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 non-final office action on merits is in response to the Patent Application filed on 04/23/2025.
Status of claims
Claims 3-5, 8-11, 13, 15-17, and 19-75 are cancelled. Claims 1-2, 6-7, 12, 14, 18, and 76-83 are pending and considered below. This application is a 371 of PCT/US2023/036362 filed on 10/31/2023, which claims the benefit of IN Application Number IN202211062036 filed on 10/31/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 04/23/2025 has been acknowledged. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1: 1-2, 6-7, 12, 14, and 18 in the reply filed on 06/29/2026 is acknowledged. The elected claims are examined in this Office action, and claims directed to the nonelected invention have been cancelled. Claims 1-2, 6-7, 12, 14, 18, and 76-83 are pending and considered below.
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.
Claims 1-2, 6-7, 12, 14, 18, and 76-83 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1
Under step 1, the analysis is based on MPEP 2106.03, and claims 1-2, 6-7, 12, 14, 18, and 76-83 are drawn to software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium. Thus, each claim, on its face, is directed to one of the statutory categories (i.e., useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter) of 35 U.S.C. §101.
Step 2A Prong One
Claim 1 recites the limitations of using the status conditions to determine a set of undesired conditions that currently exist for the patient support apparatus, if the set of undesired conditions contains multiple undesired conditions that currently exist for the patient support apparatus, perform the following: (a) selecting the undesired condition having the highest priority assignment from the set of undesired conditions; and if the set of undesired conditions contains only a single undesired condition that currently exists for the patient support apparatus. These limitations, as drafted, are processes that, under their broadest reasonable interpretations, cover performance of the limitations in the mind or by using a pen and paper. Even when considering the “when executed by a processor of a computing device” language, the claim encompasses evaluating status information to determine undesired conditions, comparing priority assignments, and selecting the highest priority undesired condition, all of which can practically be performed mentally or by using a pen and paper. The mere nominal recitation of a processor does not take the claim limitations out of the mental processes grouping. Thus, the claim recites a mental process which is an abstract idea.
Under Step 2A Prong Two
The claimed limitations, as per claim 1, include:
A software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of a computing device, to cause the computing device to perform the following:
receive status conditions from a patient support apparatus, each of the status conditions including a current state of a component of the patient support apparatus;
use the status conditions to determine a set of undesired conditions that currently exist for the patient support apparatus;
receive priority assignments for the set of undesired conditions from a user interface;
if the set of undesired conditions contains multiple undesired conditions that currently exist for the patient support apparatus, perform the following:
(a) select the undesired condition having the highest priority assignment from the set of undesired conditions;
(b) instruct a display device to display a specific indicator that specifically identifies the selected undesired condition; and
(c) instruct the display device to display a generic indicator that does not specifically identify the undesired conditions in the set that do not have the highest priority assignment; and
if the set of undesired conditions contains only a single undesired condition that currently exists for the patient support apparatus, instruct the display device to display a single specific indicator that specifically identifies the single undesired condition.
Examiner Note: underlined elements indicate additional elements of the claimed invention identified as performing the steps of the claimed invention.
The judicial exception expressed in claim 1 is not integrated into a practical application. The claim as a whole merely describes how to generally “apply” the concept of evaluating status information to determine undesired conditions, prioritizing the undesired conditions, and presenting the prioritized results in a computer environment. The claimed computer components (i.e., a software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of a computing device, to cause the computing device to perform the following; and instruct a display device) are recited at a high level of generality and are merely invoked as tools to perform an existing process of receiving information, perform the evaluation and prioritization, and display the resulting information to a user. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea. Accordingly, alone and in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
The judicial exception expressed in claim 1 is not integrated into a practical application. The claim recites the additional elements of receiving status conditions from a patient support apparatus, each of the status conditions including a current state of a component of the patient support apparatus; receiving priority assignments for the set of undesired conditions from a user interface; displaying a specific indicator that specifically identifies the selected undesired condition; displaying a generic indicator that does not specifically identify the undesired conditions in the set that do not have the highest priority assignment; and displaying a single specific indicator that specifically identifies the single undesired condition. These limitations are recited at a high level of generality (i.e., as a general means of receding and displaying information), and amounts to merely data gathering and outputting the results, which are forms of insignificant extra-solution activities. Accordingly, even in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Therefore, under step 2A, the claims are directed to the abstract idea, and require further analysis under Step 2B.
Under step 2B
Claim 1 does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed with respect to Step 2A, the claim as a whole merely describes how to generally “apply” the concept of evaluating status information to determine undesired conditions, prioritizing the undesired conditions, and presenting the prioritized results in a computer environment. Thus, even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claim adds significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea.
For claim 1, under step 2B, the additional elements of receiving status conditions from a patient support apparatus, each of the status conditions including a current state of a component of the patient support apparatus; receiving priority assignments for the set of undesired conditions from a user interface; displaying a specific indicator that specifically identifies the selected undesired condition; displaying a generic indicator that does not specifically identify the undesired conditions in the set that do not have the highest priority assignment; and displaying a single specific indicator that specifically identifies the single undesired condition have been evaluated. The software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of a computing device performs a general function of receiving and displaying information for implementing evaluation and prioritization of undesired conditions, which represents a well-understood, routine, and conventional activity in the field of computer technology. The specification discloses that the processor is used in its ordinary capacity as a data input device and does not describe any improvement to the computer itself or to the functioning of the overall computer system (see [0059]). Also noted in Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1354, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1742 (Fed. Cir. 2016), merely collecting information for analysis without a technological improvement does not add significantly more to an abstract idea. The software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of a computing device is no more than collecting information before evaluating and prioritizing undesired conditions, and displaying the results, and does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Therefore, the claim does not recite an inventive concept and is not patent eligible.
Claims 78-79 recite no further additional elements, and only further narrow the abstract idea. The previously identified additional elements, individually and as a combination, do not integrate the narrowed abstract idea into a practical application for reasons similar to those explained above, and do not amount to significantly more than the narrowed abstract idea for reasons similar to those explained above.
Claims 2, 6-7, 12, 14, 18, 76-77, and 80-83 recite the additional elements of:
the software application is further adapted to instruct the computer device (claim 2), to receive location data from the patient support apparatus (claim 2), instruct the display device (claims 2, 6, 7, 18), to display the room number on the display device (claim 2),
receive additional status conditions from a plurality of additional patient support apparatuses (claim 6), to display the specific indicator that specifically identifies the selected undesired condition (claim 6), to display the generic indicator that does not specifically identify the undesired conditions in the additional set that do not have the highest priority assignment (claim 6), to display a single specific indicator that specifically identifies the single undesired condition (claim 6),
the computing device is a server communicatively coupled to the display device by a computer network (claim 7), the server is communicatively coupled to the display device by a WiFi connection; the display device is one of a smart phone, a tablet computer, a television, or a laptop computer (claim 7); and wherein the software application (claim 7); to display an enclosed area on a display of the display device and to display both the generic indicator and the specific indicator within the enclosed area (claim 7);
the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to send an alert (claim 12); the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device (claims 14 and 18); to receive undesired condition definitions that are based on at least one of the following (claim 14); receive weight data indicating when a weight of a patient assigned to the patient support apparatus was last measured using the patient support apparatus (claim 18); to display a weight icon based on the weight data (claim 18);
the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device (claims 76-77); to receive undesired condition definitions from the user interface (claims 76); to receive undesired condition definitions that are based on both a department to which the patient support apparatus is assigned and a patient support apparatus type (claim 77);
the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device (claims 80-83); receive patient assignment data indicating when a new patient is assigned to the patient support apparatus (claim 80); receive weight data indicating when a weight of a patient assigned to the patient support apparatus was last measured using the patient support apparatus (claims 80 and 81); instruct the display device (claims 80 and 81); to display a missing-weight icon (claims 80 and 81); to display a weight-recorded icon (claims 80 and 81); to receive a value defining the time period from the user interface (claim 82); and receive a badge notification instruction from the user interface (claim 83); and send an alert to a caregiver badge if any undesired condition in the set of undesired conditions has the badge notification instruction; and not send the alert to the caregiver badge if no undesired condition in the set of undesired conditions has the badge notification instruction (claim 83).
However, these additional elements amount to implementing an abstract idea on a generic computing device, mere data gathering, outputting a result, or insignificant application (i.e., insignificant extra-solution activities). As such, these additional elements, when considered individually or in combination with the prior devices, do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Thus, as the dependent claims remain directed to a judicial exception, and as the additional elements of the claims do not amount to significantly more, the dependent claims are not patent eligible.
Therefore, the claims here fail to contain any additional element(s) or combination of additional elements that can be considered as significantly more and the claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 for lacking eligible subject matter.
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.
Claims 1-2, 6-7, 12, 14, 18, and 76-83 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Collins et al. (U.S. Publication 2012/0223821 A1), referred to hereinafter as Collins, in view of Kennedy-Foster et al. (International Publication No. WO2018005815A1), referred to hereinafter as Kennedy-Foster.
