Patient support apparatus system

Abstract

A patient support apparatus includes a frame, a patient support surface, a nurse call button, a nurse call interface, a network transceiver, and a controller. The controller is adapted to transmit a first message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to a nurse call system via the nurse call interface, and to transmit a second message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to a server via the network transceiver. The patient support apparatus may also transmit a nurse call termination message to the server via the network transceiver. The patient support apparatus may be part of a system that includes a server software application. The software application may communicate with an Electronic Health Records system and determine if the patient has a respiratory condition and, if so, display an alert on a display if a backrest of the patient support apparatus is below a threshold angle.

Description

PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS SYSTEMBACKGROUND

[0001] The present disclosure relates to patient support apparatuses, such as beds, cots, stretchers, recliners, or the like. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a system for sharing information regarding patient support apparatuses with caregivers who are positioned remotely from the patient support apparatuses.SUMMARY

[0002] According to various embodiments, a system is provided that assists caregivers with the task of monitoring patient support apparatuses to help ensure that one or more conditions relating to the patient support apparatus and / or the patient assigned thereto are effectively communicated to one or more caregivers positioned remotely from the patient support apparatus. The one or more conditions may include a variety of conditions, such as, but not limited to, the patient’s pressing of a nurse call button at the patient support apparatus, the connection / disconnection status of a mattress to the patient support apparatus, the current angle of a pivotable back section of the patient support apparatus relative to a respiratory condition of the patient, the termination of a nurse call, and / or other conditions. The patient support apparatus may be part of a system that includes a server and / or a server-executable software application. The software application may be adapted to receive nurse call signals and status information from the patient support apparatus via different communication pathways and to display this information on a display for remote caregivers to view. The software application may also and / or alternatively automatically communicate with an Electronic Health Record (EHR) server to check to see if a patient has a respiratory condition and, if so, check to see if an angular orientation of the backrest of the patient support apparatus meets a desired criteria. These and other features and functions of the present disclosure will be apparent to one skilled in the art in light of the following written description and the attached drawings.

[0003] According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for reporting patient support apparatus status information is provided. The system includes a patient support apparatus and a software application. The patient support apparatus comprises a frame, a support surface, an angle sensor, a network transceiver, and a controller. The support surface is supported by the frame and adapted to support a patient thereon. The support surface includes a back section adapted to pivot between a substantially horizontal orientation and a raised orientation. The angle sensor is adapted to sense a current angle of the back section. The network transceiver is adapted to communicate with a server through a healthcare facility computer network. The controller is adapted to transmit a first message indicative of the current angle of the back section to the server using the network transceiver. The software application is adapted to instruct a processor of the server to perform the following: (i) receive the first message from the patient support apparatus; (ii) receive asecond message indicative of a respiratory condition of the patient from an electronic medical records server; (iii) compare the current angle of the back section to a threshold angle; and (iv) generate display content to send to a display in communication with the server. The display content includes a warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is less than the threshold angle, and the display content does not include the warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is greater than the threshold angle.

[0004] According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive a configuration input from a user indicative of whether the uses wishes to see the warning indicator and, if the configuration input indicates the user does not wish to see the warning indicator, to not include the warning indicator in the display content.

[0005] In some aspects, the warning indicator is an icon displayed on the display.

[0006] In some aspects, the display content further includes a room graphic indicative of a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the icon is displayed within the room graphic.

[0007] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, further includes a communication sensor adapted to detect an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on the support surface and the patient support apparatus. The controller is adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the absence of the communication link to the server using the network transceiver, and the software application is adapted to instruct the server to include a mattress disconnection indicator in the display content in response to receipt of the third message.

[0008] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, further includes a nurse call button adapted to be activated by the patient, and the controller is further adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to the server. The software application is adapted to instruct the server to include a nurse call request indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

[0009] The controller, in some aspects, is adapted to transmit the second message to the server using the network transceiver.

[0010] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus further includes a nurse call interface adapted to communicate with a nurse call outlet positioned in a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the controller is adapted to transmit the second message to the server using the nurse call interface.

[0011] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus includes a nurse call termination sensor adapted to detect when a call between the patient and a caregiver is terminated, the controller is further adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the call being terminated, and the softwareapplication is adapted to instruct the server to remove the nurse call request indicator from the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

[0012] The software application, in some aspects, is further configured to instruct the server to receive the second message from a nurse call server in communication with the nurse call interface.

[0013] The nurse call request indicator, in some aspects, is an icon.

[0014] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon a fall risk status of the patient.

[0015] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon whether an alert for the patient support apparatus is currently included in the display content.

[0016] The alert, in some aspects, is a patient exit alert.

[0017] The controller, in some aspects, is further adapted to detect a condition of the patient support apparatus, to allow a user to change a local setting at the patient support apparatus, to issue a local alert at the patient support apparatus in response to detection of the condition if the local setting is in a first state, to not issue a local alert at the patient support apparatus in response to detection of the condition if the local setting is in a second state, and to transmit a third message to the server using the network transceiver. The third message is indicative of the state of the condition. The software application, in some aspects, is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: allow a user to change a remote setting at the server; include an alert indicator in the display content in response to detection of the condition if the remote setting is in a first state; and not include the alert indicator in the display content in response to detection of the condition if the remote setting is in a second state.

[0018] In some aspects, the software application is further adapted to allow the user to change the remote setting regardless of the state of the local setting.

[0019] In some aspects, the condition of the patient support apparatus includes at least one of the following: a brake of the patient support apparatus not being set; one or more siderails of the patient support apparatus not being in a desired position; an exit detection system of the patient support apparatus not being armed; a height of the support surface not being at a desired height; or a mattress of the patient support apparatus not being communicatively linked with the patient support apparatus.

[0020] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, further includes a Head-of-Bed (HOB) control adapted to activated or deactivated by a user, and the controller is further adapted to issue a local warning at the patient support apparatus if the back section is less than the threshold angle and the HOB control is activated, to not issue the local warning at the patient support apparatus if the back section is less than the threshold angle and the HOB control is activated, and to transmit the first message to the server regardless of whether the HOB control is activated or deactivated.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a patient support apparatus is provided that includes a frame, a support surface, a nurse call button, a nurse call interface, a network transceiver, and a controller. The support surface is supported by the frame and adapted to support a patient thereon. The nurse call button is adapted to be activated by the patient. The nurse call interface is adapted to communicate with a nurse call outlet positioned in a room in which the patient support apparatus is positioned. The network transceiver is adapted to communicate with a server through a healthcare facility computer network. The controller is adapted to transmit a first message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to a nurse call system via the nurse call interface, and to transmit a second message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to the server via the network transceiver.

[0022] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus further includes a nurse call termination sensor adapted to detect when a call between the patient and a caregiver is terminated. The controller is further adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the call being terminated to the server via the network transceiver.

[0023] The network transceiver, in some aspects, is a WiFi transceiver.

[0024] The nurse call interface, in some aspects, is adapted to receive a cable coupled to the nurse call outlet.

[0025] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus further includes a communication sensor adapted to detect an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on the support surface and the patient support apparatus, and the controller is adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the absence of the communication link to the server using the network transceiver.

[0026] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium is provided. The software application is adapted, when executed by a processor of a server, to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a first message from a patient support apparatus indicative of a current angle of a pivotable back section of the patient support apparatus; receive a second message indicative of a respiratory condition of a patient from an electronic medical records server; compare the current angle of the back section to a threshold angle; and generate display content to send to a display in communication with the server, wherein the display content includes a warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is less than the threshold angle, and the display content does not include the warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is greater than the threshold angle.

[0027] According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the software application may further be adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a configuration input from a user indicative of whether the uses wishes to see the warning indicator and, if the configuration inputindicates the user does not wish to see the warning indicator, not include the warning indicator in the display content.

[0028] The warning indicator, in some aspects, is an icon displayed on the display.

[0029] The display content, in some aspects, includes a room graphic indicative of a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the icon is displayed within the room graphic.

[0030] In some aspects, the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on a support surface and the patient support apparatus, and to include a mattress disconnection indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

[0031] The software application, in some aspects, is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message indicative of a nurse call button on the patient support apparatus being pressed, and to include a nurse call request indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

[0032] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive the third message from a wireless access point of a local area network of a healthcare facility in which the patient support apparatus is positioned.

[0033] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive the third message from a nurse call server in communication with a local area network of a healthcare facility in which the patient support apparatus is positioned.

[0034] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to receive a fourth message indicative of a call between the patient and a caregiver being terminated, and to instruct the server to remove the nurse call request indicator from the display content in response to the receipt of the fourth message.

[0035] The nurse call request indicator, in some aspects, is a phone icon.

[0036] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon a fall risk status of the patient.

[0037] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon whether an alert for the patient support apparatus is currently included in the display content.

[0038] The alert, in some aspects, is a patient exit alert.

[0039] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of a condition of the patient support apparatus; allow a user to change a remote setting at the server; include an alert indicator in the display content in response to receipt of the third message if the remote setting is in afirst state; and not include the alert indicator in the display content in response to receipt of the third message if the remote setting is in a second state.

[0040] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to allow the user to change the remote setting regardless of whether the patient support apparatus issues an alert in response to the patient support apparatus being in the condition.

[0041] The condition of the patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes at least one of the following: a brake of the patient support apparatus not being set; one or more siderails of the patient support apparatus not being in a desired position; an exit detection system of the patient support apparatus not being armed; a height of a support surface not being at a desired height; or a mattress of the patient support apparatus not being communicatively linked with the patient support apparatus.

[0042] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of the current angle of the back section being below a local threshold angle while a Head-of-Bed (HOB) control on the patient support apparatus is activated, and to include in the display content the warning indicator in response to receipt of the third message even if the server does not receive the second message.

[0043] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium is provided. The software application is adapted, when executed by a processor of a server, to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a first message from a nurse call system via a first pathway, the first message indicative of a nurse call button on a patient support apparatus being pressed; receive a second message from the patient support apparatus via a second pathway different from the first pathway, the second message indicative of a condition of the patient support apparatus; generate display content to send to a display in communication with the server; change the display content to include a nurse call request indicator in response to receipt of the first message; and change the display content to include an alert indicator in response to receipt of the second message.

[0044] The condition of the patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes at least one of the following: a brake of the patient support apparatus not being set; one or more siderails of the patient support apparatus not being in a desired position; an exit detection system of the patient support apparatus not being armed; a height of a support surface not being at a desired height; or a mattress of the patient support apparatus not being communicatively linked with the patient support apparatus.

[0045] In some aspects, the software application is configured to not allow a caregiver to respond to the nurse call button being pressed on the patient support apparatus.

[0046] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to receive a third message indicative of a call between a patient and a caregiver being terminated, and to instruct the server to remove the nurse call request indicator from the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

[0047] The nurse call request indicator is a phone icon, in some aspects.

[0048] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon a fall risk status of a patient.

[0049] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon whether a patient exit alert of the patient support apparatus is currently included in the display content.

[0050] In some aspects, the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on a support surface and the patient support apparatus, and to include a mattress disconnection indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

[0051] The software application, in some aspects, is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of the current angle of a pivotable back section of the patient support apparatus; receive a fourth message indicative of a respiratory condition of a patient from an electronic medical records server; compare the current angle of the back section to a threshold angle; change the display content to include a warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is less than the threshold angle, and not change the display content to include the warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is greater than the threshold angle.

[0052] In some aspects, the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to receive a configuration input from a user indicative of whether the uses wishes to see the warning indicator and, if the configuration input indicates the user does not wish to see the warning indicator, not include the warning indicator in the display content.

[0053] The warning indicator, in some aspects, is an icon displayed on the display.

[0054] In some aspects, the display content further includes a room graphic indicative of a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the icon is displayed within the room graphic.

[0055] Before the various embodiments disclosed herein are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the claims are not to be limited to the details of operation or to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The embodiments described herein are capable of being practiced or being carried outin alternative ways not expressly disclosed herein. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of "including" and "comprising" and variations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items and equivalents thereof. Further, enumeration may be used in the description of various embodiments. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the use of enumeration should not be construed as limiting the claims to any specific order or number of components. Nor should the use of enumeration be construed as excluding from the scope of the claims any additional steps or components that might be combined with or into the enumerated steps or components.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a patient support apparatus incorporating various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0057] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a caregiver control panel of the patient support apparatus;

[0058] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system for reporting patient support apparatus information to a remote location;

[0059] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the system of FIG. 3 showing additional details of several servers that may communicatively interact with the system;

[0060] FIG. 5 is an example of a dashboard screen that may be displayed by one or more display devices of the system that are in communication with the patient support apparatus server of FIG. 2;

[0061] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a Head-of-Bed (HoB) angle monitoring algorithm that may be implemented by the system of FIGS. 3 and 4 according to one aspect of the present disclosure;

[0062] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a nurse call notification algorithm that may be implemented by the system of FIGS. 3 and 4 according to one aspect of the present disclosure;

[0063] FIG. 8 is a first example of a HoB icon that may be displayed by the system in response to a HoB angle of a patient support apparatus moving below an angular threshold;

[0064] FIG. 9 is a second example of a HoB icon that may be displayed by the system in response to a HoB angle of a patient support apparatus moving below an angular threshold;

[0065] FIG. 10 is a first example of an out-of-bed icon that may be displayed by the system in response to a patient exiting the patient support apparatus;

[0066] FIG. 11 is a second example of an out-of-bed icon that may be displayed by the system in response to a patient exiting the patient support apparatus;

[0067] FIG. 12 is an example of a mattress-unplugged icon that may be displayed by the system in response to a mattress on the patient support apparatus not being communicatively coupled to the patient support apparatus;

[0068] FIG. 13 is an example of a siderail-not-raised icon that may be displayed by the system in response to one or more siderails of the patient support apparatus not being in a raised position;

[0069] FIG. 14 illustrates several examples of a nurse call icon that may be displayed by the system in different manners according to different situations in response to a patient calling a nurse from the patient support apparatus;

[0070] FIG. 15 is an example of a patient support apparatus monitoring screen that may be displayed on a display of the patient support apparatus;

[0071] FIG. 16 is an example of nurse manager assignment screen that may be displayed by the system to enable an authorized individual to control what units of the healthcare facility nurse managers are able to view;

[0072] FIG. 17 is an example of nurse management configuration window displayed over the nurse manager screen of FIG. 16 in response to an authorized individual selecting a particular nurse manager;

[0073] FIG. 18 is an example of a dashboard screen showing a unit selection window for allowing a nurse manager to select different units of the healthcare facility for viewing by the nurse manager;

[0074] FIG. 19 is an example of a dashboard screen shown in a portrait orientation, rather than a landscape orientation;

[0075] FIG. 20 is an example of an administrative screen allowing an authorized individual to select whether data is preserved or not in response to a re-boot;

[0076] FIG. 21 is an example of a rule summary screen illustrating alerting rules that are in place for a particular healthcare facility;

[0077] FIG. 22 is an example of a message history screen illustrating historical messages saved by the system and received from a conventional Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system;

[0078] FIG. 23 is an example of another administrative screen allowing an authorized individual to allow users to sign into the system using a healthcare facility directory; and

[0079] FIG. 24 is an example of another administrative screen allowing an authorized individual to enable different types of sign-ins to the system.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0080] An illustrative patient support apparatus 20 usable in a caregiver assistance system 18 according to the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 1. Although the particular form of patient support apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a bed adapted for use in a hospital or other medical setting, it will be understood that patient support apparatus 20 could, in different embodiments, be a cot, a stretcher, a recliner, or any other structure capable of supporting a patient while the patient is in a healthcare facility, such as, but not limited to, a hospital and / or a mental health facility. For purposes of thefollowing written description, patient support apparatus 20 will be primarily described as a bed with the understanding that the following written description applies to these other types of patient support apparatuses.

[0081] In general, patient support apparatus 20 includes a base 22 having a plurality of wheels 24, a lift subsystem comprising a pair of lifts 26 supported on the base, a litter frame 28 supported on the lifts 26, and a support deck 30 supported on the litter frame 28. Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a headboard 32, a footboard 34, and a plurality of siderails 36. Siderails 36 are all shown in a raised position in FIG. 1 but are each individually movable to a lower position in which ingress into, and egress out of, patient support apparatus 20 is not obstructed by the lowered siderails 36. In some embodiments, siderails 36 may be moved to one or more intermediate positions as well.

[0082] Lifts 26 are configured to raise and lower litter frame 28 with respect to base 22. Lifts 26 may be hydraulic actuators, electric actuators, or any other suitable device for raising and lowering litter frame 28 with respect to base 22. In the illustrated embodiment, lifts 26 are operable independently so that the tilting of litter frame 28 with respect to base 22 can also be adjusted. That is, litter frame 28 includes a head end 38 and a foot end 40, each of whose height can be independently adjusted by the nearest lift 26. Patient support apparatus 20 is designed so that when an occupant lies thereon, his or her head will be positioned adjacent the head end 38 and his or her feet will be positioned adjacent the foot end 40. The lifts 26 may be constructed and / or operated in any of the manners disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent publication 2017 / 0246065, filed on February 22, 2017, entitled LIFT ASSEMBLY FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Other manners for constructing and / or operating lifts 26 may, of course, be used.

