Abstract:
A method, system, and apparatus for associating a patient with a bed or a room includes sensing wireless information transmitted by a transmitter worn by the patient, such as an RFID transmitter of a wristband, and relying on automatic communication between the bed, a bed status computer, and an admission, discharge and tracking (ADT) computer to verify the patient-to-room or patient-to-bed association. The verification is achieved without the need for any manual data entry at the bed or at the bed status computer. The bed status computer stores bed data sent from the bed until the verification is made and then the bed status computer transmits the stored bed data to an electronic medical records (EMR) computer.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/766,212, which was filed Feb. 19, 2013, and which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to a system and method for associating a patient with medical equipment and/or a location in a healthcare facility. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to associating a patient with a room or with a hospital bed that is located in a room of a healthcare facility. 
         [0003]    In current healthcare communication systems, one or more of patient-to-location, patient-to-equipment, and patient-to-bed associations are oftentimes entered manually be caregivers in multiple computer devices of different portions of the overall healthcare communications system. For example, patient information (ID) or data is entered into a computer of an admission/discharge/transfer (ADT) system when a patient is admitted into a healthcare facility. The patient room location is typically assigned to the patient at this time and data regarding the room assignment may be entered into the ADT computer. 
         [0004]    Nurse call systems that include a communication link to a number of hospital beds in a unit or ward and that receive bed status data are known. Patient ID is sometimes entered into a computer of the nurse call system manually and is associated manually with a particular hospital bed that is at the location to which the patient has been assigned. In some prior art systems, the nurse call system computer operates to determine a bed-to-location association based on a bed ID transmitted from the bed via a unit or module mounted in the room. The unit transmits both the bed ID and unit ID and the nurse call system computer correlates or associates these ID&#39;s with the room number or location. 
         [0005]    Healthcare facilities also typically include an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system. The EMR systems in such facilities typically associate a medical record number (MRN) with each patient and that association may be manually entered either at the ADT computer or at an EMR computer or both. The association between various pieces of medical equipment, including hospital beds, and the assigned patient may also be entered manually at an EMR computer in some healthcare communication systems. 
         [0006]    In some systems, one computer may receive patient-to-location and/or patient-to-equipment association information from another computer and then, a caregiver may manually verify the association at the receiving computer. It has also been contemplated that confirmation of a patient-to-bed or patient-to-room association may be done manually at a hospital bed using either a computer coupled to the bed or using a graphical user interface of the bed. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,154,397 in this regard. It has recently been contemplated to make a voice recording of a patient using a recorder included as part of a hospital bed or on other equipment at a point of care such that a patient verbally verifies their ID. See U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/752,100, filed Jan. 14, 2013 and titled “Method and Apparatus for Collecting Patient Identification” (attorney docket no. 7175-221177). This same application contemplates using biometric data, such as a retinal scan or fingerprint, to verify the patient ID. 
         [0007]    As is apparent from the above discussion of the prior art, some current systems for associating a patient to a location (e.g., room) or to a piece of medical equipment (e.g., hospital bed) require some manner of extra action on the part of a caregiver or patient to make or verify the association. In some instances, redundant manual data entry is required by a caregiver and in other instances, additional information such as voice, finger print, or retina scan is required from a patient in order to make or verify the association. Thus, caregiver&#39;s would appreciate a healthcare communication system in which extra steps for patient association to a location and/or to equipment are eliminated. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    An apparatus, system, or method, or a component or step thereof, may comprise one or more of the features recited in the appended claims and/or the following features which, alone or in any combination, may comprise patentable subject matter: 
         [0009]    According to one aspect of this disclosure, a method may include entering patient data manually at an admission, discharge and transfer (ADT) computer, encoding the patient data into memory of a wristband that may be worn by the patient, and receiving with a reader a wireless signal that may be transmitted by the wristband. The receiver may be located in a room that may be assigned to the patient. The method may further include displaying a name of the patient on a display screen of a hospital bed in response to the reader receiving the wireless signal, transmitting from circuitry of the bed to at least one bed status computer that may be remote from the bed at least some information that may be included in the wireless signal, communicating messages between the bed status computer and the ADT computer to verify that the patient is in the room that has been assigned. In this regard, verification may be achieved without the need for any manual data entry at the bed and without the need for any manual data entry at the bed status computer. The method may still further include communicating a verification message from the bed status computer to the circuitry of the bed and displaying a verification message on the display screen of the hospital bed. 
