Abstract:
An electronically generated bed board is primarily comprised of a plurality of graphical representations of bed cells each having associated therewith a set of bed attributes and a plurality of graphical representations of patient cards each having associated therewith a set of patient attributes. Each patient card may be displayed as either assigned to a bed cell or unassigned. A graphical representation for grouping beds that are in the same room may also be provided. A holding area may be provided in which unassigned patient cards can be displayed. A reservation card capable of being assigned to a bed cell may also be provided. The present disclosure is also directed to methods of using the bed board to model (try) different patient configurations by dragging and dropping patient cards and reservation cards among bed cells and the holding area. When a final configuration is obtained, that configuration may be saved. Hardware in the form of a computer and a computer system in combination with computer readable media capable of generating and manipulating the electronically generated bed board are also disclosed. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used to construe the claims.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The present disclosure is related generally to the field of resource management and, more particularly, to the management of beds and other resources in a health care facility.  
         [0002]     The assignment of beds in hospitals and other health care facilities is a complicated matter. Patients may have special needs which require placement in rooms having the proper equipment for such needs. Patients may have diseases which require quarantine, or may require a private (one bed) room for other reasons. Bed assignments need to be correlated with other systems to insure that medications for all patients in, for example, a nursing wing, are delivered to that wing. The proper location of patients is needed for other reasons. For example, a physical therapist needs to know the proper location of all patients which are to receive therapy on his or her current rounds to enable such therapy to be delivered in a timely manner. They need to know the proper location of patients that need to be transported for tests such as x-ray, CAT scan, among others, is obvious.  
         [0003]     Current solutions to assignment of beds and other resources include a physical “bed board” in, for example, a nursing wing. The bed board is a physical representation of the beds in that wing, and has slots for patient identification cards. While such a system may provide some localized information, and may provide for the display of a large amount of information, it provides no interface to other hospital resources. For example, such a physical bed board is of no help to a centrally located pharmacy having automation equipment for filing prescriptions for the nursing wing, is of no help to a physical therapist trying to schedule his rounds for the day, and is of no help to an x-ray technician trying to locate a patient that is scheduled for x-rays, among others.  
         [0004]     Another solution is found in US 2003/0074222 A1 published Apr. 17, 2003 and entitled System and Method for Managing Patient Bed Assignments and Bed Occupancy in a Health Care Facility. That publication discloses an integrated health care delivery network with enabling software and network technology to maximize bed resources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversions through real-time monitoring, automation and communication. Preferably, the invention is embodied in a bed management system that interfaces with and complements existing Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems. The bed management system is a business intelligence application that is designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to access, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability information from ancillary information systems, databases and spreadsheets. It enables users to see trends and relationships in hospital (bed) management data directly from their desktop personal computers.  
         [0005]     The prior art fails to provided an easy to use device, that displays all the necessary information in a dense yet easy to understand format, that easily interfaces with other healthcare systems such as pharmacy, billing and ADT systems, among others.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY  
       [0006]     The present disclosure is directed to an electronically generated bed board comprising a plurality of graphical representations of bed cells each having associated therewith a set of bed attributes and a plurality of graphical representations of patient cards each having associated therewith a set of patient attributes. Each patient card may be displayed as either assigned to a bed cell or unassigned. The set of bed attributes may be comprised of at least one of ready, hold, out of service, exceed Expected Length of Stay (ELOS), patient has alerts, ready with reservation, intent to discharge, intent to transfer, or out of service, among others. The set of patient attributes is comprised of at least one of gender, patient type, age, has alert, currently selected, enabled for use inside a room cell, or enabled for use inside a holding area, among others. A graphical representation for grouping beds that are in the same room may also be provided. A holding area may be provided in which unassigned patient cards can be displayed. A reservation card capable of being assigned to a bed cell may also be provided.  
