WiFi Based Active RFID: Just what the Doctor Ordered
The uses and benefits of active RFID tracking solutions in healthcare
By Gabi Daniely
It should come as no surprise that people lose things all the time. Whether it's keys, pens, or post-its, the little things always find a way to disappear, and while this is one of life's minor irritations, it's not generally a cause for alarm. However, for those working in life-critical environments such as hospitals or care facilities, losing track of a piece of equipment or even a patient can be much more costly.
Enter active RFID. While much of the buzz around RFID applications in the healthcare industry continues to swarm around an FDA-mandated system to track drugs from factory to pharmacy (e-Pedigree), the growing trend of active RFID usage for tracking assets and patients is taking a strong hold within healthcare institutions, particularly hospitals. While passive RFID has stolen the limelight in the past, active RFID solutions have been saving millions of dollars for enterprises around the world. In fact, a study in February 2007 by IDTechEx (www.idtechex.com), a research firm specializing in RFID, found that the market for active RFID will exceed $6 billion in 2017. Much of this growth is within healthcare - a recent survey of healthcare professionals by BearingPoint and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology found that 74% of respondents intend to invest in RFID in 2007.
Asset Optimization
Hospital ecosystems have long required clinicians and staff to balance their commitment to patient care with the challenge of optimizing the use of their valuable (and often expensive) assets. One of the primary uses and benefits of active RFID in healthcare is tracking these key assets to prevent loss and maintain optimal levels of care. Studies suggest that hospitals misplace or lose 5%-20% of their valuable mobile medical equipment annually. This equipment can range from infusion pumps to portable X-ray machines to patient monitoring devices. Each instance of equipment loss can, over time, add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars - both in cost of replacement, extended rental costs, and time spent searching halls and rooms for critical patient-care assets.
In addition to asset loss, the inefficient management and distribution of patient-care resources can cripple a hospital's operational effectiveness. Many high-value assets such as heart monitors and wheelchairs gather dust in closets or utility rooms while hospitals continue to overspend on new and rental equipment. At the same time, nurses sacrifice crucial time seeking equipment they need on the floor or sometimes "hoard" equipment for extended periods of time, unknowingly delaying maintenance repairs. Dozens of facilities worldwide, like the University Medical Center in Tucson, AZ, are using active RFID systems from a variety of vendors to better utilize their high-value assets.
Patient Tracking
Heart pumps and wheelchairs are not all that hospitals misplace. Thousands of patients pass through hospital waiting rooms, operating rooms, and emergency departments each day, and while institutions have efficient processes in place to handle this, there's always the potential for a patient to slip through the cracks. In some instances, patients find themselves in unauthorized areas placing themselves or others at risk. In addition, patients seeking critical care, such as those recovering from cardiac surgery, need constant monitoring to ensure rapid response should their condition abruptly deteriorate.
At KangNam St. Mary's Hospital, a facility in Seoul, Korea, with over 850 beds, patients receive an active RFID tag upon admission to the hospital's diagnostic center. Communicating directly with existing wireless access points, patient location is captured in real time. Staff can search for individual patients on a web-based software system and view their location as they move along the facility map. This tracking system has reduced costs, improved patient satisfaction, and elevated KangNam St. Mary's into one of the most state-of-the-art hospitals in Korea.
The Active RFID Solution
Active RFID asset tracking can bring unprecedented visibility to a hospital's hectic daily functions. The tracking begins after small, unobtrusive active RFID tags are attached to high-value equipment or people. Tags send wireless signals at regular intervals to a reader device, which sends signals to location processing engines. These engines often use a mathematical algorithm (based on signal strength and/or time of arrival) to determine the precise location of that equipment or patient. Integrated visualization software then enables staff to view maps, conduct searches, trigger alerts, and manage assets more effectively. And of course, that's just the basic functionality - more and more hospitals are taking advantage of advanced capabilities, such as using active RFID to transmit wired data from medical devices wirelessly, or using buttons on tags to trigger a call for maintenance.
WiFi Convergence
The proliferation of wireless networks in hospitals is enabling a more efficient breed of active RFID applications. Some active RFID tags are now integrated with the standard WiFi networks that hospitals already use for advanced applications such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and IP phone communications. The existing Wireless LAN access points act as RFID readers, picking up transmissions from the WiFi-based active RFID tags without the requirement of a separate infrastructure. This delivery model keeps infrastructure costs low and installation disruption to a minimum, adding another application to the ever-growing convergence pipe. Hospitals can not only deliver wireless voice and data to staff, but now location tracking as well.
With less than 5% of North American healthcare facilities currently equipped with asset-management systems (ABI Research, 2006), there's huge potential in this market, and those companies with proven experience will lead the pack. Companies like Philips Medical are leading the charge in taking active RFID systems to market, ensuring that hospitals can purchase this new technology from a trusted provider. With the ROI potential clear and the use of standard wireless infrastructure continuing to grow in hospitals, the stage is set for WiFi based active RFID to take the lead.
Gabi Daniely serves as Vice President of Product Strategy and Marketing for AeroScout, Inc., the leading provider of WiFi based active RFID solutions. He can be reached atgabi.daniely@aeroscout.com.
|
