U.S. patent application number 17/132570 was filed with the patent office on 2021-04-22 for alarm routing optimization strategies in targeted alarm system.
The applicant listed for this patent is DRAGERWERK AG & CO. KGAA. Invention is credited to Christopher J. BROUSE.
Application Number | 20210120366 17/132570 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005303709 |
Filed Date | 2021-04-22 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210120366 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BROUSE; Christopher J. |
April 22, 2021 |
ALARM ROUTING OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES IN TARGETED ALARM SYSTEM
Abstract
A targeted alarm system is described that includes a network
probe for sending test data to terminal devices connected to a
network and deriving reliability data of the terminal devices and
the network. When a targeted alarm message needs to be sent, the
system identifies a targeted terminal device based on the
reliability data for sending the targeted alarm message. Related
methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer readable media are
also disclosed.
Inventors: |
BROUSE; Christopher J.;
(Cupertino, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
DRAGERWERK AG & CO. KGAA |
Lubeck |
|
DE |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005303709 |
Appl. No.: |
17/132570 |
Filed: |
December 23, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14896659 |
Dec 7, 2015 |
10911891 |
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PCT/US2014/071294 |
Dec 18, 2014 |
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17132570 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G16H 40/60 20180101;
G08B 25/001 20130101; H04L 67/12 20130101; G08B 26/007 20130101;
G08B 25/003 20130101; H04W 4/023 20130101; G06Q 10/1091 20130101;
G16H 40/20 20180101; G08B 26/006 20130101; H04M 2242/04 20130101;
G08B 25/004 20130101; G08B 29/185 20130101; A61B 5/746 20130101;
A61B 5/1113 20130101; G16H 40/63 20180101; H04W 4/90 20180201 |
International
Class: |
H04W 4/02 20060101
H04W004/02; G08B 25/00 20060101 G08B025/00; G08B 29/18 20060101
G08B029/18; G16H 40/63 20060101 G16H040/63; H04W 4/90 20060101
H04W004/90; G16H 40/20 20060101 G16H040/20 |
Claims
1-41. (canceled)
42. A targeted medical alarm system for sending data to terminal
devices, the system comprising: one or more network adapters
configured to communicate with a plurality of terminal devices over
one or more networks, each of the terminal devices being associated
with a respective caregiver; one or more processors configured to:
periodically transmit data to each of the terminal devices, receive
acknowledgment data from each of the terminal devices indicating
when the data was received by the respective terminal device, and
store the received acknowledgment data indicating when the data was
received by the respective terminal device in one or more storage
mediums; track real-time locations the terminal devices, and store
the real-time locations of the terminal devices in the one or more
storage mediums; determine a predicted alarm message latency based
on at least one of (i) the real-time locations of the terminal
devices and (ii) historical acknowledgment data for at least one of
the terminal devices, the historical acknowledgment data being
measured when the at least one of the terminal devices was
previously in the real-time location of the at least one of the
terminal devices; identify a targeted terminal device to which a
targeted message is to be sent based at least in part on the
predicted alarm message latency; and send the targeted message to
the targeted terminal device.
43. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to track a scheduled location of
the respective caregiver to enable the one or more processors to be
able to predict locations of caregiver based on a time and day.
44. The system according to claim 43, wherein the one or more
processors predict locations of the respective caregiver when
real-time tracking is not available based at least in part on the
scheduled locations the caregiver.
45. The system according to claim 42, wherein the data comprises
one or more data packets sent to the terminal devices via the one
or more networks.
46. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors identify the targeted terminal device using a
reliability map of the network that is comprised of data sets
representing reliability of at least one of sub-networks, links,
and components of the network.
47. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors identify the targeted terminal device using current
workload data for the respective caregiver associated with the at
least one of the terminal devices.
48. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors identify the targeted terminal device using proximity
data for the respective caregiver associated with the at least one
of the terminal devices.
49. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors identify the targeted terminal device using energy level
data of the respective caregiver associated with the at least one
of the terminal devices.
50. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors identify the targeted terminal device using a physical
distribution of the respective caregiver associated with the at
least one of the terminal devices.
51. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to automatically measure network
conditions of the one or more networks by determining, for the at
least one of the terminal devices, one or more latency-related
values associated with each of the data and the acknowledgment
data, the latency-related values including a message latency.
52. The system according to claim 51, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to weigh and combine each of the
latency-related values to generate an overall reliability and
latency for the at least one of the terminal devices.
