, are contemplated by this disclosure . . Illustrative network 110 also includes a pager system 160 which is coupled to server 136 and which includes a plurality of pagers 162 carried by some of the caregivers. Also coupled to server 136 and to PBX's 150 are one or more master control units 164 of a dedicated wireless telephone system of the health care facility. The dedicated wireless telephone system further includes a number of base stations 166 and number of wireless telephone handsets 168. As was the case with Vocera.TM. badges 146, handsets 168 are considered to be portable wireless communication devices according to this disclosure . . .”).: and
the private branch exchange has first information indicating a corresponding relationship between the mobile terminal and the healthcare worker (see ¶ [0089]” . . . A database of system 112 stores information about the types of wireless communication devices carried by each of the caregivers and system 112 operates to initiate the appropriate type of wireless communication based on the particular type of wireless communication device carried by the associated caregiver . . .”) , second information indicating a corresponding relationship between a patient and an in-charge healthcare worker who is in charge of the patient among the healthcare workers (see ¶ [0085]” . . . when an alarm condition occurs, system 112 responds by initiating a wireless communication to the particular patient's assigned caregiver; causing an audible alert tone at the Master Nurse Call Station; causing a yellow, non-blinking indicator on the monitor at the Master Nurse Call Station; and causing the dome lights outside the patient's room to flash. . . .”) , and third information indicating location information of the nurse call slave device and the mobile terminal (see ¶ [0078]” . . . place a call to a particular audio station 158 at a particular location in the healthcare facility. Such a call may be placed, for example, to reach either a patient or a caregiver that is in the same location with the particular audio station 158. If button 204 is selected, system 112 responds with a window either that allows selection of the particular location to which the call is to be made from a list of locations or that allows the appropriate location information, such as a room number or room name, to be entered into an appropriate field. Button 206 may be selected to initiate a page to a particular caregiver . . .”),
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention to incorporate a system and method that monitors equipment and/or patients in hospital rooms and that alert caregivers to alarm conditions, and the monitoring uses systems that monitor equipment, such as hospital beds, and that communicate via a network of a healthcare facility with computers at nurse call stations and with caregivers carrying one or more communication devices connecting to a PBX / communication-location server, as taught by Collins, into a system and method for managing healthcare information systems having nurse call systems networked with locating systems, so that healthcare providers can be efficiently assigned to address real-time patient needs and safety, as taught by Wildman. Such incorporation provides enhanced communications between the healthcare providers using communications using the wireless devices in communication with a PBX, so that the healthcare workers can be dispatched to a patient depending on location.
The combination of Wildman and Collins fails to explicitly teach but Tunnell teaches
a chat server (e.g. Fig. 4 portal 430 containing notification service 436) configured to generate a chat room to be delivered to the mobile terminal (see Fig. 4 mobile device 440) in response to a call originated from the nurse call slave device (e.g. Fig. 4 pendent 400) (see ¶¶ [0119-0124]” . . . The system of the invention can also be embodied in an application (colloquially referred to as an “app”) executing on a personnel electronic device, e.g., a mobile phone, iPad, laptop and the like as well as a wearable item. The app-based embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 4. A pendant 400 functions in a similar manner to the event detection device 120. A microphone 402, a speaker 404 and an emergency button 406 are illustrated. The emergency button 406 can be activated by the wearer in the event of an emergency, for example if the wearer is unable to speak or if an emergency that has not been detected by the pendant occurs. According to one embodiment the pendant 400 communicates bi-directionally with a WiFi router 420 (also referred to as a wireless access point), that in turn communicates with devices within a cloud-based portal 430 over an HTTPS link. A P2P (peer-to-peer) voice service 434 sets up and controls communications with the parties who have received the notification, and a notification service 436 issues the notifications. The portal 430 (more specifically devices and functionality within the cloud) communicates with a first responder's personal device 440 and personal devices 441 of other friends, family, and healthcare providers. As illustrated the first responder can contact the 911 emergency services or this can be done directly by the notification service 436. The devices 434 and 436 also control and set up devices participating in the chat room and control communications among chat room participants. . . “)
