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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. Claim(s) 1, “recites” abstract ideas under the 2019 PEG:
Step 2A, Prong One – recites an abstract idea
Claim 1 recites collecting, replicating, routing and presenting healthcare workflow information (nurse calls, alerts and device status data) to caregivers’ mobile devices, which is a mental process/certain method of organizing human activity (managing caregiver response to patient needs) and/or collecting and transmitting information.
Step 2A – Prong Two
The additional elements (nurse call server, CSA with proxy server, mobile application gateway, and wireless mobile devices) are recited at a high level as generic networked computing components used to receive, replicate, and forward information. The “first path” and “second path” limitation merely specifies alternative communication routes (one excluding and one including the CSA proxy server) for delivery the same information, without reciting a specific technical mechanism that improves computer/network functionality. Thus, the claim uses the additional elements only as tools to implement the abstract idea.
Step 2B – No Inventive concept
The claim does not include additional element, alone or in combination, that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. The additional elements are conventional components performing their expected functions of communicating and relaying data, including replicating data at a proxy and transmitting it to mobile devices.
Therefore, claim 1 is not drawn to eligible subject matter as they are directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-9, 20 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Etchison et al (US 2023/0062727) in view of Ardeli et al (US 2016/0226825).
Per claim 1, Etchison teaches a healthcare information system comprising (abstract teaches a system in healthcare for caregiver availability)
a nurse call server located at a health care facility (0107 teaches database 44 may be stored in a server 46 in some embodiments. 0104 teaches database 44 has information regarding staff, alerts…database 44 is coupled to or included in a nurse call enterprise server 46), the nurse call server being configured to receive nurse calls, alerts, and device status data from devices located in patient rooms of the healthcare facility (0151-0152 teaches a patient can initiate a request for help or assistance via an alert…when a patient initiates a request, it is sent to the NaviCare enterprise server to be fulfilled. 0153 teaches status updates are initiated from within the enterprise environment…may be triggered by mobile device events like a caregiver ‘Accept’ or performing an explicit call cancellation. 0004 teaches some patients are designated as falls risk…falls prevention measures…enabling bed exit or patient position monitoring system of the patient beds), wherein the devices located in the patient rooms include patient beds that support patients in the patient rooms (0004 teaches patient beds on which suck falls risk patients are supported),
connected services architecture (CSA) located at an entity geographically remote from the healthcare facility (Etchison discloses a backend, service-oriented architecture that is separate from the nurse call enterprise server and support distributed access. 0097 teaches server 14 manages routing of patients request and server 14 is a reverse proxy server available from NGINX), the CSA being communicatively coupled to the nurse call server (0104-0107 teaches modules associated with nurse call enterprise server that communicate information for routing and distribution through server 14) and having a proxy server configured to replicate the nurse calls, alerts, and device status data communicated to the proxy server from the nurse call server (0097, server is a reverse proxy server. 0106-0107 teaches that alert and feed information associated with nurse call events is routed and stored externally to the nurse call enterprise server,
a mobile application gateway communicatively coupled to the nurse call server (0097 and 105 teaches server 14 manages the routing of patient requests between client devices and backend services to other computer devices. 0107 teaches server 14 includes a Service Fabric guest application that manages the routing of patient restful request) via a first path that excludes the proxy server of the CSA and via a second path that includes the proxy server of the CSA], and
wireless mobile devices carried by caregivers in the healthcare facility and each wireless mobile device being communicatively coupled with the mobile application gateway, each wireless mobile device being configured to receive the nurse calls, alerts (0103 teaches caregiver mobile devices receiving alerts/request via the system’s routing/endpoint infrastructure. 0173 teaches communicative coupling between the nurse call system and caregiver mobile devices. 0173 teaches receive request at a mobile device of a caregiver. 0023 teaches tablet computer 12 is configured to display a fall risk notification message), and device status data from the mobile application gateway (paragraph 105-107, 0194, 0153 teaches status data)
But, Etchison does not explicitly teach via a first path that excludes the proxy server of the CSA and via a second path that includes the proxy server of the CSA
However, in an analogous art, Ardeli teaches a system for dynamic detection-based policy enforcement of proxy connections (abstract). Ardeli further teaches via a first path that excludes the proxy server of the CSA and via a second path that includes the proxy server of the CSA (0027 proxy server 160 generally refers to a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. Fig. 1B and 0026 teaches web servers connected through proxy server. Paragraph 0038-0040 teaches proxy 310 will forward the message and forward the response back to the client device. Such a forwarding necessarily requires the proxy server to receive and handle replicated communications originating from the server. Paragraph 0026 and Fig. 1A teaches communication without a proxy server. 0026 and Fig. 1B teaches communication through proxy server 160. This combination teaches a first communication path excluding a proxy server and a second communication path including a proxy server). Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Etchison with Ardeli to provide proxy-based replication and alternate communication paths in order to improve latency management, continuity of alert delivery, and integration with remote service, which are predictable result consideration in distributed healthcare communication system.