         [0010]    The reader may be included as a component of the bed or it may be spaced from the bed. For example, in some embodiments, the reader may be included as a component of a locating and tracking system. It is contemplated that at least some of the information included in the wireless signal received by the reader may be sent to the bed status computer via a server of the locating and tracking system. 
         [0011]    Also according to this disclosure, bed data may be sent to the bed status computer from the bed for storage in memory of the bed status computer prior to the ADT computer verifying that the patient is in the room that has been assigned. After the ADT computer verifies that the patient is in the room that has been assigned, the bed status computer may send the stored bed data to an electronic medical records (EMR) computer for storage in the patient&#39;s electronic medical record. Thereafter, the bed status computer may send or forward the bed data to the EMR computer on an as-received basis. The bed data may include data relating to bed parameters and/or data relating to patient parameters, such as patient physiological parameters. 
         [0012]    The ADT computer may verify to the bed status computer that the patient is in the room that has been assigned without the need for any further manual data entry at the ADT computer. The patient data encoded into memory of the wristband may include, for example, a patient&#39;s name and a medical record number. Optionally, a room number of the assigned room may also be encoded into memory of the wristband. 
         [0013]    According to another aspect of this disclosure, a system may include a bed that may have circuitry that, in turn, may include a reader. The system may have a wireless transmitter that may be configured to be worn by a patient and that may be configured to transmit a wireless signal that includes patient identification data. The system may further have an admission, discharge and transfer (ADT) computer and a bed status computer that may be in communication with the ADT computer and that may be in communication with the circuitry of the bed. The reader may be configured to receive the wireless signal from the wireless transmitter when the patient is within a threshold distance of the reader. The circuitry may automatically transmit the patient identification data included in the wireless signal to the bed status computer which may cooperate with the ADT system to automatically verify at least one of a patient-to-bed association and a patient-to-room association without the need for any manual data entry at the bed and without the need for any manual data entry at the bed status computer. 
         [0014]    In some embodiments of the system, the circuitry of the bed may be configured to transmit bed data to the bed status computer for storage in memory of the bed status computer prior to the ADT computer making the verification. The system may further include an electronic medical records (EMR) computer and wherein the bed status computer may be configured to send the bed data to the EMR computer after the ADT computer makes the verification. 
         [0015]    It is contemplated by this disclosure that the wireless transmitter may be included as part of a wristband worn by the patient. In such embodiments, the wrist band may include memory and the system may further include an encoder that may be operable to encode the patient identification information into the memory of the wristband for transmission by the wireless transmitter. The circuitry of the bed also may include a display screen and a name of the patient may be displayed on the display screen in response to the reader receiving the wireless signal. Furthermore, a verification message may be displayed on the display screen of the hospital bed after the ADT computer notifies the bed status computer of the verification and after the bed status computer notifies the circuitry of the bed of the verification. 
         [0016]    According to yet another aspect of this disclosure, a bed may be provided for use in a healthcare facility that may have an admission, discharge and transfer (ADT) system in which a patient may be provided a wristband that may be configured to transmit a wireless identification signal that may include patient identification data. The healthcare facility may also have a bed status computer in communication with the ADT system. The bed may include a patient support structure that may support the patient. The bed may also have circuitry that may be coupled to the patient support structure. The bed may further have a receiver that may be coupled to the patient support structure and that may be coupled to the circuitry. The receiver may be configured to receive the wireless identification signal from the wristband when the patient is within a threshold distance of the receiver. The bed circuitry may automatically transmit the patient identification data included in the wireless identification signal to the bed status computer which may cooperate with the ADT system to automatically verify a patient-to-bed association without the need for any manual data entry at the bed and without the need for any manual data entry at the bed status computer. 
         [0017]    In some embodiments, the bed may also have a user interface display screen that may be coupled to the patient support structure and that may be coupled to the circuitry. The user interface display screen may display a name of the patient in response to the receiver receiving the wireless identification signal from the wristband and the circuitry processing the identification signal. The circuitry may command the user interface display screen to display a verification message in response to the bed status computer sending a message to the circuitry indicating that the patient identification data has been verified. 