[0083] Litter frame 28 provides a structure for supporting support deck 30, the headboard 32, footboard 34, and siderails 36. Support deck 30 provides a support surface for a mattress 42, or other soft cushion, so that a person may lie and / or sit thereon. Support deck 30 is made of a plurality of sections, some of which are pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , support deck 30 includes at least a head section 44, a seat section 46, and a foot section 48, all of which are positioned underneath mattress 42 and which generally form flat surfaces for supporting mattress 42. Support deck 30 include fewer or greater numbers of these sections in different versions. Head section 44, which is also sometimes referred to as a Fowler section, is pivotable about a generally horizontal pivot axis between a generally horizontal orientation (not shown in FIG. 1) and a plurality of raised positions (one of which is shown in FIG. 1). Seat section 46 and foot section 48 may also be pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes.

[0084] In some embodiments, patient support apparatus 20 may be modified from what is shown to include one or more components adapted to allow the user to extend the width of patient support deck 30, thereby allowing patient support apparatus 20 to accommodate patients of varying sizes. When so modified, the width of deck 30 may be adjusted sideways in any increments, for example between a first or minimum width, a second or intermediate width, and a third or expanded / maximum width.

[0085] As used herein, the term “longitudinal” refers to a direction parallel to an axis between the head end 38 and the foot end 40. The terms “transverse” or "lateral” refer to a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to a surface on which the patient support apparatus 20 rests.

[0086] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that patient support apparatus 20 can be designed with other types of mechanical constructions, such as, but not limited to, that described in commonly assigned, U.S. Patent No. 10,130,536 to Roussy et al., entitled PATIENT SUPPORT USABLE WITH BARIATRIC PATIENTS, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In another embodiment, the mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20 may be the same as, or nearly the same as, the mechanical construction of the Model 3002 S3 bed manufactured and sold by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan. This mechanical construction is described in greater detail in the Stryker Maintenance Manual for the MedSurg Bed, Model 3002 S3, published in 2010 by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that patient support apparatus 20 can be designed with still other types of mechanical constructions, such as, but not limited to, those described in commonly assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 7,690,059 issued to Lemire et al., and entitled HOSPITAL BED; and / or commonly assigned U.S. Pat. publication No. 2007 / 0163045 filed by Becker et al. and entitled PATIENT HANDLING DEVICE INCLUDING LOCAL STATUS INDICATION, ONE-TOUCH FOWLER ANGLE ADJUSTMENT, AND POWER-ON ALARM CONFIGURATION, the complete disclosures of both of which are also hereby incorporated herein by reference. The mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20 may also take on still other forms different from what is disclosed in the aforementioned references.

[0087] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a plurality of control panels 54 that enable a user of patient support apparatus 20, such as a patient and / or an associated caregiver, to control one or more aspects of patient support apparatus 20. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , patient support apparatus 20 includes a footboard control panel 54a, a pair of outer siderail control panels 54b (only one of which is visible), and a pair of inner siderail control panels 54c (only one of which is visible). Footboard control panel 54a and outer siderail control panels 54b are intended to be used by caregivers, or other authorized personnel, while inner siderail control panels 54c are intendedto be used by the patient associated with patient support apparatus 20. Each of the control panels 54 includes a plurality of controls 50 (see, e.g. FIGS. 2-3), although each control panel 54 does not necessarily include the same controls and / or functionality.

[0088] Among other functions, controls 50 of control panel 54a allow a user to control one or more of the following: change a height of support deck 30, raise or lower head section 44, activate and deactivate a brake for wheels 24, arm and disarm an exit detection system, activate and deactivate an audio monitor, activate and deactivate an agitation monitor, block and unblock control panel 54a, communicate with the particular IT infrastructure installed in the healthcare facility in which patient support apparatus 20 is positioned, and perform still other functions, some of which are described in greater detail below. One or both of the inner siderail control panels 54c also include at least one nurse-call control that enables a patient to call a remotely located nurse (or other caregiver). In addition to the nurse-call control, one or both of the inner siderail control panels 54c may also include one or more controls for controlling one or more features of a television, room light, and / or reading light positioned within the same room as the patient support apparatus 20. With respect to the television, the features that may be controllable by one or more controls 50 on control panel 54c include, but are not limited to, the volume, the channel, the closed-captioning, and / or the power state of the television. With respect to the room and / or night lights, the features that may be controlled by one or more controls 50 on control panel 54c include the on / off state of these lights.

[0089] Control panel 54a includes a display 52 (FIG. 2) configured to display a plurality of different screens thereon. Display 52 may be a touchscreen-type display, although it will be understood that a non-touchscreen display may alternatively be used. Display 52 displays one or more visual indicators, one or more controls, and / or one or more control screens, and / or other types of information, as will be discussed more below. Display 52 may comprise an LED display, an OLED display, or another type of display.

[0090] Surrounding display 52 are a plurality of navigation controls 50a-f that, when activated, cause the display 52 to display different screens on display 52. For example, when a user presses navigation control 50a, control panel 54a displays an exit detection control screen on display 52 that includes one or more icons that, when touched, control an onboard exit detection function. The exit detection function is adapted to issue an alert when a patient exits from patient support apparatus 20. Such an exit detection function may include any of the same features and / or functions as, and / or may be constructed in any of the same manners as, the exit detection systems disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application 62 / 889,254 filed August 20, 2019, by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ADJUSTABLE EXIT DETECTION ZONES; U.S. patent application serial number 17 / 318,476 filed May 12, 2021 , by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH AUTOMATIC EXIT DETECTION MODES OFOPERATION; and / or the exit detection system disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent 5,276,432 issued to Travis and entitled PATIENT EXIT DETECTION MECHANISM FOR HOSPITAL BED, the complete disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0091] When a user presses navigation control 50b (FIG. 2), control panel 54a displays a patient support apparatus monitoring control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control an onboard monitoring system that monitors one or more components, features, and / or other aspects of patient support apparatus 20. Further details of one type of monitoring system that may be built into patient support apparatus 20 are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 864,638 filed June 21 , 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH CAREGIVER REMINDERS, as well as commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 16 / 721,133 filed December 19, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH MOTION CUSTOMIZATION, the complete disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other types of monitoring systems may be included within patient support apparatus 20 for monitoring parameters of the patient support apparatus 20.

[0092] When a user presses navigation control 50c, control panel 54a displays a scale control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control the scale system of patient support apparatus 20. The scale system of patient support apparatus 20 may take on a variety of different forms and include a variety of different features and function. In some embodiments, the scale system may include any of the same features, components, and / or and functions as the scale systems disclosed in the following commonly assigned patent references: U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 889,254 filed August 20, 2019, by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ADJUSTABLE EXIT DETECTION ZONES; U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 255,211 filed October 13, 2021 , by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH AUTOMATIC SCALE FUNCTIONALITY; U.S. patent 10,357,185 issued to Marko Kostic et al. on July 23, 2019, and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH MOTION MONITORING; U.S. patent 11 ,33,233 issued to Michael Hayes et al. on June 15, 2021 , and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH PATIENT INFORMATION SENSORS; U.S. patent application 16 / 992,515 filed August 13, 2020, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH EQUIPMENT WEIGHT LOG; and U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 255,223, filed October 13, 2021 , by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH PATIENT WEIGHT MONITORING, the complete disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference. The scale system may utilize the same force sensors that are utilized by the exit detection system, in some embodiments, or it may utilize one or more different sensors.

[0093] When a user presses navigation control 50d, control panel 54a displays a motion control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control the movement of various components of patient support apparatus 20, such as, but not limited to, the height of litter frame 28 and the pivoting of head section 44. In one embodiment, which will be discussed in greater detail below, patient support apparatus 20 is configured to display a motion control screen of the type shown in FIG. 6 in response to a user pressing on control 50d. In other embodiments, patient support apparatus 20 may be configured to display a motion control screen in response to the user pressing control 50d that may be the same as, or similar to, the motion control screen 216 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 885,953 filed August 13, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH TOUCHSCREEN, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of motion control screens may be displayed on display 52 of patient support apparatus 20.

[0094] When a user presses navigation control 50e (FIG. 2), control panel 54a displays a motion lock control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control one or more motion lockout functions of patient support apparatus 20. In one embodiment, which will be discussed in greater detail below, patient support apparatus 20 is configured to display a motion lockout screen of the type shown in FIG. 7 in response to a user pressing on control 50e. Such a motion lockout screen may include any of the features and functions as, and / or may be constructed in any of the same manners as, the motion lockout features, functions, and constructions disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 16 / 721,133 filed December 19, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH MOTION CUSTOMIZATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of motion lockouts may be included within patient support apparatus 20.

[0095] In general, pressing on navigation control 50e brings the user to one or more screens that allow the user to selectively disable and enable the functionality of one or more controls on the patient control panels 54c and / or the caregiver siderail control panels 54b. Thus, if a caregiver does not want the patient to be able to move any portions of patient support apparatus 20, he or she may use control 50e to navigate to a lockout screen that enables the caregiver to disable those controls on control panels 54c and / or 54b that control movement of any portions of patient support apparatus 20. In some embodiments, the lockout screen(s) displayed in response to pressing control 50e provide the caregiver with the option for disabling any of the controls on control panels 54b and / or 54c, while in other embodiments, the lockout screens provide the caregiver with the option for disabling only a selected subset of the controls on control panels 54b and / or 54c (such as, but not limited to, the subset of motion controls).

[0096] When a user presses on navigation control 50f (FIG. 2), control panel 54a displays a menu screen that includes a plurality of menu icons that, when touched, bring up one or more additional screens for controlling and / or viewing one or more other aspects of patient support apparatus 20. Such other aspects include, but are not limited to, diagnostic and / or service information for patient support apparatus 20, mattress control and / or status information, configuration settings, audio and / or agitation monitoring, location information, and other settings and / or information. One example of a menu screen is the menu screen 100 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 885,953 filed August 13, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH TOUCHSCREEN, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of menus and / or settings may be included within patient support apparatus 20.

[0097] FIG. 3 illustrates a first embodiment of a caregiver assistance system 18 according to the present disclosure. Caregiver assistance system 18 includes patient support apparatus 20 in communication with a patient support apparatus server 86, and one or more display devices 104 that are adapted to communicate with patient support apparatus server 86. The patient support apparatus server 86, like all of the servers discussed herein, includes one or more conventional microprocessors. Patient support apparatus server 86 is adapted to execute a software application 110 that receives various data from one or more patient support apparatuses 20, receives data from one or more other servers, processes some or all of the received data, and forwards some or all of the unprocessed and / or processed data to one or more display devices 104 for display thereon. As will be discussed in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 4, software application 110 may communicate with a plurality of other servers on a local area network 56 of the healthcare facility and use those communications to obtain some of the information it needs to perform some of the caregiver assistance functions described herein.

[0098] FIG. 3 illustrates in greater detail some of the internal components of patient support apparatus 20. As shown therein, patient support apparatus 20 includes a controller 58, a set of lift actuators 62, a memory 82, a mattress transceiver 84, a scale / exit detection system 88, control panel 54a (as well as control panels 54b and 54c, which are not shown in FIG. 3), a network transceiver 90, a nurse call interface 92, a microphone 94, a speaker 96, a Head of Bed (HoB) angle sensor 98, a nurse call control 100, a nurse call answer light 102, an HoB monitoring control 106, a mattress communication link sensor 108, and one or more alerting devices 116. Additionally, control panel 54a includes display 52 and controls 50, while exit detection system 88 includes a plurality of force sensors 60. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that patient support apparatus 20 may be modified to include additional components not shown in FIG. 3, as well modified to include fewer components from what is shown in FIG. 3 (i.e. omit one or more of the components shown in FIG. 3).

[0099] Controller 58 (FIG. 3) is constructed of any electrical component, or group of electrical components, which are capable of carrying out the functions described herein. In many embodiments, controller 58 is a conventional microcontroller, or group of conventional microcontrollers, although not all such embodiments need include a microcontroller. In general, controller 58 includes any one or more microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, systems on a chip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry, and / or other hardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carrying out the functions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such components can be physically configured in any suitable manner, such as by mounting them to one or more circuit boards, or arranging them in other manners, whether combined into a single unit or distributed across multiple units as part of an embedded network. When implemented to include an embedded network, the embedded network may include multiple nodes that communicate using one or more of the following: a Controller Area Network (CAN); a Local Interconnect Network (LIN); an l-squared-C serial communications bus; a serial peripheral interface (SPI) communications bus; any of RS-232, RS-422, and / or RS-485 communication interfaces; a LonWorks network, and / or an Ethernet. The instructions followed by controller 58 in carrying out the functions described herein, as well as the data necessary for carrying out these functions, are stored in an onboard memory 82, and / or in one or more other memories accessible to the one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, or other programmable components of controller 58. Memory 82 also includes a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the particular patient support apparatus into which it is incorporated, such as, but not limited to, a serial number.

[0100] Lift actuators 62 (FIG. 3) are components of lifts 26 and are configured to raise and lower litter frame 28 with respect to base 22. A first one of lift actuators 62 powers a first one of the lifts 26 positioned adjacent head end 38 of patient support apparatus 20 and a second one of lift actuators 62 powers a second one of the lifts 26 positioned adjacent foot end 40 of patient support apparatus 20. Lift actuators 62 may be conventional linear actuators having electric motors therein that, when driven, expand or contract the length of the linear actuator, thereby moving the litter frame upward or downward and changing its height relative to the floor.

[0101] Each lift actuator 62 may include a corresponding lift sensor that detects a position and / or angle of its associated actuator 62 and feeds the sensed position / angle to controller 58. Controller 58 uses the outputs from these lift sensors as inputs into a closed-loop feedback system for controlling the motion of the actuators 62 and the litter deck. Controller 58 also uses the outputs from the lift sensors to determine the height of litter frame 28 above the floor. In some embodiments, actuators 62 are constructed in any of the same manners as the actuators 34 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 15 / 449,277 filed March 3, 2017, by inventors Anish Paul et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ACTUATOR FEEDBACK, the completedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In such embodiments, the lift sensors may be constructed to include any of the encoders and / or switch sensors disclosed in the aforementioned ‘277 application.

[0102] Scale / exit detection system 88 is configured to determine a weight of a patient positioned on support deck 30 and / or when the patient is moving and is likely to exit patient support apparatus 20. The particular structural details of the exit detection system can vary widely. In some embodiments, scale / exit detection system 88 includes a plurality of load cells 60 arranged to detect the weight exerted on litter frame 28. By summing the outputs from each of the load cells 60, the total weight of the patient is determined (after subtracting the tare weight). Further, by using the known position of each of the load cells 60, controller 58 determines a center of gravity of the patient and monitors the center of gravity for movement beyond one or more thresholds. One method of computing the patient’s center of gravity from the output of such load cells is described in more detail in commonly assigned U.S. patent 5,276,432 issued to Travis and entitled PATIENT EXIT DETECTION MECHANISM FOR HOSPITAL BED, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other methods by which scale / exit detection system 88 may be implemented in order to determine when a patient is likely to exit from patient support apparatus 20 are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 17 / 318,476 filed May 12, 2021 , by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH EXIT DETECTION MODES OF OPERATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Still other methods of detecting when a patient has exited, or is about to exit, from patient support apparatus 20 may be implemented by scale / exit detection system 88.

[0103] Scale / exit detection system 88 may also implement one or more other methods for determining a patient’s weight and / or the weight of non-patient objects supported on litter frame 28, such as any of the methods and / or structures that are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application 14 / 776,842, filed September 15, 2015, by inventors Michael Hayes et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH PATIENT INFORMATION SENSORS, and commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 14 / 873,734 filed October 2, 2015, by inventors Marko Kostic et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH MOTION MONITORING, the complete disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Scale / exit detection system 88 may utilize still other methods and / or structures for determining a patient’s weight.

[0104] In some embodiments, mattress 42 (FIG. 1) is an inflatable mattress. In such embodiments, mattress 42 may include its own internal controller (not shown) that controls the inflation and deflation of one or more bladders contained within mattress 42. Controller 58 may also and / or alternatively directly control the blower(s), pump(s), valve(s), and other components of mattress 42. Controller 58 may communicate with mattress 42 using a serial cable, or other cable, which extendsbetween patient support apparatus 20 and mattress 42. In at least one alternative embodiment, the communication between patient support apparatus 20 and mattress 42 may be carried out wirelessly, such as in any of the manners disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent 9,289,336 issued to Lambarth et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT WITH ENERGY TRANSFER, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other manners for wireless communication may, of course, be used.

[0105] Regardless of whether mattress 42 communicates with controller 58 via a wireless or wired communication link, patient support apparatus 20 includes mattress transceiver 84, which carries out the bidirectional communication between patient support apparatus 20 and mattress 42. When the communication link is wireless, mattress transceiver 84 may be a Bluetooth, ultra-wideband (UWB), ZigBee, or other type of wireless transceiver. When the communication link is wired, mattress transceiver 84 may be a Controller Area Network (CAN) transceiver or any other conventional serial bus transceiver.

