Jan 04, 2012The Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute (MMCI), an oncology treatment facility located in the Czech Republic, is employing a Wi-Fi-based real-time location system (RTLS) to enable patients to gain quick assistance in the event of an emergency, and to make staff members more efficient by tracking the locations of medical devices and patients. The solution was provided by Czech systems integrator Unis Computers, using tags and location software from Ekahau and Wi-Fi access nodes supplied by Cisco.
Based on the technology's ability to help employees locate equipment and patients, as well as receive alerts in real time, the hospital plans to expand the solution this year to a new pavilion currently under construction. What's more, the medical facility hopes to provide patients with additional services in the future, such as enabling them to use their Ekahau tags to send short messages—not just a generic request for help—to tags worn by members of the institute's staff.
MMCI has been in operation since 1935, providing complete diagnostics, treatment and preventive care in oncology for both Czech and international patients. The organization maintains a policy of viewing its patients as partners, respecting their privacy and providing some independence of movement for those able to leave their beds. Even so, it is vital that patients be able to reach staff members, and that they can be located quickly in the event of a fall or some other emergency. Many patients are elderly, some suffering from brain tumors or Alzheimer's disease, thus putting them at greater risk for an injury—or simply confusion causing them to require staff assistance.
To address that problem, MMCI adopted the RTLS solution so that staff members can determine where patients are located, and immediately reach those patients—or other employees—when necessary. The institute is also utilizing the system to improve staff efficiency, by reducing the amount of time workers spend searching for misplaced equipment, such as pumps or wheelchairs.
The facility had already begun using a Cisco Wi-Fi wireless local-area network (WLAN) in 2007, to allow staff members to receive and transmit data on tablet PCs, so management began seeking ways to further capitalize on that system by adding RTLS technology. The wireless infrastructure was already transforming productivity and patient care, says Marek Svoboda, MMCI's deputy director for development, science and training. Workers carried tablet PCs, using them to view real-time information at the point of need—in other words, at the site at which they treated a patient, such as at his or her bedside. At that time, some of the medical staff had previously visited the United States, where they had witnessed RTLS deployments in use, so the hospital launched a feasibility study regarding the installation of such a system at its own facility. The center began accepting quotes in April 2010 from vendors of such RTLS solutions, and signed with Unis Computers in June.
In addition, every new patient assigned to a bed receives an Ekahau T301 badge tag, which can be worn around the wrist. The tag transmits a unique ID number to the back-end system at regular intervals. To call for assistance, a patient can press a button on the badge, which transmits that request, along with the badge's ID, to the back-end system. The ERC software forwards the request to tags carried by members of the nursing staff whom the software determines are assigned to the specific ward in which that patient is located. The system also alerts employees if a patient tries to wander into an area in which he or she is not intended to be, such as a different ward. In such a case, an alarm can be issued to the Ekahau badges of the appropriate workers, as well as displayed on PCs.
The ERC software determines the tag's location within a few meters, Lenz says. Currently, the hospital is utilizing between 500 and 600 tags, 300 of which are used for assets, and approximately 150 more of which are allotted for patients and personnel. "MMCI is the first hospital in the Czech Republic that we have worked with, and they were very open to using new technology," he states, noting that "They are really at the forefront" in Eastern Europe.
The system became operational in September 2010, Svoboda says, and the asset-tracking functionality has since helped to reduce the number of items lost either due to being misplaced or stolen. He estimates that the medical staff now spends around 15 percent less time performing administrative tasks, such as locating equipment.