Regarding claim 1, Collins teaches a software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of a computing device, to cause the computing device to perform the following (Collins [0029] “FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing various components of a network of devices in a healthcare facility, the network including a nurse call system including a nurse call server which executes nurse call application software and a number of nurse call client personal computers (PC's), and the network including a number of different types of communication devices” and Collins [0061] “Referring now to FIG. 10, a network 110 of a healthcare facility includes a nurse call system 112 that includes a nurse call module (NCM) server 114 and one or more NCM client personal computers (PC's) 118. Server 114 is coupled to hospital network infrastructure 120 via a wired or wireless communication link 122. The architecture of network 110 is generally at the discretion of information technology personnel of the healthcare facility and may include additional pieces of hardware (not shown) such as routers, backup power systems, and medical equipment, such as patient monitors, hospital beds, X-ray systems, and so on having networking capability. Devices such as servers, PC's, data storage devices, and any other pieces of hardware or equipment having processors, such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, field programmable gate arrays, programmable logic controllers, or other logic-based components for processing data, are considered to be computer devices according to this disclosure.”):
receive status conditions from a patient support apparatus, each of the status conditions including a current state of a component of the patient support apparatus (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen.” and Collins [0086] “Screen 222 also has a Patient Safety window 248 which includes therein a “Bed should be in lowest position” check box 250, a “Bed brakes should be set” check box 252, and a “Patient should remain in bed” check box 254. In the illustrative example in which the Fall Prevention template configuration is selected, all of boxes 250, 252, 254 are checked. Screen 222 further includes a Siderails window 256 which includes therein a “Left head rail” check box 258, a “Right head rail” check box 260, a “Left foot rail” check box 262, and a “Right foot rail” check box 264. Beneath each check box 258, 260, 262, 264 is an associated Up radio button 266 and an associated Down radio button 268. In the illustrative example in which the Fall Prevention template configuration is selected, check boxes 258, 260, 262, 264 are each checked and Up radio buttons 266 are each selected to indicate that each of the siderails on both sides of the patient's bed should be in the up position. The bed periodically sends a signal to system 112 to indicate the position of the siderails and if system 112 detects that any of the siderails have been lowered, then an alarm condition is considered to exist and system 112 reacts to notify the appropriate caregiver or caregivers.”);
use the status conditions to determine a set of undesired conditions that currently exist for the patient support apparatus (Collins [0084] “FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example of a Patient Care Alert Template screen 222 having configurable alarm conditions associated with the “bed status” portion of the above table. Screen 222 has a Chose Template box 224 with an arrow icon 226 which, when selected, causes a drop down menu (not shown) to appear with options for pre-selected configurations of screen 222. In the present example, a Fall Prevention template configuration option has been selected in box 224 resulting in various check boxes and radio buttons being selected in screen 222 to configure system 112 with the alarm conditions to be associated with bed status for fall prevention. Screen 222 also has a menu 228 of other Care Alert Template screens which the user can access if desired. In the illustrative example, menu 228 includes a Bed Status button 230, a Surface Therapy button 232, a Bed Maintenance button 234, a Patient Care button 236, and a Reminders button 238. Button 230 is highlighted in FIG. 14 because the template associate with bed status is being displayed. Selection of any of the other buttons 232, 234, 236, 238 causes system 112 to respond with the associated template being shown on the monitor of the associated PC 118. Buttons 230, 232, 234, 236, 238 correspond to the parameter titles listed in the above table.”);
receive priority assignments for the set of undesired conditions from a user interface (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen. Alarm conditions may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to the associated alarm condition thresholds. The system may be configured to permit users to create new template screens in which alert conditions of the user's choosing may be included on the user-created template. The template screens may permit users to select the level of priority, such as high, normal, or low, to be assigned to one or more particular alert conditions.”);
if the set of undesired conditions contains multiple undesired conditions that currently exist for the patient support apparatus, perform the following (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen. Alarm conditions may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to the associated alarm condition thresholds. The system may be configured to permit users to create new template screens in which alert conditions of the user's choosing may be included on the user-created template. The template screens may permit users to select the level of priority, such as high, normal, or low, to be assigned to one or more particular alert conditions.”):
(a) select the undesired condition having the highest priority assignment from the set of undesired conditions (Collins [0071] “An answer button 174 is shown on each line in window 172 for which a call is being placed. The calls to system 112 are displayed in window 172 in order of priority, which is normally in the order (i.e., date and time) received by system 112. However, depending upon whether system 112 detects an alarm condition, then calls placed from rooms in which an alarm condition are detected are prioritized ahead of calls from rooms where no alarm condition exists. Alarms may be designated as having either high, normal, or low priority. Thus, high priority alarms are listed in window 172 ahead of those having normal or low priority. If a caregiver at the Master Nurse Call Station wants to answer the call from a particular patient, the caregiver selects the answer button 174 next to the patient's name, such as by moving a computer mouse to place a cursor over the button icon and then clicking a button on the mouse. Other methods of selecting buttons 174 are within in the scope of this disclosure and include using the tab or arrow keys on a computer keyboard to highlight the desired icon 174 and then pressing the enter key of the keyboard or by touching the screen, such as with a finger, stylus, or light pen, on the area of the screen on which the desired button 174 is displayed.” and Collins [0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.”);
(b) instruct a display device to display a specific indicator that specifically identifies the selected undesired condition (Collins [0051] “Referring now to FIG. 4, Home screen 32 has room 413 color coded in red to indicate that an alarm condition is occurring in room 413. If the user then selects room 413 on screen 32 of FIG. 4, the system responds with Patient screen 50 as shown in FIG. 5. However, due to the alarm condition in room 413, screen 50 now provides a visual indication of the condition that resulted in the alarm being generated by the system. In the illustrative example of FIG. 5, an image of a siderail 64 of bed 10 is shown in a lowered position and is color coded red to indicate that the alarm condition is that the siderail 64 of bed 10 has been lowered.”); and
c) instruct the display device to display; and in the set that do not have the highest priority assignment ((Collins [0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.”); and
if the set of undesired conditions contains only a single undesired condition that currently exists for the patient support apparatus, instruct the display device to display a single specific indicator that specifically identifies the single undesired condition (Collins [0051] “Referring now to FIG. 4, Home screen 32 has room 413 color coded in red to indicate that an alarm condition is occurring in room 413. If the user then selects room 413 on screen 32 of FIG. 4, the system responds with Patient screen 50 as shown in FIG. 5. However, due to the alarm condition in room 413, screen 50 now provides a visual indication of the condition that resulted in the alarm being generated by the system. In the illustrative example of FIG. 5, an image of a siderail 64 of bed 10 is shown in a lowered position and is color coded red to indicate that the alarm condition is that the siderail 64 of bed 10 has been lowered.”, and Collins[0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen. Alarm conditions may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to the associated alarm condition thresholds. The system may be configured to permit users to create new template screens in which alert conditions of the user's choosing may be included on the user-created template. The template screens may permit users to select the level of priority, such as high, normal, or low, to be assigned to one or more particular alert conditions. The system may be configured so that, when an alarm condition associated with a particular patient or piece of equipment occurs, the system automatically sends a message to notify a primary caregiver of the alarm condition.”).
Collins fails to explicitly teach a generic indicator that does not specifically identify the conditions.
Kennedy-Foster teaches a generic indicator that does not specifically identify the conditions (Kennedy-Foster [0022] “Each graphical operator icon 206a-206f may also include an event participant counter 208a-208f which indicates a number of alarm events a respective operator is currently addressing. As an operator is assigned a new alarm event or indicates that they are attending to a particular alarm event, the chat session server increments the individual operator's event participant counter 208a-208f. Likewise, as an operator closes out an alarm event or indicates that an alarm event has been resolved, the chat session server decrements the individual operator's event participant counter 208a- 208f.”, and Kennedy-Foster [0023] “The chat session server may also alter the appearance of the event participant counter 208a-208f based on the number of alarm events assigned or handled by a particular operator. For example, the number of alarm events indicated by the event participant counter 208a-208f may be compared to one or more threshold values. As the number indicated by the event participant counter 208a- 208f increases, the color of the event participant counter 208a-208f is changed. For instance, a green-colored event participant counter 208a may indicate that an operator is handling a low number of alarm events, a yellow-colored event participant counter 208c may indicate that the operator is handling a moderate number of alarm events, and a red-colored event participant counter 208d may indicate that the operator is handling an excessive number of alarm events. In this manner, all operators participating in the chat session are made aware of each other's real-time work load and can direct questions or inquiries to those operators participating in a low-number of alarm events, without overloading operators participating in an excessive number of alarm events. Accordingly, the efficiency of alarm event monitoring may be improved.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the healthcare monitoring system of Collins to incorporate the graphical notification techniques taught by Kennedy-Foster. Collins teaches monitoring patient support apparatus status conditions, determining alarm conditions, assigning priority levels to those alarm conditions, selecting the highest priority alarm condition, and displaying a graphical indication of the selected alarm condition to caregivers. Kennedy-Foster teaches displaying a generic numerical event counter that provides a visual indication of additional alarm events without identifying each individual alarm event. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that incorporating Kennedy-Foster's generic event counter into Collins' prioritized alarm display would have been a predictable use of known graphical user interface techniques to improve the presentation of multiple alarm conditions while maintaining caregiver awareness that additional alarm conditions remain active.
Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that presenting only the highest priority alarm condition with a specific graphical indicator while displaying a generic numerical indicator representing the remaining alarm conditions reduces display clutter, conserves limited display space, and allows caregivers to quickly identify and respond to the most urgent alarm without obscuring the existence of additional alarm conditions. This modification merely combines known alarm prioritization techniques with known graphical notification techniques according to their established functions to improve the efficiency and usability of the alarm management interface, yielding the predictable result of a healthcare monitoring system that communicates the highest priority alarm while simultaneously indicating the existence of additional alarm conditions through a generic indicator.
