Industry Overviews:
HEALTHCARE – Asset Tracking
The Background:
- Large Urban Healthcare facility
- 500 employed physicians - 7000 employees (non-physician)
- 40,000+ Annual Admissions
- 90,000+ Annual Emergency Room Visits
- 30.000+ Annual Surgical Procedures
The Challenge:
- Length of time locating life saving assets
- Managing maintenance of equipment
The Solution:
- Active & Passive Tagging Solution
- Reusable tags
- Strategically placed read points around perimeter of inventory area, using RFID Readers and antennas
- Integration to existing inventory management system
- System alarms to notify security of discrepancies
- Advanced data collection reporting and event management
The Process:
Using both active and passive tags within the same environment to track assets and manage asset maintenance provides this healthcare facility with an optimal level of visibility. The majority of the assets are owned by the healthcare facility, however, some higher value assets are leased from outside equipment providers that require maintenance management programs. The facility is divided into zones, based upon materials used and the volume of traffic within each area. Using this information, it was determined that active and passive tags would be deployed in the emergency room and assets in pediatrics, cardiology, oncology and obstetrics would utilize passive technology and read points exclusively – Phase 2 includes plans to scale out to other departments.
In the emergency room, human assets are vital and the importance of communication, visibility/ accessibility and consistency are essential. Originally the hospital utilized pagers as a way to communicate with physicians, however, with the current legal climate and emergency room overcrowding, improving response time is critical. Having real time visibility to physician location enables the administrative team to make immediate decisions and improve patient response time. By incorporating an active tag into their existing employee identification, physicians broadcast location details to beacons throughout the department. The data is collected and funneled through the network based on a preconfigured schedule (i.e. every 20 seconds, every 30 seconds or whatever the case may be). Kiosks are placed within the department (password driven and secure) and at any time a search can be conducted based on last name, id number, medical specialty or other criteria that the hospital determines.
In other areas of the hospital, passive technology is deployed to manage capital assets. Read points are determined throughout each department. Assets are tagged with passive reusable tags. As assets move through out the department, data is collected and logged. Using the tags, information is recorded regarding maintenance schedules and any relevant information that needs to be recorded. When an asset is needed, the information about the locations is readily available via a browser based interface on any network device. Assets that do not move (example: CAT Scan) are tagged for maintenance purposes as well.
Phase 2 Plus Use Cases:
- Plans to scale to the solution to other departments
- Identification RFID tags will be used for patients at admissions to track through out the entire organization
- Tracking movement of sensitive materials
Summary:
- Instant visibility to physicians within the Emergency zone via kiosks
- Ability to find and sort physicians based on medical specialty, etc.
- Improved patient response time
- Asset maintenance management logs
- Improved access to vital equipment