         [0007]     The present disclosure is also directed to methods of using the bed board to model (try) different patient configurations by dragging and dropping patient cards and reservation cards among bed cells and the holding area. When a final configuration is obtained, that configuration may be saved. Hardware in the form of a computer and a computer system in combination with computer readable media capable of generating and manipulating the electronically generated bed board are also disclosed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     For the present disclosure to be easily understood and readily practiced, the present invention will now be described, for purposes of illustration and not limitation, in conjunction with the following figures, wherein:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates an electronically generated, graphical representation of a bed board;  
         [0010]      FIGS. 2A-2D  illustrate examples of patent cards;  
         [0011]      FIGS. 3A-3J  illustrate examples of bed cells;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates how beds in the same room may be graphically grouped;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  illustrates how additional information may be displayed;  
         [0014]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  illustrate the use of a reservation card;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  illustrates a bed board with a holding/transfer area;  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  illustrates a bed board organized according to nursing stations;  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  illustrates a bed board operating in a split screen mode;  
         [0018]      FIG. 10  illustrates filters for customizing the bed board;  
         [0019]      FIG. 11  illustrates a processing system on which the electronic bed board  10  may be generated and displayed; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 12  illustrates a simplified diagram of a computing system incorporating the processing system of  FIG. 11  according to one embodiment.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]      FIG. 1  illustrates an electronically generated, graphical representation of a bed board  10 . The on-screen bed board  10  is a high density, graphical representation of bed location, status, and bed activity as well as a patient&#39;s primary location, a patient&#39;s information set, and bed reservation information. The electronically generated bed board  10  is comprised primarily of a plurality of graphical representations of patient cards  12  and graphical representations of bed cells  14 .  
         [0022]      FIGS. 2A-2D  illustrate examples of patient cards  12 . Each patient card  12  is a compact graphical representation which has associated therewith a set of patient attributes. The set of patient attributes can vary depending upon the needs and wishes of the user but may include, for example, gender, patient type, age, has alert, currently selected, enabled for use inside a room cell/enabled for use inside a holding area, among others. Cards for male ( FIG. 2C, 2D ) and female ( FIG. 2A, 2B ) patients are visually different, e.g. different symbols, blue icon for male, pink icon for female, etc.). Cards may also display physical differences, for example, for inpatients versus outpatients, adults vs. children, etc.  
         [0023]      FIGS. 3A-3J  illustrate examples of bed cells  14 . Each bed cell  14  is a compact graphical representation having associated therewith a set of bed attributes. The bed attributes can be selected according to the needs and wishes of the user. The bed attributes may include, for example, ready, hold, out of service, exceed ELOS, patient has alerts, ready with reservation, intent to discharge, intent to transfer, or out of service, among others.  FIGS. 3E, 3F ,  3 H and  3 I illustrate bed cells  14  having patient cards  12  assigned thereto. As seen from  FIGS. 3A-3J , both the patient cards  12  and bed cells  14  display a substantial amount of information in a dense but intuitive, easy to understand manner. The appearance of a bed cell  14  differs depending on the condition/status of the bed. For example, the bed cell  14  of  FIG. 4A  has a status of ready (RDY), the bed cell  14  of  FIG. 4B  has a status of not ready (N/R), the bed cell  14  of  FIG. 4C  has a status of held or out of service (HLD with bar), etc. Clicking on a bed cell  14  selects that bed cell. The bed cell may be highlighted, indicating its “selected” state. Through drag and drop (mouse, touch, or other interface), or keyboard selections, the user can move a patient card from one bed cell  14  to another. The bed cells  14  may be thought of as “bed slots” when thinking of the electronic bed board  10  as a physical “on the wall” bed board which would typically have slots for inserting patient cards.  
         [0024]     The electronic bed board  10  also includes a graphical representation  20 , see  FIG. 4 , which illustrates the grouping of beds that are in the same room. More specifically, bed numbers interconnected by line  20  indicates the beds are in the same room.  
