Visual display of room information

Abstract

Information of interest is graphically displayed in a manner which conveys the information to in a form which aids in comprehension of the information. Specifically, the information is preferably conveyed on the unit level through the use of the unit's floor plan in a graphical seating chart type format. A graphical icon is used to represent each room in the unit. Components of the icon indicate key considerations for every room. Additional information may also be displayed by clicking on a component of the icon.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of graphically displaying bed management and room occupant status information of a facility, said method comprising the steps of:
 displaying at least one icon on an interactive display, said at least one icon conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information, said at least one icon being arranged on said display on said display in the pattern of a floor plan of the facility;   each of said at least one icon in said floor plan corresponding to a different one of said rooms of said facility for which information is conveyed; and   displaying secondary bed management information in response to user interaction with the icon.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the room is a hospital room. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an icon depicts a bed. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an icon indicates a bed within a room is unoccupied. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an icon indicates a bed within a room is occupied. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an icon indicates an emergency condition exists within a room. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an icon indicates a bed within a room is being cleaned. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information includes at least one of patient bed occupancy and bed availability. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information includes at least one of an occupied status, an available status, an unoccupied status, a clean status, a dirty status, a cleaning in progress status, a blocked status, a reserved status, or an unavailable status. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displaying secondary bed management information comprises providing patient specific information in response to user interaction with an icon. 
     
     
         12 . A program storage device readable by machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to:
 display at least one icon on an interactive display, said icon conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information, said at least one icon being arranged in the pattern of a floor plan of the facility;   each of said at least one icon in said floor plan corresponding to a different one of said rooms of said facility for which information is conveyed; and   display secondary bed management information in response to user interaction with the icon.   
     
     
         13 . The program storage device according to  claim 12 , wherein an icon indicates an emergency condition exists within a room. 
     
     
         14 . The program storage device according to  claim 12 , wherein the conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information includes at least one of patient bed occupancy and bed availability. 
     
     
         15 . The program storage device according to  claim 12 , wherein the conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information includes at least one of an occupied status, an available status, an unoccupied status, a clean status, a dirty status, a cleaning in progress status, a blocked status, a reserved status, or an unavailable status. 
     
     
         16 . The program storage device of  claim 12 , wherein to display secondary bed management information comprises providing patient specific information in response to user interaction with an icon. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for graphically displaying bed management and room occupant status information of a facility, said apparatus comprising:
 a processor;   an interactive display operatively coupled to said processor; and   a memory that stores instructions executable by the processor to:   display at least one icon on the interactive display, said at least one icon conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information, said at least one icon being arranged on said display on said display in the pattern of a floor plan of the facility;   each of said at least one icon in said floor plan corresponding to a different one of said rooms of said facility for which information is conveyed;   display secondary bed management information in response to user interaction with the icon.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein an icon indicates an emergency condition exists within a room. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein the conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information includes at least one of patient bed occupancy and bed availability. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein the conveying a first level of hospital room information regarding bed management information includes at least one of an occupied status, an available status, an unoccupied status, a clean status, a dirty status, a cleaning in progress status, a blocked status, a reserved status, or an unavailable status. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein to display secondary bed management information comprises providing patient specific information in response to user interaction with an icon.