and the chat server generates, based on the first (e.g. notifying device) (see ¶ [0032] “ . . . the event detection device 120 communicates (wirelessly in one embodiment) with one or more notifying devices 150 when an event has occurred, i.e., issuing a signal 127. The notifying device(s) issue a notification signal 125 when triggered by the signal 127 . . .”) , second (see ¶ [0084] “ . . . The notifying device 150, through the communications interface 520, attempts to contact help responsive to the alert signal. The device 150 may make one or more attempts to locate a family member, crisis or call center, neighbor, front desk personnel, caretaker, central monitoring station, or the 911 emergency operator and the like. When contact is made, the notifying device 150 provides an indication of the problem (e.g., an LED, a message, a display, using recorded or synthesized speech, such as from a voice messages synthesizer shown in FIG. 3) or using another audio or digital message or signal. . . .”) and third information (see ¶¶ [0080-0081]” . . . The notifying device initiates outbound communications to a third-party through the appropriate communications interface 520 (see FIG. 3) to issue a notification signal. Such an interface may include, but is not limited to, any one or a combination of communications devices such as: a PSTN telephone device, a cellular telephone device, a cellular texting device, and/or an internet and/or internet of things (IoT) communications device (e.g., an IoT device, a Bluetooth or BLE device, a WiFi device, VoIP device, an email device, or an instant messaging device). As used herein, a third-party is any person contacted by the notifying device 150, including, but not limited to one or more 911 emergency services, a monitoring service, a doctor's office, a nurse's station, a social network, a chat room, a crisis or call center such as but not limited to an assisted living facility or hospital emergency/assistance desk, . . .”) , a chat room with the in-charge healthcare worker(e.g. first responder) (see ¶ [0099] “ . . . The first party who accepts a notification initiates a voice call and is dubbed the “first responder.” The first responder also has the capability to add other parties to the call. As a non-limiting example, if the initial notification is made to a son and a daughter of the fallen person and the son is first to accept the notification, the son becomes the “first responder.” The son may want to add his sister to the call. Likewise, in other embodiments, other individuals may be added who did not receive the notification, such as a general practice physician, specialist or 911 dispatcher, as non-limiting examples. In yet other embodiments, one or more other individuals may request to be added to a call by notifying the first responder, who may then add or refuse to add the requesting individual. In this way, multiple parties may participate in the call to assist the fallen person and offer advice to anyone who is physically present with the fallen person. If an emergency personnel is deemed the first responder, he or she may opt to call other parties and/or receive calls from other emergency responders to join the call with the fallen person. If a medical professional is “in charge” she may opt to call other family members, medical specialists or other medical or emergency personnel. . .”) in charge of a subject patient (e.g. pendant user) who originated a call using the nurse call slave device (see ¶ [0126] “ . . . a query signal is sent from the event detection device 120 (or another event or fall detection device not illustrated in FIG. 4) to the pendant 400 via the wireless router 420. The alarm signal issued by the pendant 400 when a fall has been detected (and confirmed in one embodiment) is sent from the pendant to the wireless access point and then to devices in the cloud. . . “) (see ¶ [0116] “ . . . the notification process itself creates a chat room or social network, also referred to herein as a private healthcare social network. Within this embodiment of the invention, all interested parties may join the chat room upon receiving an alert notification. The “first responder,” the first to accept the notification, may also invite others to join the chat room. All participants in the chat room are aware of all activities, medical information, medical test results, diagnosis, data associated with the fallen party, the severity level of the emergency (e.g., red, yellow, or green), etc . . .”; see ¶¶ [0117--0118]” . . . The chat room/social network participants may share information with all members of the chat group in real-time through audio, video, messaging, and posting techniques. All participants in the chat room converse with all others in the chat room in the same conversation and each participant can invite others to join the chat room. The participants may be connected via a shared internet connection (according to the internet protocol standard or VOIP) or another similar connection. Additionally, chat room participants can share files and videos. Further, any chat room text message can be converted to a voice mail message, by operation of a speech to text converter, for the convenience of any party who does not have access to text messages, including the fallen party. All text messages, shared files, voice messages, etc. that occur within the chat room are recorded for later use and analysis. The chat room participants are each provided with substantial additional information about the history and current condition relative to the detected event. By way of example only, this information can comprise: pulse rate, blood pressure, oxygen level, alcohol level, activity level, dizziness, steps taken during a time interval, behavioral changes, gait, scent, sweat, voice, blood chemistry art rhythms, EKG, cardiac and lung sounds, weight, body mass index, caloric intake, medications taken (time of administration, dosage), etc. Certain information listed above is obtained from medical sensors that provide real-time data. Other information is obtained from those individuals with close personal contact with the fallen party (e.g., information regarding exercise regimens, sleep patterns, and psychological observations). Still other information is obtained from historical medical records. With this considerable additional information, the chat room participants can make better informed decisions regarding the care and treatment of the fallen party . . .”).