         [0018]    According to this disclosure, the circuitry also may send bed data to the bed status computer. The bed data may include data relating to at least one patient physiological parameter, such as patient weight. The patient support structure may include a siderail and the user interface display screen may be coupled to the siderail. The receiver may be configured to receive radio frequency identification (RFID) signals. 
         [0019]    Additional features, which alone or in combination with any other feature(s), such as those listed above, may comprise patentable subject matter and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the embodiments as presently perceived. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures, in which: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view showing a process in which a patient is admitted at an ADT station having an ADT computer, a bed receives patient ID information transmitted wirelessly and sends it to bed status computer, the bed status computer automatically verifies the patient-to-room association with the ADT computer, and the bed status computer communicates the verification to the bed; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic view showing an RFID write device that operates to encode data, including patient ID data, onto a wristband worn by the patient, a real time locating system (RTLS) reader receiving a wireless transmission from the wristband and communicating data to an RTLS server which, in turn, communicates data to a bed data server, the bed data server sending data to the bed which displays the patient&#39;s name on a display screen of the bed, the bed data server also communicating with an ADT server to verify the patient-to-room association, and the bed data server communicating the verification to the bed which indicates the verification on the display screen; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  cooperate to form an activity diagram showing the activities and process steps of various people and various equipment of a direct patient ID association system in which a hospital bed has its own reader; 
           [0024]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  cooperate to form an activity diagram showing the activities and process steps of various people and various equipment of a direct patient ID association system in which an RTLS reader in a room is used to sense patient presence in lieu of a reader included in a hospital bed; and 
           [0025]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  cooperate to form an alternative activity diagram, similar to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , but with the bed having an Ethernet connection. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0026]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a system  10  includes an ADT station  12  at which a caregiver  14  enters information about a patient  16  into an ADT computer  18  which is coupled to an ADT server  20 . Using the ADT computer  18 , the caregiver  14  creates or sets up a medical record number (MRN) for the patient  16 . The caregiver  14  also manually enters the patient&#39;s name into the ADT computer  18  which links it with the MRN. Further, the caregiver  14  uses ADT computer  18  to assign a room to the patient such that the room assignment is linked with the MRN as indicated in  FIG. 1 . After the MRN, patient name, and room assignment are linked or associated in the ADT computer  18 , the ADT computer  18  copies or transfers that information to a write device  22 , shown in  FIG. 2 , which is then used to encode that information onto a wristband  24  to be worn by the patient  16 . 
         [0027]    In the illustrative example, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is used by the write device  22  and the wristband  24  is an active RFID wristband that has memory to store the information sent wirelessly from write device  22  when the wristband  24  is in close proximity to the write device  22  as indicated diagrammatically by arrow  23  in  FIG. 2 . Transmission of data from write device  22  to memory of wristband  24  via a wired connection is also contemplated by this disclosure. Wristband  24  transmits wireless RFID signals that contain the information stored in the wristband  24 . Thus, wristband  24  includes either a transceiver or a separate receiver and transmitter to receive and send wireless RFID signals. 
         [0028]    According to a first embodiment of system  10 , a hospital bed  26  includes a reader  28 , such an RF reader, which receives a transmission of the wireless signal from wristband  24  when the wristband is within a threshold distance of the reader  28  as indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 2  with dotted arrow  30  (also indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 1  with solid arrow  30 ). The threshold distance depends upon a number of factors such as the frequency and power or signal strength of the wireless signal. However, a threshold distance on the order of about three to about five feet is contemplated as being suitable. Threshold distances greater or less than this range are within the scope of this disclosure. As stated previously, wristband  24  is “active” in the illustrative example in that it has a battery for powering the electrical components of the wristband, including the transceiver or transmitter. However, in other embodiments, a passive wristband may be used. In such embodiments, the passive wristband is placed much closer to the reader  28 , such as on the order of a couple inches or less, because the passive wristband relies on energy from the reader  28  to reflect back data to the reader  28  as is known in the art. 