[0106] Controller 58 communicates with network transceiver 90 (FIG. 3) which, in at least one embodiment, is a Wi-Fi radio communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with wireless access points 112 of local area network 56. In such embodiments, network transceiver 90 may operate in accordance with any of the various IEEE 802.11 standards (e.g. 802.11 b, 802.11 n, 802.11g, 802.11ac, 802.11 ah, etc.). In other embodiments, network transceiver 90 may include, either additionally or in lieu of the Wi-Fi radio and communication module, a wired port for connecting a network wire to patient support apparatus 20. In some such embodiments, the wired port accepts a category 5e cable (Cat-5e), a category 6 or 6a (Cat-6 or Cat-6a), a category 7 (Cat-7) cable, or some similar network cable, and transceiver 90 is an Ethernet transceiver. In still other embodiments, network transceiver 90 may be constructed to include the functionality of the communication modules 56 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 15 / 831,466 filed Decembers, 2017, by inventor Michael Hayes et al. and entitled NETWORK COMMUNICATION FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0107] Regardless of the specific structure included with network transceiver 90, controller 58 is able to communicate with the local area network 56 (FIG. 3) of a healthcare facility in which the patient support apparatus is positioned. When network transceiver 90 is a wireless transceiver, it communicates with local area network 56 via one or more wireless access points 112. When network transceiver 90 is a wired transceiver, it communicates directly via a cable coupled between patient support apparatus 20 and a network outlet positioned within a room 68 of the healthcare facility in which patient support apparatus 20 is positioned. As will be discussed in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 4, local area network 56 includes a plurality of servers that are utilized in different manners by the caregiver assistance system 18 disclosed herein, and patient support apparatus 20communicates with one or more of those servers (e.g. patient support apparatus server 86) via transceiver 90 as part of the caregiver assistance system 18.

[0108] Patient support apparatus 20 include a nurse call interface 92 that may be a wired interface, a wireless interface, or both a wired and wireless interface. When implemented as a wired interface (not shown), a cable is connected at one end to nurse call interface 92 and at the other end to a conventional nurse call outlet or connector 64 (FIG. 4). The outlet or connector 64 is typically built into a wall of a hospital room 68 and is electrically coupled to a conventional nurse call system 66. In many embodiments, the nurse call connector 64 is a 37 pin outlet that the cable couples to, thereby enabling patient support apparatus 20 to communicate directly with nurse call system 66. In some embodiments, nurse call interface 92 of patient support apparatus 20 is constructed in accordance with any of the cable interfaces 92 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 15 / 945,437 filed April 4, 2018, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH RECONFIGURABLE COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0109] In the version shown in FIG. 3, nurse call interface 92 is a wireless nurse call interface that is adapted to wirelessly communicate with the nurse call connector 64, thereby eliminating the need for a caregiver to connect a cable to patient support apparatus 20 in order of the patient support apparatus 20 to be coupled to nurse call system 66. In some versions, nurse call interface 92 includes a radio module, such as the radio module 60 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 14 / 819,844 filed August 6, 2015, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH WIRELESS HEADWALL COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In such versions, a wall module 70 is included and coupled to the nurse call connector 64. Patient support apparatus 20 uses nurse call interface 92 to wirelessly communicate with wall module 70, and wall module 70 is coupled to wall connector 64 via a cable 72 (FIG. 4). Wall module 70 acts a communication intermediary between patient support apparatus 20 and wall connector 64. In some versions, wall module 70 may include any one or more of the same structures and / or functions of the headwall module 38 disclosed in the aforementioned ‘844 application.

[0110] In some embodiments, nurse call interface 92 may also, or alternatively, perform any of the functions of the nurse call interfaces disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 833,943 filed April 15, 2019, by inventors Alexander Bodurka et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH NURSE CALL AUDIO MANAGEMENT, the complete disclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference. Still other types of wireless communication between the patient support apparatus 20 and a nurse call connector 64 may be implemented.

[0111] In the illustrated version, nurse call interface 92 includes a location receiver that is adapted to detect a wireless signal emitted from a nearby location beacon 114 incorporated into wall module 70. Location beacon 114 is positioned at a fixed and known location within the healthcare facility. Although FIG. 3 only illustrates a single one of these location beacons 114, it will be understood that a particular healthcare facility includes many of these location beacons 114 mounted throughout the healthcare facility (some of which, or all of which, are incorporated into wall modules 70). Each location beacon 114 includes a wireless short range transmitter (not shown) that broadcasts a wireless, short range signal containing a unique identifier. The short range signal, in some embodiments, is broadcast via an infrared transmitter and is only detectable by receivers (e.g. receivers built into nurse call interface 92) that are positioned within several feet of the location beacon 114. Consequently, the location receiver is only able to detect the signals from a location beacon 114 when patient support apparatuses 20 is positioned adjacent (e.g. within several feet) of one of these location beacons 114. If / when a location receiver of nurse call interface 92 is able to detect the unique signal from a particular location beacon 114, the corresponding patient support apparatus 20 can therefore conclude that it is currently positioned adjacent that particular location beacon 114. This allows the current location of the patient support apparatus 20 to be identified. In some healthcare facilities, one or more of the patient rooms 68 may not be completely private rooms, but instead may be shared with one or more other patients. In such situations, it is typical to mount two or more location beacons 114 (each of which is part of a wall module 70) within such a room— one on the headwall at the bay where the first patient support apparatus 20 normally resides and the other on the headwall at the bay where the second patient support apparatus 20 normally resides (and still more if the room is shared by more than two patients).

[0112] In some versions of patient support apparatus 20, the location receiver of nurse call interface 92 is an ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver adapted to receive and / or transmit UWB signals. When so implemented, the location transceiver may be able to use UWB signals to communicate with a UWB location transceiver built into wall module 70. By exchanging UWB signals between themselves (e.g. ranging), the UWB location transceivers are able to determine their distance from each other. In some embodiments, patient support apparatus 20 may include multiple UWB location transceivers positioned at known locations onboard patient support apparatus 20 and use ranging between those multiple UWB transceivers and the UWB transceivers) of wall module 70 to determine the orientation of patient support apparatus 20 relative to wall module 70, relative to the wall to which it is attached, and / or relative to the room 68 in which the wall module 70 is positioned. In some embodiments, wall modules 70 and / or patient support apparatus 20 may include any of the same UWB functionality as the locator units 60 and / or patient support apparatuses 20 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. provisional patent application serial number 63 / 597,412 filed November 9, 2023, by inventors MichaelGraves et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0113] When nurse call interface 92 receives a wireless signal from an adjacent location beacon 114, controller 58 forwards the received signal, including the unique ID of the location beacon 114 and a unique ID of patient support apparatus 20 to software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86 (FIGS. 3-4). Software application 110 includes and / or utilizes a table that correlates beacon IDs to locations (e.g. rooms 68) within the healthcare facility. Software application 110 is thereby able to determine the location of each patient support apparatus 20 within the healthcare facility (at least all of those that are positioned adjacent a location beacon 114).

[0114] In some embodiments, wall modules 70 (FIG. 3) function both as locators and as wireless links to a nurse call wall connector 64 (FIG. 4) integrated into the adjacent headwall. When equipped with this dual function, patient support apparatuses 20 may transmit audio signals to, and receive audio signals from, (such as the patient’s voice, a caregiver’s voice, a television’s audio signals, and / or other audio signals) wall module 70, which in turn communicates the audio signals to nurse call system 66 via wall connector 64 and / or from a television within the room 68. In such embodiments, the audio signals may be transmitted to and from wall modules 70 via one or more RF transceivers 76, which may include one or more Bluetooth transceivers and / or UWB transceivers.

[0115] Wall module 70 also includes a wall connector interface 78 that oversees the communications between wall connector 64 and wall module 70. In some versions, wall connector interface 78 may include the headwall interface 118, the TV controller 116, and the configuration circuity 114 of the locator units 60 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 615,806 filed December 29, 2023, by inventors Michael Graves et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS AND ASSET MONITORING, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0116] In general, wall connector interface 78 is adapted to change the electrical state of one or more pins that are in electrical communication with wall connector 64 (via cable 72). Wall connector interface 78 changes these electrical states in response to instructions from a controller built into wall module 70. For example, if the exit detection system 88 of patient support apparatus 20 detects a patient exit, controller 58 of patient support apparatus 20 sends an exit alert signal to wall module 70 and the controller of wall module 70 responds by instructing wall connector interface 78 to change the electrical state of at least one pin that is used to signal an exit alert (or a generic priority alert) to nurse call system 66 via wall connector 64.

[0117] In some designs, wall connector interface 78 may be constructed in the same manner as, and / or may include any one or of the functions as, the cable interface 88 described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 193,778 filed May 27, 2021 , by inventors KrishnaBhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS AND HEADWALL UNIT SYNCING, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, or additionally, wall connector interface 78 may be constructed in the same manner as, and / or may include any one or more of the same functions as, the headwall interface 120 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 131 ,508 filed December 29, 2020, by inventors Kirby Neihouser et al. and entitled TOOL FOR CONFIGURING HEADWALL UNITS USED FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0118] Further details about the function of wall modules 70 may be found in any of the following commonly assigned U.S. patent references: patent number 8,102,254 issued January 24, 2012 to Becker et al. and entitled LOCATION DETECTION SYSTEM FOR A PATIENT HANDLING DEVICE; patent application serial number 14 / 819,844 filed August 6, 2015, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH WIRELESS HEADWALL COMMUNICATION; patent application serial number 62 / 600,000 filed December 18, 2017, by inventor Alex Bodurka, and entitled SMART HOSPITAL HEADWALL SYSTEM; and patent application serial number 62 / 598,787 filed December 14, 2017, by inventors Alex Bodurka et al. and entitled HOSPITAL HEADWALL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, the complete disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0119] In some embodiments, wall module 70 may also include a network transceiver 80. Network transceiver 80 is adapted to allow wall module 70 to communicate with local network 56. Network transceiver 80 may be the same type of transceiver as the network transceiver 90 onboard patient support apparatus 20.

[0120] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes mattress communication link sensor 108 (FIG. 3). Mattress communication link sensor 108 detects whether mattress 42 is communicatively linked to patient support apparatus 20 or not. In some versions of patient support apparatus 20, patient support apparatus 20 includes a cable port into which a cable is inserted that communicatively couples patient support apparatus 20 to mattress 42. The cable port is in electrical communication with mattress transceiver 84. As was noted, in other versions of patient support apparatus 20, mattress transceiver 84 is a wireless transceiver that is adapted to wirelessly communicate with a controller inside of mattress 42. In either situation, mattress communication link sensor 108 is adapted to detect if a communication link (whether wired or wireless) is currently present between patient support apparatus 20 and the controller of mattress 42.

[0121] In some versions, mattress communication link sensor 108 detects the presence of a communication link by sending and / or monitoring communications between controller 58 and mattress 42. For example, in some versions of mattress 42, mattress 42 is configured to periodically send aheartbeat message to controller 58. If this heartbeat message is not detected, communication link sensor 108 determines that the communication link between patient support apparatus 20 and mattress 42 is not present. Alternatively, or additionally, mattress communication link sensor 108 may transmit one or more test messages to mattress 42 and wait for an expected response. If the expected response is not received, sensor 108 concludes that the mattress communication link is not present (or is otherwise not functional). In still other versions, mattress communication link sensor 108 may be a physical sensor that detects when the mattress communication cable is physically plugged into mattress 42 and / or patient support apparatus 20. Mattress communication link sensor 108 may therefore take on a variety of different implementations, including implementations that are built into software executed by controller 58 and / or implementations that involve one or more hardware sensors. In those versions where mattress communication link sensor 108 is built into software executed by controller 58, mattress communication link sensor 108 may not be a physically separate sensor, but instead may comprise a sensing function carried out by controller 58 and / or mattress transceiver 84.

[0122] Controller 58 forwards the output of mattress communication link sensor 108 to patient support apparatus server 86 using network transceiver 90. Software application 110 uses this information to determine what content to display on one or more display devices 104 that are in communication with patient support apparatus server 86. Specifically, software application 110 uses the outputs of mattress communication link sensor 108 to determine whether to display a “mattress disconnected” icon or not, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

[0123] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes Head-of-Bed (Hob) angle sensor 98 (FIG. 3). HoB angle sensor 98 is adapted to determine the angle of head section 44 (also known as the Fowler section) of patient support deck 30 relative to a generally horizontal plane. HoB angle sensor 98 may be any conventional HoB angle sensor known in the art, including, but not limited to, a mechanical, electrical, software, and / or other type of sensor. In many clinical situations, such as when a patient is on a ventilator or has a respiratory condition, it is desirable for the patient to have his or her chest elevated (i.e. not horizontal). In such situations, the HoB angle should be above a specified threshold (e.g. about 30 or 45 degrees, depending upon a healthcare’s clinical preference). HoB angle sensor 98 reports its angular reading to controller 58. In response, controller 58 forwards the HoB angle reading to software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86. In addition, and as will be discussed in greater detail below, controller 58 may check to see if the local HoB monitoring control 106 has been activated and, if so, issue a local alert (via alerting device 116) if the current HoB angle is less than a desired threshold.

[0124] HoB monitoring control 106 may be a conventional button, switch, touchscreen input, or any other type of control that is integrated into patient support apparatus 20 and that, when activated, monitors the HoB angle of patient support apparatus 20 (i.e. the angle of head section 44).When HoB monitoring control 106 is activated and the HoB angle falls below a desired threshold (e.g. 30 or 45 degrees), HoB monitoring control 106 informs controller 58 and controller 58 activates alerting device 116 (i.e. issues a local alert). Alerting device 116 may comprise a speaker, buzzer, one or more lights, one or more messages or graphics displayed on display 52, and / or other audio or visual alerting structures. In addition to activating alerting device 116, controller 58 sends a message to software application 110 via network transceiver 90. As will be discussed in greater detail below, depending upon the user-configuration of software application 110, software application may instruct one or more display devices 104 to display an HoB alert for the room 68 in which patient support apparatus 20 is currently located. One example of HoB monitoring control 106 is shown in FIG. 15 and will be discussed in greater detail below.

[0125] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a nurse call control 100 (FIG. 3). Nurse call control 100 may be a conventional button, switch, touchscreen input, or any other type of control that is integrated into patient support apparatus 20 and that, when activated by a caregiver, causes a signal to be sent to nurse call system 66 via wall connector 64 (which, as noted previously, may be routed directly to wall connector 64 via a cable connection, or wirelessly to wall module 70 which then forwards the signal to wall connector 64 via cable 72). The nurse call system 66 responds to the signal in a conventional manner, such as by forwarding the call signal to a phone, badge, pager, or other communication device associated with the caregiver assigned to that particular patient. The caregiver may then answer this call and carry out voice communications with the patient. In some versions, nurse call control 100 may correspond to the control 50g shown in FIG. 3 of commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 606,292 filed December 5, 2023, by inventors Jerald Trepanier et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0126] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a nurse answer light 102 (FIG. 3). Controller 58 is adapted to illuminate nurse answer light 102 when it detects that a remote caregiver has answered the call placed by the patient using nurse call control 100. In many healthcare facilities, wall connector 64 is a 37-pin connector, and in such facilities, the nurse call system may be configured to change a voltage level on one of those specific pins in response to the caregiver answer the call placed by the patient. This change in voltage on a specific pin is detected by nurse call interface 92 (either directly via a cable coupled to wall connector 64, or indirectly by wall module 70 detecting the voltage change and then forwarding a corresponding wireless message to nurse call interface 92 informing it of the voltage change). Nurse call interface 92 forwards this information to controller 58 which, in turn, activates nurse call light 102. When the call between the patient and caregiver terminates, the nurse call system once again changes the voltage on one of the pins of the 37-pinconnector, and this voltage change is communicated to controller 58 which, in turn, deactivates nurse call answer light 102.

[0127] As will be discussed in greater detail below, in some versions of patient support apparatus 20, when controller 58 detects that a call between a patient and a remote caregiver has terminated (and in response deactivates nurse call answer light 102), controller 58 may be configured to transmit a message to software application 110 informing it that the call between the patient and remote caregiver has been terminated. This may prompt software application 110 to stop displaying a nurse call icon, or other nurse call indicator, on one or more of the display devices 104 that are in communication with patient support apparatus server 86 and software application 110.

[0128] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes one or more alerting devices 116 (FIG. 3). As was noted previously, alerting device 116 may comprise a speaker, buzzer, one or more lights, one or more messages or graphics displayed on display 52, other audio or visual alerting structures, and / or any combination of two or more of these. Controller 58 is adapted to activate one or more of alerting devices 116 in response to detecting an alert condition. Such alerting condition include, but are not limited to, a patient exiting from patient support apparatus 20 while exit detection system 88 is armed, the HoB angle of head section 44 decreasing below the desired threshold while HoB monitoring control 106 is activated, and / or other conditions. Alerting device(s) 116 are local alerting devices. That is, they create audio and / or visual alerts at patient support apparatus 20 itself. They do not create alerts at remote locations. As will be discussed in greater detail below, controller 58 may forward information to software application 110 and software application 110 may issue alerts remotely in response thereto, but those remote alerts are not controlled by controller 58 and, in some situations, may be independent of the alerts generated by alerting device(s) 116.

[0129] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes one or more microphones 94 (FIG. 3) that are adapted to capture the voice of the patient. That is, microphone 94 is what the patient speaks into when he or she calls a remotely positioned caregiver and converses with that caregiver. The audio voice signals detected by microphone 94 are converted to audio signals and forwarded to the nurse call system 66 (which in turn routes them to the appropriate nurses’ station(s)).

