HCA North Florida Expands Its RTLS to Track Patients

HCA North Florida is now gearing up to expand the RTLS to track patients as well. It plans to fasten the 433 MHz tags, encoded with 16-digit unique ID numbers, to patient wristbands. The tags are reusable and will be sterilized before each use. The organization will also test patient wristbands bearing 2-D bar codes, so each patient will be given two wristbands: one RFID-enabled, the other 2-D bar-coded. A 2-D bar code—a two-dimensional method for representing information encoded in a checkerboard-like pattern—can be used to store thousands of digits or ASCII characters, unlike a linear (one-dimensional) bar code, which is composed of vertical lines used to store only a small number of ASCII characters or digits.

To protect a patient's privacy, the RFID-enabled wristband will transmit only a unique ID number, associated with detailed patient information in a back-end system. The system will provide employees with location information for each patient, accessible via hospital computers. The organization will install a network of fixed interrogators throughout the hospitals, which will receive the tag transmissions and communicate that data to a server. The server will then interpret the transmissions to determine the tag's location.

To identify a patient and access that person's medical records, a doctor or nurse will use a handheld computer equipped with a 2-D bar-code scanner to read the bar-coded wristband. The scanner decodes the 2-D bar code, which is formatted as a portable data file (PDF), and renders the bar code to human-readable text. Displayed on the handheld, the text will consist of basic information such as the patient's name, treatment and other data the hospital deems pertinent. "If you look at conventional wristbands," Mun says, "there is a one-dimensional bar code and the patient name. With 2-D, we can store a couple hundred characters on the wristband—that is not a problem." The 2-D bar-code system, however, does not provide location data.

HCA North Florida is interested in using both technologies simultaneously, Mun explains, because such a combination provides a more comprehensive patient tracking and identification solution. Not only is patient privacy protected (since no patient information is broadcast), the organization will still be able to identify patients during treatment in the event of a power failure—a necessity for hospitals in states susceptible to hurricanes. If HCA North Florida were to rely solely on active RFID, which can be used to both identify and locate patients, the organization would run the risk of losing the ability to identify and track patients in the event of a power failure. The RTLS network and other computer equipment would likely shut down in such an scenario.

"We will eventually end up using both, because they do compliment each other. They cover different areas," Mun notes. "With active RFID, we will know exactly where a patient is, which is critical in some instances, such as in the ER. The 2-D bar-code has a different side. It lets us easily get the kind of information we need when treating a patient. Even in a disaster, if we lose electrical power, the only devices you can rely on are those that are battery-operated. The handheld that has battery backup, we'll still be able to get that information."