Regarding claim 2, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the generic indicator is a number having a value equal to one less than a total number of undesired conditions in the set of undesired conditions (Kennedy-Foster [0022] “Each graphical operator icon 206a-206f may also include an event participant counter 208a-208f which indicates a number of alarm events a respective operator is currently addressing. As an operator is assigned a new alarm event or indicates that they are attending to a particular alarm event, the chat session server increments the individual operator's event participant counter 208a-208f. Likewise, as an operator closes out an alarm event or indicates that an alarm event has been resolved, the chat session server decrements the individual operator's event participant counter 208a- 208f.”, and Kennedy-Foster [0023] The chat session server may also alter the appearance of the event participant counter 208a-208f based on the number of alarm events assigned or handled by a particular operator. For example, the number of alarm events indicated by the event participant counter 208a-208f may be compared to one or more threshold values. As the number indicated by the event participant counter 208a- 208f increases, the color of the event participant counter 208a-208f is changed. For instance, a green-colored event participant counter 208a may indicate that an operator is handling a low number of alarm events, a yellow-colored event participant counter 208c may indicate that the operator is handling a moderate number of alarm events, and a red-colored event participant counter 208d may indicate that the operator is handling an excessive number of alarm events. In this manner, all operators participating in the chat session are made aware of each other's real-time work load and can direct questions or inquiries to those operators participating in a low-number of alarm events, without overloading operators participating in an excessive number of alarm events. Accordingly, the efficiency of alarm event monitoring may be improved.”);
the specific indicator includes a graphical symbol (Collins 0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.”);
the set of undesired conditions includes at least one of the following: a brake on the patient support apparatus not set, a position of one or more siderails on the patient support apparatus not being in a desired position, an exit detection system of the patient support apparatus not being armed, or a height of a litter frame of the patient support apparatus not being at a desired height (Collins [0086] “Screen 222 also has a Patient Safety window 248 which includes therein a “Bed should be in lowest position” check box 250, a “Bed brakes should be set” check box 252, and a “Patient should remain in bed” check box 254. In the illustrative example in which the Fall Prevention template configuration is selected, all of boxes 250, 252, 254 are checked. Screen 222 further includes a Siderails window 256 which includes therein a “Left head rail” check box 258, a “Right head rail” check box 260, a “Left foot rail” check box 262, and a “Right foot rail” check box 264. Beneath each check box 258, 260, 262, 264 is an associated Up radio button 266 and an associated Down radio button 268. In the illustrative example in which the Fall Prevention template configuration is selected, check boxes 258, 260, 262, 264 are each checked and Up radio buttons 266 are each selected to indicate that each of the siderails on both sides of the patient's bed should be in the up position. The bed periodically sends a signal to system 112 to indicate the position of the siderails and if system 112 detects that any of the siderails have been lowered, then an alarm condition is considered to exist and system 112 reacts to notify the appropriate caregiver or caregivers.”); and
the software application is further adapted to instruct the computer device to receive location data from the patient support apparatus, to use the location data to determine a room number in which the patient support apparatus is currently located, and to instruct the display device to display the room number on the display device (Collins [0132] “It will be appreciated that a hospital will have multiple beds, similar to bed 364, and multiple network interface units 366 associated with the various beds. Each unit 366 is mounted at a particular location in a hospital. For example, one or more units 366 will be located in various patient rooms. Each bed 364 and each unit 366 is assigned a unique identification (ID) code, such as a serial number. In some embodiments, one or more of the computer devices of nurse call system 372 have software that operates to associate bed ID data with NIU ID data so that system 372 can keep track of which bed is located in each room of the hospital and convey this information to caregivers using system 372.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the software application of Collins to display a generic numeric indicator representing the remaining alarm conditions while displaying a graphical symbol identifying the selected highest priority alarm, as taught by Kennedy-Foster. Collins teaches prioritizing alarm conditions, displaying graphical alarm icons corresponding to alarm conditions, monitoring patient support apparatus conditions including bed brakes, siderails, patient exit, and bed height, and tracking the location of patient support apparatuses within a healthcare facility. Kennedy-Foster teaches displaying a numerical event counter that provides a visual indication of the number of alarm events without identifying each individual alarm event. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that incorporating Kennedy-Foster's numerical event counter into Collins' alarm management interface would have been a predictable use of a known user-interface technique to provide caregivers with awareness that additional alarm conditions exist while reducing display clutter and avoiding the need to display each remaining alarm individually. This modification merely combines known alarm prioritization and graphical notification techniques according to their established functions, yielding the predictable result of displaying the selected highest priority alarm with a graphical symbol while simultaneously displaying a generic numerical indicator representing the remaining alarm conditions and maintaining room location and patient support apparatus alarm information for efficient caregiver response.
Regarding claim 6, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further configured to instruct the computer device to perform the following (Collins [0029] “FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing various components of a network of devices in a healthcare facility, the network including a nurse call system including a nurse call server which executes nurse call application software and a number of nurse call client personal computers (PC's), and the network including a number of different types of communication devices” and Collins [0061] “Referring now to FIG. 10, a network 110 of a healthcare facility includes a nurse call system 112 that includes a nurse call module (NCM) server 114 and one or more NCM client personal computers (PC's) 118. Server 114 is coupled to hospital network infrastructure 120 via a wired or wireless communication link 122. The architecture of network 110 is generally at the discretion of information technology personnel of the healthcare facility and may include additional pieces of hardware (not shown) such as routers, backup power systems, and medical equipment, such as patient monitors, hospital beds, X-ray systems, and so on having networking capability. Devices such as servers, PC's, data storage devices, and any other pieces of hardware or equipment having processors, such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, field programmable gate arrays, programmable logic controllers, or other logic-based components for processing data, are considered to be computer devices according to this disclosure.”):
receive additional status conditions from a plurality of additional patient support apparatuses, the additional status conditions including a current state of a plurality of components of each of the plurality of additional patient support apparatuses (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen.” and Collins [0086] “Screen 222 also has a Patient Safety window 248 which includes therein a “Bed should be in lowest position” check box 250, a “Bed brakes should be set” check box 252, and a “Patient should remain in bed” check box 254. In the illustrative example in which the Fall Prevention template configuration is selected, all of boxes 250, 252, 254 are checked. Screen 222 further includes a Siderails window 256 which includes therein a “Left head rail” check box 258, a “Right head rail” check box 260, a “Left foot rail” check box 262, and a “Right foot rail” check box 264. Beneath each check box 258, 260, 262, 264 is an associated Up radio button 266 and an associated Down radio button 268. In the illustrative example in which the Fall Prevention template configuration is selected, check boxes 258, 260, 262, 264 are each checked and Up radio buttons 266 are each selected to indicate that each of the siderails on both sides of the patient's bed should be in the up position. The bed periodically sends a signal to system 112 to indicate the position of the siderails and if system 112 detects that any of the siderails have been lowered, then an alarm condition is considered to exist and system 112 reacts to notify the appropriate caregiver or caregivers.”);
use the additional status conditions to determine an additional set of undesired conditions that currently exist for each one of the plurality of additional patient support apparatuses (Collins [0084] “FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example of a Patient Care Alert Template screen 222 having configurable alarm conditions associated with the “bed status” portion of the above table. Screen 222 has a Chose Template box 224 with an arrow icon 226 which, when selected, causes a drop down menu (not shown) to appear with options for pre-selected configurations of screen 222. In the present example, a Fall Prevention template configuration option has been selected in box 224 resulting in various check boxes and radio buttons being selected in screen 222 to configure system 112 with the alarm conditions to be associated with bed status for fall prevention. Screen 222 also has a menu 228 of other Care Alert Template screens which the user can access if desired. In the illustrative example, menu 228 includes a Bed Status button 230, a Surface Therapy button 232, a Bed Maintenance button 234, a Patient Care button 236, and a Reminders button 238. Button 230 is highlighted in FIG. 14 because the template associate with bed status is being displayed. Selection of any of the other buttons 232, 234, 236, 238 causes system 112 to respond with the associated template being shown on the monitor of the associated PC 118. Buttons 230, 232, 234, 236, 238 correspond to the parameter titles listed in the above table.”); and
for each additional patient support apparatus in the plurality of additional patient support apparatuses, if the additional set contains multiple undesired conditions that currently exist for the additional patient support apparatus (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen. Alarm conditions may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to the associated alarm condition thresholds. The system may be configured to permit users to create new template screens in which alert conditions of the user's choosing may be included on the user-created template. The template screens may permit users to select the level of priority, such as high, normal, or low, to be assigned to one or more particular alert conditions.”),
(a) select the undesired condition having the highest priority assignment from the additional set of undesired conditions (Collins [0071] “An answer button 174 is shown on each line in window 172 for which a call is being placed. The calls to system 112 are displayed in window 172 in order of priority, which is normally in the order (i.e., date and time) received by system 112. However, depending upon whether system 112 detects an alarm condition, then calls placed from rooms in which an alarm condition are detected are prioritized ahead of calls from rooms where no alarm condition exists. Alarms may be designated as having either high, normal, or low priority. Thus, high priority alarms are listed in window 172 ahead of those having normal or low priority. If a caregiver at the Master Nurse Call Station wants to answer the call from a particular patient, the caregiver selects the answer button 174 next to the patient's name, such as by moving a computer mouse to place a cursor over the button icon and then clicking a button on the mouse. Other methods of selecting buttons 174 are within in the scope of this disclosure and include using the tab or arrow keys on a computer keyboard to highlight the desired icon 174 and then pressing the enter key of the keyboard or by touching the screen, such as with a finger, stylus, or light pen, on the area of the screen on which the desired button 174 is displayed.” and Collins [0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.”);