[0130] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a speaker 96. Controller 58 controls the sounds emitted by speaker 96. Controller 58 may route audio signals from the nurse call system 66 (which may correspond to the voice of a remote caregiver) to speaker 96 so that the patient on patient support apparatus 20 can hear the remote caregiver’s voice. Controller 58 may also route television audio signals from a nearby television to speaker 96 so the patient can better hear the sound from the television. Controller 58 may also use speaker 96 as an alerting device 116 in some instances.

[0131] In some versions, caregiver assistance system 18 is adapted to communicate with a conventional Electronic Medical Records (EMR) server 120. Specifically, software application 110 maybe configured to receive a feed of patient information from EMR server 120, or otherwise retrieve patient information from EMR server 120. Such information may include, but is not limited to, EMR information indicating that a patient has been placed on a ventilator and / or that a patient has been assigned a respiratory precaution, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

[0132] Local area network 56 of the healthcare facility may be a conventional local area network and, in many case, will have a conventional gateway and / or router that connects the network 56 to the Internet 118. In such situations, patient support apparatus server 86 may be omitted and / or supplemented with a remote server 122 that may execute a remote copy of software application 110. That is, caregiver assistance system 18 does not require a software application 110 that is executed on a local server (e.g. patient support apparatus server 86) in order for it to operate. Instead, in some instances, software application 110 may reside on a remote server 122 that is in communication with one or more patient support apparatuses 20 and display devices 104 via local area network 56. In some instances, software application 110 may have one or more portions of its functionality distributed between patient support apparatus server 86 and remote server 122. Still other configurations are possible for implementing system 18.

[0133] Display devices 104 (FIGS. 3-4) may come in a variety of different forms. Each display device 104 includes at least one display 126, which may be a conventional display, such as an LED display, an OLED display, or another type of display. As shown in FIG. 4, some display devices 104 are mobile display devices 104a intended to be carried by a user (e.g. caregiver) while other display devices are stationary display devices 104b that generally remain in one location. Mobile display devices 104a may take on different forms, such as, but not limited to, smart phones, tablets, laptop computers, badges, Computers on Wheels (COWs), and others. Stationary display devices 104b may also take on different forms, such as, but not limited to, smart televisions, displays, Personal Computers (PCs), and others. For purposes of the following written description, reference to display devices 104 will refer to both display devices 104a and 104b, unless otherwise stated.

[0134] Caregiver assistance system 18 may be configured such that stationary display devices 104b communicate with software application 110 via a conventional web browser. System 18 may also be configured such that mobile display devices 104a are adapted to execute a specialized or native software application (other than a conventional web-browser) that is downloaded to the mobile display device 104a and that is tailored to be executed by the particular operating system of the display device (e.g. Android, iOS, Windows, etc.). The specialized software application is executed by the microcontroller(s) of the display device 104a and carries out the functions of caregiver assistance system 18 described herein. It will be understood that this configuration may be modified and that one or more stationary display devices 104b may be configured to utilize a native software application (other than a conventional web browser) to communicate with software application 110, and that one ormore mobile display devices 104a may be configured to utilize a conventional web browser to communicate with software application 110.

[0135] For those display devices 104 that connect to software application 110 via a conventional web-browser, it may be necessary for a caregiver associated with a display device 104 to utilize the conventional web-browser application contained within the display device 104 to navigate to a particular web page, or other URL, associated with software application 110. Any conventional webbrowsing software may be used for this purpose, including, but not limited to, Microsoft’s Bing or Internet Explorer web browsers, Google’s Chrome web browser, Apple’s Safari web browser, Mozilla’s Firefox web browser, etc. The particular URL accessed with the web browser may vary for different healthcare facilities and can be customized by authorized IT personnel at the healthcare facility. In some embodiments, a domain name may be associated with software application 110 that is resolved by a local DNS server to the IP address of patient support apparatus server 86 (e.g. www.caregiver- assistance-app.com) and / or to remote server 122. As was also noted, some display devices 104 may include their own native software applications that are programmed to interact with software application 110, thereby avoiding the usage of a web browser to access software application 110. Access to software application 110 may be achieved in other manners.

[0136] Software application 110 may be configured to require a user to enter a user name and / or password via the display device 104 before the user is able to access software application 110. After entering the appropriate information into a display device 104, the software application 110 is configured to instruct the display device 104 to display data regarding one or more patient support apparatuses 20 and / or one or more patients that are positioned within the healthcare facility. Such data may include a dashboard screen, such as the dashboard screen 162 of FIG. 5. Depending upon the authorization level of the user, the data may include additional screens, such as one or more of those shown in FIGS. 16-24.

[0137] Software application 110 is adapted to assist the caregivers in performing a plurality of tasks. In general, software application 110 is adapted to assist the caregivers in ensuring that the patient support apparatuses 20 are maintained in a desirable state, to assist the caregivers in alerting them of undesired conditions associated with their patients and / or patient support apparatuses 20, to let caregivers know when a patient is calling for assistance, and / or to assist in other ways.

[0138] In order to carry out its functions, software application 110 may include, or utilize, a set of facility rules (specific to a particular healthcare facility, or portion of a healthcare facility), a data repository, a communication interface, and / or a web Application Programming Interface. The set of facility rules may be defined prior to the installation of software application 110 within a particular healthcare facility, and / or it may be modifiable by authorized personnel after installation within the healthcare facility. Such modifications are made by way of one or more computers 134 (FIG. 4) thatare in communication with local area network 56 and that act as user interfaces for software application 110. Thus, an authorized individual 136 (FIG. 4) may utilize computer 134 to communicate with software application 110 and add, delete, or modify one or more of the facility rules.

[0139] The facility rules may include, but are not limited to, the following: rules indicating what state patient support apparatuses 20 are to be placed in; rules defining situations detected by one or more sensors onboard patient support apparatuses 20; rules specifying who is to be notified, and when, if an undesired state of patient support apparatus 20 and / or the patient is detected; rules specifying how such notifications are to be communicated (e.g. email, phone call, texts, etc.); rules specifying what personnel within the healthcare facility are authorized to view what data using software application 110; and / or other rules. Some or all of these rules may be modified by authorized healthcare personnel using software application 110 for different wings of the healthcare facility, different units of the healthcare facility, different patients, different patient conditions, different patient assessments, different times of day and / or different shifts, different models of patient support apparatuses, different patient treatments, different data stored in an EMR server 120, etc. That facility rules may apply across the entire healthcare facility, or they may vary for different departments, wings, units, etc.

[0140] The facility rules may also include additional administrative data that is stored on patient support apparatus server 86, or stored in a memory otherwise accessible to software application 110. Such administrative data includes, but is not limited to, the IP address, or other network address, of each of the servers with which software application 110 is to communicate (e.g. an EMR server 120 and / or other servers), and / or the IP addresses or other configuration data necessary for software application 110 to communicate with one or more middleware software applications that act as gateways to one or more of these servers. The administrative data also may also include user names, passwords, access levels, and other information about those hospital personnel who have been authorized to use software application 110.

[0141] The communication interface used by software application 110 controls the communications between software application 110 and the display devices 104 with which it is in communication (FIGS. 3-4). The communication interface may also control the communications between software application 110 and the servers with which it is in communication. All of these communications, in at least one embodiment, are carried out using conventional Internet packet routing. That is, patient support apparatuses 20 send data in packets that have an IP address corresponding to patient support apparatus server 86, and server 86 sends message packets back to patient support apparatuses 20 that include an IP address corresponding to the particular patient support apparatus(es) 20 to which the messages are intended. In some embodiments, each patient support apparatus 20 includes a static IP address that is stored on the patient support apparatus 20, while in other embodiments, the patient support apparatuses 20 consult a local Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) server (not shown) on local area network 56 and the DHCP server assigns a network address to the patient support apparatuses 20.

[0142] When communicating with other servers within the healthcare facility, the communication interface of software application 110 may utilize different communication protocols, such as, but not limited to, Link Layer Protocol (LLP), Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), and / or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), etc. In order to facilitate the communication between patient support apparatus server 86 and the other servers of local area network 56, the communication interface may utilize a conventional interface engine, such as, but not limited to, the Redox cloud platform that is commercially available from Redox, Inc. of Madison, Wisconsin. Alternatively, or additionally, the communication interface may utilize a conventional IGUANA interface engine (HL-7 or otherwise) available from iNTERFACEWARE, Inc. of Toronto, Ontario. Such interfaces allow software application 110 to communicate with different types and / or brands of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, such as, but not limited to, those marketed by Cemer corporation, Epic Corporation , Allscripts, etc.

[0143] The web API that may be used in some embodiments of software application 110 provides a portal for authorized devices, software applications, and / or servers to access the data of software application 110. In some embodiments, display devices 104 communicate with software application 110 via the web API by using a web browser built into the display devices 104 that accesses one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that direct the web browser to software application 110. The web API, in some embodiments, uses JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to communicate with the web browsers of the display devices 104. In other embodiments, the web API use Extensible Markup Language (XML) to communicate with the web browsers of the display devices 104. Still other types of communication may be used.

[0144] In some embodiments, the web API may be configured to communicate with the display devices 104 using the conventional GET, POST, DELETE, and UPDATE verbs of the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). These are used for providing RESTfal service (i.e. Representational State Transfers) between web API and the display devices 104. Forthose aspects of software application 110 that utilize two way interactive communication, conventional web socket protocols (e.g. IETF RFC 6455, or the WebSocket API in Web IDL (Interface Description Language) that is standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)) may be used for communication between the web API and the display devices 104. Alternatively, or additionally, conventional pull and push requests may be used for this communication, as well as, but not limited to, server-sent events and / or long polling. Still other communication techniques may be used. In some embodiments, such communications are encrypted such that at least those messages containing patient data are securedagainst interception. Such encryption takes place, in at least one embodiment, as part of a RESTulf Web service (RWS).

[0145] In general, software application 110 performs the following functions: gathers data from patient support apparatuses 20 about their current states, their assigned patients, and / or the environment in which the patient support apparatus 20 is positioned; gathers data from EMR server 120 about the patients assigned to patient support apparatuses 20; communicates a selected portion of the gathered data to display devices 104 that are remote from patient support apparatus server 86; causes the display devices 104 to display one or more notifications regarding the current state of the patient support apparatuses 20, their patients, and / or their environments; and / or performs other functions. In some embodiments, software application 110 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions and / or algorithms performed by the caregiver assistance system disclosed in commonly assigned PCT patent application serial number PCT / US2021 / 033408, filed May 20, 2021 , by applicant Stryker Corporation and entitled CAREGIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0146] Patient support apparatus 20 is shown in FIGS. 3-4 in communication with local area network 56 of the healthcare facility. It will be understood that the precise structure and contents of the local area network 56 will vary from healthcare facility to healthcare facility. FIG. 4 illustrates in greater detail the contents of a common hospital’s local area network 56, along with patient support apparatus server 86 and several display devices 104. It will be understood that specific servers shown in FIG. 4 and their functionality may be modified from what is shown and described herein. For example, all or some of the functions of software application 110 may be combined with, either partially or wholly, any one or more of the other servers shown in FIG. 4 and / or described herein. Additionally, the functionality of any one or more of the servers shown in FIG. 4 and / or described herein may also be combined, either partially or wholly, with any other ones of these other servers. For example, one or more of the functions of ADT server 140 may be combined with EMR server 120 and / or nurse call server 142.Other combinations of functionality are, of course, also possible.

[0147] As shown in FIG. 4, local area network 56 may include a plurality of servers, including a conventional Admission, Discharge, and Tracking (ADT) server 140, a conventional nurse call server 142, a conventional Electronic Medical Records server 120, and a plurality of conventional wireless access points 112. Local area network 56 also includes patient support apparatus server 86 that, together with one or more patient support apparatuses 20 and one or more display devices 104, implement one embodiment of the caregiver assistance system 18 according to the present disclosure. Still further, network 56 includes a conventional Internet gateway 144 that couples local area network 56 to the Internet 118, thereby enabling the servers and / or patient support apparatuses 20 to communicate with computers outside of the healthcare facility, such as, but not limited to, ageographically remote server 122. In some embodiments, all or some of the functions of software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86 are carried out by geographically remote server 122, while in other embodiments software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86 is configured to implement all or some of its functions without accessing geographically remote server 122.

[0148] ADT server 140, which may be a conventional server, stores patient information, including the identity of patients and the corresponding rooms 68 and / or bays within rooms to which the patients are assigned. That is, ADT server 140 includes a patient-room assignment table 150 (FIG. 4), or functional equivalent to such a table. The patient-room assignment table 150 correlates rooms, as well as bays within multi-patient rooms, to the names of individual patients within the healthcare facility. The patient’s names are entered into the ADT server 140 by one or more healthcare facility staff whenever a patient checks into the healthcare facility and the patient is assigned to a particular room within the healthcare facility. If and / or when a patient is transferred to a different room and / or discharged from the healthcare facility, the staff of the healthcare facility update ADT server 140. ADT server 140 therefore maintains an up-to-date table 150 that correlates patient names with their assigned rooms. ADT server 140 may be a conventional server marketed by Cemer Corporation of North Kansas City, Missouri; EPIC Systems of Madison, Wisconsin; Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois; and / or by other companies. Still other types of ADT servers 140 may, of course, be used. In some embodiments, ADT server 140 and / or a portion of its functions may be integrated into, or combined with, those of EMR server 120.

[0149] EMR server 120 (FIGS. 3-4) stores the medical records of individual patients. Such patient records identify a patient by name and the medical information associated with that patient. Such medical information may include all of the medical information generated from the patient's current stay in the healthcare facility as well as medical information from previous visits. An abbreviated EMR table 152 (FIG. 4) shows an abbreviated example of two types of medical information that may be entered into a patient’s medical records: a risk assessment of the patient’s risk of falling (high, low, medium) and an indication of whether or not the patient has a respiratory precaution. Although FIG. 4 shows the fall risk data expressed as text, it will be understood that this data may be stored within a medical record in numeric format. For example, the fall risk data may be stored as a numeric value generated from a healthcare facility’s assessment of the patient. It will also be understood that EMR table 152 may include, among numerous other types of information, an indication as to whether or not a particular patient is currently on, or has been prescribed treatment with, a ventilator.

[0150] As noted, a typical EMR server 120 will include far more additional information in the medical records of each patient than what is shown in table 152 of FIG. 4. It will be understood that theterm “EMR server," as used herein, also includes Electronic Health Records servers, or EHR servers for short, and that the present disclosure does not distinguish between electronic medical records and electronic health records. EMR server 120 may be a conventional server marketed by Cemer Corporation of North Kansas City, Missouri; EPIC Systems of Madison, Wisconsin; Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois; and / or by other companies. Still other types of EMR servers 124 may, of course, be used.

[0151] Nurse call server 142 is shown in FIG. 4 to include a caregiver assignment table 154 that matches caregivers to specific rooms and / or bays within the healthcare facility. Although table 154 only shows caregivers assigned to a single room, it will be understood that each caregiver is typically assigned to multiple rooms. In some nurse call systems, caregivers are assigned to specific patients, rather than to specific rooms. Caregiver assistance system 18 is configured to work with both types of nurse call systems. Caregiver assistance system 18 is also adapted to work with healthcare facilities that utilize a separate caregiver assignment server (not shown), rather than nurse call server 142, to assign caregivers to rooms and / or patients. Nurse call server 142 may be a conventional server marketed by Rauland-Borg (now owned byAmetek, Inc. of Berwyn, Pennsylvania); by West-Com Nurse Call System, Inc. of Fairfield, California; and / or by other companies.

[0152] Regardless of whether caregiver assignment table 154 is stored within nurse call server 142 or some other server on network 56, nurse call server 142 is configured to communicate with caregivers and patients. That is, whenever a patient on a patient support apparatus 20 presses, or otherwise activates, a nurse call control, the nurse call signals pass through wall connector 64. Wall connector 64 is coupled via wire to nurse call server 142 and / or to another structure of the nurse call system that then routes the call to the appropriate nurse. The nurse is thereby able to communicate with the patient from a remote location.

[0153] Local area network 56 may include additional structures not shown in FIG. 4, such as, but not limited to, one or more conventional work flow servers and / or charting servers that monitor and / or schedule patient-related tasks for particular caregivers, and / or one or more conventional communication servers that forward communications to particular individuals within the healthcare facility, such as via one or more portable devices (smart phones, pagers, beepers, laptops, etc.). The forwarded communications may include data and / or alerts that originate from patient support apparatuses 20 as well as data and / or alerts that originate from patient support apparatus server 86.

[0154] Wireless access points 112 are configured, in at least some embodiments, to operate in accordance with any one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards (e.g. 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ah, etc.). As such, patient support apparatuses 20 and display devices 104 that are equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities, and that have the proper authorization credentials (e.g. password, SSID, etc.), can access local area network 56 and the servers hosted thereon. This allows patient support apparatus 20 tosend messages to, and receive messages from, software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86. This also allows display devices 104 to send messages to, and receive messages from, software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86. As noted previously, alternatively, or additionally, patient support apparatuses 20 may include a wired port for coupling a wired cable (e.g. a Category 5, Category 5e, etc.) between the patient support apparatus 20 and one or more routers / gateways / switches, etc. of network 56, thereby allowing patient support apparatuses 20 to communicate via wired communications with software application 110 of server 86.