         [0029]    As shown diagrammatically in  FIG. 2 , reader  28  is coupled to bed circuitry  32  as indicated by dotted line  33 . Bed circuitry  32 , in turn, is coupled to a display screen  34  as indicated diagrammatically by double headed arrow  36 . Display screen  34  is a graphical user interface, such as a touch screen display, in some embodiments. Thus, screen  34  accepts user inputs for controlling features and functions of bed  26  as is known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2012/0089419 A1 which is titled “Hospital Bed with Graphical User Interface Having Advanced Functionality” and 2008/0235872 A1 which is titled “User Interface for Hospital Bed,” both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein for all that they teach to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure which shall control as to any inconsistencies. 
         [0030]    Bed circuitry  32  executes a software routine to process the data received by reader  28 , including determining the name of the patient for display on display screen  34 . Thus, in the illustrative example, display screen  34  has the message “Hi John” on screen  1  as shown in  FIG. 2 . In other embodiments, the patient&#39;s full name is shown. Of course, any suitable message such as “Welcome John” or “John Smith&#39;s Bed” or the like may be shown on display screen  34  within the scope of this disclosure. 
         [0031]    In response to reader  28  reading the wireless signal from wristband  24 , bed circuitry  32  of bed  26  transmits data, including bed ID data, the patient ID data and/or MRN, to a bed status computer  38  as indicated by double headed arrow  40  shown in  FIG. 1 . Bed status computer  38  is part of a nurse call system in some embodiments. For example, bed status computer  38  is a master nurse station computer in some embodiments. Bed status computer  38  then communicates with ADT computer  18 , as indicated by arrows  42  in  FIG. 1 , to verify that the correct patient ID and/or MRN has been read by reader  28  of the bed  26  that is located at the room location assigned by the caregiver using ADT computer  18  initially. In some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , bed status computer  38  is communicatively coupled to a bed data server  44  which, in turn, is communicatively coupled to ADT server  20  via the infrastructure of the healthcare facility as indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 2  by double headed arrow  42 ′. 
         [0032]    In the illustrative example, bed status computer  38  or bed data server  44  sends to the ADT computer  18  or the ADT server  20  the MRN sensed by reader  28  of bed  26  and the room number of the room in which bed  26  is located. ADT computer  18  compares the MRN and room number sent by bed status computer  38  with its records and if there is a match, a verification message is sent from the ADT computer  18  or server  20  to the bed status computer  38  or server  44  which, in turn, sends a message to bed circuitry  32  of bed  26  verifying that the correct patient is in bed  26  or, at least, near enough to bed  26  for the patient&#39;s wristband  24  to be sensed by reader  28 . 
         [0033]    In response to bed circuitry  32  receiving the verification message from computer  38  or server  44 , the display screen  34  is changed to indicate that the patient ID has been verified as indicated by Screen 2 in  FIG. 2 . In the illustrative example, the words “PID Verified” are shown on display screen  34 , with PID being an acronym for “patient ID.” However, any suitable message may be displayed on display screen  34  to indicate the verification such as “Bed Assignment Verified for John” or “This is the correct bed for John Smith” just to mention a couple possibilities. Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that, in  FIG. 2 , the Screen 1 and Screen 2 messages are displayed on the same display screen  34 , but at different times. The message of Screen 1 is shown first in response to reader  28  first receiving the wireless signal with data from the patient&#39;s wrist band  24  and then, the message of Screen 2 is shown later after computers  18 ,  38  and/or servers  20 ,  44  of system  10  have cooperated to verify that the patient is on or near the correct bed  26  corresponding to the assigned room location. 
         [0034]    It should be understood that, typically, ADT computer  18  and bed status computer  38  are each located remotely from bed  26  and from each other. The corresponding servers  20 ,  44  are located remotely from bed  26  as well. Thus, communications infrastructure is, of course, present in the healthcare facility to communicatively couple or link together bed  26 , computers  18 ,  38 , and/or servers  20 ,  44 . Such infrastructure typically includes, for example, wires, cables, jacks, routers, gateways, switches, etc. as well as wireless communication components such as wireless access points. In some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , bed status computer  38  is communicatively coupled to bed data server  44  which, in turn, is communicatively coupled to ADT server  20  via the infrastructure of the healthcare facility. The communication infrastructure of the healthcare facility includes infrastructure operating as for example, an Ethernet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area (LAN) and the like. Thus, any manner of communicatively interconnecting bed  26  with computers  18 ,  38  and/or servers  20 ,  44  is intended to be within the scope of this disclosure. 