Per claim 2, Etchison teaches comprising a master station computer and a status board situated at a master nurse call station of a unit of the healthcare facility, the master station computer being communicatively coupled to the nurse call server and to the status board, and wherein the status board is configured to display, for each patient room in the unit, the associated nurse calls, alerts, and device status data (0103 teaches status boards, master nurse station computers, administrator computers and the like on which patient request may be displayed at the discretion of the designer of system 10. 0104 teaches database 44 is coupled to or included in a nurse call enterprise server 46. 0103 teaches devices on which patient request may be displayed. 0173 teaches patient requests/alerts are received at staff stations and are associated with specific rooms. 0151-0154 teaches alerts originate from patient rooms and are processed through the nurse call system on a per-patient basis, with routing and lifecycle management handled centrally).
Per claim 3, Etchison teaches wherein the status board is configured to display, for each patient room in the unit, risk information pertaining to an associated patient in each of the patient rooms, the risk information being replicated in the proxy server of the CSA (0023 and 0033 teaches portable electronic device may be configured to display a falls risk notification message that may indicate that the patient may have been designated as a fall risk. 0188 teaches server 14 monitors or listens to the network traffic of system 10 to determine if the patient has been designated as a falls risk and then communicates such information to tablet 12. 0103 further teaches status boards and master nurse station computers display patient requests. 0097, server is a reverse proxy server. 0106-0107 teaches that alert and feed information associated with nurse call events is routed and stored externally to the nurse call enterprise server. 0188 teaches window 274 appears on tablet 12 or the patient’s mobile phone in response to server 14 first becoming aware that the patient has been designated as a falls risk such as by receiving a network broadcast from nurse call server 46).
Per claim 5, Etchison teaches wherein each wireless mobile device is configured to control the display of the risk information on the status board based on inputs received from an associated caregiver to designate whether or not a corresponding patient has a particular risk (Etchison in paragraph 0103 teaches display variety of patient information on status boards. Fig. 48 shows displaying risk information of a patient).
Per claim 6, Etchison teaches wherein each wireless mobile device is configured to display a list of nurse calls and alerts for patients or patient rooms assigned to the associated caregiver (Fig. 12 and 13).
Per claim 7, Etchison teaches wherein the list of nurse calls and alerts are sorted based on time since occurrence, with a most recent nurse call or alert being listed first (Fig. 12 and 13).
Per claim 8, Etchison teaches wherein the list includes, for each nurse call or alert, a field that includes the associated patient name, the associated room, a description of the associated type of nurse call or alert, and a time since the nurse call or alert occurred (Fig. 12, 13 and 15).
Per claim 9, Etchison teaches wherein the list includes, for each nurse call or alert, an icon indicative of the associated type of nurse call or alert (Fig. 12 and 13).
Per claim 20, Etchison teaches wherein the wireless mobile devices are configured to display one or more call completion inputs that are selectable by the associated caregiver to notify the nurse call server that a particular nurse call has been answered or that a particular alert condition has been rectified (0118 taches after one of the patient’s assigned caregivers accepts the request, such as by pressing an accept icon on the caregiver’s mobile device, then the word accepted becomes highlighted on bar 172 of box 160. After the request is completed by the caregiver and the caregiver logs the completion into system 10 such as by pressing a completed button on the caregiver’s mobile device, the word completed becomes highlighted on bar 172 of box 160 and the completed request is then moved to the completed requests box 162. 0151-0154 and 0198-0199 teaches server-side updates associated with patient requests and workflow progression).
Per claim 23, Etchison teaches wherein each of the wireless mobile devices are configured to open a voice communication channel to a graphical room station located in an associated patient room from which a corresponding nurse call originated (0101 and 0154 teaches patient tablet and caregiver mobile device capable of voice communication with each other).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Etchison et al (US 2023/0062727) in view of Ardeli et al (US 2016/0226825) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of EP3758026 (hereinafter Hill 026’).
Per claim 4, Etchison teaches wherein risk information includes a first icon to indicate the patient is a falls risk (Fig. 48). But, Etchison in view of Ardeli does not explicitly teach a second icon to indicate that the patient is a pulmonary risk, and a third icon to indicate that the patient is at risk of developing pressure sores, and wherein each wireless mobile device is configured to receive inputs from an associated caregiver to designate a corresponding patient with one or more of being a falls risk, being a pulmonary risk, and being at risk of developing pressure sores.
