US20130104281A1

US20130104281A1 - Apparatus and method to help prevent medical errors

Info

Publication number: US20130104281A1
Application number: US13/317,709
Authority: US
Inventors: Jeanne Mattick
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-10-26
Filing date: 2011-10-26
Publication date: 2013-05-02

Abstract

A device to help minimize medical recovery time and to help prevent medical errors in the form of a garment that is more comfortable for a patient to wear and that provides information, such as medical information, that saves the care giver time and that can help prevent medical errors. Such information can include allergies, medical conditions, blood type, identification of scheduled procedures, name, emergency contact numbers and other medical information. Privacy flaps can be provided to cover such information when it is not being used by the caregiver. The garment securely fastens in both the front and back to prevent accidental exposure, including accidental exposure through gaping material between fasteners. Additionally, pockets are provided at approximately hip level to allow the wearer to comfortably place their hands in their pockets if they want their hands to be warmer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices to help minimize medical recovery time, especially devices to help prevent medical errors at the point of service in hospitals, emergency rooms, rehabilitation facilities, and/or nursing homes.
Medical errors are a source of added expense to a nations overall health care costs. Unfortunately, many instances of easily preventable medical errors have been a source of very disturbing news at various times over the last several years. Reducing the number of medical errors should decrease the number of preventable deaths, result in a better quality of life for the patient, and decrease the cost of medical care.
Additionally, medical care can be somewhat rushed because of the emergency nature of some situations and staffing issues in others. It is believed that many hospitals are working with less than optimal nurse staffing, which may often result in short cuts being taken. Saving the nursing staff from having to waste additional time looking up medical information by making it readily available at the point of care can save precious time and also help contribute to the prevention of medical errors. Likewise, saving time in emergency situations by having medical information at the point of service can save the time normally needed to test for information, such as blood type, which both saves time and prevents medical errors. In some cases, the time savings alone may mean the difference between life and death or aiding in creating a better outcome across a range of possible outcomes in a given situation.
Furthermore, patient recovery time can vary according to a number of factors. Some evidence suggests that the spirits of the patient may be one of those factors and many hospitals now allow family and loved ones to spend time with a patient beyond what were traditional visiting hours in the hopes that it would aid in a patients recovery. As many people have experienced, a patient's spirit may be reduced because of some of the factors within a hospital, including being uncomfortable. One unnecessary cause that may make some patients uncomfortable can be the knowledge of the possibility of embarrassment caused by a typical hospital gown that does not provide adequate coverage or that causes people to become exposed too easily by the gaping of material between fasteners.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved system and method to help prevent medical errors by providing commonly needed medical information specific to the patient at the point where care is being provided to such patient. A need further exists for an improved system and method to help prevent medical errors by providing commonly needed medical information that would save the care giver the time needed to look up such information. A further need exists for an improved system and method to help prevent medical errors by providing commonly needed medical information. A further need exists for a patient gown that provides adequate coverage and that closes securely, while still being easily opened, but that does not lend itself to the patient becoming accidentally exposed. A further need exists for a patient gown that is comfortable for the patient to use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one form, the system and method to help prevent medical errors by providing commonly needed medical information provides such information on the hospital garment.
An object of the disclosed invention is the provision of new and improved system and method to help prevent medical errors by providing commonly needed medical information that is provided at the point of medical service by being placed at strategic points on the hospital garment.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention are apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a form of the invention in the form of a hospital garment;

FIG. 2 is a partial cutaway of the front plan view of the hospital garment of FIG. 1 with the upper right hand pocket removed to show an opening for heart monitor cords or other things; and

FIG. 3 is a back plan view of the hospital garment of FIG. 1.