53. The system according to claim 51, wherein the one or more
latency-related values include one or more of: round-trip message
latency, and a message routing path, and a physical location.
54. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to: receive a response message
from a responsive terminal device; and generate one or more
statistics of the responsive terminal device based on the response
message.
55. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to: identify a secondary terminal
device based at least in part on the predicted alarm message
latency; and send the targeted message to the secondary terminal
device.
56. The system according to claim 42, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to generate a report of the
predicted alarm message latency.
57. The system according to claim 42, wherein the targeted terminal
device is determined based at least in part on a location
distribution of the terminal devices.
58. The system according to claim 42, wherein each of the terminal
devices automatically generates the acknowledgment data upon
receipt of the data.
59. A method for a targeted medical alarm system including one or
more network adapters configured to communicate with a plurality of
terminal devices over one or more networks, each of the terminal
devices being associated with a respective caregiver, the method
comprising: periodically transmitting data to each of the terminal
devices, receiving acknowledgment data from each of the terminal
devices indicating when the data was received by the respective
terminal device, and storing the received acknowledgment data
indicating when the data was received by the respective terminal
device in one or more storage mediums; tracking real-time locations
the terminal devices, and storing the real-time locations of the
terminal devices in the one or more storage mediums; determining a
predicted alarm message latency based on at least one of (i) the
real-time locations of the terminal devices and (ii) historical
acknowledgment data for at least one of the terminal devices, the
historical acknowledgment data being measured when the at least one
of the terminal devices was previously in the real-time location of
the at least one of the terminal devices; identifying a targeted
terminal device to which a targeted message is to be sent based at
least in part on the predicted alarm message latency; and sending
the targeted message to the targeted terminal device.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The subject matter described herein relates to alarm routing
monitoring and optimization strategies in a targeted medical alarm
system.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In a distributed targeted alarm system, there is risk of
alarm message delivery failure or delay, which could be harmful to
the patient. Deliver y failure or delay can emerge at the level of
systems integration. Even if individual monitoring hardware and
software are perfect, timely deliveries of alarm messages will
depend (at least partly) on, for example, the hospital's network
infrastructure. Another factor that could cause delivery failure or
delay is the terminal devices carried by caregivers that will
receive the alarm messages (e.g., iPhones, Android phones, pagers).
Different network devices and even caregivers may have different
reliability characteristics. For example, a central station
hard-wired over Ethernet will likely have a very reliable network
connection, while a mobile wireless device may be less reliable.
Furthermore, a mobile device connected over a wide area cellular
network will have much greater latency than one connected directly
to the hospital's internet network. These different possible
conditions can create uncertainty in alarm message delivery.
SUMMARY
[0003] Variations of the present subject matter are directed to
methods, systems, devices, and other articles of manufacture that
are provided to alarm routing monitoring and optimization
strategies in a targeted medical alarm system.
[0004] The present subject matter provides a targeted medical alarm
system that includes a network adapter configured to communicate
with a plurality of terminal devices over one or more networks.
Each of the terminal devices is associated with a respective
caregiver. The system also includes one or more data processors and
a computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed
by the one or more data processors, performs operations that
include sending test data to each of the terminal devices. The
operations also include receiving acknowledgment data indicating
when the test data was received by the respective terminal device,
and determining one or more latency-related values associated with
each of the test data and the acknowledgment data; updating
reliability data based at least in part on the latency-related
values. Based at least in part on the reliability data, a targeted
terminal device to which a targeted message is to be sent is
identified.
[0005] One or more of the following features can be included in any
feasible combination. For example, in some variations, the test
data comprise one or more test packets. In some variations, the
test data is sent periodically. In some variations, the reliability
data comprise a reliability map.
[0006] In some variations, the operations can also include one or
more of: sending the targeted message to the targeted terminal
device; receiving one or more response messages generated by each
of the terminal devices, and generating one or more statistics for
each of the terminal devices based on the one or more response
messages; and identifying a secondary terminal device based at
least in part on the reliability data and sending the targeted
message to the secondary terminal device.
[0007] In some variations, the one or more latency-related values
include one or more of: a success or failure of acknowledgment,
round-trip message latency, a message routing path, and a physical
location.
