RFID has the potential to dramatically improve hospital business processes while increasing the safety of patients through equipment tracking and utilization, patient and staff tracking, access control.
Knowing exactly where mobile equipment such as beds, wheelchairs, or defibrillators is when needed is vital for hospitals to provide the best service. An RFID equipment tracking system involves applying RFID tags to critical high value assets and installing RFID readers at the entrance and exit points of rooms. Any tagged device leaving a room is logged into the database and the location updated. Alerts can be triggered when equipment leaves a specific location to notify a nurse’s station computer or a technician’s PDA.
If hospital staff are issued RFID ID badges tagged equipment can be checked out to users automatically when the employee and the device leave a room the RFID tag on the device is associated with the employee RFID.
Nurses or authorized technicians can quickly find the equipments current location through a web based application that shows an assets current location and the use and maintenance history so an item’s utilization and service can be managed more effectively. Staff can use handheld readers to perform inventory quickly and accurately on the fly and easily find missing assets.
Tracking patients through many rooms on many floors of multiple buildings can be performed accurately and quickly with RFID also. Patients can be more effectively monitored and given the correct care by issuing them RFID enabled wristbands or tagging their hospital beds as they are wheeled through different areas.
Nurses with handheld readers can read the patients wrist band and immediately look up the patients file at bedside which can include the drugs and dosages prescribed. Alerts can be triggered to notify a nurse's PDA that a patient's treatment course is overdue.
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