It should be noted that the terms patient garment, patient gown, and hospital gown mean the same thing as used throughout this application as they are really one and the same thing. A hospital gown can be utilized in places that are not hospitals, such as doctor's offices and nursing homes.
Referring to FIGS. 1-3, there is shown one form of a system to help prevent medical errors in the form of hospital gown 10. In one form, hospital gown 10 can be constructed somewhat similarly to a standard hospital gown. Hospital gown 10 can include a body portion 11 made out of a suitable washable cloth material. Body portion 11 can terminate in neck opening 12 at the top, leg opening 14 at the bottom, and sleeves 20 and 22 on opposite sides of body portion 11. Sleeves 20 and 22 preferably include arm openings 16 and 18 at their ends opposite body portion 11. Hospital gown 10 can have a front 24 and a back 26.
In one form, hospital gown 10 has a body opening 28 in the back 26 that can be opened and closed to allow hospital gown 10 to be easily put on and removed. Hospital gown 10 can also have a body opening 30 in the front 24 that can be opened and closed to allow hospital gown 10 to be easily put on and removed. Such body opening 30 in front 24 can be in addition to, or instead of, body opening 28 in the back 26. Body openings 28 and 30 also provide the caregiver with any needed access to perform their duties such as listening to the wearer's heart or lungs.
One or more fasteners 32 or 34 can be provided to fasten body openings 28 or 30 in the closed position. In one form, fasteners 32 or 34 can be a single string that is tied together. In another form, fasteners 32 or 34 can be one or more snaps or buttons that can fasten the gown closed. In yet another form, fasteners 32 or 34 can include one or more hook and loop fastener devices, such as VELCRO, that can be used to close gown 10. In the form depicted, a single hook and loop fastener 32 can be used to form a re-sealable seam to securely fasten the front body opening 30, for example where the single hook and loop fastener 32 runs along the length of gown 10 from a point proximate to neck opening 12 to an area proximate to leg opening 14. This form of fastener 32 running all, or most, of the length of gown 10 can aid the wearer's spirits by providing them the confidence of knowing that their gown 10 provides adequate coverage and is unlikely to cause an accidental exposure.
Also in the form depicted, multiple hook and loop fasteners 34 can be used to close gown 10. Here, the multiple hook and loop fasteners 34 can be placed along the length of gown 10 from a point proximate to neck opening 12 to an area proximate to leg opening 14. In one form, critical portions of gown 10 at opening 28 can be cut to overlap each other by an amount sufficient to prevent accidental exposure due to the gaping of material between adjacent fasteners 34. In one form, the overlap can be from 4-12 inches of material that is overlapped.
Similar to more typical hospital gown, additional fasteners 36 and 38 can be provided along the length of sleeves 20 and 22 between the neck opening 12 and arm openings 16 and 18 to close sleeves 16 and 18 while allowing them to be opened when required. In a preferred form. fasteners 36 and 38 can be hook and loop type fasteners. Such fasteners are typically easier to close than the more typical snaps used in many such gowns because they do not need to be as precisely aligned as the snaps require.
In one form, opening 40 is provided on front 24 of gown 10 in an area that is preferably proximate to the heart of the wearer of gown 10. In a preferred form, opening 40 can be in the form of the depicted slit, which is preferably covered by the outer material 42 that forms chest pocket 50 in a somewhat typical manner. An additional piece of outer material 44 can also be sewn or otherwise securely attached to gown 10 to form an additional chest pocket 52. In a preferred form, one or more pieces of outer material, such as 46 and 48, are securely sewn or otherwise attached to gown to form pockets, such as hip pockets 54 and 56, that are closer to the wearer's hands and more easily reached by the wearer when their arms are down in a normal at rest position. Having pockets much lower on the gown makes it more comfortable because it is more convenient for the wearer to place and retrieve items and also gives them a place to warm their hands if their hands feel a bit chilly. In one form, a second opening is provided on front 24 of gown 10 in an area that is preferably covered by one of the pieces of outer material 46 and 48 that forms hip pockets 54 and 56.
In a preferred form, gown 10 can be personalized with preselected information concerning the intended wearer that can be very useful to the care giver, especially information (including medical information) that can help prevent medical errors. Such information can include a person's name 58, blood type 60, allergies or the absence of any allergies 62, medical conditions or the lack of any medical conditions 64, emergency contact information in case something happens to the patient 66. Additional information could be provided concerning particular procedures that are scheduled, such as identification of a limb to be amputated, identification of a specific artery to be un-blocked, or other information identifying the particulars of a scheduled surgery or other procedure.
In one form, such information can be provided on the front 24 of gown 10 by permanently providing the information on gown 10. In one form, such information can be embroidered on gown 10, such as on one or more of the pieces of material 42, 44, 46 and 48 that can form pockets 50, 52, 54, and 56. If the wearer does not own gown 10, pockets material 42, 44, 46 and 48 can be re-moveably attached to the gown, such as by using a hook and look type fastener. However, if the wearer owns gown 10, such material forming pockets can be securely sewn on and then replaced if the information changes.
Some people may be concerned about keeping their information, including medical information, more private. In such instance, the information can remain covered until needed by a care giver. For example, a privacy screen, in the form of additional material can be provided to cover up such information until needed. Such privacy screen 70 can be re-moveably secured to gown 10 over information 58-64 using a hook and loop type fastener along the privacy flaps entire perimeter, or at portions along such perimeter, so that they can be easily removed and/or replaced by the caregiver. Alternatively, such privacy screen can be in the form of a privacy flap 70, which can be securely sewn to gown 10, for example, along its top portion 72 closest to neck 12 such that gravity causes the rest of the privacy flap to hang down and cover such medical information. This allows the caregiver to easily move the privacy flap 70 upward in order to view the information underneath. In a preferred form, privacy shield is made from a similar material as the rest of gown 10 and makes the information underneath unreadable or difficult to read at a particular distance.
While gown 10 has been described above as being made from a cloth material, an alternative would be for patient gown 10 to be made out of a disposable material similar to a paper towel, such as a disposable cellulose based material. Such gowns could be of particular use for providing information, including medical information, for a given surgery or other procedures. A marker could even be used to write on the patient gown 10 to identify a particular limb that required amputation or another body part that surgery was going to be performed in order to prevent medical errors. For example, if the patient's right arm needed to be amputated the corresponding right arm 20 of gown 10 could contain information identifying the right arm was to be amputated. Additionally, the left arm 22 of gown 10 might include information indentifying the right arm (or at least not the left arm) was to be amputated. In such case, right arm 20 might have written on it “Amputate this arm” and left arm 22 might have written on it “NOT THIS ONE, THE OTHER ONE”. Alternatively, such information could be provided by the removal of the right arm 20 of gown 10 while keeping left arm 22 intact.
While the present invention has been illustrated and described herein assembled to form a patient gown, it should be apparent from the foregoing that other clothing may be assembled containing similar medical information, for example, pajamas, a nightgown, a bathrobe and other clothing.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A garment comprising;