(b) instruct the display device to display the specific indicator that specifically identifies the selected undesired condition (Collins [0051] “Referring now to FIG. 4, Home screen 32 has room 413 color coded in red to indicate that an alarm condition is occurring in room 413. If the user then selects room 413 on screen 32 of FIG. 4, the system responds with Patient screen 50 as shown in FIG. 5. However, due to the alarm condition in room 413, screen 50 now provides a visual indication of the condition that resulted in the alarm being generated by the system. In the illustrative example of FIG. 5, an image of a siderail 64 of bed 10 is shown in a lowered position and is color coded red to indicate that the alarm condition is that the siderail 64 of bed 10 has been lowered.”); and
(c) instruct the display device to display the generic indicator that does not specifically identify the undesired conditions in the additional set that do not have the highest priority assignment (Collins [0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.” and
Kennedy-Foster [0022] “Each graphical operator icon 206a-206f may also include an event participant counter 208a-208f which indicates a number of alarm events a respective operator is currently addressing. As an operator is assigned a new alarm event or indicates that they are attending to a particular alarm event, the chat session server increments the individual operator's event participant counter 208a-208f. Likewise, as an operator closes out an alarm event or indicates that an alarm event has been resolved, the chat session server decrements the individual operator's event participant counter 208a- 208f.”, and Kennedy-Foster [0023] “The chat session server may also alter the appearance of the event participant counter 208a-208f based on the number of alarm events assigned or handled by a particular operator. For example, the number of alarm events indicated by the event participant counter 208a-208f may be compared to one or more threshold values. As the number indicated by the event participant counter 208a- 208f increases, the color of the event participant counter 208a-208f is changed. For instance, a green-colored event participant counter 208a may indicate that an operator is handling a low number of alarm events, a yellow-colored event participant counter 208c may indicate that the operator is handling a moderate number of alarm events, and a red-colored event participant counter 208d may indicate that the operator is handling an excessive number of alarm events. In this manner, all operators participating in the chat session are made aware of each other's real-time work load and can direct questions or inquiries to those operators participating in a low-number of alarm events, without overloading operators participating in an excessive number of alarm events. Accordingly, the efficiency of alarm event monitoring may be improved.”); and
if the additional set of undesired conditions contains only a single undesired condition that currently exists for the additional patient support apparatus, instruct the display device to display a single specific indicator that specifically identifies the single undesired condition (Collins [0051] “Referring now to FIG. 4, Home screen 32 has room 413 color coded in red to indicate that an alarm condition is occurring in room 413. If the user then selects room 413 on screen 32 of FIG. 4, the system responds with Patient screen 50 as shown in FIG. 5. However, due to the alarm condition in room 413, screen 50 now provides a visual indication of the condition that resulted in the alarm being generated by the system. In the illustrative example of FIG. 5, an image of a siderail 64 of bed 10 is shown in a lowered position and is color coded red to indicate that the alarm condition is that the siderail 64 of bed 10 has been lowered.” and Collins[0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen. Alarm conditions may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to the associated alarm condition thresholds. The system may be configured to permit users to create new template screens in which alert conditions of the user's choosing may be included on the user-created template. The template screens may permit users to select the level of priority, such as high, normal, or low, to be assigned to one or more particular alert conditions. The system may be configured so that, when an alarm condition associated with a particular patient or piece of equipment occurs, the system automatically sends a message to notify a primary caregiver of the alarm condition.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the healthcare monitoring system of Collins to apply its alarm prioritization and graphical notification techniques across a plurality of patient support apparatuses while incorporating Kennedy-Foster's generic numerical indicator for additional alarm events. Collins teaches a centralized server healthcare monitoring system that receives status conditions from multiple patient support apparatuses, determines alarm conditions for each apparatus, prioritizes alarm conditions, and presents graphical alarm indicators to caregivers. Kennedy-Foster teaches displaying a generic numerical indicator representing additional alarm events without identifying each individual alarm event. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that incorporating Kennedy-Foster's generic event counter into Collins' monitoring interface for multiple patient support apparatuses would have been a predictable application of known graphical user interface techniques to improve caregiver awareness of multiple concurrent alarm conditions while reducing display clutter and preserving limited display space. This modification merely combines known alarm management and graphical notification techniques according to their established functions, yielding the predictable result of efficiently presenting prioritized alarm information for multiple patient support apparatuses while simultaneously indicating the existence of additional alarm conditions through a generic indicator.
Regarding claim 7, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the computing device is a server communicatively coupled to the display device by a computer network; the server is communicatively coupled to the display device by a WiFi connection; the display device is one of a smart phone, a tablet computer, a television, or a laptop computer (Collins [0063] “It is contemplated by this disclosure that each of servers 114, 124, 130, 134, 136, 138 may transmit data to, and receive data from, each of the other servers 114, 124, 130, 134, 136, 138 so that the application software on each of servers 114, 124, 130, 134, 136, 138 has access to data on each of the other servers 114, 124, 130, 134, 136, 138. For example, locating server 130 is coupled to a plurality of transmitter and/or receiver units 140 which transmit and/or receive wireless signals to/from locating-and-tracking tags 142 that are mounted to pieces of equipment or carried by caregivers. One way that caregivers often carry tags 142 is by clipping or otherwise attaching the tags 142 to their clothing or by wearing the tags 142 on chains or cords around their necks. Tags 142 are sometimes referred to as “badges” by those in the art.”, Collins [0065] 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. Collins [0089] “The following are exemplary of the types of wireless communications initiated by system 112 in response to data received by system 112 matching one or more of the alarm conditions selected on one or more Care Alert templates: paging a pager (with or without an associated text message indicating the alarm condition and patient room number); sending a selected preprogrammed audio message to caregivers who are carrying one of badges 146 or one of handsets 168; sending a text message to badges 146, handsets 168, or other wireless communication devices (PDA's, cell phones, etc.) having text messaging capability; and 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.”); and
wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the display device to display an enclosed area on a display of the display device and to display both the generic indicator and the specific indicator within the enclosed area, wherein the enclosed area corresponds to a particular room of a healthcare facility (Collins [0089] “The following are exemplary of the types of wireless communications initiated by system 112 in response to data received by system 112 matching one or more of the alarm conditions selected on one or more Care Alert templates: paging a pager (with or without an associated text message indicating the alarm condition and patient room number); sending a selected preprogrammed audio message to caregivers who are carrying one of badges 146 or one of handsets 168; sending a text message to badges 146, handsets 168, or other wireless communication devices (PDA's, cell phones, etc.) having text messaging capability; and 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.”, Collins [0051] “Referring now to FIG. 4, Home screen 32 has room 413 color coded in red to indicate that an alarm condition is occurring in room 413. If the user then selects room 413 on screen 32 of FIG. 4, the system responds with Patient screen 50 as shown in FIG. 5. However, due to the alarm condition in room 413, screen 50 now provides a visual indication of the condition that resulted in the alarm being generated by the system. In the illustrative example of FIG. 5, an image of a siderail 64 of bed 10 is shown in a lowered position and is color coded red to indicate that the alarm condition is that the siderail 64 of bed 10 has been lowered.”), Collins [0132] “It will be appreciated that a hospital will have multiple beds, similar to bed 364, and multiple network interface units 366 associated with the various beds. Each unit 366 is mounted at a particular location in a hospital. For example, one or more units 366 will be located in various patient rooms. Each bed 364 and each unit 366 is assigned a unique identification (ID) code, such as a serial number. In some embodiments, one or more of the computer devices of nurse call system 372 have software that operates to associate bed ID data with NIU ID data so that system 372 can keep track of which bed is located in each room of the hospital and convey this information to caregivers using system 372.”)., and
Kennedy-Foster [0022] “Each graphical operator icon 206a-206f may also include an event participant counter 208a-208f which indicates a number of alarm events a respective operator is currently addressing. As an operator is assigned a new alarm event or indicates that they are attending to a particular alarm event, the chat session server increments the individual operator's event participant counter 208a-208f. Likewise, as an operator closes out an alarm event or indicates that an alarm event has been resolved, the chat session server decrements the individual operator's event participant counter 208a- 208f.”, and Kennedy-Foster [0023] The chat session server may also alter the appearance of the event participant counter 208a-208f based on the number of alarm events assigned or handled by a particular operator. For example, the number of alarm events indicated by the event participant counter 208a-208f may be compared to one or more threshold values. As the number indicated by the event participant counter 208a- 208f increases, the color of the event participant counter 208a-208f is changed. For instance, a green-colored event participant counter 208a may indicate that an operator is handling a low number of alarm events, a yellow-colored event participant counter 208c may indicate that the operator is handling a moderate number of alarm events, and a red-colored event participant counter 208d may indicate that the operator is handling an excessive number of alarm events. In this manner, all operators participating in the chat session are made aware of each other's real-time work load and can direct questions or inquiries to those operators participating in a low-number of alarm events, without overloading operators participating in an excessive number of alarm events. Accordingly, the efficiency of alarm event monitoring may be improved.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the software application of Collins to display both a specific alarm indicator and a generic indicator within a room specific display while communicating with wireless display devices through a server network, as taught by Kennedy-Foster. Collins teaches a server healthcare monitoring system that communicates over a computer network with wireless communication devices, tracks the locations of patient support apparatuses within patient rooms, and presents room specific alarm information and graphical alarm indicators to caregivers. Kennedy-Foster teaches displaying graphical icons together with a generic numerical indicator representing the number of alarm events without identifying each individual alarm event. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that incorporating Kennedy-Foster's generic event counter into Collins' room alarm display would have been a predictable use of known graphical user interface techniques to improve caregiver awareness of multiple alarm conditions while reducing display clutter and preserving limited display space on wireless communication devices. This modification merely combines known alarm management and graphical notification techniques according to their established functions, yielding the predictable result of presenting both a specific indicator identifying the selected alarm condition and a generic indicator representing additional alarm conditions within a room specific display communicated through the server healthcare network.