         [0025]     More detailed information about a bed, its current occupancy, or existing reservations may be displayed in an overlay as shown in  FIG. 5  that is visible when the mouse cursor is paused over any of the patient cards  12  or bed cells  14 .  
         [0026]     A reservation card  16  is shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B  in association with patient cards  12  assigned to bed cells  14 . In  FIG. 6A  the bed cell  14  has a status of intent to discharge the current female occupant and, at the same time, has a reservation for a new female patient. In  FIG. 6B , the bed cell  14  indicates that the current male occupant is intended to be discharged, and that bed is currently reserved for a different male patient. When the reservation card  16  is not assigned to a specific bed, the reservation card  16  may be held in a holding area  18 . The holding area  18  is best seen in  FIG. 7 . Reservation cards  16  can be moved among bed cells  14  and/or the holding area  18 . A reservation card  16  may be likened to a small, or miniature version of a patient card. It behaves like a patient card in most ways including showing an information overlay when the focus hovers over it. However, there are differences. (1) When dropped on a bed cell, the reservation card does not occupy the center portion as does the patient card. (2) In the current drawing, when dropped on a bed cell, the enclosing borders (the outline of the “card”) are not visible. It is shown in that manner to avoid visual clutter. (3) When the reservation card is dropped in the holding area, more information is visible. For example, if known, the patient&#39;s age is shown and the borders of the card are visible. (4) The icon (a circle is shown in these drawings) on the reservation card is more general/abstract than the icon representation on the patient card to avoid visual clutter and to distinguish it as different from the patient card.  
         [0027]     Normal bed management business rules may apply to moving the reservation card  16 . Information about the other occupant of a room, in those rooms which have multiple beds, is also considered when making a reservation or placing a patient in a bed. The electronic bed board  10 , as previously mentioned, graphically associates beds that are in the same room. Adjustable display criteria settings determine whether both (or all) beds in a room are displayed even if the roommate bed does not match the overall display criteria (filter) choices.  
         [0028]     As may be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the electronically generated bed board  10  may be used in a manner similar to a “on the wall” bed board having bed slots and patient cards. The holding area  18  may be a temporary “parking” area for patient cards  12 . A patient card  12  can be dragged from a bed cell  14  and dropped into the holding area  18 , or vice versa. Note that the cards  12  in the holding area  18  represent patients, and not beds. Beds are not moved into the holding area  18 , only patient cards  12  and reservation cars  16  are moved into the holding area  18 . After a patient card  12  is removed from a bed cell  14 , the bed status (and the appearance of bed cell) temporarily changes to reflect that there is no longer a patient in the bed. When a patient card  12  is dragged from the holding area  18  and dropped into a bed cell  14 , that action temporarily associates that patient with that bed. In this manner, the user may try a variety of different patient/room assignments until some optimized or otherwise desirable configuration is achieved. During this “modeling” stage, the various associations are temporarily saved. The assignment becomes final when the user clicks on a save button, or takes other appropriate actions to indicate that the current configuration of the bed board  10  is the configuration to be saved. That allows the user to model (try) different assignment scenarios before saving a final one.  
         [0029]     It is anticipated that the patient card  12  may be used in other application programs, or may be used as a container for passing patient attributes between applications. Thus, the patient card may be thought of as a portable representation of the patient and the associated set of patient information or patient attributes. For example, in settings where the visual identification of an individual is important, the person icon on the patient card could be replaced by a thumbnail photo of the person. This could assist with locating a person, or in the case of a kiosk display, help a person find his/her own card on a display. (This usage would be practical in settings where privacy concerns are not foremost.) As another example, a row of patient cards may be accumulated in a patient banner to facilitate working with a set of patients and switching context amongst those patients. A patient card might be used anywhere a compact graphical representation of the patient and his/her associated attributes, medical information set, etc. is needed. After room assignments are made, the information can be passed along to other hospital systems such as pharmacy, billing, ADT, among others.  
