Occupant falls risk determination systems, methods and devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9978244-B2
Application number	US-201715680530-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 18, 2017
Priority date	May 22, 2012
Publication date	May 22, 2018
Grant date	May 22, 2018

Abstract

A method comprises determining a person's level of risk for developing an adverse condition; selecting a care protocol based on the level of risk; displaying a proposed configuration of a person support structure corresponding to the care protocol for a caregiver to approve; and upon approval by the caregiver, implementing the configuration.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of alerting a caregiver of a patient risk associated with a patient on a bed, the method comprising:
receiving input signals including: (i) at least one of time since last toileting, input/output balance, or lack of catheter; and (ii) patient position on the bed;
determining if the input signals mimic an egress profile;
determining whether the patient has been designated as a falls risk;
generating an alert if the input signals mimic the egress profile and if the patient has been designated as a falls risk; and
if the patient is designated as a falls risk, notifying a caregiver either to leave a walker in a room in which the patient is located or to leave fluids in the room in which the patient is located to reduce dehydration or both.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input signals further include information sensed by a pressure map.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the pressure map comprises a mat positioned on the mattress.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input signals further include information sensed by a load cell.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the load cell is included as part of a bed frame of the patient support structure.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input signals further include information sensed by an image capture device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input signals further include information sensed by a 3D image sensor.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input signals further include information sensed by an array of sensors and the person support structure includes a mattress, wherein the array of sensors is coupled to the mattress.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating the alert to a caregiver via a nurse call system.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert is not generated if the time since last toileting is less than 6 hours.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert is not generated if the input/output balance is less than 400 milliliters (mL).

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient is designated as a falls risk based on information received from an electronic medical record system.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient is designated as a falls risk based on information provided by a caregiver.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the input signals includes information corresponding to a medical procedure the person underwent.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the input signals includes information corresponding to the person's medication.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving at least one additional input signal corresponding to a facility input and modifying the alert as a function of the facility input.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the facility input includes information corresponding to at least one of the following: time of day, staffing levels, caregiver round times, or likelihood an alert will be responded to within a predetermined amount of time.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input signals further include information relating to a sleep state of the patient.

Assignees

• Hill Rom Services Inc

Inventors

• Ribble David L
• Mccleerey Michelle E
• Agdeppa Eric D
• Hood Michael S

Classifications

• G08B21/02

  Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons · CPC title

• A61G2203/34

  for pressure · CPC title

• A61B5/1115

  Monitoring leaving of a patient support, e.g. a bed or a wheelchair · CPC title

• A61G7/051

  pivoting sideward · CPC title

• A61G7/015

  divided into different adjustable sections, e.g. for Gatch position · CPC title