Regarding claim 12, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to send an alert to a caregiver badge, wherein the alert notifies a caregiver associated with the caregiver badge of the selected undesired condition but does not notify the caregiver of the undesired conditions in the set that do not have the highest priority assignment (Collins [0044] “A hospital bed 10 communicates with a computer network or system 12 of a healthcare facility as indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 1 by double-headed arrows 14. Included in network 12 is a nurse call system 16, an electronic medical record database 18, a nurse call/locating badge 20, one or more computers programmed with workflow process software 22 (such as, for example, NaviCare® software which is available from Hill-Rom Company, Inc.), one or more personal digital assistants (PDA's) 24, one or more voice communications badges 26, and one or more pagers 28. In some embodiments, nurse call system 16 and badges 20 are of the type available as part of the ComLinx™ system from Hill-Rom Company, Inc.”, and Collins [0045] “In some embodiments, voice communications badges 26 are of the type available from Vocera Communications, Inc. Illustratively, badge 26 has a text message screen 27 on which various text messages indicative of alarm conditions or other information are displayed. Badges 26 are also configured to audibly communicate system-generated audio messages to caregivers regarding alarm conditions or other information. The communications link 14 between bed 10 and network 12 may be a wired link, a wireless link, or a combination of wired and wireless links. 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).”, Collins 0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.”, and Collins [0071] “An answer button 174 is shown on each line in window 172 for which a call is being placed. The calls to system 112 are displayed in window 172 in order of priority, which is normally in the order (i.e., date and time) received by system 112. However, depending upon whether system 112 detects an alarm condition, then calls placed from rooms in which an alarm condition are detected are prioritized ahead of calls from rooms where no alarm condition exists. Alarms may be designated as having either high, normal, or low priority. Thus, high priority alarms are listed in window 172 ahead of those having normal or low priority. If a caregiver at the Master Nurse Call Station wants to answer the call from a particular patient, the caregiver selects the answer button 174 next to the patient's name, such as by moving a computer mouse to place a cursor over the button icon and then clicking a button on the mouse. Other methods of selecting buttons 174 are within in the scope of this disclosure and include using the tab or arrow keys on a computer keyboard to highlight the desired icon 174 and then pressing the enter key of the keyboard or by touching the screen, such as with a finger, stylus, or light pen, on the area of the screen on which the desired button 174 is displayed.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application of Collins to transmit an alert to a caregiver badge notifying the caregiver of the selected highest priority undesired condition while not notifying the caregiver of lower priority undesired conditions. Collins teaches prioritizing alarm conditions according to their assigned priority levels, communicating alarm conditions to caregiver badges through text and audio messages, and presenting multiple alarm conditions according to their relative priorities. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that limiting caregiver badge notifications to the highest priority undesired condition while withholding notifications for lower priority conditions is a predictable implementation of Collins' alarm prioritization scheme that focuses caregiver attention on the most urgent condition, reduces unnecessary notifications and alarm fatigue, and improves the efficiency of caregiver response. This modification merely applies known alarm prioritization and notification techniques according to their established functions, yielding the predictable result of selectively notifying caregivers of the highest priority alarm condition through the caregiver badge while suppressing notifications for lower priority alarm conditions.
Regarding claim 14, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to receive undesired condition definitions that are based on at least one of the following: a current location of the patient support apparatus, a department to which the patient support apparatus is assigned, a health condition of a patient, or a patient support apparatus type (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen.”, Collins [0084] “FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example of a Patient Care Alert Template screen 222 having configurable alarm conditions associated with the “bed status” portion of the above table. Screen 222 has a Chose Template box 224 with an arrow icon 226 which, when selected, causes a drop down menu (not shown) to appear with options for pre-selected configurations of screen 222. In the present example, a Fall Prevention template configuration option has been selected in box 224 resulting in various check boxes and radio buttons being selected in screen 222 to configure system 112 with the alarm conditions to be associated with bed status for fall prevention. Screen 222 also has a menu 228 of other Care Alert Template screens which the user can access if desired. In the illustrative example, menu 228 includes a Bed Status button 230, a Surface Therapy button 232, a Bed Maintenance button 234, a Patient Care button 236, and a Reminders button 238. Button 230 is highlighted in FIG. 14 because the template associate with bed status is being displayed. Selection of any of the other buttons 232, 234, 236, 238 causes system 112 to respond with the associated template being shown on the monitor of the associated PC 118. Buttons 230, 232, 234, 236, 238 correspond to the parameter titles listed in the above table.”), Collins [0132] “It will be appreciated that a hospital will have multiple beds, similar to bed 364, and multiple network interface units 366 associated with the various beds. Each unit 366 is mounted at a particular location in a hospital. For example, one or more units 366 will be located in various patient rooms. Each bed 364 and each unit 366 is assigned a unique identification (ID) code, such as a serial number. In some embodiments, one or more of the computer devices of nurse call system 372 have software that operates to associate bed ID data with NIU ID data so that system 372 can keep track of which bed is located in each room of the hospital and convey this information to caregivers using system 372.”, and Collins [0134] “Beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 each have power cords (not shown) that are plugged into electrical outlets in hospital rooms during normal use of the beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364, regardless of whether the beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 communicate with other devices in the associated network via wired or wireless connections. According to this disclosure, when the power cords of beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 are unplugged, which usually happens when the bed is to be moved from one location in a healthcare facility to another, the associated Care Alert templates are automatically disabled, for example, by system 112 in the case of beds 159. Thus, even if the bed 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 is still able to communicate bed data wirelessly during transit from one location to another, the associated nurse call system (e.g., system 112) does not initiate any communications with the wireless communication devices carried by the caregivers. Such alarm notifications are not generally needed because other caregivers should be accompanying the bed 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 during transit. Before the automatic disabling of the Care Alert templates, a slight delay period, such as 10 or 20 seconds, may be required to elapse so that, if the bed's power plug was unplugged inadvertently, there is time to plug the bed back in before the Care Alert templates are disabled.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application of Collins to receive undesired condition definitions based on the current location of the patient support apparatus because Collins teaches user-configurable Care Alert templates for defining alarm conditions, associates individual patient support apparatuses with their locations within the healthcare facility, and modifies the application of the Care Alert templates based on whether the patient support apparatus is located in a patient room or is being transported. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that tailoring configurable alarm definitions according to the current location of the patient support apparatus is a well known and predictable design choice that allows alarm behavior to be adapted to the operational context of the apparatus, such as suppressing unnecessary caregiver notifications while the apparatus is in transit. This modification merely employs known alarm configuration techniques according to their established functions to improve the relevance of alarm notifications, yielding the predictable result of a monitoring system that applies appropriate undesired condition definitions based on the current location of the patient support apparatus.
Regarding claim 18, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to perform the following: (1) receive weight data indicating when a weight of a patient assigned to the patient support apparatus was last measured using the patient support apparatus, and (2) instruct the display device to display a weight icon based on the weight data (Collins [0111] “Referring now to FIG. 17, one or more computer devices 310, such as PC's or servers or any other devices capable of executing software, are included as part of a computer network 312 and receive data from one or more hospital beds 314, patient monitoring equipment 316 that senses one or more patient physiological parameters, and one or more other pieces of medical equipment 318. One or more of computer devices 310 have a respective display screen 311 associated therewith. As indicated in FIG. 17, types of data received from beds 314 include data relating to the following: head angle (i.e., the angle that a head section of the bed is elevated relative to some other portion of the bed), bed height, side rail position, patient movement or position, and patient weight. This list is not exhaustive and it is within the scope of this disclosure for all types of data monitored by or accessible to circuitry of a hospital bed to be communicated to devices 310 of network 312.”, and Collins [0140] “The data received from beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 by the associated nurse call system (such as system 112) may be provided to other systems of the hospital network. In one example, beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 having weigh scale systems transmit patient weight to system 112 which, in turn, transmits the patient weight data to an electronic medical records (EMR) system (such as system 18) which, in turn, stores the weight information in the associated patient's record. The nurse call system 112 may convert the data from one communication protocol into another communication protocol. Thus, patient weight data received by system 112 may be converted by system 112 into the Health Level 7 (HL7) protocol for transmission to the EMR system.”, Collins [0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the healthcare monitoring system of Collins to display a weight icon based on patient weight data received from the patient support apparatus. Collins teaches receiving patient weight data from hospital beds equipped with integrated weighing systems, transmitting and processing that weight data within the healthcare monitoring network, and displaying graphical icons to communicate monitored patient and equipment conditions to caregivers. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that extending Collins' existing graphical user interface to display a graphical weight icon based on the received patient weight data would have been a predictable use of known graphical notification techniques to provide caregivers with an immediate visual indication of patient weight information, thereby improving caregiver awareness while maintaining a consistent and efficient user interface for communicating monitored patient support apparatus information. This modification merely applies Collins' known graphical display techniques to another type of monitored patient data according to their established functions, yielding the predictable result of visually presenting patient weight information through a graphical weight indicator.