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention to incorporate a system and method for issuing a notification responsive to the occurrence of an event affecting a monitored person wherein the system has a monitoring device that determines occurrence of an event related to the health or safety of the person and produces a first signal when the event occurs, so that a first communications device issues a second signal upon receiving the first signal and a second communications device issues a notification signal upon receiving the second signal, where the notification signal is issued to one or more entities such as healthcare workers who can communicate in a chat room to decide a course of action, as taught by Tunnell, into a system and method for managing healthcare information systems having nurse call systems networked with locating systems, so that healthcare providers can be efficiently assigned to address real-time patient needs and safety, and the system monitors equipment and/or patients in hospital rooms and that alert caregivers to alarm conditions, and the monitoring uses systems that monitor equipment, such as hospital beds, and that communicate via a network of a healthcare facility with computers at nurse call stations and with caregivers carrying one or more communication devices connecting to a PBX / communication-location server as taught by the combination of Wildman and Collins. Such incorporation integrates the chat room to communicate among with the healthcare workers how and who should be addressing the patient event.
The combination of Wildman, Collins, and Tunnell fails to explicitly teach and a nearby healthcare worker assumed to be at a location closer to the subject patient than the in-charge healthcare worker is as users
However Brown teaches and a nearby healthcare worker assumed to be at a location closer to the subject patient than the in-charge healthcare worker is (e.g. closest availability to perform the task (see Brown ¶ [0138] “. . . the filtering component 704 can evaluate information regarding pending tasks for performance over a defined, upcoming timeframe (e.g., known and/or forecasted) that have not been assigned to healthcare workers. For each identified task, the filtering component 704 can evaluate timing and/or location constraints associated with the task regarding when the task needs to be (or is preferred to be) performed, and/or a location associated with the task. Based on these time/location constraints associated with the task, in some implementations, the filtering component 704 can evaluate availability information for the healthcare workers provided in the resource availability data 116 to identify a subset of available workers that are available to perform. For example, if the task needs to be formed and/or is preferred to be performed now, the filtering component 704 can identify a subset of available workers with immediate availability to perform the task now. In another example, if the task needs to be formed and/or is preferred to be performed now at specific location, the filtering component 104 can identify a subset of workers with immediate availability to perform the task now at the specific location. In another example, if the task needs to be formed and/or is preferred to be performed at specific point in time or over a specific timeframe, the filtering component 704 can identify a subset of available workers with availability to perform the task at the specific point in time or over the specific timeframe. In yet another implementation, if the task is preferred to be performed at specific point in time or over a specific timeframe, the filtering component 704 can identify a subset of available workers with the “best” availability to perform the task at the specific point in time or over the specific timeframe (e.g., workers with the closest availability to perform the task. The task optimization analysis component 702 can further restrict assignment (e.g., using one or more optimization models) of the healthcare workers to the respective pending tasks based on those subsets of available workers to perform the respective tasks and additional criteria/constraints associated with the tasks (e.g., resource requirement constraints, ordering constraints, priority constraints, etc.), the workers (e.g., worker qualifications/performance rating, system preferences, worker preferences, expected need of the workers, etc.), the patients (e.g., patient preferences, and the like). In other embodiments, the filtering component 704 can generate a filtered subset of workers to restrict assigning to task based on filtering the initial pool of healthcare workers by both capability/qualifications criteria and availability criteria . . .”)