However, Hill 026’ teaches assessing medical risks of a patient, a second icon to indicate that the is pulmonary risk (Fig. 10) and a third icon to indicate that the patient is at risk of developing pressure sores (0069 teaches the risk assessment includes developing sepsis, the risk of the patient developing a pressure injury( pressure sore or decubitus ulcer), and the risk that the patient may fall. 0204 further teaches risk details screens 401 also include reminders box 456. 0070 teaches risk assessments are provided to caregivers or clinicians who may adjust or override the risk assessment based on clinical insights 24. Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for Etchison to use the system/method of displaying different icons for different risk as taught by Hill 026’. The rationale would be that it allows the caregiver or clinician to override the risk assessment and keep the patient information updated.
Claim(s) 10-14, 18-19 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Etchison et al (US 2023/0062727) in view of Ardeli et al (US 2016/0226825) as applied to claim 1 and further in view Girardeau et al (US 2017/0262593).
Per claim 10, Etchison in view of Ardeli does not explicitly teach wherein the list includes, for each nurse call or alert, reminder information including at least one of the following: a rounding reminder if the associated caregiver is scheduled to make a round for the corresponding patient or a turn reminder if the associated caregiver is scheduled to turn the associated patient.
However, in an analogous art Girardeau teaches wherein the list includes, for each nurse call or alert, reminder information including at least one of the following: a rounding reminder if the associated caregiver is scheduled to make a round for the corresponding patient or a turn reminder if the associated caregiver is scheduled to turn the associated patient (0011-0012 teaches each graphical display of the plurality of graphical displays may be useable by caregivers to suspend at least one rounding task….the first computer device may be operable to change the rounding intervals. The first computer device may be operable to select an amount of time prior to expiration of the rounding intervals at which rounding reminder messages are sent to the plurality of graphical displays). Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for Etchison to use the graphical display of Girardeau. The rationale would be that it allows caregivers to suspend at least one rounding task and also remind the caregiver if it’s their turn to make rounds, so patients aren’t left unattended for long time.
Per claim 11, Etchison does not explicitly teach comprising graphical room stations located in the patient rooms and communicatively coupled to the nurse call server, wherein the graphical room stations display reminder information pertaining to tasks that are to be completed by caregivers for the patients in the respective rooms, and wherein the wireless mobile devices are configured to receive one or more inputs from the associated caregiver’s indicative of completion of the tasks.
However, Girardeau teaches comprising graphical room stations located in the patient rooms and communicatively coupled to the nurse call server, wherein the graphical room stations display reminder information pertaining to tasks that are to be completed by caregivers for the patients in the respective rooms, and wherein the wireless mobile devices are configured to receive one or more inputs from the associated caregivers indicative of completion of the tasks (0008 teaches computer in patient rooms as part of nurse call system. 0009, abstract teaches displaying reminder information pertaining to task that are to be completed by caregiver and once done, caregiver can indicate the task has been completed). Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the task completion indication as taught by Girardeau. The rationale would be to let the rest of the caregivers know that his patient has been taken care of or let the doctors or upper management know.
Per claim 12, see rejection of claim 11.
Per claim 13, Girardeau teaches wherein the reminder information comprises turn reminders and the one or more inputs indicate that the associated caregiver has completed a turn of the corresponding patient (0010, 0035 teaches reminder for the caregiver to turn the patient. 0009 teaches selection of an icon when the task is complete).
Per claim 14, Etchison teaches wherein the reminder information comprises medication reminders and the one or more inputs indicate that the associated caregiver has completed medication delivery to the corresponding patient (0013 teaches display a status that shows a specific patient request has been completed by the caregiver. 0115 and Fig. 16 shows a display where a patient can request pain medication. Also see Girardeau in paragraph 0035 and 0009 that shows display timer and reminder for caregivers to do certain tasks).
Per claim 18, Etchison teaches tracking caregiver performance such as response time in paragraph 0160. But Etchison does not explicitly teach wherein the nurse call server tracks caregiver performance metrics for each caregiver and wherein the wireless mobile devices are configured to display the caregiver performance metrics for the associated caregiver.
However, Girardeau teaches wherein the nurse call server tracks caregiver performance metrics for each caregiver and wherein the wireless mobile devices are configured to display the caregiver performance metrics for the associated caregiver ((0005 teaches keeping track of rounding intervals of the caregivers that have been doing rounds with certain patient/patient room. 0006 teaches keeping track of their location. 0030 and Fig. 9 teaches track performance of the caregiver such as if he/she has completed their rounds and the timeline of the completion. 0051-0055 teaches displaying icon if rounds have been completed and/or incomplete).
Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the tracking performance metrics of each caregiver as taught by Girardeau. The rationale would be to make sure caregivers are performing their duties/tasks.
Per claim 19, Girardeau teaches wherein the caregiver performance metrics comprise a time spent with each of the associated caregiver’s assigned patients during a particular shift (Fig. 9 and 0013 teaches tracking performance of the caregiver to see the amount of time each caregiver spent with certain patient).