Regarding claim 76, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to receive undesired condition definitions from the user interface, wherein the undesired condition definitions define what undesired conditions are applicable to the patient support apparatus (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen.”, and Collins [0084] “FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example of a Patient Care Alert Template screen 222 having configurable alarm conditions associated with the “bed status” portion of the above table. Screen 222 has a Chose Template box 224 with an arrow icon 226 which, when selected, causes a drop down menu (not shown) to appear with options for pre-selected configurations of screen 222. In the present example, a Fall Prevention template configuration option has been selected in box 224 resulting in various check boxes and radio buttons being selected in screen 222 to configure system 112 with the alarm conditions to be associated with bed status for fall prevention. Screen 222 also has a menu 228 of other Care Alert Template screens which the user can access if desired. In the illustrative example, menu 228 includes a Bed Status button 230, a Surface Therapy button 232, a Bed Maintenance button 234, a Patient Care button 236, and a Reminders button 238. Button 230 is highlighted in FIG. 14 because the template associate with bed status is being displayed. Selection of any of the other buttons 232, 234, 236, 238 causes system 112 to respond with the associated template being shown on the monitor of the associated PC 118. Buttons 230, 232, 234, 236, 238 correspond to the parameter titles listed in the above table.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application to receive undesired condition definitions from a user interface, wherein the undesired condition definitions define which undesired conditions are applicable to a patient support apparatus, as taught by Collins. Collins teaches providing configurable template screens that permit users to select, through check boxes, radio buttons, and predefined templates, the alarm conditions associated with bed status and other monitored parameters. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that allowing users to configure which alarm conditions are applicable to a particular patient support apparatus is a well known and predictable design choice that provides flexibility for different patient care protocols, healthcare environments, and monitoring requirements while using known user interface configuration techniques according to their established functions. Implementing such configurable alarm definitions would have yielded the predictable result of a monitoring system that allows users to specify which conditions are treated as undesired for a given patient support apparatus.
Regarding claim 77, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 76, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to receive undesired condition definitions that are based on both a department to which the patient support apparatus is assigned and a patient support apparatus type (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen.”, and Collins [0084] “FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example of a Patient Care Alert Template screen 222 having configurable alarm conditions associated with the “bed status” portion of the above table. Screen 222 has a Chose Template box 224 with an arrow icon 226 which, when selected, causes a drop down menu (not shown) to appear with options for pre-selected configurations of screen 222. In the present example, a Fall Prevention template configuration option has been selected in box 224 resulting in various check boxes and radio buttons being selected in screen 222 to configure system 112 with the alarm conditions to be associated with bed status for fall prevention. Screen 222 also has a menu 228 of other Care Alert Template screens which the user can access if desired. In the illustrative example, menu 228 includes a Bed Status button 230, a Surface Therapy button 232, a Bed Maintenance button 234, a Patient Care button 236, and a Reminders button 238. Button 230 is highlighted in FIG. 14 because the template associate with bed status is being displayed. Selection of any of the other buttons 232, 234, 236, 238 causes system 112 to respond with the associated template being shown on the monitor of the associated PC 118. Buttons 230, 232, 234, 236, 238 correspond to the parameter titles listed in the above table.” Collins [0046] “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 icon. Screen 32 has a floor plan or layout 46 showing a plurality of patient rooms (illustratively, rooms 400 through 423) of a wing of a healthcare facility and showing a master nurse call station 48. The rooms are color coded to indicate certain room conditions. In the illustrative example of FIG. 2, rooms 407, 410, and 411 are color coded green to indicate that the rooms are ready for a patient and room 405 is color coded yellow to indicate that the room needs to be cleaned.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application of Collins to receive undesired condition definitions based on both the assigned healthcare facility location of the patient support apparatus and the type of patient support apparatus. Collins teaches user configurable template screens for defining alarm conditions, displays patient rooms within a healthcare facility to facilitate management of patient care, and configures alarm conditions associated with bed status while receiving information indicative of the type of monitored equipment. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that tailoring configurable alarm definitions according to both the location within the healthcare facility in which a patient support apparatus is assigned and the type of monitored patient support apparatus is a predictable use of known configuration techniques that allows alarm conditions to be customized for different clinical environments and equipment. This modification merely applies known user configurable alarm management according to its established function to improve the flexibility and adaptability of the monitoring system, yielding the predictable result of providing alarm definitions appropriate for the assigned care area and monitored patient support apparatus.
Regarding claim 78, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 14, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the patient support apparatus type defines whether the patient support apparatus is a bed or a stretcher (Collins [0098] According to this disclosure, equipment other than hospital beds 159 may couple to ports in hospital rooms and send alarm signals to system 112 via the ports when the equipment detects its own alarm condition. Such equipment may include any equipment used in the care of a patient, including patient vital signs monitors, equipment that monitors other patient physiologic conditions, ventilators, and IV pumps, just to name a few. In some embodiments, system 112 does not evaluate data received from other equipment via the ports to determine whether or not an alarm condition exists. In such embodiments, if a signal is received by system 112 from such equipment via the ports, then an alarm condition is, in fact, occurring. In one embodiments, system 112 does evaluate the data received from the ports to determine if alarm conditions are occurring by comparing the data received from the ports to the alarm conditions programmed using the associated template screens. In still other embodiments, system 112 does not evaluate data from some ports and does evaluate the data from others. In the one embodiment, three ports (named Port 1, Port 2, and Port 3 by system 112) are included in each patient room, although any number of ports are contemplated by this disclosure. When a piece of equipment is coupled to one of the ports, system 112 receives data indicating the capabilities of the piece of equipment, either after querying the piece of equipment for such data or as a result of the piece of equipment transmitting the data automatically in response to being connected to the associated port. Such data includes data indicative of the type of equipment coupled to the port, the capabilities of the equipment, and the status of the equipment.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application of Collins such that the patient support apparatus type defines the type of monitored patient support apparatus because Collins teaches receiving data indicative of the type of equipment coupled to the system, along with the equipment's capabilities and status. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that identifying the type of monitored equipment is a well known and predictable technique for applying appropriate monitoring parameters and alarm conditions to different classes of equipment. Using the received equipment type to distinguish among patient support apparatuses, such as determining the type of monitored patient support apparatus, merely employs known equipment identification information for its established purpose of enabling the system to apply appropriate monitoring and alarm definitions to the connected equipment. Such a modification would have yielded the predictable result of configuring alarm conditions according to the type of monitored patient support apparatus while using prior art elements according to their established functions.
Regarding claim 79, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 14, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the patient support apparatus type defines a specific model of a bed or a specific model of a stretcher ( Collins [0132] “It will be appreciated that a hospital will have multiple beds, similar to bed 364, and multiple network interface units 366 associated with the various beds. Each unit 366 is mounted at a particular location in a hospital. For example, one or more units 366 will be located in various patient rooms. Each bed 364 and each unit 366 is assigned a unique identification (ID) code, such as a serial number. In some embodiments, one or more of the computer devices of nurse call system 372 have software that operates to associate bed ID data with NIU ID data so that system 372 can keep track of which bed is located in each room of the hospital and convey this information to caregivers using system 372.”, and Collins [0133] “Processor 386 of unit 366 operates to determine whether or not port 374 is coupled to Ethernet 466. Depending upon whether or not the unit 366 is connected to Ethernet 466 via port 374, the data path of the bed ID data and the NIU ID data to nurse call system 372 is different. If unit 366 senses that port 374 is coupled to Ethernet 466 as shown in FIG. 23, for example, then the associated bed 364 sends its bed ID data to the unit 366, as indicated by arrow 476, and then unit 366 communicates its NIU ID data and the bed's ID data to Ethernet 46 in packets through port 374 as indicated by arrows 478, 480, respectively. If unit 366 senses that port 374 is not coupled to Ethernet 466, as shown in FIG. 24, for example, then unit 366 sends its NIU ID data to the associated bed 364, as indicated by arrow 482, and then bed 364 wirelessly transmits its bed ID data and the NIU ID data to transceiver 472 in wireless packets as indicated by arrows 484, 486, respectively. The data path for other types of bed status data is the same path as that for bed ID data shown in FIGS. 23 and 24 depending upon whether or not unit 366 is connected to Ethernet via port 374.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application of Collins such that the patient support apparatus type defines a specific monitored patient support apparatus because Collins teaches assigning unique identification data to each hospital bed and associating that identification data with the corresponding network interface unit so that the system can distinguish among multiple patient support apparatuses and apply the appropriate monitoring information to each apparatus. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that using identification information corresponding to a particular patient support apparatus to distinguish among different patient support apparatuses is a well known and predictable technique for ensuring that monitoring, alarm processing, and status information are correctly associated with the appropriate apparatus. Employing such identification information to identify a particular patient support apparatus would have yielded the predictable result of allowing the monitoring system to apply apparatus specific alarm definitions and monitoring functions while using known identification techniques according to their established functions.
Regarding claim 80, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to perform the following: (1) receive patient assignment data indicating when a new patient is assigned to the patient support apparatus; (2) receive weight data indicating when a weight of a patient assigned to the patient support apparatus was last measured using the patient support apparatus (Collins [0138] “Because the nurse call system receives bed ID data, the particular Care Alert template associated with the bed 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 is known by the nurse call system. Thus, unless overridden by users of the nurse call system, the association between bed, patient, and assigned caregivers is maintained by the nurse call system even if the bed is moved to a new location. If one of the assigned caregivers does not re-enable the Care Alert template within a predetermined period of time after the nurse call system determines that the bed has been plugged back in (such determination being made in any of the ways described above for determining that the bed has been unplugged), then a reminder to re-enable the Care Alert template may be initiated by the nurse call system to the wireless communication devices carried by one or more of the assigned caregivers.”, Collins [0099] “One of the Care Alert templates according to this disclosure permits users to type in the name of each alarm being received at each of the ports and to designate whether or not automatic notification to the wireless communication devices carried by designated caregivers is to be initiated by system 112 in response to receipt of an alarm signal from one or more of the ports in the rooms. These generalized equipment alarm templates may be set up differently for different patients, or not at all, as desired. When a generalized equipment template has been set up for a patient, system 112 assigns the name “Equipment Template for [Patient Name].” The customized equipment templates can be accessed from the Whiteboard screen (discussed below in connection with FIG. 15) or via the Edit Menu on the Menu Toolbar. On the generalized equipment templates, alarm priority (high, medium, or low) may be assigned for the alarms received via each of the ports in the room. The communication initiated to the wireless communication devices carried by designated caregivers in response to a generalized equipment alarm may include a text message including the name of the alarm for the associated port as typed in by the user when setting up the generalized equipment Care Alert template.”, Collins [0111] “Referring now to FIG. 17, one or more computer devices 310, such as PC's or servers or any other devices capable of executing software, are included as part of a computer network 312 and receive data from one or more hospital beds 314, patient monitoring equipment 316 that senses one or more patient physiological parameters, and one or more other pieces of medical equipment 318. One or more of computer devices 310 have a respective display screen 311 associated therewith. As indicated in FIG. 17, types of data received from beds 314 include data relating to the following: head angle (i.e., the angle that a head section of the bed is elevated relative to some other portion of the bed), bed height, side rail position, patient movement or position, and patient weight. This list is not exhaustive and it is within the scope of this disclosure for all types of data monitored by or accessible to circuitry of a hospital bed to be communicated to devices 310 of network 312.”, and Collins [0140] “The data received from beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 by the associated nurse call system (such as system 112) may be provided to other systems of the hospital network. In one example, beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 having weigh scale systems transmit patient weight to system 112 which, in turn, transmits the patient weight data to an electronic medical records (EMR) system (such as system 18) which, in turn, stores the weight information in the associated patient's record. The nurse call system 112 may convert the data from one communication protocol into another communication protocol. Thus, patient weight data received by system 112 may be converted by system 112 into the Health Level 7 (HL7) protocol for transmission to the EMR system.”)