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention to incorporate a system and method for optimizing operations of an integrated healthcare system in real-time using a machine learning framework so that the activity of healthcare workers of a healthcare system over a defined timeframe in association with operation of the healthcare system, is managed including monitoring performance of healthcare tasks scheduled for performance over the defined timeframe and identifying the best healthcare worker for handling a patient event, as taught by Brown, into a system and method for managing healthcare information systems having nurse call systems networked with locating systems, so that healthcare providers can be efficiently assigned to address real-time patient needs and safety, and the system monitors equipment and/or patients in hospital rooms and that alert caregivers to alarm conditions, and the monitoring uses systems that monitor equipment, such as hospital beds, and that communicate via a network of a healthcare facility with computers at nurse call stations and with caregivers carrying one or more communication devices connecting to a PBX / communication-location server so that the system will issue a notification responsive to the occurrence of an event affecting a monitored person wherein the system has a monitoring device that determines occurrence of an event related to the health or safety of the person and produces a first signal when the event occurs, so that a first communications device issues a second signal upon receiving the first signal and a second communications device issues a notification signal upon receiving the second signal, where the notification signal is issued to one or more entities such as healthcare workers who can communicate in a chat room to decide a course of action, as taught by the combination of Wildman, Collins, and Tunnell. Such incorporation enables a further identification of a healthcare worker that can attend to the event of the patient.
See also Anumolu for at a location closer to the subject patient (see Anumolu ¶¶ [0026 -0028] “ . . . , an alerting processor of the healthcare server operates in the background to detect critical events with respect to the vital signs of each of the patients and to route the closest healthcare worker to the residence of the patient. In this regard, the alerting processor may sequentially identify and retrieve the latest vital signs of each patient (e.g., heartbeat, blood pressure respiration rate, etc.) and compare them with the threshold values assigned to the patient. If one or more of the vital signs of a particular patient exceeds a corresponding threshold value, then the alerting processor determines that an urgent need exists and expedites a visit to the patient by one of the healthcare workers. Based upon the determination of an urgent need, a location processor may identify one of the healthcare workers who is closest the residence R of the identified patient with the urgent need. As a first step, the location processor may request a geographic location from each of the portable devices. In this regard, each of the portable devices may have a global positioning system (GPS) device 50 that determines the real time location of each healthcare worker. The GPS device of each portable device may periodically report the location of the healthcare worker to the server or respond to a real time location request from the location processor. If the portable device periodically reports its location, then the latest location may be saved within a respective location file for each healthcare worker within memory of the healthcare server. In either case, the location processor determines the geographic location of each healthcare worker and compares the location with the geographic location of the patient in urgent need. The healthcare worker having the smallest relative distance between the healthcare worker and the patient in urgent need may be selected to visit the patient . . .”)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant’s invention to incorporate a system and method for scheduling the activities of healthcare workers and identifying a healthcare worker that is relatively closest to a patient and assigning the closest found healthcare worker to the patient, as taught by Anumolu, into a system and method for managing healthcare information systems having nurse call systems networked with locating systems, so that healthcare providers can be efficiently assigned to address real-time patient needs and safety, and the system monitors equipment and/or patients in hospital rooms and that alert caregivers to alarm conditions, and the monitoring uses systems that monitor equipment, such as hospital beds, and that communicate via a network of a healthcare facility with computers at nurse call stations and with caregivers carrying one or more communication devices connecting to a PBX / communication-location server so that the system will issue a notification responsive to the occurrence of an event affecting a monitored person wherein the system has a monitoring device that determines occurrence of an event related to the health or safety of the person and produces a first signal when the event occurs, so that a first communications device issues a second signal upon receiving the first signal and a second communications device issues a notification signal upon receiving the second signal, where the notification signal is issued to one or more entities such as healthcare workers who can communicate in a chat room to decide a course of action, and then coordinate the activity of healthcare workers of a healthcare system over a defined timeframe in association with operation of the healthcare system, is managed including monitoring performance of healthcare tasks scheduled for performance over the defined timeframe and identifying the best healthcare worker for handling a patient event, as taught by the combination of Wildman, Collins, Tunnell, and Brown. Such incorporation enables a health worker to be assigned based on the worker’s location relative to the patient’s location.