[0008] In some variations, the reliability data include one or more
of: a current workload data for at least some of the caregivers and
the associated terminal devices; a proximity data for at least some
of the caregivers and the associated terminal devices; an energy
level data for at least some of the caregivers and the associated
terminal devices; a historical response data for at least some of
the caregivers; and a physical distribution of the caregivers and
the associated terminal devices.
[0009] In some variations, the one or more statistics include one
or more of: a response time, a current location, a typical
location, a scheduled activity, and a scheduled location.
[0010] In some variations, the targeted terminal device is
determined based at least in part on the one or more statistics of
each of the terminal devices.
[0011] In some variations, the secondary terminal device is
identified for each critical message.
[0012] In some variations, the server is further configured to
generate a report of the reliability data.
[0013] In some variations, the targeted device is determined based
at least in part on a location distribution of the terminal
devices.
[0014] In some variations, each of the latency-related values are
weighed and combined to generate an overall reliability and latency
of each of the terminal devices.
[0015] In some variations, the system further includes one or more
of the plurality of terminal devices. Each of the terminal devices
is configured to generate the acknowledgment data upon receipt of
the test data.
[0016] The present subject matter also provides a method of
targeted medical alarm for implementation by one or more data
processors forming part of a least one computing device. The method
includes transmitting, by at least one data processor, test data to
each of a plurality of terminal devices, and receiving, by at least
one data processor, an automatic acknowledgment from each of the
terminal devices indicating when the test data were received. Based
on the automatic acknowledgment, one or more latency-related values
associated with the test data are determined (by at least one data
processor), and reliability data based at least in part on the
latency-related values are updated. The method also includes
identifying, by at least one data processor and based on the
reliability data, a terminal device to which a targeted message is
to be sent.
[0017] One or more of the following features can be included in any
feasible combination. For example, in some variations, the test
data comprises one or more test packets.
[0018] In some variations, the test data is transmitted
periodically.
[0019] In some variations, the reliability data includes one or
more of: a reliability map; a current workload data for at least
some of the caregivers and the associated terminal devices; a
proximity data for at least some of the caregivers and the
associated terminal devices; an energy level data for at least some
of the caregivers and the associated terminal devices; a historical
response data for at least some of the caregivers; and a physical
distribution of the caregivers and the associated terminal
devices.
[0020] In some variations, the method further includes sending the
targeted message to the targeted terminal device.
[0021] In some variations, the one or more latency-related values
include one or more of: a success or failure of acknowledgment,
round-trip message latency, a message routing path, and a physical
location.
[0022] In some variations, the method further includes receiving,
by at least one data processor, a response message from a
responsive terminal device; and generating, by at least one data
processor, one or more statistics of the responsive terminal device
based on the response message.
[0023] In some variations, the one or more statistics include one
or more of: a response time, a current location, a typical
location, a scheduled activity, and a scheduled location.
[0024] In some variations, the targeted device is determined based
at least in part on the one or more statistics of each of the
terminal devices.
[0025] In some variations, the method further includes identifying,
by at least one data processor, a secondary terminal device based
at least in part on the reliability data; and sending, by at least
one data processor, the targeted message to the secondary terminal
device.
[0026] In some variations, the secondary terminal device is
identified for each critical message.
[0027] In some variations, the method further includes generating,
by at least one processor, a report of the reliability data.
[0028] In some variations, the targeted device is determined based
at least in part on a location distribution of the terminal
devices.
[0029] In some variations, the method further includes weighing and
combining, by one or more data processor, each of the
latency-related values to generate an overall reliability and
latency of each of the terminal devices.
[0030] In some variations, the method further includes generating
the automatic acknowledgment from each of the terminal devices upon
receipt of the test data.
[0031] Non-transitory computer program products (i.e., physically
embodied computer program products) are also described that store
instructions, which when executed by one or more data processors of
one or more computing systems, causes at least one data processor
to perform operations herein. Similarly, computer systems are also
described that may include one or more data processors and memory
coupled to the one or more data processors. The memory may
temporarily or permanently store instructions that cause at least
one processor to perform one or more of the operations described
herein. In addition, methods can be implemented by one or more data
processors either within a single computing system or distributed
among two or more computing systems. Such computing systems can be
connected and can exchange data and/or commands or other
instructions or the like via one or more connections, including but
not limited to a connection over a network (e.g. the Internet, a
wireless wide area network, a local area network, a wide area
network, a wired network, or the like), via a direct connection
between one or more of the multiple computing systems, etc.
