Patent Application
20100052913
The present invention is generally related to a method and system for providing security to facilities, and more particularly is related to a system for individuals under the care of a facility to accurately identify agents of the facility.
One of the many fears of a hospital or similar facility is that a patient, more specifically a newborn, is abducted while under the care of the facility. While increases in security measures has effectively decreased the number of infant abductions that take place each year from medical care facilities, more needs to be done. Recently, in Lubbock, Tex., a woman wearing hospital scrubs went into a mother's room and took her baby. The woman had been in the mother's room several times before the baby was taken, giving the mother that she was an employee of the hospital and someone to be trusted, but she was not a nurse with the hospital. A mother generally does not know who is staffed at the hospital and regularly releases her newborn to strangers she believes are nurses for tests, shots, and various natal care. Scrubs are not difficult to come by and badges are not difficult to reproduce. As a result, a mother has no way of knowing whether the nurse who is taking her newborn is, in fact, a nurse with the hospital.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for identifying facility employees. Briefly described, in architecture, one embodiment of the system, among others, can be implemented as follows. The system contains a proximity sensor mounted in a patient room. A facility employee wears an employee identification device. The employee identification device is in communication with the proximity sensor. A display device is in communication with the proximity sensor. The display device displays information from the employee identification device.
The present invention can also be viewed as providing methods for identifying facility employees. In this regard, one embodiment of such a method, among others, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: providing a facility employee with an employee identification device; communicating with the employee identification device from a proximity sensor mounted in a patient room; communicating with the proximity sensor from a display device; and displaying information from the employee identification device on the display device for a patient.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The facility employee 14 may where a name badge that clips to the clothing or is otherwise fastened to the facility employee 14 in a manner operative as an employee identification device 16. The employee identification device 16 may carry an RFID chip, a transmitter, or a similar electronic device that the proximity sensor 12 can sense. The electronic device carried by the employee identification device 16 is, preferably, difficult to remove and communicates a sufficiently individualized signal such that the proximity sensor 12 can identify the intended wearer of the employee identification device 16. The signal sensed by the proximity sensor 12 may be compared with known signals save in a database 22, remote or internal, to identify the intended wearer of the employee identification device 16 and display the identity of the intended wearer on the display device 18 for the benefit of the patient.
The display device 18 is an output device capable of communicating information to a patient. As one example, the display device 18 may be a device that displays a green light when the proximity sensor 12 senses a facility employee 14. The display device 18 may display one or more of the name, title, task, badge number, or other information relevant to the medical staff to help a patient identify the facility employee 14. The display device 18 may also include a screen on which an image of the facility employee 14 may be displayed to allow the patient to positively identify the facility employee 14.
The display device 118 may be a display screen and the information displayed may be a photograph of the facility employee 114. The display device 118 may be designed such that when a plurality of facility employees 114 are proximate to the proximity sensor 112 and the plurality of facility employees 114 each have an employee specific identification device 116, the display device 118 forms a split screen showing photographs of the plurality of facility employees 114 concurrently. For similar situations, the display device 118 may be designed to display: a count of facility employees 114 recognized by the proximity sensor, names and tasks of each recognized facility employee 114, a duty status of the recognized facility employee 114, or other identification information that would allow a patient to independently verify each individual in the room is a recognized facility employee 114.
The facility employee identification system 110 may be designed specifically for patients, specifically mothers with newborns, in the maternity ward of a hospital. In this arrangement, an infant identification device 124 may be worn by an infant 126 proximate to the proximity sensor 112. The employee identification device 116 may include data identifying whether the facility employee 114 is permitted to handle the infant 126. More specifically, a signal the proximity sensor 112 receives from the employee identification device 116 may be checked with a database 122 to identify the facility employee 114 and the data contained in the database 122 may also instruct whether the facility employee 114 is permitted to handle the infant 126. The display device 118 may indicate for the mother of the infant 126 whether the facility employee 114 is permitted to handle the infant 126. In the case of multiple facility employees 114 in the patient room 120, the display device 118 may identify which facility employees 114 are permitted to handle the infant 126. The display device 118 may further identify which facility employees 114 are authorized to remove the infant 126 from the patient's room 120.
The display device 118 and the proximity sensor 112 may be in communication with a central facility computer system 128. The central facility computer system 128 may be a computer system that oversees operation of the display devices 118 and proximity sensors 112 in multiple patient rooms 120 in a single ward of the facility. The central facility computer system 128 may also be in communication with the database 122 and provide access for updating the database 122. The central facility computer system 128 may be used to input data to the database 122 that will later be displayed on the display devices 118. The central facility computer system 128 may be used to schedule activities for the infant 126, identifying facility employees 114 that will be interacting with the infant 126 and/or removing the infant 126 from the patient room 120.
A plurality of proximity sensors 112 may be located throughout a maternity ward, wherein the display device 118 displays a map of the maternity ward and a location of the infant 126 when the infant 126 is not within the patient room 120, such that the mother of the infant 126 can monitor a location of the infant 126.
As is shown by block 202, a facility employee 114 is provided with an employee identification device 116. The employee identification device 116 communicates with a proximity sensor 112 mounted in a patient room 120 (block 204). The proximity sensor 112 also communicates with a display device 118 (block 206). The display device 118 displays information from the employee identification device 116 for a patient.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims.