[0155] In still other embodiments, one or more of the patient support apparatuses 20 are equipped with alternative wireless transceivers enabling them to communicate directly with patient support apparatus server 86 via an antenna and transceiver that is directly coupled to server 86 and that is separate from LAN 56, thereby allowing patient support apparatuses 20 to bypass LAN 56 in their communications with server 86. One example of patient support apparatuses equipped to communicate directly with a server on a healthcare facility’s local area network without utilizing the LAN is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 15 / 831 ,466 filed December 5, 2017, by inventors Michael Hayes and entitled NETWORK COMMUNICATION FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, patient support apparatuses 20 include communication modules, such as the communication modules 66 disclosed in the aforementioned ‘466 application, and server 86 is coupled directly to a receiver, such as the enterprise receiver 90 disclosed in the aforementioned ‘466 application. In such embodiments, patient support apparatuses 20 are able to both send and receive messages directly to and from server 86 without utilizing access points 112 or any of the hardware of network 56 (other than server 86).

[0156] Software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86 is configured to construct a table 156 (FIG. 4), or a functionally equivalent type of data structure, which determines in which specific rooms 68— and / or bays within the rooms of the healthcare facility— each of the patient support apparatuses 20 is currently located. Software application 110 determines these room and / or bay locations by using the known location of each location beacon 114 within the healthcare facility (which may be determined via a surveying procedure during the installation of beacons 114) and the known beacon IDs of each location beacon 114. Each location beacon 114 sends a unique beacon ID 160 (FIG. 4) to an adjacent patient support apparatus 20 when the patient support apparatus 20 is positioned within a close proximity of the patient support apparatus 20. The patient support apparatus 20, in turn, forwards this unique beacon ID 160, along with its unique patient support apparatus ID, to software application 110. Software application 110 then uses these two IDs, along with the known location of the locator beacons 114, to determine the location of each patient support apparatus 20.

[0157] Software application 110 also receives status conditions from each patient support apparatus 20. Such status conditions may include data from any of the various sensors onboard patient support apparatus 20, including data relating to the condition of the patient, data relating to the condition of patient support apparatus 20, and / or data relating to the environment (e.g. room) in which patient support apparatus 20 is positioned. Each patient support apparatus 20 sends these status conditions to software application 110 with its corresponding unique patient support apparatus ID 158. Software application 110 is therefore able to correlate incoming patient support apparatus status conditions with specific patient support apparatuses 20 and specific locations within the healthcare facility. In other words, software application 110 is able to construct a data structure like table 156 of FIG. 4, which includes the room location and status conditions for each of the patient support apparatuses 20 within the healthcare facility (or within a portion of the healthcare facility).

[0158] Although not shown in table 156 of FIG. 4, software application 110 may also correlate the information of table 156 to one or more additional pieces of information, such as specific caregivers, specific patients, and / or other pieces of information. For example, software application 110 may determine which caregivers are associated with each of the patient support apparatuses 20 based on the caregiver-to-room assignment data it receives from nurse call server 142 (i.e. the data of table 154). By using this caregiver-to-room assignment data, software application 110 is able to determine which caregiver(s) are assigned to each of the patient support apparatuses 20. Further, software application 110 may determine which patients are associated with each of the patient support apparatuses 20 based on the patient-to-room assignment data it receives from ADT server 140 (i.e. the data of table 150). By using this patient-to-room assignment data, software application 110 is able to determine which patient is assigned to each of the patient support apparatuses 20. Further, by knowing which patient is assigned to each patient support apparatus 20, software application 110 is able to assign medical information received from EMR server 120 to each of the patient support apparatuses 20. Such medical information may include information indicative of the fall risk of a patient, the usage of a ventilator, and / or the presence of a respiratory precaution. In summary, software application is supplied with sufficient data to know the current status of each patient support apparatus 20, the room in which each patient support apparatus 20 is assigned, the caregiver assigned to that room and / or patient support apparatus 20, the patient assigned to each patient support apparatus 20, and the patient’s data contained with EMR server 120.

[0159] In some embodiments, software application 110 is configured to determine patient-to- room, patient-to-bed, patient-to-bed-bay, patient-to-caregiver, caregiver-to-room, caregiver-to-patient- support-apparatus, and / or caregiver-to-bed-bay correlations in any of the manners disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 826,097, filed March 29, 2019 by inventors Thomas Durlach et al. and entitled PATIENT CARE SYSTEM, and / or commonly assignedIndian patent application serial number 202211062036 filed October 31 , 2022, in the Indian Patent Office by inventors Thomas Durlach et al. and entitled CAREGIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM, the complete disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, software application 110 may further be modified to carry out any of the staffing errors, and other errornotification functions, disclosed in the aforementioned ‘097 application.

[0160] As shown in FIG. 4, the status information received by software application 110 and contained within table 156 may include status information about whether a patient has activated the nurse call control 100 or not (i.e. placed a call to a caregiver) and information about whether patient support apparatus 20 is currently communicatively coupled to mattress 42 or not. As will be discussed below with reference to FIG. 7, software application may determine that a nurse call was placed through the activation of nurse call control 100 in different manners. And as will be discussed in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 5, software application 110 may determine that a mattress 42 is not communicatively coupled to a patient support apparatus 20 through controller 58 forwarding the output of mattress communication link sensor 108 to software application 110.

[0161] FIG. 5 illustrates ones example of a dashboard screen 162 whose content is generated by software application 110 and forwarded to one or more display devices 104 for display on their corresponding displays 126. Dashboard screen 162 of FIG. 5 is particularly suited for being displayed on display devices 104 that have a relatively large display size, such as stationary display devices 104b (and not, for example, mobile display devices 104a that have a relatively small screen, such as smart phones or small computers). Dashboard screen 162 includes a plurality of room icons 166 (i.e. enclosures that are defined by rectangles having rounded comers). Each room icon 166 corresponds to a particular room 68 and / or bay within an actual room of the healthcare facility in which caregiver assistance system 18 is installed. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 5, there are thirty room icons 166. Each room icon 166 includes a header portion 168 that identifies the particular room in the healthcare facility to which the room icon 166 corresponds and a body portion 170 that, as will be discussed more below, may display information about the status of the patient and / or the patient support apparatus 20 positioned within that particular room.

[0162] As shown in FIG. 5, header portion 168 is color coded. That is, software application 110 in configured to generate the content of dashboard screen 162 such that the background of header portion 168 is shown in different colors depending upon the fall risk of the patient assigned to that particular room. For example, header portion 168 of room NW1 may have a green background to indicate that the patient in room NW1 has a low fall risk. Forthose patients having a high fall risk, software application 110 may color the background of header portion 168 an amber or yellow color. For those patients having a medium fall risk, software application 110 may color the background of header portion 168 a blue color. For those patients whose fall risk has not yet assessed, softwareapplication 110 may color the background of header portion 168 a gray color. Software application 110 may determine the fall risk of the patient assigned to each room by receiving data from EMR server 120 that indicates the fall risk for each patient (if a fall risk assessment has been performed and its results entered into EMR server 120). The determination of a patient's fall risk may be determined by healthcare personnel in any conventional manner, such as, for example, by performing the Morse Fall Scale assessment.

[0163] Software application 110 is configurable by an authorized individual associated with a particular healthcare facility such that the authorized individual can define one or more sets of rules to be followed by software application 110 when determining what information to display on dashboard screen 162. That is, an authorized individual can configure what data and / or alerts are displayed on dashboard screen 162. Software application 110 is configured to use the defined rules to send content to display devices 104 that includes the selected patient support apparatus status and / or patient status in the body portions 170 of each room icon 166. Examples of patient and / or patient support apparatus status information that may be displayed on dashboard screen 162 include, but are not limited to, any one or more of the following: an AC power cord 128 (FIG. 4) of the patient support apparatus 20 is not currently plugged into an AC outlet 130; one or more siderails 36 of a patient support apparatus 20 are not in their raised position; a nurse call cable 72 is not plugged into an outlet / connector 64; a brake onboard patient support apparatus 20 is not activated; exit detection system 88 is not armed (and / or not armed with the right sensitivity level); the litter frame 28 is not at its lowest height (or within a desired range of heights); the HoB angle of Fowler section 44 of patient support apparatus 20 is not above a threshold value; mattress 42 is not communicatively linked to patient support apparatus 20; the patient is out of patient support apparatus 20; the patient has placed a phone call to a remote caregiver; a communication link between patient support apparatus 20 and the wall connector 64 is not present or functional; exit detection system 88 is currently detecting an exit alert condition; and / or still other patient or patient support apparatus status information.

[0164] In some embodiments, in addition to the data displayed on dashboard screen 162 of FIG. 5, software application 110 may be configured to display any of the additional data displayed on the dashboard screen 162 (FIG. 4) of commonly assigned Indian patent application number 202211062036 filed October 31 , 2022, by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled CAREGIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. System 18 may also be constructed to gather and display any of the data discussed in commonly assigned PCT patent application serial number PCT / US2024 / 014966 filed February 8, 2024, by Stryker Corporation and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference.

[0165] Dashboard screen 162 (FIG. 5) is typically— though not necessarily always— displayed on the display of stationary display devices 104b, rather than mobile displays 104a. This is because stationary display devices 104b typically have larger sized displays that mobile display devices 104a, and dashboard screen 162 includes a large amount of information that may be difficult to read on a mobile display device 104a having a relatively small screen. Accordingly, software application 110 may be configured to send display content to mobile display devices 104a that is different than the display content that it sends to stationary display device 104b. More particularly, software application 110 may be configured to consolidate the graphics and information of dashboard screen 162 to an abbreviated form for displaying on mobile display devices 104a. In some versions, software application 110 may be configured to not send any data to mobile display devices 104a, but instead to only send data to stationary display devices 104b.

[0166] Although a typical mobile display device 104a may be associated with a particular caregiver, this is generally not true for stationary display devices 104b (FIG. 4). Stationary display devices 104b, which may include large screen smart televisions, may be associated with a particular unit of a healthcare facility, a particular nurse’s station, wing, floor, and / or other section of the healthcare facility. For these devices, the login credentials may be tailored to the particular location and / or intended function of that particular stationary display device 104b. For example, a stationary display device 104b may be associated with an oncology unit, an east wing, nurse’s station XYZ, the second floor, or rooms A through G, or something else. In such instances, software application 110 may be configured to assign a name to each such display device 104b that is custom tailored to that specific device. Thus, for example, if a particular display device 104b is positioned at a nurse’s station within a pediatric oncology unit, the display device 104b may be assigned a name of “pediatric oncology display.” Further examples of the types of names software application 110 may assign to specific display devices 104b are shown in FIG. 16 (e.g. units “NC1 ,” “NC2,” “NC3,” “Emergency,” “SW1,” etc.)

[0167] Once software application 110 has been instructed by an authorized individual as to what rooms 68 correspond to a particular display device 104b, software application 110 creates a dashboard screen 162 that is specific to those particular rooms 68. Software application 110 then updates that particular dashboard screen 162 with any changes in the status of the patient support apparatuses 20 and / or the patients within those particular rooms 68. The data displayed in a particular dashboard screen 162 (FIG. 5) is updated in real time, or near real time. In most embodiments of patient support apparatuses 20, the patient support apparatuses 20 are configured to automatically (and nearly immediately) communicate their status and / or sensor outputs to patient support apparatus server 86 whenever a change occurs in their status and / or a sensor detects a change in a condition of the patient and / or the environment. Thus, for example, if a mattress 42 become disconnected frompatient support apparatus 20 (as detected by sensor 108), controller 58 of that patient support apparatus 20 sends a message automatically and almost immediately thereafter to patient support apparatus server 86. Software application 110 of patient support apparatus server 86 automatically, and immediately or nearly immediately, forwards this status update to all of the display devices 104 that are currently displaying status information forthat particular room. A caregiver, who may be remote from a particular room and / or a particular patient support apparatus 20, but nearby to a display device 104, thereby gets a real time, or near real time, update of the mattress disconnection.

[0168] In response to receiving notification that a mattress 42 has become disconnected from a particular patient support apparatus 20, software application 110 may display a mattress disconnection icon 172 (FIG. 5) in the body portion 170 of the room icon 166 corresponding to the room in which the patient support apparatus 20 with the disconnected mattress 42 is located. One example of such a mattress disconnection icon 172 is shown for room NW5 in FIG. 5.

[0169] In response to receiving notification that a nurse call has been placed by a patient (via nurse call control 100), software application 110 may display a nurse call icon 174 in the body portion 170 of the room icon 166 corresponding to the room in which the patient placed the call. One example of such a nurse call icon 174 is shown for room NW21 in FIG. 5.

[0170] In response to receiving notification that a HoB angle of a patient support apparatus 20 has fallen below a desired threshold for a patient whose medical records (as stored in EMR server 120) indicate the patient is either on a ventilator or has a respiratory precaution, software application 110 may display a HoB angle icon 176 in the body portion 170 of the room icon 166 corresponding to the room 68 in which the patient support apparatus 20 is located. One example of such a HoB angle icon 176 is shown for room NW1 in FIG. 5.

[0171] In response to receiving notification that a patient has exited from a patient support apparatus 20 (as determined by the reduction in weight detected by force sensors 60), software application 110 may display a patient-out-of-bed icon 180 in the body portion 170 of the room icon 166 corresponding to the room 68 in which the patient has exited from their patient support apparatus 20. One example of such a patient-out-of-bed icon 180 is shown for room NW11 in FIG. 5.

[0172] As can be seen in FIG. 5, software application 110 may also display a plurality of additional icons 178 in response to receiving other notifications from patient support apparatuses 20. These additional icons 178 include a bed exit alert icon 178a (rooms NW3 and NW18), a bed exit not armed icon 178b (rooms NW14 and NW17), a brake not set icon 178c (room NW8), a nurse-call cable unplugged icon 178d (rooms NW19 and NW22), and a siderail not raised icon 178e (room NW26). Software application 110 may be configured to display still greater numbers of icons 178, and / or different icons 178 from those shown in FIG. 5.

[0173] FIG. 6 illustrates one example of a HoB monitoring algorithm 182 that may be carried out by some versions of software application 110. As illustrated therein, patient support apparatus 20 forwards data to software application 110 using network transceiver 90 and a wireless access point 112, the latter of which is part of local area network 56. The forwarded data includes the following: (a) the current HoB angle reading from HoB angle sensor 98 (or an indication that the HoB angle is greater than the threshold, or an indication that the HoB angle is less than the threshold); (b) a unique ID of patient support apparatus 20; and (c) a unique ID from location transceiver 114 that corresponds to the room / bay in which patient support apparatus 20 is currently located.

[0174] At step 184 of algorithm 182, software application 110 compares the HoB angle received from patient support apparatus 20 to the threshold (e.g. 30 degrees), or, if the data already indicates the HoB angle is above the threshold, software application 110 proceeds to additional analysis. The additional analysis includes a determination of whether or not the particular patient is on a ventilator or has a respiratory precaution. Software application 110 uses the HoB angle, information about the patient from EMR server 120, and the user-defined rules of software application 110 to determine whether or not to display the HoB icon 176 on whichever dashboard 162 screen displays the room in which that particular patient support apparatus is located. The logic that software application uses is set forth in the table below.

[0175]

[0176] As can be seen from the foregoing table, software application 110 never displays the HoB icon 176 if the HoB angle is not below the threshold angle. It can also be seen that software application 110 will always display the HoB icon 176 when the HoB angle is below the threshold and the patient has a respiratory condition and / or is on a ventilator. If the HoB angle is below the threshold but the patient is neither on a ventilator nor has a respiratory precaution listed in their electronic medical records, software application 110 may or may not display HoB angle icon 176, depending upon the state of patient support apparatus 20. This dependency is indicated by the asterisk after the word “no” in the far right column of the table above.

[0177] Whether software application 110 displays a HoB icon 176 when the patient has neither a respiratory condition nor is on a ventilator (and the HoB angle is less than the threshold) depends upon whether patient support apparatus 20 has had HoB monitoring control 106 activated or not. If not, then software application 110 does not display HoB icon 176. If so, then software application 110 does display HoB icon 176.

[0178] In some versions, software application 110 may be configured to allow a user to decide whether to display the HoB icon 176 in the situation described immediately above (i.e. HoB is less than threshold and the patient has neither a respiratory precaution nor is on a ventilator). In such versions, an authorized individual can navigate to an administrative settings page of software application 110 and select whether HoB icon 176 will be displayed in such situations or not.

[0179] Returning to FIG. 6, software application 110 checks at step 186 whether the patient has a respiratory precaution or is on a ventilator. This checking is carried out by receiving information from EMR server 120. That is, EMR server 120 sends to software application 110 data indicating whether or not the patient has a respiratory precaution or is on a ventilator. Software application 110 receives this information at step 186 and, if the patient is not on a ventilator or marked with a respiratory precaution, software application 110 proceeds to step 188, where it takes no further action (i.e. does not display HoB icon 176).

[0180] If the patient has a respiratory precaution and / or is on a ventilator, as determined at step 186, software application executes step 184, which, as noted before, determines whether the HoB angle is currently less than the desired threshold. If it is, software application 110 proceeds to step 190. If it is not, software application 110 proceeds to step 192 where it takes no further action (i.e. it does not display HoB icon 176). At step 190, software application 110 changes the content of dashboard screen 162 so that the HoB icon 176 appears in the room icon 155 of whichever room the patient support apparatus 20 is located in that has the HoB angle less than the desired threshold.Software application 110 continues to add the HoB icon 176 to dashboard screen 162 for as long as the HoB angle remains below the desired threshold and / or as long as the patient is indicated by EMR server 120 as having a respiratory precaution or being on a ventilator.