[0032] The subject matter described herein provides many
advantages. For example, by providing a system and method that can
determine (a) how long it will take for an alarm message to reach a
caregiver, and how long will it take that caregiver to respond, (b)
the uncertainty in the message latency and caregiver response time,
and (c) how a targeted alarm system can mitigate this uncertainty
when transmitting life-critical and/or time-critical alarm
messages, alarm message delivery failures and delays can be
reduced.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0033] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of an example of an
environment in accordance with the current subject matter;
[0034] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a system in
accordance with some variations of the current subject matter;
[0035] FIGS. 3-5 are graphs showing examples of the latency
distribution, and probability distributions; and
[0036] FIG. 6 shows an example of process flow in accordance with
some variations of the current subject matter.
DESCRIPTION
[0037] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of an example of an
environment for implementing alarm routing monitoring, and
optimization. Here, a targeted medical alarm system 110 is in data
communication with terminal devices 131, 132, and 133 via one or
more of cellular networks 161, 162, 163, and WiFi network 151. The
terminal devices are each associated with a respective caregiver,
who are caring for one or more patients in room/bed 142-149. The
caregiver associated with terminal device 131 is attending to the
patient in room/bed 142 while the caregiver associated with
terminal device 132 is attending to the patient in room/bed 147.
The caregiver associated with terminal device 133 is at the
caregiver central station 121, which can be provided with an alarm
display system (e.g., connected to a local computer network through
a hard-wired data connection like Ethernet). Another alarm display
system 171 is also provided in a common area (e.g., in a hallway).
The alarm display system 171 can also be connected to the local
computer network through a hard-wired data connection like
Ethernet, or a wireless data communication (e.g., over WiFi network
151).
[0038] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of system 110 in
accordance with some variations of the current subject matter. In
this example, system 110 includes one or more processors 111,
memory 112, and network adapter 113. Network adapter 113 is
configured to communicate with a plurality of terminal devices
(e.g., 131-133). System 110 is in data communication with data
storage 210 (e.g., for storing one or more databases containing
various data relating to the terminal devices, networks, etc.) via
data connection 201. System 110 can also include, for example,
input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, and the like, and output
devices such as speakers, display, printer, and the like. In some
variations, data storage 210 can be implemented as part of the
system. Memory 112 and/or storage 210 can include instructions that
perform one or more features discussed in this application when
executed by one or more processors 111.
[0039] In some variations, system 110 can be configured to
continuously (automatically) measure network conditions to estimate
the reliability of different terminal devices on different branches
of the network. For example, terminal device 131 can be connected
to cellular network 161, (e.g., a 2G cellular network, through a
first provider), terminal device 132 is connected to cellular
network 162 (e.g., a 3G cellular network, through a second
provider) and WiFi network 151, and terminal device 133 is
connected to cellular network 163 (e.g., a 4G cellular network,
through a third provider), and system 110 can be configured to
monitor and measure network conditions over each cellular network
161-163 and WiFi network 151.
[0040] In some variations, system 110 can include a network probe
configured to send test data to each of the various terminal
devices connected to the networks. In some variations, the test
data can include test packets, which can be sent, for example,
periodically.
[0041] In some variations, the terminal devices can be configured
to automatically acknowledge receipt of the test data just as they
would for an actual alarm message (this can be done, for example,
without disturbing the caregiver). The network probe can be
configured to log one or more result data including, for example:
success or failure of acknowledgment, round-trip message latency,
message routing path, and possibility physical location of the
terminal device in space.
[0042] In some variations, the selection of the target terminal
device and/or the time of message could be randomized and/or
staggered so as not to overload the network. In some variations,
samples are taken frequently enough to gather information with
sufficient resolution over time and space. In some variations,
after enough samples have been collected, the probe can derive a
reliability map of the network. In some variations, the reliability
map can be a data set that includes (for example) data representing
the reliability of sub-networks, links, and other network
components of which the network is comprised. In such a map, some
sub-networks and links can be highly reliable and have low latency,
while others will be less reliable and have higher latency.
Reliability conditions can change over time as network channel and
loading conditions change, so in some variations, the map can be
(and should be) continuously dynamically updated.
