subject: U.S. hospital beds into RFID traffic management system by bed - bed management, RFID Applications - [print this page] U.S. hospital beds into RFID traffic management system by bed - bed management, RFID Applications -
Into a hospital in South Carolina RTLS system to track three Charleston City Hospital District, medical equipment and hospital beds. The bed management system for the purpose of import is to increase the ward flow and reduce the time patients wait for beds. It also saves staff time to search for medical devices.
The hospital with three hospital areas, each service is about more than 94,000 total patients. In 2007, for improving medical equipment management practices and start to import tracking system. And that can save unnecessary expenses. Hospital equipment in 2008 to import tracking system combined with RFIDReader, Tag and infrared Technology , The 3000 Tag embedded in the medical instrument. System suppliers to Reader installed throughout the building, and IR transmitter embedded in the ceiling. Tag embedded infrared sensors to 433MHz transmission identification code and infrared signals to the back-end systems. System is based on the signal transmitted by the location shown on the screen.
Any computer through the hospital can search for equipment location, but also calculate a number of instruments used to search for objects of the time, suppliers and management of the rental, lease term and so on.
Tracking system because of the benefits, the hospital decided to import the bed management system to improve the bed flow problem. The hospital said the reason for causing emergency room overcrowding is often no empty beds in the area. Monday and Tuesday for the intensive care unit of the rush hour, especially in the afternoon, two to five points, 65 percent of patients needed to go to the general wards, intensive care unit this time is the busiest time. Many patients have to wait a while before we can change wards. The hospital hopes the system, staff can control the flow of beds, wards of the time to master change, information has a number of purposes.
Such as when the cleaning staff clean room, the portable has two functions of RFID handheld devices. Wards, the press Xiadi a button that has entered the ward implementation of the cleaning work. After work, and then press the second button that has been cleaned, are available to the next patient use.
Color-coded system to different wards state, should the system shows a green icon that is still clean of wards. Through the system, can master the bed flow, reduce patient waiting time. The hospital registered under the department said import system, the average savings of 15 minutes of processing time. System allows staff to control the use of hospital beds and demand management and transfer of clean bed ward procedures.
Currently, the hospital has to import 73 RFIDReader and infra-red signal device 660, scattered in three hospital district. April 2010, more into patient management system to track and control to further improve patient bed management system. Expected to combine RFIDTag and Reader into a container, said intelligence storage box. When patients go through the discharge, remove the RFID wristbands, into wisdom storage box, Reader to read Tag, send a message to the backend system, indicating the completion of the disease hospital discharge procedures, but also free up beds.
From the system since it was opened, the staff in locating medical equipment of the time, from the original 21 minutes was reduced to five minutes. Currently the hospital continue to work with system vendors to build RTLS system to further improve its performance.