[0181] It will be understood that, in some versions of software application 110, an authorized user can shut off the performance of HoB algorithm 182. That is, an authorized administrator can navigate to a settings page, or the like, within software application 110 that allows the administrator to turn on or off algorithm 182. In some such versions, turning off algorithm 182 shuts off the display of HoB icon 176 completely (i.e. in all situations). In other versions, shutting off algorithm 182 merely stops software application 110 from using information from EMR server 120 when deciding whether to display HoB icon 176 or not. In still other versions, shutting off algorithm 182 stops all displays of HoB icon 176 unless HoB monitoring control 106 is activated on patient support apparatus 20 and the HoBangle falls below the threshold. In still other versions, software application 110 may be configured to allow an authorized individual to choose from any of these different ways of operating when algorithm 182 is turned off.

[0182] It will be understood that algorithm 182, as described herein, is independent of the state of HoB monitoring control 106. That is, software application 110 implements algorithm 182 regardless of whether or not HoB monitoring control 106 is turned on or off. If the conditions shown in the table above are met that cause software application to display HoB icon 176 on dashboard screen 162, software application 110 does this, regardless of whether HoB monitoring control 106 is turned on or off. Whether HoB monitoring control 106 is turned on or off only has an effect locally at the patient support apparatus 20 itself. That is, when HoB monitoring control 106 is turned on, controller 58 of patient support apparatus 20 will activate one or more of the alerting devices 116 when the HoB angle falls below the threshold. When HoB monitoring control 106 is turned off, controller 58 of patient support apparatus 20 will not activate one or more of the alerting devices 116 when the HoB an888gle falls below the threshold. In either situations, however, controller 58 is configured to send the HoB angle to software application 110 so that software application 110 can independently decide whether to add HoB icon 176 to dashboard screen 162 or not.

[0183] FIG. 7 illustrates one example of a nurse call algorithm 200 that may be carried out by some versions of software application 110. As illustrated therein, patient support apparatus server 86 receives a nurse call signal 204 from one or more of three sources: patient support apparatus 20, a badge server 202, and / or nurse call system 66. The nurse call signal 204 is sent to patient support apparatus server 86 (and software application 110, which is not show in FIG. 7) in response to a patient pressing on, or otherwise activating, nurse call control 100.

[0184] The nurse call signal 204 originates at patient support apparatus 20 and may be communicated from patient support apparatus 20 to patient support apparatus server 86, badge server 202, and / or nurse call system 66 in multiple different manners. In some versions, patient support apparatus 20 may be configured to send the nurse call signal 204 off of patient support apparatus via multiple routes. A first route involves sending the nurse call signal to wall connector 64 via nurse call interface 92. This route may involve a nurse call cable that is coupled directed from nurse call interface 92 to wall connector 64, or it may involve wireless communication of the nurse call signal from nurse call interface 92 to wall module 70 which, in turn, forwards the nurse call signal to wall connector 64 via a nurse call cable 72. Once the nurse call signal is forwarded to wall connector 64, internal wiring within the healthcare facility infrastructure forwards the nurse call signal to nurse call system 66 and nurse call system 66 may then share the nurse call signal with any systems, servers (e.g. badge server 202), and / or other components that have been configured to communicate with nurse call system 66.

[0185] A second route that the nurse call signal 204 (FIG. 7) may take off of patient support apparatus 20 is for controller 58 to transmit the nurse call signal via network transceiver 90 to a wireless access point 112, which then forwards the nurse call signal to patient support apparatus server 86. Patient support apparatus server 86 may then share this nurse call signal with badge server 202 and / or software application 110 (including situations where software application 110 is being executed by a server other than patient support apparatus server 86). When the nurse call signal is sent via network transceiver 90 and wireless access point 112 to patient support apparatus 20, patient support apparatus server 86 and software application 110 are both unable to answer this call. That is, neither patient support apparatus server 86 nor software application 110 are configured to carry out voice communications between the patient and a remotely positioned caregiver. Thus, the nurse call signal that is transmitted from patient support apparatus 20 to patient support apparatus server 86 via network transceiver 90 is not able to be answered by patient support apparatus server 86 and / or software application 110, unlike the nurse call signal that is transmitted from patient support apparatus 20 to nurse call system 66 via wall connector 64, which is able to be answered by a remotely positioned caregiver.

[0186] Algorithm 200 begins at a step 206 where software application 110 determines whether a nurse call signal 204 has been received. Depending upon whether a nurse call signal 204 has been received, software application 110 determines what content to display on the connected display devices 104. Specifically, if a nurse call signal has been received, software application 110 moves to step 208 where it determines whether a bed exit alarm is currently active from the same patient support apparatus 20 that originated the nurse call signal 204. The bed exit alarm refers to exit detection system 88 and whether system 88 has detected a patient exit or not (while armed). Controller 58 forwards a bed exit signal to software application 110 via network transceiver 90 when exit detection system 88 detects a patient exit (and when the exit ends). If no bed exit alarm is currently being issued, software application 110 proceeds from step 208 to step 210.

[0187] At step 210, software application 110 proceeds to add nurse call icon 174 to the bottom, central portion of body portion 170 of the room icon 166 from which the nurse call originated (in this example, room NW15). In some embodiments, software application 110 is also configured to also determine at step 210 the fall risk of the patient and to indicate the corresponding fall risk by displaying different portions of room icon 166 in different colors. For example, in some versions, software application 110 may be configured to display the background of header portion 168 different colors for different fall risks. Software application 110 may also, or alternatively, be configured to display a border 212 of room icon 166 in a color that indicates the patient’s fall risk. In some versions, software application 110 displays the background of header portion 168 and / or border 212 with the following colors: yellow or amber for high fall risk patients, blue for medium fall risk patients, green for low fall riskpatients, and gray for patients whose fall risk has not yet been determined. Software application 110 is adapted to retrieve the fall risk status of the patients from EMR server 120. If no fall risk data is stored on EMR server 120 for a particular patient, software application 110 displays the room icon 166 for that patient in the gray color, in some aspects.

[0188] Returning to step 210 of algorithm 200 (FIG. 7), software application 110 may also be configured to change the background color of nurse call icon 174 according to the fall risk of the patient and / or the state of exit detection system 88. Thus, in such versions, the background color of nurse call icon 174 may be amber (or yellow), blue, green, and / or gray according to the fall risk status of a patient (or the lack of fall risk assessment data being stored in EMR server 120). The foreground color of nurse call icon 174 may be white, in some versions. As will be discussed in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 14, in some versions of software application 110, software application 110 may be configured to change the foreground and background colors of nurse call icon 174 in certain situations (e.g. when an exit detection alert is detected by system 88, when exit detection system 88 is not armed, etc.) is occurring, such as by changing the foreground to gray and the background to white, although other color combinations are, of course, possible.

[0189] In some versions, software application 110 may be configured to flash the border 212 of room icon 166 at step 210. Alternatively, or additionally, software application 110 may be configured to flash other parts of, or all of, room icon 166 at step 210, such as, but not limited to, flashing nurse call icon 174, the background of nurse call icon 174, the foreground of nurse call icon 174, and / or other content and / or portions of room icon 166, either alone in any combination. The flashing draws the caregiver’s attention to the room icon 166 (the nurse call icon 174, and / or other components of room icon 166) corresponding to the room from which the patient placed a nurse call. This, in turn, helps the caregiver respond to the patient in a more timely manner. Software application 110 may be configured to flash all or parts of room icon 166 at step 214 as well, and in fact, may be configured to flash all or parts of room icon 166 whenever a nurse call is placed from a particular room. When the call ends, software application 110 is configured to stop the flashing of the room icon 166 on dashboard screen 162.

[0190] At step 208 (FIG. 7), software application 110 moves to step 214 if the exit detection system 88 is not armed (and a nurse call signal has been received at step 206). At step 214, software application 110 displays room icon 166 with nurse call icon 174 added to it. However, because exit detection system 88 is not armed, software application 110 may be configured to change the color of the background of header 168, as well as the background of body portion 170. In such versions, software application 110 may change the background of header portion 168 and the background of body portion 170 to a red color (while displaying any foreground icons or indicators in a white color). In such versions, software application 110 may also, or alternatively, display nurse call icon with a whitebackground color and a gray and / or black foreground color. Other colors may, of course, be used. However, it may be helpful to display a different color for the background of nurse call icon 174 than the background of body portion 170 and / or header portion 168 in order to provide greater visual contrast between nurse call icon 174 and the rest of room icon 166.

[0191] Returning to step 206 of algorithm 200 (FIG. 7), if software application 110 determines that a nurse call signal was not received, it proceeds to step 216. At step 216, software application 110 determines if the nurse call signal was previously active (during a previous iteration of algorithm 200). That is, software application 110 determines if a nurse call signal was received during the immediately previous iteration of algorithm 200. If no nurse call signal was received during the previous iteration of algorithm 200, software application 110 proceeds to step 218 where it takes no further action (until performing another iteration of algorithm 200). That is, it keeps sending the same content (as far as the lack of a nurse call icon 174) to each of the display devices 104 in which it is in communication. If a nurse call signal was received during the previous iteration of algorithm 200, software application 110 proceeds to step 222 wherein it determines (from a signal sent by patient support apparatus 20) whether exit detection system 88 is currently armed or not.

[0192] If exit detection system 88 is currently armed, as determined at step 222 (FIG. 7), software application 110 proceeds to step 226, where it displays room icon 166 with the nurse call icon 174 removed. Header 168 and / or border 212 may, in some versions, be still displayed in the same color as it / they were displayed during step 210 (i.e. according to the fall risk of the patient). In fact, software application 110 continues to display room icon 166 in the same manner it did at step 210, but it simply removes nurse call icon 174. It will therefore be understood that, although FIG. 7 illustrates the body 170 of room icons 166 at steps 210 and 226 as being empty, the body 170 may be filled with any of the icons 172, 176, 178, and / or 180, as appropriate, depending upon the state of the patient support apparatus 20 within the room corresponding to the particular room icon 166.

[0193] If software application 110 determines at step 222 that the exit detection system 88 is not armed (FIG. 7), it proceeds to step 224. At step 224, software application 110 removes nurse call icon 174 from room icon 166 and continues to display bed-exit-not-armed icon 178b in body portion 170 of room icon 166. In some versions, as noted above, when software application 110 displays bed-exit- not-armed icon 178b, it may color in the background of body portion 170 and header portion 168, such as in a red color, in which case the foreground for header portion 168 and body portion 170 may be colored white. Other colors are, of course, possible.

[0194] In carrying out nurse call algorithm 200, software application 110 initially receives a signal from patient support apparatus 20, badge server 202, and / or nurse call system 66 when a patient presses on, or otherwise activates, nurse call control 100. It will be understood that software application 110 will, at some subsequent point, also receive a nurse call hangup signal. The hangupsignal is sent when the nurse call terminates. That is, when the patient and caregiver finish their remote call together, they will hangup and the call will be terminated. At this point, patient support apparatus 20, badge server 202, and / or nurse call system 66 will forward a nurse call hangup signal to software application 110. As with nurse call signal 204, the nurse call hangup signal can be sent over different and / or multiple pathways. Generally speaking, patient support apparatus 20 always sends a nurse call hangup signal to nurse call system 66 via wall connector 64 when the patient presses a nurse call deactivation control (not shown) on patient support apparatus 20. Additionally, patient support apparatus 20 may also send a nurse call hangup signal via network transceiver 90 to patient support apparatus server 86 and software application 110. Nurse call system 66 may also forward the nurse call hangup signal it receives from patient support apparatus 20 to badge server 202 (and badge server 202 may then forward the nurse call hangup signal to software application 110).

[0195] In some versions, controller 58 may be configured to detect the termination of a nurse call by monitoring the voltage of one or more pins that are part of wall connector 64 and looking for a predetermined change in the detected voltage. For example, some versions of nurse call system 66 are configured to send a signal to patient support apparatus 20 via wall connector 64 indicating when a nurse call is taking place, and patient support apparatus 20 may be configured to illuminate a nurse call light somewhere on patient support apparatus 20 in response to this signal. Such nurse call system 66 are configured to terminate the signal to patient support apparatus 20 (via wall connector 64) when the nurse call ends, and patient support apparatus 20 may respond to the ending of this call by ceasing to illuminate the nurse call light. In such system, patient support apparatus 20 may detect the termination of the nurse call by using the same signal it uses for determining whether to turn on or off the nurse call light. In some versions, controller 58 may send the nurse call hangup signal to software application 110 via network transceiver 90 in response to receiving the signal from wall connector 64 indicating that the call has ended (and which controller 58 also responds to by deactivating the nurse call light on patient support apparatus 20).

[0196] Badge server 202 (FIG. 7), which may be a conventional badge server, is configured to manage communications between, and keep track of the locations of, and the specific caregivers assigned to, individual badges 146 (FIG. 4). Badges 146 are typically worn by healthcare workers, such as caregivers, service technicians, cleaning personnel, transportation assistants, etc. However, in some healthcare facilities, administrators may provide badges 146 to patients. Regardless of whether badges 146 are provided exclusively to healthcare workers to both healthcare workers and patients, badge server 202 maintains a set of data that correlates badge IDs with individual healthcare workers and / or patients. Each badge 146 includes a unique ID that distinguishes that badge 146 from other badges 146. When a healthcare provider or patient arrives at a healthcare facility, he or she is provided with a badge 146 that often comes from a common collection of badges 146. The healthcareworker or patient then wears the badge 146 for the duration of his or her work shift or stay within the healthcare facility. After the caregiver completes his / her shift and / or after a patient is discharged from the healthcare facility, the badge 146 may be returned to the general collection of badges 146. For some badge servers 202, in order for the badge server 202 to know that a particular badge 146 is assigned to a particular person, a person must manually associate the particular badge 146 they will wear with their name (or some other ID). This manual association may involve scanning the badge on a badge reader in communication with server 202, typing information (such as the badge ID and / or the worker’s or patient’s ID) into a computer coupled to server 202, entering information into badge 146 (if it is a badge that allows data entry), performing other actions, and / or a combination of these steps.

[0197] FIGS. 8-13 illustrate different examples of icons that may be displayed in the body portion 170 of the room icons 166 of dashboard screen 1162. All of the icons shown in FIGS. 8-13 are displayed by software application 110 in response to messages received from the various patient support apparatuses 20 that are in communication with software application 110 via network transceiver(s) 90 and access points 112. Similarly, software application 110 stops displaying the icons shown in FIGS 8-13 in response to messages received from those patient support apparatuses 20 when the controllers 58 of those patient support apparatuses 20 no longer detect the condition corresponding to the various icons (or no longer detect at least one of the criteria for displaying one or more of the icons shown in FIGS. 8-13).

[0198] FIG. 8 illustrates one example of a MoB icon 176a indicating that the Fowler section 44 of the patient support apparatus 20 is not above the threshold angle (e.g. 30 degrees). FIG. 9 illustrates another example of an HOB icon 176b indicating that the Fowler section 44 of the patient support apparatus 20 is not above the threshold angle. In some versions, software application 110 may display icon 176a on dashboard screen 162, while in other versions software application 110 may display icon 176b on dashboard screen 162. In still other versions, software application 110 may display a different HOB icon 176.

[0199] FIG. 10 illustrates one example of an out-of-bed icon 180a that may be displayed by software application 110 when exit detection system 88 detects that a patient is out of patient support apparatus 20. In the particular example shown in FIG. 10, software application 110 may also begin a timer when the patient first leaves patient support apparatus 20 and display a timer 164 indicative of how long the patient has been out of bed. FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative example of an out-of-bed icon 180b that may be displayed by software application 110 when exit detection system 88 detects that a patient is out of patient support apparatus 20. Out-of-bed icon 180b may also include timer 164. In some versions, software application 110 may display icon 180a on dashboard screen 162, while in other versions software application 110 may display icon 180b on dashboard screen 162. In still other versions, software application 110 may display a different out-of-bed icon 180.

[0200] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a mattress disconnected icon 172 that software application 110 may display on dashboard screen 162 in response to receiving a signal from patient support apparatus 20 indicating that controller 58 does not have a communication link with mattress 42 (as detected by mattress communication link sensor 108). FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a siderail- not-raised icon 178e that software application 110 may display on dashboard screen 162 in response to receiving a signal from patient support apparatus 20 indicating that one or more of siderails 36 are not raised. Although not shown, patient support apparatus 20 may include one or more sensors for detecting the position of siderails 36, in which case controller 58 sends signals to software application (via network transceiver 90) indicating the positional status of each siderail 36. It will, of course, be understood that that the icons shown in FIGS. 8-13 are merely illustrative examples of the types of icons that software application 110 may display on dashboard screen 162, and that other types of icons and / or indicators my additionally and / or alternatively be displayed.