(3) if the computing device does not receive the weight data within a time period after receiving the patient assignment data, instruct the display device to display a missing-weight icon; and (4) if the computing device does receive the weight data with the time period after receiving the patient assignment data, instruct the display device to display a weight-recorded icon (Collins [0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.” and Collins [0013] “A system for alerting caregivers of alarm conditions in a healthcare facility may comprise a computer device that is programmable by caregivers to designate a first set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a first period of time and to designate a second set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a second period of time. The first period of time and the second period of time may partially overlap, or the second period of time may begin upon the expiration of the first time period, or the first and second time periods may be separated by an interim time period. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end in response to detection by the system of a predetermined condition. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end at a predetermined time. Some of the alarm conditions of the first set may also be included in the second set. At least one of the alarm conditions of the first set may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to a first threshold and one of the alarm conditions of the second set may be considered to exist when the monitored alarm conditions is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, or less than or equal to a second threshold that is different than the first threshold. The system may communicate a reminder to at least one caregiver a preset amount of time before or after the expiration of the first period of time. The first set of alarm conditions may be based on a first Standard of Care for a patient and the second set of alarm conditions may be based on a second Standard of Care for the patient.”, and Collins [0138] “Because the nurse call system receives bed ID data, the particular Care Alert template associated with the bed 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 is known by the nurse call system. Thus, unless overridden by users of the nurse call system, the association between bed, patient, and assigned caregivers is maintained by the nurse call system even if the bed is moved to a new location. If one of the assigned caregivers does not re-enable the Care Alert template within a predetermined period of time after the nurse call system determines that the bed has been plugged back in (such determination being made in any of the ways described above for determining that the bed has been unplugged), then a reminder to re-enable the Care Alert template may be initiated by the nurse call system to the wireless communication devices carried by one or more of the assigned caregivers.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the healthcare monitoring system of Collins to display a graphical indication reflecting whether patient weight data has been received within a prescribed time period following the association of a patient with a patient support apparatus. Collins teaches maintaining associations between patient support apparatuses, patients, and assigned caregivers, receiving patient weight data from hospital beds equipped with integrated weighing systems, communicating and storing the received weight data within the healthcare network, utilizing predetermined time periods for monitoring and reminders, and displaying graphical icons to communicate patient and equipment status to caregivers. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that extending Collins' existing graphical notification framework to display a missing weight icon when weight data has not been received within the prescribed time period, or a weight-recorded icon when the weight data has been timely received, would have been a predictable use of prior art elements according to their established functions to improve caregiver awareness and facilitate timely patient care while maintaining a consistent and efficient graphical user interface. This modification merely applies known graphical notification techniques to another monitored patient parameter and yields the predictable result of providing caregivers with an immediate visual indication of the status of required patient weight information.
Regarding claim 81, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to perform the following: (1) receive weight data indicating when a weight of a patient assigned to the patient support apparatus was last measured using the patient support apparatus; (2) determine if updated weight data has been received within a time window of receiving the weight data (Collins [0111] “Referring now to FIG. 17, one or more computer devices 310, such as PC's or servers or any other devices capable of executing software, are included as part of a computer network 312 and receive data from one or more hospital beds 314, patient monitoring equipment 316 that senses one or more patient physiological parameters, and one or more other pieces of medical equipment 318. One or more of computer devices 310 have a respective display screen 311 associated therewith. As indicated in FIG. 17, types of data received from beds 314 include data relating to the following: head angle (i.e., the angle that a head section of the bed is elevated relative to some other portion of the bed), bed height, side rail position, patient movement or position, and patient weight. This list is not exhaustive and it is within the scope of this disclosure for all types of data monitored by or accessible to circuitry of a hospital bed to be communicated to devices 310 of network 312.”, Collins [0140] “The data received from beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 by the associated nurse call system (such as system 112) may be provided to other systems of the hospital network. In one example, beds 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 having weigh scale systems transmit patient weight to system 112 which, in turn, transmits the patient weight data to an electronic medical records (EMR) system (such as system 18) which, in turn, stores the weight information in the associated patient's record. The nurse call system 112 may convert the data from one communication protocol into another communication protocol. Thus, patient weight data received by system 112 may be converted by system 112 into the Health Level 7 (HL7) protocol for transmission to the EMR system.”, Collins [0013] “A system for alerting caregivers of alarm conditions in a healthcare facility may comprise a computer device that is programmable by caregivers to designate a first set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a first period of time and to designate a second set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a second period of time. The first period of time and the second period of time may partially overlap, or the second period of time may begin upon the expiration of the first time period, or the first and second time periods may be separated by an interim time period. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end in response to detection by the system of a predetermined condition. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end at a predetermined time. Some of the alarm conditions of the first set may also be included in the second set. At least one of the alarm conditions of the first set may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to a first threshold and one of the alarm conditions of the second set may be considered to exist when the monitored alarm conditions is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, or less than or equal to a second threshold that is different than the first threshold. The system may communicate a reminder to at least one caregiver a preset amount of time before or after the expiration of the first period of time. The first set of alarm conditions may be based on a first Standard of Care for a patient and the second set of alarm conditions may be based on a second Standard of Care for the patient.”, and Collins [0138] “Because the nurse call system receives bed ID data, the particular Care Alert template associated with the bed 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 is known by the nurse call system. Thus, unless overridden by users of the nurse call system, the association between bed, patient, and assigned caregivers is maintained by the nurse call system even if the bed is moved to a new location. If one of the assigned caregivers does not re-enable the Care Alert template within a predetermined period of time after the nurse call system determines that the bed has been plugged back in (such determination being made in any of the ways described above for determining that the bed has been unplugged), then a reminder to re-enable the Care Alert template may be initiated by the nurse call system to the wireless communication devices carried by one or more of the assigned caregivers.”)
(3) if the computing device has not received the updated weight data within the time window, instruct the display device to display a missing- weight icon; and (4) if the computing device has received the updated weight data with the time window, instruct the display device to display a weight-recorded icon (Collins [0100] “Referring now to FIG. 15, a Whiteboard screen 286 provides an overview of the patients and room status of the associated unit. Screen 286 includes a list of room numbers, patient names, the names of the primary caregiver assigned to the patient, the caregiver number, each patient's attending physician, and location of any caregivers tracked by system 141. In the illustrative example, the patient's names are presented on screen 286 in an encrypted format in which the first two letters of the patient's last name appear first with the first letter capitalized, then followed by a set of ellipses, then followed by the last letter of the patient's last name capitalized, then followed by the first letter of the patient's first name in a lower case letter. Call buttons 192 and page buttons 194 are provided next to each assigned caregiver's name and number. Buttons 192, 194 operate the same on screen 286 as was described above in connection with screen 170. An alert icon 288 appears in window 286 next to the patient's name in any rooms in which an alarm condition is detected by system 112. If the alarm condition has a High priority level, icon 288 is red and white (i.e., a red button with a white image of a bed therein) and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Medium priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and flashes. If the alarm condition has a Low priority, icon 288 is yellow and black and is static. If multiple alarms associated with a particular patient occur, then multiple icons 288 appear next to the patients name on screen 286.” and Collins [0013] “A system for alerting caregivers of alarm conditions in a healthcare facility may comprise a computer device that is programmable by caregivers to designate a first set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a first period of time and to designate a second set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a second period of time. The first period of time and the second period of time may partially overlap, or the second period of time may begin upon the expiration of the first time period, or the first and second time periods may be separated by an interim time period. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end in response to detection by the system of a predetermined condition. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end at a predetermined time. Some of the alarm conditions of the first set may also be included in the second set. At least one of the alarm conditions of the first set may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to a first threshold and one of the alarm conditions of the second set may be considered to exist when the monitored alarm conditions is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, or less than or equal to a second threshold that is different than the first threshold. The system may communicate a reminder to at least one caregiver a preset amount of time before or after the expiration of the first period of time. The first set of alarm conditions may be based on a first Standard of Care for a patient and the second set of alarm conditions may be based on a second Standard of Care for the patient.”, and Collins [0138] “Because the nurse call system receives bed ID data, the particular Care Alert template associated with the bed 10, 159, 314, 342, 362, 364 is known by the nurse call system. Thus, unless overridden by users of the nurse call system, the association between bed, patient, and assigned caregivers is maintained by the nurse call system even if the bed is moved to a new location. If one of the assigned caregivers does not re-enable the Care Alert template within a predetermined period of time after the nurse call system determines that the bed has been plugged back in (such determination being made in any of the ways described above for determining that the bed has been unplugged), then a reminder to re-enable the Care Alert template may be initiated by the nurse call system to the wireless communication devices carried by one or more of the assigned caregivers.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the healthcare monitoring system of Collins to determine whether updated patient weight data has been received within a prescribed time window and to display a graphical indication of the result. Collins teaches receiving patient weight data from hospital beds equipped with integrated weighing systems, communicating and storing the received weight data within the healthcare network, maintaining patient specific monitoring through Care Alert templates, utilizing predetermined time periods and reminders to determine whether monitored events have occurred within a specified time, and displaying graphical icons to communicate patient and equipment status to caregivers. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying Collins' existing time monitoring framework to determine whether updated patient weight data has been received within the prescribed time window, and displaying a missing weight icon when updated weight data has not been timely received or a weight recorded icon when updated weight data has been received, would have been a predictable use of prior art elements according to their established functions to improve caregiver awareness of patient monitoring compliance while maintaining a consistent graphical user interface. This modification merely applies Collins' known monitoring, reminder, and graphical notification techniques to another monitored patient parameter, yielding the predictable result of providing caregivers with an immediate visual indication of the status of patient weight measurements.