Per claim 21, Etchison in paragraph 0197 and 0105-0107 teaches replicated in the proxy server of the CSA. But Etchison does not explicitly teach comprising a locating system server communicatively coupled to the nurse call server and receiving locating data regarding locations of locating tags worn by caregivers and/or coupled to equipment in the healthcare facility.
However, Girardeau teaches comprising a locating system server communicatively coupled to the nurse call server and receiving locating data regarding locations of locating tags worn by caregivers and/or coupled to equipment in the healthcare facility (0026 teaches caregivers wearing a tag/badge for live tracking within the premise. 0005 and 0027 further teaches server being in communication with each tag/badge to locate the caregivers). Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for Etchison to use the tag tracking of Girardeau. The rationale would be to always have updated location of caregivers to make sure where they are at all times and if they need to be in certain rooms at certain times.
Claim(s) 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Etchison et al (US 2023/0062727) in view of Ardeli et al (US 2016/0226825) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Kayser et al (US2023/0014078).
Per claim 15, Etchison in view of Ardeli does not explicitly teach wherein the reminder information comprises patient temperature reminders and the one or more inputs indicate that the associated caregiver has completed taking the corresponding patient’s temperature.
However, in an analogous art, Kayser teaches wherein the reminder information comprises patient temperature reminders and the one or more inputs indicate that the associated caregiver has completed taking the corresponding patient’s temperature (0026 teaches taking patient temperature, 0046-0047 and 0053-0055 teaches completing task in regards to the patients). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for Etchison to use the method of taking patient temperature and updating the task as taught by Kayser. The rationale would be to let the rest of the caregivers know that his patient has been taken care of or let the doctors or upper management know.
Per claim 16, Kayser teaches wherein selection of the one or more inputs by the caregivers to indicate completion of the tasks are communicated to the nurse call server resulting in task lists for the caregivers being updated (0055-0056 teaches indicating a task completion by the caregiver. The clinical device 106 may transmit a signal to the workflow system 108 indicating that the task has been completed). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for Etchison to use the method of updating and transmitting the signal to nurse call server as taught by Kayser. The rationale would be to let the rest of the caregivers know that his patient has been taken care of or let the doctors or upper management know.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Etchison et al (US 2023/0062727) in view of Ardeli et al (US 2016/0226825) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Hudgins et al (US 2023/0195866).
Per claim 17, Etchison in view of Ardeli does not explicitly wherein the wireless mobile devices are configured with an input to summon housekeeping personnel to a selected patient room.
However, in an analogous art, Hudgins teaches wherein the wireless mobile devices are configured with an input to summon housekeeping personnel to a selected patient room (abstract teaches communication device for use in a care facility. 0097 teaches the first communication device 10 may determine a response to the action event and escalate the response accordingly. A response may be to summon the nearest security personnel. Then, at step 616, the response is communicated to at least a second communication device 10 (associated with the nearest security team member). 0067 teaches association of the voice command to the caregiver, the processor 44 may be instructed to act on a voice command that may be restricted to one or more care groups, or caregivers with necessary authorization. Also see paragraph 0095). Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for Etchison and Ardeli to use the method of summon personnel to a selected patient room as taught by Hudgins. The rationale would be to make sure an authorized user such as a caregiver sees the summon and make sure the request is accurate/legitimate and minimize false alerts.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Etchison et al (US 2023/0062727) in view of Ardeli et al (US 2016/0226825) as applied to claim 1 and further in view Girardeau et al (US 2017/0262593) as applied to claim 21, and further in view of Ayers et al (US 2023/0245770).
Per claim 22, Etchison does not explicitly teach wherein each of the wireless mobile devices is configured to display a floor plan of a portion of the healthcare facility and wherein locations of caregivers and/or equipment are shown on the floor plan based on the locating data.
However, in an analogous art, Ayers teaches a locating system communicating with caregiver worn tags that are used in hospital setting (abstract). Ayers further teaches wherein each of the wireless mobile devices is configured to display a floor plan of a portion of the healthcare facility and wherein locations of caregivers and/or equipment are shown on the floor plan based on the locating data (0088 and Fig. 3 teaches controller 28 is configured to generate a mapping screen 340, which is displayed on the application interface 302, to allow visual tracking of the tags 12 and messages 30 throughout the medical facility 40. A graphical representation of a floor plan 342 for the medical facility 40 may be displayed. Additional levels or floors may be viewed by selecting arrow icon 344). Therefore, before the effective filling date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for Etchison and Girardeau to use the visual floorplan display of Ayers. The rationale would be to track and visually see where each caregiver is at certain point in time.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Baker et al (US 2020/0211360) abstract and Fig. 2A
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/OMEED ALIZADA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686