[0043] The current subject matter also provides, in some
variations, a system configured to predict alarm message latency
based on network reliability measurements. In some variations,
network reliability can be represented as a graph of probability
distributions. In some variations, graph nodes can, for example,
represent the terminal devices, and links between nodes can, for
example, represent the network infrastructure. The network probe
can be configured to find nodes and links to have certain
probability distributions of latency (in the event of failure,
infinite latency). In some variations, the targeted alarm system
can be configured to estimate the total latency, for example, by
combining the latency distributions through the graph. The result
would be probabilistic, represented, for example, by a random
variable with a probability distribution. Statistics could be
calculated from the random variable, including, for example, one or
more of: mean, median, mode, variance, skew, kurtosis, and higher
order measures of uncertainty.
[0044] References will be made now to FIGS. 3-5, which show
examples of the latency distribution, and probability
distributions. These figures are provided for illustrative purposes
only, and do not limit the current subject matter.
[0045] FIG. 3 shows an example of how a large collection of latency
samples can be used to estimate a probability distribution. The
system can be configured to sample a device's latency periodically
and records the value. As the values are collected, they can be
represented in a histogram (the histogram shown in FIG. 3 is
normalized; that is, the frequency values are divided by the total
number of samples). As the number of samples becomes very large,
the histogram tends to an underlying probability distribution,
probability density function (PDF). The PDF can then be used by the
system to estimate the statistics of the device's latency.
[0046] FIG. 4 shows an example of the probability distributions of
latency for two different devices. One device is connected to the
hospital's internal Wi-Fi network, and the other on a legacy 2G
cellular network. These data have been collected from historical
latencies measured during automatic sampling. The Wi-Fi connected
device has a lower mean latency (5 ms vs. 15 ms), which means that
on average it will receive the message more quickly. It also has a
smaller variance (1 ms{circumflex over ( )}2 vs. 25 ms{circumflex
over ( )}2), which means that its latency is more stable and
predictable. The Wi-Fi connected device is expected to have a
shorter latency and is thus a better target for a time-sensitive
message (all else being equal).
[0047] FIG. 5 shows the probability distributions of response time
for two different nurses. These data have been collected from
historical response times to previous targeted alarms. Nurse A has
a lower mean latency (150 s vs. 200 s), which means that on average
s/he will respond to a message more quickly. However, Nurse A has a
larger variance (1600 s{circumflex over ( )}2 vs. 100 s{circumflex
over ( )}2), which means his/her response time is less predictable.
Nurse A is expected to respond more quickly to the message, but
there is a chance s/he may take much longer to respond. In certain
situations this may be acceptable. In other situations, a more
stable/predictable response time may be more desirable than a
quicker average response time. The system may choose Nurse A or B
based on its requirements for the given message.
[0048] The probability distributions can be combined together to
arrive at a total response time distribution. Individual parameters
may include the device latency given its current location and
network connection, the individual caregiver's innate response
time, the caregiver's time since the start of his/her shift, the
caregiver's current workload, and the travel time from the
caregiver's current location. Probability density functions (PDFs)
as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 can be combined by convolving them.
The convolution operator is a standard mathematical technique known
to those skilled in the art, and can easily be implemented on a
computer. For a full treatment of the combinations of probability
distributions, see e.g. Springer M. D. 1979, "The Algebra of Random
Variables," John Wiley & Sons, New York (the contents of which
are incorporated herein by reference).
[0049] In some variations, the targeted medical alarm system can be
further configured to track one or more statistics on the
individual caregivers, including, for example one or more of:
[0050] A. Response times: historical response times to alarm
messages can be used to estimate the caregiver latency. This
latency can be estimated, for example, as a factor independent of
the network infrastructure and messaging device used.
[0051] B. Current location: If real-time location tracking is
available, the system can be configured to track it.
[0052] C. Typical locations: If real-time location tracking is
unavailable, the system can be configured to use typical assignment
locations from the caregiver's schedule as approximations for
expected latency calculations.
[0053] D. Scheduled activities and locations: If a caregiver is
assigned to different care areas at different times or days, the
system can be configured to track this information to predict
caregiver location.
[0054] In some variations, the targeted medical alarm system can be
configured to use feedback from the probe's estimated statistics of
the network, devices, and caregivers to intelligently identify one
or more recipients for each alarm message. For example, when a
monitor detects a critical condition in a patient that requires an
immediate response (e.g., asystole or ventricular fibrillation),
the targeted alarm system can be configured to employ, for example,
a routing table that can include an escalation path (having, for
example, one or more of primary, secondary, tertiary, etc.) of
caregivers responsible for responding to the alarm to route the
critical message in an efficient way that minimizes delivery
failure and/or delay. In some variations, the system can be
configured to minimize its routing path to elicit the most rapid
response possible.