[0201] FIG. 14 illustrates in greater detail different colorings for room icons 166 according to the different fall risks for a patient. As shown therein, room icon 166a may include a gray border 212, a gray background in header portion 168 (and white foreground), and a gray background (and white foreground) for nurse call icon 174a when software application 110 receives information from EMR server 120 indicating that a fall risk assessment for the patient has not been entered into EMR server 120. Software application 110 may change the room icon 166 to have a green border 212, a green background (and white foreground) in header portion 168, and a green background (and white foreground) for nurse call icon 174b when software application 110 receives information from EMR server 120 indicating that a patient has a low fall risk, such as is illustrated by room icon 166b.Software application 110 may change the room icon 166 to have a blue border 212, a blue background (and white foreground) in header portion 168, and a blue background (and white foreground) for nurse call icon 174c when software application 110 receives information from EMR server 120 indicating that a patient has a medium fall risk, such as is illustrated by room icon 166c. Software application 110 may change the room icon 166 to an amber border 212, an amber background (and white foreground) in header portion 168, and an amber background (and white foreground) for nurse call icon 174d when software application 110 receives information from EMR server 120 indicating that a patient has a high fall risk, such as is illustrated by room icon 166d. And software application 110 may change the room icon 166 to have a white border 212, a red background in header portion 168 (and white foreground), and a white background (and gray foreground) for nurse call icon 174e when software application 110 receives information from patient support apparatus 20 indicating that a patient has exited patient support apparatus 20, such as is illustrated by room icon 166e. It will, of course, be understood that other color combinations may be used by software application 110 for indicating different fall risks, for indicating nurse call icon 174, and / or for indicating exit alerts.

[0001] FIG. 15 illustrates one example of a bed monitoring screen 230 that may be displayed on display 52 of patient support apparatus 20 after a user activates the necessary navigation controls to bring the user to screen 230. Monitoring screen 230 is used by a caregiver or other user to control what aspects of patient support apparatus 20 controller 58 will self-monitor. Monitoring screen 230 includes an arming control that enables the user to arm and / disarm the patient support apparatus monitoring carried out by controller 58. Monitoring screen 230 also includes controls for setting a number of components and / or states that will be monitoring by controller 58, such as the height the litter frame 28 of patient support apparatus 20, the position of the side rails 36, the angle of the head of the bed (e.g. HoB or Fowler angle), and the orientation of support deck 30 (i.e. bed flat). The caregiver may enable or disable the monitoring of each of the characteristics by checking or unchecking the controls 232 shown next to each of these items. In other words, the caregiver may enable or disable the monitoring of a height of litter frame 28 by tapping on control 232a, enable or disable the monitoring of each of the siderails 36 by tapping on controls 232b-e, enable or disable the monitoring of the HoB angle by tapping on control 232f, and enable or disable the monitoring of support deck 30 by tapping on control 232g. Each control 232 acts as a toggle control such that repetitively tapping on the control 232 causes it to toggle between monitoring the corresponding component or state and not monitoring the corresponding component or state. Once the caregiver or other user has selected the appropriate states or components to monitor, the user can tap the save control 234 to begin the monitoring by controller 55. The user can use an exit control 236 to leave the monitoring screen 230 and return to whichever screen was previously displayed on the display 52.

[0202] It will be understood that, in at least one version, the monitoring carried out by controller 58 in response to the user selections on screen 230 is a monitoring that is independent of the monitoring carried out by software application 110. Thus, a user may turn on local monitoring of patient support apparatus 20 via screen 230 to monitor a first set of components or characteristics of patient support apparatus 20, and also configured software application 110 to monitor a second set of components or characteristics of patient support apparatus 20 wherein the first and second sets may be entirely different, entirely the same, or partially overlap. Software application 110 may also be configured by a user to monitor the any and / or all of the components or characteristics that are in the first set, in addition to all of the components or characteristics in the second set. In other words, software application 110 may be configurable such that it will automatically add to the second set any additions to the first set that a user makes using monitoring screen 230.

[0203] As was discussed previously, when controller 58 detects that a monitored component or condition is not in its desired state, it issues a local alert (and may send a message indicative of the alert to software application 110). When software application 110 detects that a monitored component or condition is not in its desired state, it indicates this fact on one or more of the dashboard screens 162shown on display devices 104 (and may send notifications to caregiver badges and / or other electronic devices).

[0204] In some versions, software application 110 may be configurable by a user to define how the remote monitoring carried out by software application 110 and the local monitoring carried out by controller 58 will interact with each other. For example, in some versions, a user may configure software application 110 such that the local and remote monitoring is merged together, thereby causing software application 110 to issue an alert in response to a violation of rules followed by software application 110, and also in response to a violation of rules that are implemented by controller 58. Alternatively, or additionally, a user may configure software application 110 such that, where there is a conflict between the local and remote rules, software application 110 will only issue an alert when the remote rule is violated. For example, if the remote rule requires all four siderails to be raised and the local rule only requires three siderails to be raised, software application 110 will issue a remote alert when a single siderail is lowered (and controller 58 will not issue a local alert when only a single siderails is raised). As another alternatively, a user may configure software application 110 such that, where there is a conflict between the local and remote rules, software application 110 will issue an alert when the local rule is violated. For example, if the remote rule requires all four siderails to be raised and the local rule only requires three siderails to be raised, software application 110 will issue a remote alert (and controller 58 will issue a local alert) when two or more siderails are lowered, but software application 110 will not issue a remote alert when only a single siderail is lowered.

[0205] Still further, in some versions, software application 110 may be configurable by a user such that the local and remote rules are merged together. When so merged, software application 110 issues an alert when either a local rule or a remote rule (or both) is violated. In some such versions, software application 110 may display on dashboard screen 162 which type of alert is being issue (a local one or a remote one). Still further, software application 110 may be configurable by a user such that the user can select how software application 110 will treat individual local and remote rules (i.e. the user can specify that software application 110 will issue an alert in response to a violation of a first local rule but not in violation of a first remote rule, that software application 110 will issue an alert in response to a violation of a second remote rule but not a second local rule, that software application 110 will not issue an alert in response to a violation of a third remote rule but only in response to a violation of a third local rule, and so on. In this situation, each rule defines a desired state of one or more specific components and / or states of patient support apparatus 20 (e.g. the state of the siderails, the state of a brake, the state of the exit detection system, a height of the litter frame, etc.)

[0206] FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate screens that are displayed by software application 110 to authorized administrators when setting up and / or configurating caregiver assistance system 18. More specifically, FIG. 16 illustrates a nurse manager assignment screen 240 and FIG. 17 illustrates a nursemanager configuration window 250 that may be displayed on display devices 104 and / or the screen of computer 134 (and / or on the screen of another computer device that is in communication with patient support apparatus server 86 and software application 110). Screens 240 and 250 are only displayed to individuals users of software application 110 who have administrative access and / or another appropriate access level. That is, screens 240 and 250 are not normally accessible to individual nurses and / or other caregivers.

[0207] Nurse assignment screen 240 (FIG. 16) illustrates a screen having a nurse management table 242 with a plurality of columns 244a-f. Column 244a lists the nurse manager IDs 244 for each of the nurse managers that have been currently defined by software application 110. Column 244b lists which units 246 of the healthcare facility are assigned to the corresponding nurse manager. For example, nurse manager N11 has been assigned to three units within the healthcare facility in which caregiver assistance system 18 has been installed: units NC1, NC2, and NC3. Each unit 246 refers to an area, wing, floor, department, or other portion of the healthcare facility. Each unit 246 includes at least one display device 104 that corresponds to that particular unit 246, and that displays a dashboard screen 162 indicating the status of the patient support apparatuses 20 that are positioned within that area, wing, floor, department, or other portion of the healthcare facility. In other words, software application 110 creates separate dashboard screens 162 for each unit 246 of a healthcare facility and displays those dashboard screens 162 on one or more display devices 104 that are assigned to the corresponding unit 246. The dashboard screen 162 for a particular unit 246 includes room icons 166 for all of the rooms and / or bays that are positioned within that particular unit 246.

[0208] Nurse management table 242 (FIG. 16) further includes a description column 244c into which an authorized user of software application 110 may enter a description of the nurse manager, the units 246, the display device 104, and / or other information about the assignment of units 246 to a particular nurse manager. Column 244d indicates whether the units 246 are currently connected to software application 110 or not. Colum 244e indicates whether the assignment of particular units 246 to a particular nurse manager is in a locked state (i.e. cannot be changed without authorization) or an unlocked state (i.e. can be changed by authorized individuals). Column 244f shows three actions that a user may take with respect to an individual nurse manager assignment: edit the assignment, lock the assignment, or delete the assignment. Screen 240 further includes a new nurse control 248 that, when activated by the user, allows the user to create a new nurse manager and assign to that new nurse manager selected units 246.

[0209] Nurse management table 242 (FIG. 16) illustrates which units 246 of the healthcare facility are assigned to particular nurse managers. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 16, the particular nurse manager having the ID N11 has been assigned to three units: NC1, NC2, and NC3.This means that when nurse manager N11 logs into software application 110, he or she will be given access by software application 110 to view the dashboard screens corresponding to units NC1 , NC2, and NC3 from the same display device 104. Software application 110 normally only displays a single dashboard screen 162 on it that shows that room icons 166 for a particular unit 246. However, software application 110 allows nurse managers to view multiple different dashboard screens 162 on the same display device 104. Specifically, it allows nurse managers to view the dashboard screens 162 of all of the units 246 to which they have been assigned (as indicated in nurse management table 242). Thus, in the example of FIG. 16, the nurse manager with the ID PPP would be able to view the dashboard screens 162 corresponding to units SW1 and SW2 on the same display device 104; the nurse manager having the ID PP would be able to view the dashboard screens 162 corresponding to units ABC and Demo Unit on the same display device 104; and so on.

[0210] If an authorized user of software application 110 wishes to change the units 246 that a particular nurse manager is assigned to, he or she does so by selecting the writing instrument icon 249 in column 244f. That is, the user selects the writing instrument icon 249 that appears in the row of table 242 corresponding to the nurse manager whose assignments the authorized user wishes to change. For example, if the user selects the writing instrument icon 249 in the second row (corresponding to nurse manager NM1), software application 110 will display a nurse manager configuration window 250, such as the nurse manager configuration window 250 shown in FIG. 17.

[0211] Nurse manager configuration window 250 (FIG. 17) allows an authorized user to change what units a particular nurse manager is assigned to. Window 250 includes a plurality of units 246 having a check box 252 positioned next to them. If the user wishes to assign the particular unit 246 to nurse manager NM1 , he or she checks the check box 252 next to the units that the user wishes to assign to nurse manager NM1 . In the example shown in FIG. 17, nurse manager NM1 has been assigned to the Emergency Unit and an ErrorPriority Unit. If the user wishes to un-assign a particular to unit 246 to a nurse manager that has already been assigned to that nurse manager (i.e. the check box 252 has already been checked), software application 110 allows the user to simply press (or otherwise activate) that box 252 again, which causes the corresponding unit 246 to be deselected. In other words, check boxes 252 act as toggle switches that toggle between being selected and unselected in response to the user repetitively activating them.

[0212] FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a dashboard screen 162a that is viewable by a nurse manager. Dashboard screen 162a differs from dashboard screen 162 (FIG. 5) in that it includes a unit selection window 260. Unit selection window 260 is only displayed (or active) on display devices 104 that a nurse manager has logged into. Thus, in order to view a dashboard screen 162a, a nurse manager has to log into software application 110 with their nurse manager credentials. Once logged into software application 110 with their nurse manager credentials, the nurse manager can select fromwindow 260 the particular unit 246 that he or she wishes to see. In the example shown in FIG. 18, the nurse manager has selected unit 246 labeled “unit NW”. Software application 110 therefore displays a dashboard screen that corresponds to “unit NW.” That is, software application 110 displays the room icons 166 for all of the rooms that correspond to “unit NW.” If the nurse manager selects a different unit (say unit “U3”), then software application 110 will display a dashboard screen 162 that corresponds to unit “U3,” (i.e. that displays room icons 166 for each of the rooms assigned to unit “U3.”

[0213] It can therefore be seen from FIGS. 16-18 that software application 110 gives nurse managers the ability to see multiple different dashboard screens 162 (i.e. those to which they are assigned) on a single display device 104. This allows the nurse manager to see all of the dashboard screens for the units 246 that they are assigned to supervise without having to physically move to different display devices 104 that are dedicated to each of the units 246 within the healthcare facility. That is, oftentimes a healthcare facility will dedicate at least one display device 104 to a particular unit 246 such that that display device 104 only displays a dashboard screen 162 forthat particular unit 246. Thus, in order for a nurse (i.e. not a nurse manager) to see the dashboard screen 162 for a second and different unit 246, the nurse would have to walk to the display device 104 dedicated to that second and different unit 246. However, a nurse manager who was assigned to both of the units 246 could view the dashboard screens 162 for both of the units 246 on the same display device 104 by simply utilizing unit selection window 260 (FIG. 18). Accordingly, unit selection window 260 enables nurse managers to see the dashboard screens 162 on a single display device 104 for all of the units 246 that they are responsible for. And, of course, unit selection window 260 is not visible to ordinary views of a dashboard screen 162, but instead only visible when an authorized nurse manager logs into software application 110.

[0214] FIG. 19 illustrates a portrait view of dashboard screen 162, unlike dashboard screen 162 of FIG. 5, which is illustrated in a landscape perspective. That is, room icons 166 of the dashboard screen 162 of FIG. 19 are arranged with a greater number of rows of room icons 166 than columns, thus giving the screen 162 a height that is greater than its width. In contrast, dashboard screen 162 of FIG. 5 has a greater number of columns of room icons 166 than rows, thus giving the screen 162 a width that is greater than its height. Software application 110 is configured to automatically select between the landscape view of FIG. 5 and the portrait view of FIG. 19 based upon the screen dimensions of the display device 104 on which dashboard screen 162 is being displayed. A user of a particular display device 104 will therefore see a dashboard screen 162 that better matches the dimensions of the particular display of that display device 104.

[0215] FIGS. 20-24 illustrate screens that are displayed by software application 110 to authorized administrators when setting up and / or configurating caregiver assistance system 18. These screens are only displayed to individuals users of software application 110 who have administrativeaccess and / or another appropriate access level. That is, these screens are not normally accessible to individual nurses and / or other caregivers.

[0216] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a first administrative screen 270 that may be displayed on display devices 104 and / or the screen of computer 134 (and / or on the screen of another computer device that is in communication with patient support apparatus server 86 and software application 110). Screen 270 is only displayed to individuals users of software application 110 who have administrative access and / or another appropriate access level. That is, screen 270 is not normally accessible to individual nurses and / or other caregivers.

[0217] First administrative screen 270 is adapted to allow an authorized user to change a variety of different settings 272a-g for caregiver assistance system 18. Each of these settings 272a-g includes a corresponding check box 274a-g, respectively, positioned adjacent to it that, when checked, activates the setting, and when unchecked, deactivates the setting 272. The check boxes act as toggle switches that alternate between checking and unchecking boxes 274 as the check boxes are repeatedly pressed. The settings 272a-g illustrated in FIG. 20 includes a setting 272a that, when activated, causes software application 110 to include an icon 178 within room icon 166 when exit detection system 88 is not armed and the patient assigned to that particular patient support apparatus 20 has a medium fall risk. In other words, when setting 272a is activated, software application 110 will be configured to display an icon, such as icon 178b of FIG. 5, when exit detection system 88 is not armed and the patient has a medium fall risk.

[0218] Setting 272b (FIG. 20), when activated, causes software application 110 to include an icon 178 within room icon 166 when exit detection system 88 is not armed and the patient assigned to that particular patient support apparatus 20 has a low fall risk. In other words, when setting 272b is activated, software application 110 will be configured to display an icon, such as icon 178b of FIG. 5, when exit detection system 88 is not armed and the patient has a low fall risk.

[0219] Setting 272c, when activated, causes software application 110 to include an indicator in room icon 166 when the patient support apparatus 20 is in need of service. When setting 272c is not activated, software application 110 does not display an indicator indicating that the patient support apparatus 20 is in need of service.

[0220] Setting 272d, when activated, causes software application 110 to allow email authentication when a user logs into software application 110.

[0221] Setting 272e, when activated, causes software application 110 to presume that a patient is a high fall risk when software application 110 has not received any indication of the patient’s actual fall risk from EMR server 120. Software application 110 will therefore treat the patient as having a high fall risk until software application 110 receives an indication from EMR server 120, or another source, that positively indicates that the patient is not a high fall risk.

[0222] Setting 272f, when activated, causes software application 110 to add the out-of-bed timer 164 to the body portion 170 of a room icon 166 when the patient has exited from the patient support apparatus 20. Examples of such timers 164 are shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 , and were discussed previously. When setting 272f is not activated, software application 110 adds the out-of-bed icon 180 to body portion 170 of room icon 166, but does not include timer 164.

[0223] Setting 272g, when activated, causes software application 110 to save all of the patient and patient support apparatus 20 status data when software application 110 is re-booted, and to re-use that data after the re-boot until it is replaced by fresh data from patient support apparatus 20, EMR server 120, and / or other sources. The data preserved by software application 110 when setting 272g is activated includes, but is not limited to, the patient’s fall risk, other data from EMR server 120 (e.g. whether the patient has a respiratory precaution or is on a ventilator), data from patient support apparatus 20, and from other sources. As a result when software application 110 is re-booted, it will generate dashboard screen(s) 162 that are based on the saved data, and will continue to use the saved data until it is replaced by updated data. The updated data will replace each portion of the saved data as it is received.

