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Health Facility Uses RTLS to Provide 'Concierge' Care
EHC currently has approximately 100 tags, and may add about 45 more depending on patient volume and the number of part-time physicians and nurses it ultimately employs. The system takes a tag read whenever a tag comes within range of a receiver. EHC has installed receivers in its 14 patient rooms, five clinical areas and three main waiting areas, as well as in two patient overflow areas.
LCD tracking boards are located in both of the facility's major nursing stations. Amelior EDTracker can also be accessed via four charting machines at each nurse station, charting terminals in each patient room and a terminal at the admissions desk.
EHC opted for a system using ultrasound, as opposed to one that utilizes active RFID tags, largely because the hospital wanted to be able to pinpoint a patient or caregiver's location at the room level. "This technology can't be read through walls, whereas active RFID sometimes can," Queener says. "If a caregiver is standing against a wall in room A, it might show up as being in room B with a different patient. With ultrasound, we have a higher degree of confidence that we are properly locating our physicians and patients."
Queener acknowledges that because the hospital is new, it didn't have any legacy infrastructure to consider. "We are a brand-new facility," he says, "so we had the opportunity to put any infrastructure into place that we chose. [Ultrasound-based RTLS] does definitely require a significant higher number of locating devices and much more dense wiring network."
According to Queener, the system will enable the hospital to analyze the RTLS data over time, then use that data to improve operations. "We can integrate the information back into staffing models, for example. We can mine this data and use it to improve our entire processes."
Additionally, EHC is planning to start tracking the locations of devices, such as X-ray machines and the portable tablet PCs it uses for charting and for viewing radiology images so they can be more easily found when needed for patient treatment or for maintenance.
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LCD tracking boards are located in both of the facility's major nursing stations. Amelior EDTracker can also be accessed via four charting machines at each nurse station, charting terminals in each patient room and a terminal at the admissions desk.
EHC opted for a system using ultrasound, as opposed to one that utilizes active RFID tags, largely because the hospital wanted to be able to pinpoint a patient or caregiver's location at the room level. "This technology can't be read through walls, whereas active RFID sometimes can," Queener says. "If a caregiver is standing against a wall in room A, it might show up as being in room B with a different patient. With ultrasound, we have a higher degree of confidence that we are properly locating our physicians and patients."
Queener acknowledges that because the hospital is new, it didn't have any legacy infrastructure to consider. "We are a brand-new facility," he says, "so we had the opportunity to put any infrastructure into place that we chose. [Ultrasound-based RTLS] does definitely require a significant higher number of locating devices and much more dense wiring network."
Additionally, EHC is planning to start tracking the locations of devices, such as X-ray machines and the portable tablet PCs it uses for charting and for viewing radiology images so they can be more easily found when needed for patient treatment or for maintenance.