         [0035]    According to some embodiments of this disclosure, bed  26  couples to a network interface unit (NIU) of a wireless communication module (WCM) which serves as a location unit or module. WCM&#39;s are sometimes referred to as wireless interface units (WIU&#39;s). Details of such devices are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,852,208 and 7,319,386 which are both hereby incorporated by reference herein for all that they teach to the extent not inconsistent with this disclosure which shall control as to any inconsistencies. In embodiments having NIU&#39;s, a detachable cable extends between a cable connection port on bed  26  and a cable connection port of the NIU. The NIU is mounted to a wall in the room or to some other architectural structure such as, for example, a headwall unit, column, or bed locator unit that are intended to remain in the room on an ongoing basis. 
         [0036]    The NIU has an NIU ID, which serves as a location ID, that is sent to computer  38  along with the data received from bed  26 . The location ID from the NIU corresponds to the room location. It is not uncommon for two or more patient beds to be located in the same room in a healthcare facility. By providing such rooms with two or more NIU&#39;s that couple to respective beds  26 , it is possible for computers  18 ,  38  to keep track of which bed  26  (e.g., an A bed or a B bed) is sending data for which patient because of the unique location ID&#39;s sent by the respective NIU&#39;s along with the data. Furthermore, the specific bed  26  (e.g., an A bed or B bed) within the room can be assigned at the ADT computer  18  to a patient. If the patient goes to the correct room, but moves near or gets into the wrong bed  26  which reads the patient&#39;s wristband, a non-verification message is sent by ADT computer  18  to bed status computer  38  and then on to bed  26  for display on screen  34 . In response to the non-verification message appearing on display screen  34 , the patient or caregiver can then take corrective action to move the patient to the proper, assigned bed  26 . 
         [0037]    It is contemplated by this disclosure that after reader  28  of bed  26  reads the wireless signal from a patient&#39;s wristband  24  and, optionally, after bed  26  senses that the patient is in the bed such as via a weigh scale system of the bed sensing weight in excess of a threshold amount, bed  26  periodically sends bed data to bed status computer  38  and/or server  44 . Computer  38  or server  44  stores the bed data periodically received from bed  26  until ADT computer or server  20  sends a message verifying the patient ID for the particular bed  26 . In response to the verification message being received for the particular patient, bed status computer  38  and/or server  44  transmits the accumulated bed data for the particular patient to an electronic medical records (EMR) computer  46  for storage in the patient&#39;s EMR as indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 2  via double headed arrow  48 . Thus, if there is a time delay between the time at which a patient arrives at the assigned bed  26  and the time at the patient ID is verified, the bed data generated during that time delay is not lost. The bed data may include information concerning bed parameters or bed status (e.g., up/down positions of siderails of the bed, operational status of a bed exit or patient position monitor alarm, braked/released status of casters of the bed, operational status of a therapy surface of the bed, etc.) and/or information concerning patient parameters (e.g., patient weight, heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygenation level, respiration rate, etc.). 
         [0038]    In some embodiments of system  10 , the wireless transmissions from wristband  24  are not read by reader  28  of bed  26  but instead, are read by a reader  58  of a real time locating system (RTLS) as indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 2  by arrow  60 . In such embodiments, therefore, beds  26  are not required to have any reader  28 . The data from wristband  24  that is read by reader  58  is, in turn, transmitted to an RTLS server  62  as indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 2  by arrow  64 . Server  62  then passes the information from wristband  24  on to bed data server  44  as indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 2  by arrow  66 . Bed data server  44  then communicates some or all of the data from wristband  24  to bed circuitry  32  of the bed  26  that is located in the same room as RTLS reader  58 . This is indicated diagrammatically in  FIG. 2  by double headed arrows  40 ′. Thus, reader  58  is in the same room as the bed  26  to which the patient having wristband  24  was assigned, whereas servers  44 ,  62  are located remotely from the assigned room. After bed circuitry  34  receives the patient ID or name information from server  44 , circuitry  34  then commands display screen  34  to display the patient&#39;s name and to automatically take the steps to verify the patient ID or name or MRN with the ADT computer  18  or server  20  in the same manner as discussed above. 