In regard to claim 2, the combination of Wildman, Collins, Tunnell, Brown, and Anumolu teaches wherein the private branch exchange updates the third information (see Collins ¶ [0076] “ . . . Screen 170 also has a Patient's Caregivers Window 196 which appears beneath window 176 when the caregiver at the Master Nurse Call Station answers a call from a patient by selecting the associated answer button 174. Window 196 shows the names of any caregivers that are assigned to the particular patient, the number of the caregiver, and the caregiver's location if the caregiver is being tracked by system 141 or system 167. In the illustrative example, window 196 shows that Amy Martin, LPN is the nurse assigned to the patient John Smith whose call has been answered; John Cox, M.D. is John Smith's attending physician; and Judy Smith, RN is the charge nurse assigned to John Smith. Window 196 also shows that Nurse Martin is in the Medroom, Dr. Cox is in the Lab, and Nurse Smith is in room 109A. If button 188 is selected on window 176, then system 112 responds by calling the audio station 158 in room 109A because that is where the closest caregiver assigned to the calling patient is located. . . .”) based on at least one of location information of the access point with which the mobile terminal performs communication and location information acquired by the mobile terminal (see Collins ¶ [0017] “ . . . at least one nurse call computer device coupled to a hospital Ethernet which may have at least one wired access point and at least on wireless access point. The system may comprise a hospital bed having associated therewith bed identification (ID) data. The system may also comprise a network interface unit (NIU) coupled to the bed via a first data link. The NIU may have associated therewith NIU ID data. The NIU may have a communications port that is couple able to the Ethernet via a second data link. The NIU may be configured to sense whether the communications port is coupled to the Ethernet via the second data link. If the NIU is coupled to the Ethernet via the second data link then both the bed ID data received by the NIU and the NIU ID data may be transmitted by the NIU to the Ethernet over the second data link. However, if the NIU is not coupled to the Ethernet via the second data link then the NIU ID data received by the bed may be transmitted wirelessly by the bed to one of the wireless access points of the Ethernet along with the bed ID data. . . .”).
The motivation to combine the references is described for the rejection of claim 1 and is incorporated herein. Additionally Collins uses location information that is determined through the access point connections.
In regard to claim 3, the combination of Wildman, Collins, Tunnell, Brown, and Anumolu teaches wherein when location relationship between the mobile terminal and the nurse call slave unit is determined based on the location information of the access point (see Collins ¶ [0017], ¶ [0076] as described for the rejection of claim 2 and is incorporated herein) , the chat server simply uses the location information of the access point to which the mobile terminal belongs as the location of the mobile terminal (see Tunnell ¶¶ [0166-0167]” . . . determining the location of the event is critical for dispatching an entity to assist. Another embodiment utilizes WiFi fingerprinting, a method that utilizes a set of WiFi signals captured by a mobile device and the measurements of received WiFi signal strengths (RSSs) from access points surrounding the device, thus deriving a “fingerprint” on a radio map of the correlated WiFi devices. Other methods utilize triangulation of cellular towers, TV towers, and other transmitters to derive location information, or in some embodiments, a location's lighting grid that forms a location-based positioning system utilizing visible light communication (VLC) technology . . .”).
The motivation to combine the references is described for the rejection of claim 1 and is incorporated herein. Additionally Tunnell uses the access point to provide the location information to the data for the chat room.
