RFID Hospital Patient Tracking - Technology in Action

The radio frequency technology has been around for sometime, but it’s only been some few years back that it had surpassed its use with the development of RFID, or radio frequency identification device. These days, there is now the RFID hospital patient tracking Australia popularly used in medical facilities all over the world.

Hospitals are using them to reduce overall costs from both parties. It is necessary to track down ambulant patients (mostly those suffering from mental disabilities) for their continued care. It is also to avert costly lawsuits should there be untoward incidents to happen to the patients.

These days, they are even used to track down doctors and hospital staff and expensive medical equipments in and out of the hospital’s facilities. Usually tagged through the bracelets worn by patients, they provide electronic links for wireless communication of patient data.

Hospital management also wants to have constant knowledge regarding their expensive machines and equipments.

Benefits 

On the practical side, the RFID system is basically used for tracking and monitoring (and locating) wayward patients who are not in their beds or rooms or some designated places.

With the constant surveillance, patients can be restricted not to access or enter areas and places where it might be dangerous for them or for the facility. (High-threat places include pediatrics, medicine storage, sensitive equipments, and others.)

There are also areas that are restricted in certain emergency cases or situations within the hospital premises, which hospital personnel are also barred access. This will be in times of emergencies, terrorist threats, epidemics and such.

Applications

These days, the RFID system does not only track hospital patients but are used by the medical facility to track their own doctors and hospital staff and personnel. The main purpose is constant communications and better management of the hospital staff even if they are in constant motion (mobile) around the facility.

The RFID can also be utilized in tracking the patient’s medical files. The RFID is attached on the cover containing important documents and information (addresses, bills, prescriptions, clinical reports, pathology test results, etc.) of the patient.

This is for easy recovery of the many files stored with less manual errors and the locating time is reduced.

Emergency patients

The use of RFID had also been highlighted in emergency cases where the patient’s condition and present location (even if he is mobile inside an ambulance) are correctly tracked and in constant surveillance.

The tracking software is integrated with the ED system of the hospital, including those RFID tags worn by doctors and other members of the hospital staff. After the tags had been time-stamped, the rest of the patient’s information is sent to the system.

Patients with acute conditions are aided by the tracking system to get to the hospital’s critical quality metrics and are immediately administered with the proper procedures.

The tags on other patients who are moving around are still sending real-time updates. The staff can then view that patient’s location on a large-screen tracking grid at individual stations scattered around.

This is one sample on how rfid hospital patient tracking Australia in active mode.