         [0039]    In  FIG. 2 , data aggregation and normalization software  68  is shown diagrammatically between arrows  40 ′. This software is used to convert formatting of data sent to circuitry  32  of bed  26  as well as data sent from circuitry  32  of bed  26 , from one format to another. For example, a healthcare facility oftentimes includes beds  26  that are different makes and models, and even beds  26  from different bed manufacturers. The data formatting for each of these various types of beds is not consistent. Some beds have features that are omitted from other beds and thus, the data streams will be custom designed for each type of bed. Accordingly, the patient ID, name, MRN, and any other data encoded on wristband  24  may need to be formatted differently depending upon the type of bed  26  to which it is being sent by server  44 . For example, the data may be required by the particular bed to be located at particular frames within a transmitted data packet or packets in order for circuitry  32  to receive and process the data properly. Software  68  handles that formatting. Similarly, server  44  may have its own formatting for receiving data from beds  26 . 
         [0040]    Software  68  is included on server  44  in some embodiments and is included on another server (not shown) in other embodiments. Additional details concerning software  68  is found in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0316892 A1 which it titled “System and Method of Bed Data Aggregation, Normalization and Communication to Third Parties” and which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein for all that it teaches to the extent not inconsistent with this disclosure which shall control as to any inconsistencies. One example of software  68  is the NAVICARE® SMARTSYNC™ software marketed by Hill-Rom Company Inc. which converts bed data into the health level 7 (HL7) format which is suitable for transmission to hospital EMR systems of which server  46  is a part according to this disclosure. 
         [0041]    Referring now to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , an activity diagram shows the various activities and process steps of various people and various equipment of direct patient ID association system  10  in which hospital bed  26  has its own reader  28 . Thus,  FIGS. 3A  and  3 B represent the steps associated with system  10  that were discussed above in connection with the embodiment in which bed  26  includes reader  28 , but are presented in a different manner to enhance the understanding of system  10 . As indicated at block  70  a patient  16  goes to a patient admission area and an admission clerk  14  collects patient information as indicated at block  72 . As clerk  14  enters the patient&#39;s information, ADT computer  18  and/or server  20  records the patient information including the patient&#39;s name and MRN as indicated at block  74 . 
         [0042]    The clerk  14  also uses writer  22  to encode or write the patient information including MRN, name, and other information onto a tag of a wristband as indicated at block  76  of  FIG. 3A . The clerk  14  then issues the RFID Patient ID Wristband  24  to the patient  16  as indicated at block  78 . The patient  16  wears the wristband  24  as indicated at block  80 . The patient is then transferred to the patient room at which reader  28  of bed  26  detects an RFID signal from wristband  24  as indicated at block  82 . 
         [0043]    After reader  34  detects the signal from wristband  24  at block  82 , the graphical caregiver interface (GCI), which is another term referring to display  34  of bed  26 , displays the name of the patient as indicated at block  84  and the bed communication circuitry, which is included as part of bed circuitry  32 , transfers patient information received from wristband  24  and bed information from bed  26  as indicated at block  86 . The patient information and bed information passes through an NIU or location device  88  which provides patient room information (e.g., an ID of device  88 ) along with the patient information and bed information, as indicated at block  90  in  FIG. 3A , to whatever server (e.g., hardware) of system  10  has data aggregation and normalization software  68  which, in turn, sends the information after formatting conversion, if necessary, to bed data computer or server  38 ,  44  as indicated at block  92  of  FIG. 3B . 
         [0044]    After receiving the patient information, bed information, and location information, computer  38  and/or server  44  connects to the ADT computer  18  or server  20  and verifies whether the patient information is correct as indicated at block  94  of  FIG. 3B . As indicated at block  96 , bed data computer  38  or server  44  determines whether the patient information is available from ADT computer  18  or server  20 . If the patient information is not yet available from ADT computer  18  or server  20 , bed data computer  38  or server  44  stores the information and associates the information with the identified patient until verification occurs as indicated at block  98 . 