[0055] In some variations, the targeted medical alarm system can he
configured to select (identify) or reject a terminal
device/caregiver based on estimated network latency and
reliability. For example, the reliability map may indicate that the
primary caregiver is in an unreliable branch of the network. The
probe map may have this information from, for example, real-time
location tracking, scheduled caregiver activities, or statistics of
historical locations for this particular caregiver. In response,
the targeted alarm system can be configured, for example, to
re-route the alarm to a secondary caregiver who is more likely to
receive the high priority alarm quickly. This can be repeated, in
some variations, to be re-routed to a tertiary, or additional
layers of caregivers depending on estimated network latency and
reliability. In some variations, the system can include a threshold
value (e.g., maximum latency permitted) in identifying or rejecting
a terminal device/caregiver.
[0056] FIG. 6 shows an example of process flow in accordance with
some variations of the current subject matter. At 310, the system
sends test data to a terminal device 310. The terminal device is
configured to generate acknowledgment data, including when the test
data was received, and send the acknowledgment data to the system
(received by the system at 320). The system determines one or more
latency-related values associated with the test and acknowledgment
data at 330, and updates (e.g., generates and stores) reliability
data that are based, at least in part, on the one or more
latency-related values at 340. When the system needs to send a
targeted alarm message (e.g., a critical care message), the system
identifies a targeted terminal device (with an associated
caregiver) for the targeted message at 350, which is based, at
least in part, on the reliability data. At 360, the system sends
the targeted message to the identified targeted device.
[0057] In some variations, the alarm system can be configured to
select (identify) or reject a terminal device/caregiver based on
estimated device latency and/or reliability. For example, the probe
map may indicate that the primary caregiver's device has a high
latency (e.g., connected to a 2G cellular network). In response,
the targeted alarm system can be configured to re-route the alarm
to a secondary (or a tertiary, etc.) caregiver who is more likely
to receive the high priority alarm quickly.
[0058] In some variations, the alarm system can be configured to
select (identify) the optimum terminal device/caregiver based on
the caregiver's current workload. The scheduling statistics may
indicate that the primary caregiver is currently occupied on
another alarm or assigned to a different high priority action, and
may be too busy to react quickly. In response, the targeted alarm
system can be configured to re-route the alarm to the secondary (or
tertiary, etc.) caregiver who is currently unoccupied, or less
busy, and thus able to respond more quickly. In some variations,
the system can be configured to send the alarm message to an
already-occupied caregiver only if the alarm is of higher priority
than the caregiver's current task.
[0059] In some variations, the alarm system can be configured to
select (identify) the optimum caregiver based on, for example,
proximity to the patient needing care. Using the real-time location
tracking of all caregivers, the system can be configured to
determine that, for example, the tertiary caregiver is in closest
proximity to the patient. Proximity measures can be, for example,
simple linear distances, or can take into account a map of the care
area and the travel path required to reach the patient. In
response, the targeted alarm system can be configured to re-route
the alarm to the tertiary caregiver (for example) who is able to
respond more quickly.
[0060] In some variations, the alarm system can be configured to
select (identify) an optimum caregiver based on energy level,
estimated from the time since the start of the caregiver's shift.
For example, the system can be configured to record, for example,
the number and/or the type of tasks the caregiver has performed
during a particular shift. Based on this information, the system
can be configured to route the alarm message to a fresh caregiver
at the start of his/her shift (or who has performed fewer and/or
lesser tiring tasks), who is more likely to have higher energy
levels and is more likely to respond quickly to the alarm.
[0061] In some variations, the alarm system can be configured to
select (identify) an optimum caregiver based on historical response
rates and/or times. For example, the system can be configured to
reject a primary caregiver who often fails to response to alarm
messages in the past (e.g., does not notice his/her phone
vibrating), in favor of a more responsive secondary caregiver.
[0062] In some variations, the system can be configured to maintain
a physical distribution of caregivers to prepare for unexpected
future alarms. For example, the system can be configured to keep
track of the physical locations of individual caregivers, and the
larger distribution of the caregiver population. The system can be
configured to target the alarms in such a way as to help ensure the
caregivers remain physically distributed across care areas. If most
caregivers were to become concentrated all in one care area, it
would leave some patients more at risk of a longer response to a
critical event.
