Medical Communication Privacy Control via Dynamic Zone Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need to maintain patient privacy during teleconferencing and video broadcasting in medical facilities, particularly in situations where sensitive medical procedures are being conducted, while ensuring compliance with legal mandates such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
Innovation Solution
A communication system with a privacy setting that prevents remote viewing or hearing of in-room images and audio when activated, allowing for secure transmission and control of video streams within medical rooms, using a network hub and portal system with media routers and video processors, codec devices, and user interface controls to manage privacy settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If video conferencing and broadcasting systems are implemented in medical facilities, then communication and collaboration capabilities are improved, but patient privacy and security are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes privacy zones and automatically detects when patients enter these zones before any video transmission occurs. The privacy setting is proactively applied based on detected patient presence, preventing privacy violations before they can happen during teleconferencing or video broadcasting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary privacy management system that sits between the video conferencing/broadcasting system and the patients. This intermediary automatically monitors patient locations, manages privacy zone definitions, and controls video transmission permissions, thereby enabling communication capabilities while protecting patient privacy without requiring direct intervention from healthcare providers.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If privacy settings are implemented to prevent remote viewing, then patient privacy is protected, but communication effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The privacy setting is made dynamic rather than static. The system automatically adjusts privacy protection levels based on real-time detection of patient presence in the room. When no patients are present, full communication effectiveness is maintained; when patients enter privacy zones, privacy protection is automatically activated. This dynamic approach ensures both privacy protection and communication effectiveness are optimized according to actual conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where patient presence detection feeds into automatic privacy setting adjustments. The system monitors room occupancy, determines when privacy should be enforced, and automatically applies or removes privacy restrictions accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures that privacy protection is applied only when necessary, maintaining communication effectiveness when patients are absent while protecting privacy when they are present.
Data Source
AI summary
A communication arrangement including a room having at least one communication device therein, the at least one communication device receiving in-room images, in-room video and/or in-room audio within the room. The communication arrangement also includes a communication system for transmitting the in-room images, in-room video and/or in-room audio from within the room to a location remote from the room. The communication system has a privacy setting that, when activated, prevents viewing of the in-room images or in-room video and/or hearing of the in-room audio from within the room at the location remote from the room and communicates to the location remote from the room that the privacy setting is activated.