         [0045]    If at block  96 , computer  38  or server  44  determines that patient information is available on ADT computer  18  or server  20 , then computer  38  or server  44  determines whether the patient information received from bed  26  matches the patient information on ADT computer  18  or server  20  as indicated at block  100 . If the patient data matches, then bed status computer  38  or server  44  communicates a message back to circuitry  32  of bed  26  which results in GCI  34  displaying a message of successful patient ID verification as indicated at block  102  in  FIG. 3A . Also, if the patient data matches at block  100 , computer  38  or server  44  transfers all data associated with the identified patient to the EMR server  46  as indicated at block  104  and then, EMR server  46  stores the bed data associated with the identified patient as indicated at block  106 . In a variant embodiment, some but not all of the data is transferred to the EMR server  46  at block  104  rather than all of the data. For example, there may be some bed data in which the EMR system has no interest or capability of storing. 
         [0046]    If at block  100 , the patient information from bed  26  does not match the patient information of the ADT system, then bed status computer  38  or server  44  discards the bed data associated with the non-matching patient as indicated at block  108  in  FIG. 3B  and communicates a message back to circuitry  32  of bed  26  which results in GCI  34  displaying a message of a failure to verify the patient ID as indicated at block  110  in  FIG. 3A .  FIGS. 3A and 3B  also show steps that occur in the rare instance when reader  28  concurrently detects multiple signals from multiple patients wearing wristbands  24  as indicated at block  112  in  FIG. 3A . Under that scenario, GCI  34  of bed  26  displays a message indicating the multiple patient names and instructing a user, such as a caregiver or one of the patients, to select the right name of the patient whose patient information should be associated with the bed  26  as indicated at block  114 . Once the selection of the patient&#39;s name is made at block  114 , circuitry  32  of bed  26  communicates the selection to bed data computer  38  or server  44  which then proceeds with the step of block  94  and display  34  proceeds to step  84  to display the patient&#39;s name. In an alternative embodiment, bed  26  sends all of the patient ID&#39;s sensed by reader  28  to bed data computer  38  or server  40  which then communicates with ADT computer  18  or server  20  to determine which of the multitude of patient ID&#39;s is the one that has been assigned to bed  26  and then circuitry  32  commands GCI  34  to display a message indicating which patient is the patient that is assigned to bed  26 . Of course, if none of the patient ID&#39;s match, then an appropriate message indicating a validation failure is displayed on GCI  34 . 
         [0047]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , an activity diagram showing the activities and process steps of various people and various equipment of direct patient ID association system  10  in which an RTLS reader  58  in a room is used to sense patient presence in lieu of reader  28  included in hospital bed  26 . In  FIGS. 4A and 4B , several of the individuals, steps, and/or equipment involved is identical to that shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B . In such instances, like reference numerals are used to denote the like individuals, steps, and/or equipment and a description of these is either omitted or is abbreviated. However, the above description of these like aspects is equally applicable. Thus, the following discussion focuses on the differences between  FIGS. 3A and 3B  and  FIGS. 4A and 4B . 
         [0048]    When RTLS reader  58  detects an RFID signal from wristband  24  it sends room information (e.g., an ID of reader  58 ) and the patient information from wristband  24  to RTLS server  62  as indicated at block  116  of  FIG. 4A . Server  62  then communicates with bed data computer  38  or server  44  and transfers the room information and patient information as indicated at block  118 . Computer  38  or server  44  then communicates with ADT computer  18  or server  20  to verify the patient information as indicated as block  120  in  FIG. 4B . As indicated at block  122 , bed data computer  38  or server  44  also sends the identified patient name to whatever server (e.g., hardware) of system  10  has data aggregation and normalization software  68  which, in turn, sends the patient name after formatting conversion, if necessary, to NIU or location device  88  as indicated at block  124  of  FIG. 4B . Device  88  transfers the identified patient name to bed circuitry  32  as indicated at block  126  of  FIG. 4B . Circuitry  32  then transfers the identified patient name to the display  34  as indicated at block  128  in  FIG. 4A  which, in turn, displays the name of the patient as indicated at block  84 . 
         [0049]    The bed GCI or display  34  and bed circuitry  32  cooperate to transfer bed data, as indicated at blocks  130 ,  132 , respectively, in  FIG. 4A  to the NIU or location device  88 . Location device  88 , then transfers the bed data to the data aggregation and normalization software and hardware  68  as indicated at block  134  of  FIG. 4B . Software/hardware  68  then transfers the bed data to bed computer  38  or server  44  as indicated at block  136 . As shown at block  138  in  FIG. 4B , computer  38  or server  44  checks to see if the patient information is available on ADT computer  18  or server  20  and then proceeds through blocks  98 ,  100 ,  102 ,  104 ,  106 ,  108  and  110  of  FIGS. 4A and 4B  in the same manner as described above with regard to  FIGS. 3A and 3B . 