In regard to claim 4, the combination of Wildman, Collins, Tunnell, Brown, and Anumolu teaches wherein the mobile terminal acquires the location information based on a Global Positioning System (see Tunnell ¶ [0163] “ . . . device location may be important. Device location may be derived with the same communications methods described herein or in some embodiments, with the addition of external positioning systems such as but not limited to GNSS (global navigation satellite system), GPS (global position system), A-GPS (Assisted GPS), CellID, triangulation, trilateralization, OTDOA (O Time Difference of Arrival), WiFi based location services, ultrasonic, PDR (pedestrian dead reckoning) and VLC (visible light communication), beacon, or other RTLS (real-time location system) technologies so that location information can be sent by a device along with alert . . .”) and transmits the location information acquired in response to a request from the private branch exchange to the private branch exchange (see Collins ¶ ¶ [0089-0090] “ . . . sending a preprogrammed audio message to an audio station 158 at the location where an assigned caregiver is determined to be by one of locating-and-tracking systems 141, 167. Thus, when an alarm condition occurs, regardless of its priority level, system 112 operates to notify one or more caregivers of the alarm condition automatically via a page and/or text message and/or audio message. Thus, no one at the Master Nurse Station needs to take any further action to notify assigned caregivers of alarm conditions. If desired, however, the caregiver at the Master Nurse Call Station may follow up with one or more assigned caregivers by contacting them directly from Call Management screen 170 as described above. A database of system 112 stores information about the types of wireless communication devices carried by each of the caregivers and system 112 operates to initiate the appropriate type of wireless communication based on the particular type of wireless communication device carried by the associated caregiver. With regard to a nurse call placed by a patient, or occurrence of an alarm condition, which is to be communicated to an assigned caregiver carrying one of badges 146 or handsets 168 having voice communication capability, a dialing string is generated and transmitted by system 112 in some embodiments so that, if the caregiver chooses to speak with the patient (or other caregivers in the room) via the associated audio station 158, the associated communication server 134, 136 is able to determine which audio station 158 is to be contacted. For example, the dialing string may be in the format of PBX trunking card number, room number (e.g., 81, 104). The dialing string appears on the associated display screen of badge 146 or handset 168, as the case may be, and the caregiver may select the dialing string to establish the communication link with the designated audio station 158. . . ..:)
The motivation to combine the references is described for the rejection of claim 1 and is incorporated herein. Additionally Tunnell uses GPS information to determine locations of the mobile devices which can be provided to the PBX disclosed in Collins.
In regard to claim 5, the combination of Wildman, Collins, Tunnell, Brown, and Anumolu teaches wherein the chat server and the private branch exchange are built-in in one device (e.g. see Tunnell Fig. 3 notifying device see ¶ ¶ [0097-0098] “ . . . The notifying device 150 can communicate over one or more different communications channels and networks and, according to several different communications protocols, to provide notifications to the one or more persons or groups. Generally, and by way of example only, the notification from the notifying device 150 to the one or more persons may take the form of a text message, an email, an instant message, messages to a chat forum, or any other electronic notification. In addition to conventional communications protocols and techniques described herein, a device of the invention may also be used in the email and text message space and to conduct a transaction. The device can send and receive emails, push notifications and text messages, and/or any other alert or notification services, to provide time-based or location-based notifications to the user and activate a personal response to an email or a text message. Additionally, the device can store any of the data collected and transmit that data to another processing or analysis device . . .”).
The motivation to combine the references is described for the rejection of claim 1 and is incorporated herein. Additionally Tunnell can provide one device to combine PBX and chat capabilities for notification of healthcare workers.
In regard to claim 6, the combination of Wildman, Collins, Tunnell, Brown, and Anumolu teaches wherein the access point is provided for each facility where the health care workers work, each floor of the facility, or each work area on the same floor of the facility (see Collins ¶ ¶ [0045-0046] “ . . . The bed 10 may communicate directly with the respective hardware associated with one or more of system 16, database 18, badges 20, one or more computers operating software 22, PDA's 24, badges 26, and pagers 28, or bed 10 may communicate with each of these via other hardware included in network 12, such as servers, routers, hubs, wireless access points, transceivers, and any other hardware provided by a healthcare facility in its network (e.g., LAN, WAN, and/or Ethernet). In accordance with this disclosure, one or more computers included in network 12, such as computer 30 of nurse call system 16, is programmed with system software that operates to generate the screen shots shown in FIGS. 2-11. The screen shots of FIGS. 2-11 appear on a display screen 31 associated with computer 30. FIG. 2 is a screen shot of a Home screen 32 that appears on a computer in accordance with the software included as part of a system according to the present disclosure. On the left hand side of Home screen 32 are a menu icon 34, a staff icon 36, a patient icon 38, a location icon 40, an admin icon 42, and a help icon 44. When on any of screens shown in FIGS. 2-9 a user can select any of icons 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 and the system will respond with a screen corresponding to the selected