Regarding claim 82, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 80, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to receive a value defining the time period from the user interface (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition.” and Collins [0013] “A system for alerting caregivers of alarm conditions in a healthcare facility may comprise a computer device that is programmable by caregivers to designate a first set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a first period of time and to designate a second set of alarm conditions to which the caregiver is to be alerted during a second period of time. The first period of time and the second period of time may partially overlap, or the second period of time may begin upon the expiration of the first time period, or the first and second time periods may be separated by an interim time period. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end in response to detection by the system of a predetermined condition. At least one of the first and second time periods may begin or end at a predetermined time. Some of the alarm conditions of the first set may also be included in the second set. At least one of the alarm conditions of the first set may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to a first threshold and one of the alarm conditions of the second set may be considered to exist when the monitored alarm conditions is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, or less than or equal to a second threshold that is different than the first threshold. The system may communicate a reminder to at least one caregiver a preset amount of time before or after the expiration of the first period of time. The first set of alarm conditions may be based on a first Standard of Care for a patient and the second set of alarm conditions may be based on a second Standard of Care for the patient.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application of Collins to receive a value defining a time period from the user interface because Collins teaches caregiver configurable template screens through which users define alarm conditions and further teaches caregiver-programmable first and second time periods associated with monitoring and reminder functions. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that receiving user defined values specifying the applicable time periods through the disclosed configuration interface is a well known and predictable implementation of user configurable system parameters. Allowing users to input values defining monitoring or reminder time periods provides flexibility to accommodate different patient care protocols, alarm schedules, and clinical workflows while employing known user-interface configuration techniques according to their established functions. This modification would have yielded the predictable result of a configurable monitoring system in which user-defined time periods are received through the user interface and applied to the alarm and reminder functionality.
Regarding claim 83, Collins and Kennedy-Foster teach the invention in claim 1, as discussed above, and further teach wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the computing device to perform the following: receive a badge notification instruction from the user interface (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen. Alarm conditions may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to the associated alarm condition thresholds. The system may be configured to permit users to create new template screens in which alert conditions of the user's choosing may be included on the user-created template. The template screens may permit users to select the level of priority, such as high, normal, or low, to be assigned to one or more particular alert conditions. The system may be configured so that, when an alarm condition associated with a particular patient or piece of equipment occurs, the system automatically sends a message to notify a primary caregiver of the alarm condition.” Collins [0046] “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 icon. Screen 32 has a floor plan or layout 46 showing a plurality of patient rooms (illustratively, rooms 400 through 423) of a wing of a healthcare facility and showing a master nurse call station 48. The rooms are color coded to indicate certain room conditions. In the illustrative example of FIG. 2, rooms 407, 410, and 411 are color coded green to indicate that the rooms are ready for a patient and room 405 is color coded yellow to indicate that the room needs to be cleaned.”, and Collins [0084] “FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example of a Patient Care Alert Template screen 222 having configurable alarm conditions associated with the “bed status” portion of the above table. Screen 222 has a Chose Template box 224 with an arrow icon 226 which, when selected, causes a drop down menu (not shown) to appear with options for pre-selected configurations of screen 222. In the present example, a Fall Prevention template configuration option has been selected in box 224 resulting in various check boxes and radio buttons being selected in screen 222 to configure system 112 with the alarm conditions to be associated with bed status for fall prevention. Screen 222 also has a menu 228 of other Care Alert Template screens which the user can access if desired. In the illustrative example, menu 228 includes a Bed Status button 230, a Surface Therapy button 232, a Bed Maintenance button 234, a Patient Care button 236, and a Reminders button 238. Button 230 is highlighted in FIG. 14 because the template associate with bed status is being displayed. Selection of any of the other buttons 232, 234, 236, 238 causes system 112 to respond with the associated template being shown on the monitor of the associated PC 118. Buttons 230, 232, 234, 236, 238 correspond to the parameter titles listed in the above table.”)
determine if any undesired condition in the set of undesired conditions has the badge notification instruction (Collins [0006] “The system may comprise at least one computer device operable to display template screens that permit users to configure the types of alarms to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted. The template screens may include a list of the conditions of the equipment being monitored which can be selected on the template screen, via selection of a check box, radio button, or the like, so that when the condition is met, the system alerts one or more caregivers to the alarm condition. In some instances, one or more numerical quantities representing associated alarm condition thresholds may be entered on the template screen. Alarm conditions may be considered to exist when a monitored condition is equal to, not equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, or less than or equal to the associated alarm condition thresholds. The system may be configured to permit users to create new template screens in which alert conditions of the user's choosing may be included on the user-created template. The template screens may permit users to select the level of priority, such as high, normal, or low, to be assigned to one or more particular alert conditions. The system may be configured so that, when an alarm condition associated with a particular patient or piece of equipment occurs, the system automatically sends a message to notify a primary caregiver of the alarm condition.”, and Collins [0084] “FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example of a Patient Care Alert Template screen 222 having configurable alarm conditions associated with the “bed status” portion of the above table. Screen 222 has a Chose Template box 224 with an arrow icon 226 which, when selected, causes a drop down menu (not shown) to appear with options for pre-selected configurations of screen 222. In the present example, a Fall Prevention template configuration option has been selected in box 224 resulting in various check boxes and radio buttons being selected in screen 222 to configure system 112 with the alarm conditions to be associated with bed status for fall prevention. Screen 222 also has a menu 228 of other Care Alert Template screens which the user can access if desired. In the illustrative example, menu 228 includes a Bed Status button 230, a Surface Therapy button 232, a Bed Maintenance button 234, a Patient Care button 236, and a Reminders button 238. Button 230 is highlighted in FIG. 14 because the template associate with bed status is being displayed. Selection of any of the other buttons 232, 234, 236, 238 causes system 112 to respond with the associated template being shown on the monitor of the associated PC 118. Buttons 230, 232, 234, 236, 238 correspond to the parameter titles listed in the above table.”);
send an alert to a caregiver badge if any undesired condition in the set of undesired conditions has the badge notification instruction and not send the alert to the caregiver badge if no undesired condition in the set of undesired conditions has the badge notification instruction (Collins [0044] “A hospital bed 10 communicates with a computer network or system 12 of a healthcare facility as indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 1 by double-headed arrows 14. Included in network 12 is a nurse call system 16, an electronic medical record database 18, a nurse call/locating badge 20, one or more computers programmed with workflow process software 22 (such as, for example, NaviCare® software which is available from Hill-Rom Company, Inc.), one or more personal digital assistants (PDA's) 24, one or more voice communications badges 26, and one or more pagers 28. In some embodiments, nurse call system 16 and badges 20 are of the type available as part of the ComLinx™ system from Hill-Rom Company, Inc.”, and Collins [0045] “In some embodiments, voice communications badges 26 are of the type available from Vocera Communications, Inc. Illustratively, badge 26 has a text message screen 27 on which various text messages indicative of alarm conditions or other information are displayed. Badges 26 are also configured to audibly communicate system-generated audio messages to caregivers regarding alarm conditions or other information. The communications link 14 between bed 10 and network 12 may be a wired link, a wireless link, or a combination of wired and wireless links. 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).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the software application of Collins to receive a badge notification instruction from a user interface, determine whether an undesired condition is associated with the badge notification instruction, and transmit an alert to a caregiver badge only when the configured notification criteria are satisfied. Collins teaches user configurable alarm template screens through which users select alarm conditions to be monitored and further teaches communicating alarm conditions to caregiver badges through text and audio alerts. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that permitting users to configure which alarm conditions generate badge notifications is a well known and predictable application of configurable alarm management that allows notification preferences to be tailored to different caregivers, workflows, and clinical environments while reducing unnecessary notifications. Such a modification merely applies known user interface configuration techniques and known badge notification mechanisms according to their established functions, yielding the predictable result of selectively transmitting caregiver badge alerts based on user configured alarm conditions while withholding badge notifications for conditions that have not been designated for badge notification.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Emmons et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 2022/0139549A1) teaches a computing device that enables authorized caregivers to remotely monitor a patient environment via live video and selectively control environmental conditions based on proximity, caregiver credentials, or the patient’s condition.
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/K.R.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3685
/KAMBIZ ABDI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3685
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