         [0050]    In the method of  FIGS. 4A and 4B , if reader  58  detects multiple signals from wristbands  24  of multiple patients, as indicated at block  140  in  FIG. 4A , RTLS server  62  is used to select the right signal to associate with an identified patient as indicated at block  142  of  FIG. 4A . The selection can either be made manually by a caregiver using a keyboard and display screen, for example, associated with server  62 . Alternatively or additionally, server  62  includes software in some embodiments that make the selection. Such software analyzes signal strength from wristbands  24  in some embodiments. Alternatively or additionally, server  62  selects the patient that is closest to the bed  26  as determined by signal strength, time of flight, time of arrival, or other parameters of the signal from wristbands  24 . Once the selection is made by server  62 , the method of  FIGS. 4A and 4B  proceeds to block  120  and the subsequent blocks thereafter. 
         [0051]    Referring now to  FIGS. 5A and 5B , an activity diagram showing the activities and process steps of various people and various equipment of direct patient ID association system  10  in which NIU/location device  88  is omitted and bed  26  connects directly to the Ethernet of a healthcare facility. In some embodiments, such connections to the Ethernet are accomplished with bidirectional wireless communications between circuitry  32  of bed  26  and one or more wireless access points within reception range of the bed  26 . Alternatively or additionally, circuitry  32  may connect to the Ethernet with a wired connection from bed  26  to an Ethernet jack or port. In  FIGS. 5A and 5B , several of the individuals, steps, and/or equipment involved is identical to that shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B . In such instances, like reference numerals are used to denote the like individuals, steps, and/or equipment and a description of these is either omitted or is abbreviated. However, the above description of these like aspects is equally applicable. Thus, the following discussion focuses on the differences between  FIGS. 3A and 3B  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B . 
         [0052]    An RFID tag  150 , such as one mounted at a generally fixed location in a patient room, provides room information (e.g., a tag ID) wirelessly to RFID reader  28  of bed  26  as indicated at block  152  in  FIG. 5A . Thus, reader  28  detects an RFID signal from wristband  24  of the patient  16  and from RFID tag  150  as indicated at block  82 ′ of  FIG. 5A . An Ethernet protocol is then used to transfer the patient information and room information to bed GCI  34  which displays the name of the patient as indicated at block  84 . An Ethernet connection is then used to transfer the information from bed GCI to software/hardware  68  which proceeds to block  92  and the subsequent blocks in the same manner as described above in connection with  FIGS. 3A and 3B , although bed data computer  38  or computer  44  communicates via an Ethernet connection with bed GCI  34 . 
         [0053]    As shown in  FIG. 5A  at block  112 ′, a scenario is possible in which RFID reader  28  of bed  26  receives RFID signals from multiple wristbands  24  and from multiple RFID room tags  150 . For example, one room tag  150  may be associated with an A portion of a room and another room tag  150  may be associated with a B portion of the room. Under that scenario, GCI  34  of bed  26  displays a message indicating the multiple patient names and multiple room locations and instructing a user, such as a caregiver or one of the patients, to select the right room location (e.g., room  302 A or  302 B) and the right name of the patient whose patient information should be associated with the bed  26  as indicated at block  114 . After block  114 , the method proceeds to block  94  and proceed from there. In an alternative embodiment, bed  26  sends all of the patient ID&#39;s and room ID&#39;s sensed by reader  28  to bed data computer  38  or server  40  which then communicates with ADT computer  18  or server  20  to determine which of the multitude of patient ID&#39;s is the one that has been assigned to bed  26  and then GCI  34  is commanded to display a message indicating which patient is the patient that is assigned to bed  26  at the proper room location. Of course, if none of the patient ID&#39;s match, then an appropriate message indicating a validation failure is displayed on GCI  34 . 
         [0054]    Although certain illustrative embodiments have been described in detail above, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of this disclosure as described and as defined in the following claims.