[0063] In some variations, the system can be configured to employ
one or more (including all) factors and variations described above,
for example, weighing them to identify a target caregiver for
sending the alarm message. For example, the reliability and/or
latency of one or more (including all) elements in the system
(e.g., network, device, caregiver) can be combined to estimate the
overall reliability and latency of each caregiver at a given point
in time. The system can be configured to select (identify) the
caregiver with the highest reliability and/or lowest latency at the
particular time required for the particular alarm condition, and
routes the alarm message to him/her.
[0064] In some variations, the system can be configured to generate
a report including one or more of, for example, reliability,
latency, and other statistics to help identify one or more weak
points in the targeted alarming system. Such reports could allow,
for example, the hospital administration, or technicians, to
improve unreliable parts of the network, upgrade terminal devices
that do not perform well as alarm recipients, and device caregiver
management strategies to improve schedule, physical distribution,
workflow, and more.
[0065] One or more aspects or features of the subject matter
described herein can be realized in digital electronic circuitry,
integrated circuitry, specially designed application specific
integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)
computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.
These various aspects or features can include implementation in one
or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable
on a programmable system including at least one programmable
processor, which can be special or general purpose, coupled to
receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and
instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and
at least one output device. The programmable system or computing
system may include clients and servers. A client and server are
generally remote from each other and typically interact through a
communication network. The relationship of client and server arises
by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers
and having a client-server relationship to each other.
[0066] These computer programs, which can also be referred to as
programs, software, software applications, applications,
components, or code, include machine instructions for a
programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level
procedural language, an object-oriented programming language, a
functional programming language, a logical programming language,
and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the term
"machine-readable medium" refers to any computer program product,
apparatus and/or device, such as for example magnetic discs,
optical disks, memory, and Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), used
to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable
processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives
machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term
"machine-readable signal" refers to any signal used to provide
machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor. The
machine-readable medium can store such machine instructions
non-transitorily, such as for example as would a non-transient
solid-state memory or a magnetic hard drive or any equivalent
storage medium. The machine-readable medium can alternatively or
additionally store such machine instructions in a transient manner,
such as for example as would a processor cache or other random
access memory associated with one or more physical processor
cores.
[0067] To provide for interaction with a user, one or more aspects
or features of the subject matter described herein can be
implemented on a computer having a display device, such as for
example a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD)
or a light emitting diode (LED) monitor for displaying information
to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, such as for
example a mouse or a trackball, by which the user may provide input
to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for
interaction with a user as well. For example, feedback provided to
the user can be any form of sensory feedback, such as for example
visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input
from the user may be received in any form, including, but not
limited to, acoustic, speech, or tactile input. Other possible
input devices include, but are not limited to, touch screens or
other touch-sensitive devices such as single or multi-point
resistive or capacitive trackpads, voice recognition hardware and
software, optical scanners, optical pointers, digital image capture
devices and associated interpretation software, and the like.
[0068] In the descriptions above and in the claims, phrases such as
"at least one of" or "one or more of" may occur followed by a
conjunctive list of elements or features. The term "and/or" may
also occur in a list of two or more elements or features. Unless
otherwise implicitly or explicitly contradicted by the context in
which it is used, such a phrase is intended to mean any of the
listed elements or features individually or any of the recited
elements or features in combination with any of the other recited
elements or features. For example, the phrases "at least one of A
and B;" "one or more of A and B;" and "A and/or B" are each
intended to mean "A alone, B alone, or A and B together." A similar
interpretation is also intended for lists including three or more
items. For example, the phrases "at least one of A, B, and C;" "one
or more of A, B, and C;" and "A, B, and/or C" are each intended to
mean "A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C
together, B and C together, or A and B and C together." In
addition, use of the term "based on," above and in the claims is
intended to mean, "based at least in part on," such that an
unrecited feature or element is also permissible.
[0069] The subject matter described herein can be embodied in
systems, apparatus, methods, and/or articles depending on the
desired configuration. The implementations set forth in the
foregoing description do not represent all implementations
consistent with the subject matter described herein. Instead, they
are merely some examples consistent with aspects related to the
described subject matter. Although a few variations have been
described in detail above, other modifications or additions are
possible. In particular, further features and/or variations can be
provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, the
implementations described above can be directed to various
combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features and/or
combinations and subcombinations of several further features
disclosed above. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the
accompanying figures and/or described herein do not necessarily
require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve
desirable results. Other implementations may be within the scope of
the following claims.
* * * * *