         [0030]     The electronic bed board  10  of the present invention is very flexible in terms of the manner in which the information may be displayed. For example, in  FIG. 8 , the bed board  10  is organized according to nursing stations. In this mode, the nursing station may be thought of as a container for rooms, with the rooms assigned to that nursing station flowing from one row to the next.  FIG. 9  illustrates a split screen mode which provides two bed display panes  22  and  24 . Each pane can be filtered and customized individually as discussed below in conjunction with  FIG. 10 . Patient cards can be dragged/dropped between the panes  22 ,  24 . For example, the top pane  22  might display beds for facility one while the bottom pane  24  displays beds for facility two. This enables a user with the appropriate privileges to move a patient bed assignment, or reservation, from one facility to another. For the bed board and other location-related functions, adding a floor plan view/mode would enable drag/dropping a patient card over a more realistic background. This would be practical in settings where the display does not need to be as dense, i.e. does not need to display so many beds at once.  
         [0031]      FIG. 10  illustrates a screen shot of a tool that enables a user to change the characteristics of the electronic bed board  10 . As seen from  FIG. 10 , after selecting the desired nursing station, various options appearing at the bottom of the screen shot in  FIG. 10  may be made available to the user to customize or filter the appearance of the bed board  10 . Those familiar with computer programming will recognize that as much or as little customization can be made available to the user as desired. Additionally, the ability to customize or filter the appearance of the bed board  10  will most likely be linked to a user&#39;s clearance level, with those individuals having a higher clearance level being provided with more options.  
         [0032]      FIG. 11  is a simplified diagram of a processing system  100  on which code for generating and manipulating the electronic bed board  10  may reside according to the current embodiment. The processing system  100  may include a central processing unit (CPU)  105  in communication with a data storage device  101 , a video driver  106 , a communications port  107 , a memory device  108 , and an input/output driver  109 , among others. The CPU  105  may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, and ASIC, among others. The CPU  105  is capable of performing various computing functions, such as executing software functions to perform specific calculations and/or data processing tasks. In the current embodiment, the CPU  105  is operable to implement the bed board  10  as discussed above.  
         [0033]     The data storage device  101  may be a CD-ROM, disk drive, tape drive, ZIP drive, etc. which is operable to store various software and data sets for use by processing system  100 . In the current embodiment, the data storage device may be used to store an operating system  102  (e.g., Windows®, etc.) and the instructions/code  103  for the electronic bed board  10 , among others. The memory device  108  may be a dynamic random access module (DRAM), flash memory, static memory, read-only memory (ROM) device, etc. that may be used, for example, to temporarily store instructions and data that are frequently accessed by CPU  105 . Video driver  106  is operable to drive a monitor (e.g., monitor  120  as illustrated in  FIG. 12 ), communications port  107  provides an interface between the processing system  100  and one or more communication devices (not shown), and I/O driver  109  is an interface between various input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, microphone, bar code reader, RFID reader, touch screen, etc.) and output devices (e.g., printers, speakers, etc.).  
         [0034]      FIG. 12  is a simplified diagram of a computer system  90  incorporating the processing system  100  of  FIG. 11  according to one embodiment. The computing system  90  includes a keyboard  130  and mouse  140  connected to the processing system  100  (e.g., via I/O driver  109 ) to allow a user to manually input data, instructions, etc., to operate the processing system  100 . The computing system also includes a monitor  120  and printer  125  connected to the processing system  100  (e.g., via video driver  106  and I/O driver  109 , respectively) to display or otherwise output data generated by the processing system  100 . Computing system  90  may also include mixed input/output devices (not shown) such as modems, network interface cards, and touch screens (among others) which may be connected of the processing system  100  (e.g., via communication port  107 ).  
         [0035]     While the present invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments thereof, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many modifications and variations are possible. The present invention is intended to be limited only by the following claims and not by the foregoing description which is intended to set forth the presently preferred embodiment.