[0224] FIG. 21 illustrates a rule summary screen 280. Rule summary screen 280 lists one or more rules 282 that software application 110 follows when determining whether to issue an alert on a dashboard screen 162. Such alerts include the addition of any of the icons 172-180 discussed previously to room icons 166, as well as other alert conditions (e.g. no fall risk assessment, exit detection alerts, etc.). Rule summary screen 280 includes type of unit column 284, a type of patient support apparatus column 286, a rule content column 288, and a fall risk identifier 290. The type of unit column 284 indicates the type of unit within the healthcare facility that the particular rule 282 applies to. Thus, for example, rules 282a applies to MedSurg units within the healthcare facility, while rule 282b applies only to the emergency unit (or department) within the healthcare facility. The type of patient support apparatus column 286 identifies the specific type of patient support apparatus 20 that the rule 282 applies to. Such types of patient support apparatuses 20 include beds and stretchers, as illustrated in FIG. 21 , although it will be understood that other types of patient support apparatuses 20 may be present and defined for software application 110. The rule content column 288 defines the actual rule 282 that software application 110 follows when determining whether to issue an alert or not. For example, the content of rule 282a dictates that software application will issue an alert if any of the following four conditions are not true: (1) exit detection system 88 is not armed; (2) a brake on the patient support apparatus 20 is not activated; (3) the mattress communication link is not established (as detected by sensor 108); and (4) the HoB angle is less than thirty degrees. This rule 282a, of course, only applies to beds that are located in a MedSurg unit of the healthcare facility, as set forth in columns284 and 286. It also only applies to patients who are high fall risk patients, as indicated by fall risk identifier column 290c.

[0225] Software application 110 is configured to keep a log of all of the rules 282 that are defined in software application 110, including when such rules were defined, when such rules 282 were deleted and / or otherwise modified. Thus, software application 110 stores in memory a log of all additions, deletions, and / or changes to rules 282 that are made while software application 110 is used within a particular healthcare facility. This provides a record that can be reviewed at a later date if an event occurs within the healthcare facility where a question arises as to what rules software application 110 was implementing at the time of the event. This log is saved and cannot be deleted by normal users of software application 110 (and in some version, may not be deleted by administrators either). In some versions, the log is saved for a set period of time before being automatically deleted (e.g. 30 days, three months, six months, etc.) Authorized users of software application 110 can review the logged rules to see what rules 282 were active at a particular time in the past, thereby enabling healthcare facility administrators to perform an audit on the past configurations of software application 110.

[0226] FIG. 22 illustrates a message history screen 300. Message history screen 300 shows an example of a log of messages 302 that were received by software application 110 from EMR server 120. Software application 110 keeps a log of these messages 302 for a set period of time, thereby enabling users to review and perform audits of past messages that were received from EMR server 120. Each saved messages 302 includes a number of data points, such as the patient’s ID, the patient’s fall risk score, whether the patient’s weight is missing or not, whether the patient is on a ventilator or not, whether the patient has a respiratory precaution assigned to them, etc. As with the log of the rules described above with respect to FIG. 21, the log of messages from EMR server 120 includes a time when such messages were received. This log provides a record that can be reviewed at a later date if an event occurs within the healthcare facility where a question arises as to what messages software application 110 had received from EMR server 120 at the time of, and / or prior to, the event. This log is saved and cannot be deleted by normal users of software application 110 (and in some version, may not be deleted by administrators either). In some versions, the log is saved for a set period of time before being automatically deleted (e.g. 30 days, three months, six months, etc.) Authorized users of software application 110 can review the logged messages to see what messages had been received at a particular time in the past, thereby enabling healthcare facility administrators to perform an audit on the past state of software application 110.

[0227] FIG. 23 illustrates a second administrative screen 310. Second administrative screen 310 shows an active directory setting 312 that an authorized user may check or uncheck. When checked, active directory setting 312 causes software application 110 to utilize the healthcare facility’sdirectory of users, passwords, roles, etc. for granting access to software application 110. That is, instead of requiring the users of software application 110 to set up new usernames, passwords, roles, etc., such users can utilize their existing usernames, passwords, roles, etc. that have already been set up by the healthcare facility for utilizing other software that exists in the healthcare facility. In other words, when checked, active directory setting 312 causes software application 110 to utilize the healthcare facility’s directory for allowing access to software application 110. This avoids the need, for example, for a caregiver to create a new username and password for accessing software application 110, but instead allows that caregiver to utilize their same username and password, as assigned by the healthcare facility for other purposes, for accessing software application 110. Software application 110 may be configured to use LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) when active directory setting 312 is checked in order to communicate with the healthcare facility’s directory.

[0228] FIG. 24 illustrates a third administrative screen 320. Third administrative screen 320 shows an authentication window 322. Authentication window 322 allows an authorized user to select from different authentication options for users of software application 110. As can be seen in FIG. 24, window 322 allows a user to select an Open Authorization (OAuth) option, which is an open standard for access delegation, or select a Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) option, which is another open standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between parties, or select no authentication. The SAML option, when selected, allows for software application 110 to implement a single sign-on feature, allowing users who are signed into the healthcare facility's computer network (or one or more other software applications of the healthcare facility) to access software application 110 without having to enter their user name and password (i.e. without requiring them to sign in).Administrative screen 320 therefore allows authorized user of software application 110 to select what kind of authentication, if any, will be used by software application 110 when users wish to access software application 110.

[0229] It will be understood that, although the foregoing description has included various features and functions of software application, software application 110 may be modified to include a subset of any one or more of these features or functions, as well as to include additional features or functions beyond those described explicitly herein. For example, software application 110 may, in some versions, include any of the features or functions of the software application 110 disclosed in commonly assigned PCT patent application serial number PCT / US2024 / 014966 filed February 8, 2024, by applicant Stryker Corporation and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS SYSTEM; and / or the software application disclosed in commonly assigned PCT patent application PCT / US2023 / 036362 filed October 31, 2023, by applicant Stryker Corporation and entitled CAREGIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM, the complete disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0230] It will also be understood that software application 110 may be configured to generate the content that is displayed on display devices 104 in different manners. For example, in some embodiments, software application 110 sends the data defining the graphics shown in dashboard screen 162 (and the other screens) to the corresponding display device 104 and instructs the display device 104 to display those graphics. However, in other examples, some or all of the graphics shown herein may be stored locally in a software application executed by the display device 104 and software application 110 may instruct the display device 104 to display these graphics without having to forward these graphics to the display device. Still other manners of instructing the display devices 104 what to display may also, or additionally, be used.

[0231] Various additional alterations and changes beyond those already mentioned herein can be made to the above-described embodiments. This disclosure is presented for illustrative purposes and should not be interpreted as an exhaustive description of all embodiments or to limit the scope of the claims to the specific elements illustrated or described in connection with these embodiments. For example, and without limitation, any individual element(s) of the described embodiments may be replaced by alternative elements that provide substantially similar functionality or otherwise provide adequate operation. This includes, for example, presently known alternative elements, such as those that might be currently known to one skilled in the art, and alternative elements that may be developed in the future, such as those that one skilled in the art might, upon development, recognize as an alternative. Any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an,” “the” or “said,” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A system for reporting patient support apparatus status information, the system comprising: a patient support apparatus and a software application; wherein the patient support apparatus comprises:(a) a frame;(b) a support surface supported by the frame and adapted to support a patient thereon, the support surface including a back section adapted to pivot between a substantially horizontal orientation and a raised orientation;(c) an angle sensor adapted to sense a current angle of the back section;(d) a network transceiver adapted to communicate with a server through a healthcare facility computer network; and(e) a controller adapted to transmit a first message indicative of the current angle of the back section to the server using the network transceiver; wherein the software application is embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of the server, to instruct the server to perform the following:(i) receive the first message from the patient support apparatus;(ii) receive a second message indicative of a respiratory condition of the patient from an electronic medical records server;(iii) compare the current angle of the back section to a threshold angle; and(iv) generate display content to send to a display in communication with the server, wherein the display content includes a warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is less than the threshold angle, and wherein the display content does not include the warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is greater than the threshold angle.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a configuration input from a user indicative of whether the uses wishes to see the warning indicator and, if the configuration input indicates the user does not wish to see the warning indicator, not include the warning indicator in the display content.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the warning indicator is an icon displayed on the display.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the display content further includes a room graphic indicative of a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the icon is displayed within the room graphic.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a communication sensor adapted to detect an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on the support surface and the patient support apparatus, the controller is adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the absence of the communication link to the server using the network transceiver, and wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to include a mattress disconnection indicator in the display content in response to receipt of the third message.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a nurse call button adapted to be activated by the patient, the controller is further adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to the server, and the software application is adapted to instruct the server to include a nurse call request indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the controller is adapted to transmit the second message to the server using the network transceiver.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a nurse call interface adapted to communicate with a nurse call outlet positioned in a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the controller is adapted to transmit the second message to the server using the nurse call interface.

9. The system of claim 6 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a nurse call termination sensor adapted to detect when a call between the patient and a caregiver is terminated, the controller is further adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the call being terminated, and the software application is adapted to instruct the server to remove the nurse call request indicator from the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the software application is further configured to instruct the server to receive the second message from a nurse call server in communication with the nurse call interface.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the nurse call request indicator is an icon.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon a fall risk status of the patient.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon whether an alert for the patient support apparatus is currently included in the display content.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the alert is a patient exit alert.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is further adapted to perform the following: detect a condition of the patient support apparatus; allow a user to change a local setting at the patient support apparatus; issue a local alert at the patient support apparatus in response to detection of the condition if the local setting is in a first state; not issue a local alert at the patient support apparatus in response to detection of the condition if the local setting is in a second state; and transmit a third message to the server using the network transceiver, wherein the third message is indicative of the state of the condition; wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: allow a user to change a remote setting at the server; include an alert indicator in the display content in response to detection of the condition if the remote setting is in a first state; and not include the alert indicator in the display content in response to detection of the condition if the remote setting is in a second state.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the software application is further adapted to allow the user to change the remote setting regardless of the state of the local setting.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the condition of the patient support apparatus includes at least one of the following: a brake of the patient support apparatus not being set; one or more siderails of the patient support apparatus not being in a desired position; an exit detection system of the patient support apparatus not being armed; a height of the support surface not being at a desired height; ora mattress of the patient support apparatus not being communicatively linked with the patient support apparatus.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a Head- of-Bed (HOB) control adapted to activated or deactivated by a user, and wherein the controller is further adapted to issue a local warning at the patient support apparatus if the back section is less than the threshold angle and the HOB control is activated, to not issue the local warning at the patient support apparatus if the back section is less than the threshold angle and the HOB control is activated, and to transmit the first message to the server regardless of whether the HOB control is activated or deactivated.

19. A patient support apparatus comprising: a frame; a support surface supported by the frame and adapted to support a patient thereon; a nurse call button adapted to be activated by the patient; a nurse call interface adapted to communicate with a nurse call outlet positioned in a room in which the patient support apparatus is positioned; a network transceiver adapted to communicate with a server through a healthcare facility computer network; and a controller adapted to transmit a first message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to a nurse call system via the nurse call interface, and to transmit a second message indicative of the nurse call button being pressed to the server via the network transceiver.

20. The patient support apparatus of claim 19 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a nurse call termination sensor adapted to detect when a call between the patient and a caregiver is terminated, the controller is further adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the call being terminated to the server via the network transceiver.

21. The patient support apparatus of claim 20 wherein the network transceiver is a WiFi transceiver.

22. The patient support apparatus of claim 20 wherein the nurse call interface is adapted to receive a cable coupled to the nurse call outlet.

23. The patient support apparatus of claim 19 further including a communication sensor adapted to detect an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on the support surface and the patient support apparatus, and wherein the controller is adapted to transmit a third message indicative of the absence of the communication link to the server using the network transceiver.

24. A software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of a server, to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a first message from a patient support apparatus indicative of a current angle of a pivotable back section of the patient support apparatus; receive a second message indicative of a respiratory condition of a patient from an electronic medical records server; compare the current angle of the back section to a threshold angle; and generate display content to send to a display in communication with the server, wherein the display content includes a warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is less than the threshold angle, and wherein the display content does not include the warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is greater than the threshold angle.

25. The software application of claim 24 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a configuration input from a user indicative of whether the uses wishes to see the warning indicator and, if the configuration input indicates the user does not wish to see the warning indicator, not include the warning indicator in the display content.

26. The software application of claim 24 wherein the warning indicator is an icon displayed on the display.

27. The software application of claim 26 wherein the display content further includes a room graphic indicative of a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the icon is displayed within the room graphic.

28. The software application of claim 24 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on a support surface and the patient support apparatus, and to include a mattress disconnection indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

29. The software application of claim 24 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message indicative of a nurse call button on the patient support apparatus being pressed, and to include a nurse call request indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

30. The software application of claim 29 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive the third message from a wireless access point of a local area network of a healthcare facility in which the patient support apparatus is positioned.

31. The software application of claim 29 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive the third message from a nurse call server in communication with a local area network of a healthcare facility in which the patient support apparatus is positioned.

32. The software application of claim 29 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive a fourth message indicative of a call between the patient and a caregiver being terminated, and to instruct the server to remove the nurse call request indicator from the display content in response to the receipt of the fourth message.

33. The software application of claim 32 wherein the nurse call request indicator is a phone icon.

34. The software application of claim 32 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon a fall risk status of the patient.

35. The software application of claim 32 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon whether an alert for the patient support apparatus is currently included in the display content.

36. The software application of claim 35 wherein the alert is a patient exit alert.

37. The software application of claim 24 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of a condition of the patient support apparatus; allow a user to change a remote setting at the server; include an alert indicator in the display content in response to receipt of the third message if the remote setting is in a first state; and not include the alert indicator in the display content in response to receipt of the third message if the remote setting is in a second state.

38. The software application of claim 37 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to allow the user to change the remote setting regardless of whether the patient support apparatus issues an alert in response to the patient support apparatus being in the condition.

39. The software application of claim 38 wherein the condition of the patient support apparatus includes at least one of the following: a brake of the patient support apparatus not being set; one or more siderails of the patient support apparatus not being in a desired position; an exit detection system of the patient support apparatus not being armed; a height of a support surface not being at a desired height; or a mattress of the patient support apparatus not being communicatively linked with the patient support apparatus.

40. The software application of claim 24 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of the current angle of the back section being below a local threshold angle while a Head-of-Bed (HOB) control on the patient support apparatus is activated, and to include in the display content the warning indicator in response to receipt of the third message even if the server does not receive the second message.

41. A software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and adapted, when executed by a processor of a server, to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a first message from a nurse call system via a first pathway, the first message indicative of a nurse call button on a patient support apparatus being pressed; receive a second message from the patient support apparatus via a second pathway different from the first pathway, the second message indicative of a condition of the patient support apparatus; generate display content to send to a display in communication with the server; change the display content to include a nurse call request indicator in response to receipt of the first message; and change the display content to include an alert indicator in response to receipt of the second message.

42. The software application of claim 41 wherein the condition of the patient support apparatus includes at least one of the following: a brake of the patient support apparatus not being set; one or more siderails of the patient support apparatus not being in a desired position; an exit detection system of the patient support apparatus not being armed; a height of a support surface not being at a desired height; or a mattress of the patient support apparatus not being communicatively linked with the patient support apparatus.

43. The software application of claim 41 wherein the software application is configured to not allow a caregiver to respond to the nurse call button being pressed on the patient support apparatus.

44. The software application of claim 41 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to receive a third message indicative of a call between a patient and a caregiver being terminated, and to instruct the server to remove the nurse call request indicator from the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

45. The software application of claim 44 wherein the nurse call request indicator is a phone icon.

46. The software application of claim 41 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon a fall risk status of a patient.

47. The software application of claim 41 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to change a background color of the nurse call request indicator based upon whether a patient exit alert of the patient support apparatus is currently included in the display content.

48. The software application of claim 41 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of an absence of a communication link between a mattress positioned on a support surface and the patient support apparatus, and to include a mattress disconnection indicator in the display content in response to the receipt of the third message.

49. The software application of claim 41 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a third message from the patient support apparatus indicative of the current angle of a pivotable back section of the patient support apparatus; receive a fourth message indicative of a respiratory condition of a patient from an electronic medical records server; compare the current angle of the back section to a threshold angle; change the display content to include a warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is less than the threshold angle, and not change the display content to include the warning indicator if the current angle of the back section is greater than the threshold angle.

50. The software application of claim 49 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to perform the following: receive a configuration input from a user indicative of whether the uses wishes to see the warning indicator and, if the configuration input indicates the user does not wish to see the warning indicator, not include the warning indicator in the display content.

51. The software application of claim 49 wherein the warning indicator is an icon displayed on the display.

52. The software application of claim 41 wherein the display content further includes a room graphic indicative of a room in which the patient support apparatus is located, and the nurse call request indicator is displayed within the room graphic.

53. The software application of claim 52 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to flash at least a portion of the room graphic.

54. The software application of claim 53 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to cease flashing the at least a portion of the room graphic in response to a call between a patient and a caregiver being terminated.

55. The software application of claim 52 wherein the software application is adapted to instruct the server to flash at least a portion of the nurse call request indicator while displaying the room graphic.

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