a body portion made of a suitable material;

a neck opening at the top of the body portion;

a leg opening at the bottom of the body portion;

a first arm opening coupled to the body portion; and

information coupled to the body portion, wherein such information concerns the intended wearer of the garment and is preselected with the intention to help prevent medical errors.

2. The garment of claim 1, further comprising a privacy shield adapted to temporarily obscure the information whenever it is not needed by a medical professional.

3. The garment of claim 2, further comprising the privacy shield can be moved to allow the medical professional to easily read the information.

4. The garment of claim 3, wherein the garment has a front and a back and the information is provided on the front of the garment.

5. The garment of claim 4, wherein the information is permanently attached to the garment.

6. The garment of claim 1, further comprising a front re-closeable body opening in the front of the garment.

7. The garment of claim 6, further comprising a back re-closeable body opening in the back of the garment.

8. The garment of claim 6, wherein the front re-closeable body opening comprises a re-sealable seem extending from a point proximate to the neck opening to a point proximate to the leg opening.

9. The garment of claim 8, wherein the re-sealable seam comprises a hook and loop fastener coupled to the portion of the body surrounding the body opening from a point proximate to the neck opening to a point proximate to the leg opening.

10. The garment of claim 1, further comprising at least one pocket coupled to the body of the garment and wherein the information is located on at least one pocket.

11. The garment of claim 10, wherein the information comprises at least one of: the intended wearer's blood type, the intended wearer's allergies, the intended wearer's lack of any known allergies, the intended wearer's medical conditions, the intended wearer's lack of any known medical conditions, and emergency contact information if something happens to the intended wearer.

12. A method to help prevent medical errors comprising:

providing a medical setting for a patient wearing the garment of claim 1;

providing a medical care giver for the patient; and

the medical care giver reading the information.

13. The method to help prevent medical errors of claim 12, wherein the information comprises at least one of: the intended wearer's blood type, the intended wearer's allergies, the intended wearer's lack of any known allergies, the intended wearer's medical conditions, the intended wearer's lack of any known medical conditions, and emergency contact information if something happens to the intended wearer.

14. A method to help minimize medical recovery time comprising:

providing a medical setting for a patient wearing a garment, the garment including, but not being limited to,

a body portion made of a suitable material;

a neck opening at the top of the body portion;

a leg opening at the bottom of the body portion;

a first arm opening coupled to the body portion; and

a front re-closeable body opening in the front of the garment extending from a point proximate to the neck opening to a point proximate to the leg opening.

15. The method to help minimize medical recovery time of claim 14, wherein the garment further includes, but is not limited to, information coupled to the body portion, wherein the information concerns the intended wearer of the garment and is preselected with the intention to help prevent medical errors.

16. The method to help minimize medical recovery time of claim 15, wherein the information comprises at least one of: the intended wearer's blood type, the intended wearer's allergies, the intended wearer's lack of any known allergies, the intended wearer's medical conditions, the intended wearer's lack of any known medical conditions, and emergency contact information if something happens to the intended wearer.