Managing patient bed assignments and bed occupancy in a health care facility

A method for providing a result to a user query for information associated with a patient in a health care environment comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving information associated with a patient in a health care environment, comprising:
• (i) a location associated with the patient;
• and
• (ii) an indicator of care of the patient;
• (b) providing a graphical user interface capable of displaying in a geospatial arrangement the location associated with the patient and the indicator of care of the patient;
• (c) receiving a query from a user for information associated with the patient;
• (d) in response to the query, displaying via the graphical user interface in a geospatial arrangement the location associated with the patient and the indicator of care of the patient;
• and
• (e) when a change occurs to the information displayed, updating the graphical user interface with the change;
• (f) wherein the indicator of care of the patient comprises a count-down timer;
• (g) wherein the user interface is configured for display of a negative value after the count-down timer passes zero;
• and
• (h) wherein the geo-spatial arrangement comprises a floorplan view.

A system for tracking a patient and monitoring care of the patient in a health care environment, comprising:

• (a) an output device capable of displaying a location associated with the patient and an indicator of care of the patient in a geospatial arrangement;
• and
• (b) a query support engine capable of,
• (i) receiving information associated with the patient in a health care environment, comprising a location associated with the patient and an indicator of care of the patient;
• (ii) receiving a query for a portion of the information associated with the patient;
• (iii) in response to the query, displaying in a geospatial arrangement via the output device the location associated with the patient and an indicator of care of the patient;
• and
• (iv) updating a graphical user interface displayed via the output device when a change occurs;
• (c) wherein the indicator of care of the patient comprises a count-down timer;
• (d) wherein the graphical user interface is capable of displaying a negative value after the count-down timer passes zero;
• and
• (e) wherein the geo-spatial arrangement comprises a floorplan view.

A computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that provide a user interface for tracking and monitoring care of a patient in a health care environment, the user interface comprising:

• (a) a geospatial view of a health care environment;
• (b) a plurality of indicators associated with respective locations associated with a plurality of patients in the health care environment;
• and
• (c) a plurality of indicators associated with care of the plurality of patients in the health care environment;
• (d) wherein at least one of the indicators comprises a count-down timer;
• (e) wherein the user interface is configured for display of a negative value after the count-down timer passes zero;
• and
• (f) wherein the geo-spatial view comprises a floorplan view.