The Health Care RFID Blog

In a recent article titled, “5 Technologies to Make Surgery Safer” by Gienna Shaw for HealthLeaders Media, it was mentioned that there are plenty of technologies on the market that have the ability to make surgeries safer. The article by Gienna Shaw listed the solutions below:

1. RFID to aid in retaining surgical instruments.

The surgical items (scalpel, sponge etc.) can be tagged to ensure that all instruments are accounted for and outside of the patients body before they procedure is complete.

2. Biometric-activated data cards.

These cards can be used to prevent wrong-site surgeries. The cards have the ability to hold gigabytes of data including the patient’s scans, charts, MRI images and more. The patient information can then only be viewed after his or her fingerprint has been captured.

3. Electrosurgical probe.

These devices help prevent healthy tissue damage that can occur while “diseased” tissue is being removed.

4. Surgical Robots

These robots are being used to manage anesthesia when the healthcare organization is lacking access to anesthesiologists. The robots are remotely controlled by experts in the field.

5. Alarm management systems.

Because an OR has several different alarms constantly going off healthcare workers tend to tune them out, the actual term for this is “alert fatigue.” This technology was designed to prioritize the importance of each alert and notify the appropriate personnel when a matter is urgent.

Preventing Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) is certainly another major problem that needs to be addressed with technology. Through the use of RFID, not only can we record activity, we can attempt to prevent unsafe practices and modify behavior. Dynamic RFID along with one of our partners has come up with a hand-hygiene compliance solution that has the ability to alert a healthcare worker when he or she has not washed his or her hands.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), checklists have proven to decrease the percentage of postsurgical complications also. According to Dr. Atul Gawande, author of, “The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right,” implementing a checklist in healthcare for undertakings as large as surgery can help prevent HAIs and therefore reduce the number of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) because of infections and even prevent deaths. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HAIs account for about 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths each year and annual costs to U.S. hospitals (adjusted for inflation) range from $28.4 -$33.8 billion to $35.7-$45 billion. With that said, RFID can play a major role in increasing safety in the OR.

There is a buzz around implementing “hot” new technologies which has stimulated the demand for real-time location systems (RTLS) in a wide array of industries. The benefits of implementing a real-time solution are endless. These solutions have the ability to provide the user with visibility across the whole enterprise in real-time. Organizations are faced with many disadvantages from their existing systems; these disadvantages can be easily eliminated with an RTL solution. Example:

There is a situation at a medical facility where they have put in place a surgical supply process that would essentially save the hospital time and money, instead it costs them more.  In this particular facility, surgical implants are stored in a separate storage room near the operating ward of the hospital.  Once a patient has arrived for an implant surgery (i.e. knee or hip replacement) the nurse may remove three to four surgical implants from the storage area and place them in the operating room, this is done because the operating team won’t know what size will fit the patient until the surgery is underway.  Once the surgery is complete, the nurse is required to return the unused –unopened implants to the surgical storage area.  That doesn’t happen. 

The implant vendor receives an email when surgeries are scheduled that will use the particular implants.  It is the vendor’s job to restock the surgical storage area with the required implants so the surgical staff doesn’t have to waste their time ordering supplies.  If the four unused surgical implants are not back in the storage area, he simply reorders all five (four unused, one used) devices.  The hospital is now responsible for paying for an additional four implants that were not needed.

To add insult to injury, if the nurse didn’t follow proper procedure in regards to removing the surgical implants, the patient would not be billed for the implant he/she received.  Therefore, not only is the hospital responsible for an additional four unnecessary implants, the one implant that was used did not get billed to the customer.

There are privacy concerns related to RTLS solutions, individuals should understand that:

o   The systems protect personal information example: in a healthcare setting if a “worker” is tagged the system can be configured so that only authorized users can identify the location of that individual within the organization. These tags can only be identified within that infrastructure.

o   Ultimately it is the “company’s” responsibility to protect their employees.

o   There is a unique ID associated to each badge, ideally authorized personnel will be the only staff that would be able to associate that ID to the individual tagged.

o   Other RTLS systems will only be able to “read” the unique ID associated with each individual badge.

RTLS adds value to all businesses….

o   Efficiency increased in operations.

o   The systems have the ability to manage multiple applications. For example: in a healthcare organization the system could be managing the location of the healthcare workers, patients, assets and any other items within the infrastructure essentially providing enterprise visibility.

o   The cost of tags and initial deployment has dropped drastically.

o   Implementing an RTLS system can help an organization comply with new standards and regulations that the government has issued.

o   You can use Dynamic RFID’s ROI Calculator to view the cost savings an organization can experience after implementation of an HHC Solution.

Frost & Sullivan recently released a study on RTLS Technology, RTLS Technology: Value Proposition Overrides Costs, below are a couple slides from the study discussing how technology improvements are expected to drive demand for RTLS market.

RTLS is going to become a standard in the future. The market is expected to grow at a continuous rate. Don’t be the last “person” to jump on the train.

Dynamic Computer Corporation (DCC) has been named a 2010 innovator by the West Michigan Business Review for our Hand-Hygiene Compliant (HHC) solution for healthcare. Dynamic’s application enables hospitals to accurately track and report on hand hygiene compliance to monitor problem areas and identify additional training where necessary.

The Innovation Michigan award recognizes Michigan innovators for uniqueness of products, process, line of service etc. According to Candace Beeke, Business Review Editor, “Innovation Michigan is the premier event honoring innovation across the state. It’s invigorating to see what these entrepreneurs create. It’s also rewarding to see the established, larger companies in Michigan maintaining an innovative corporate culture.”

This award, coupled with the innovation award received at Premier Healthcare Alliance’s 2010 annual Breakthroughs Conference and Innovation Celebration, has recognized the innovative work that has gone into the HHC Solution.

With the H1N1 epidemic last year and flu season returning healthcare organizations will need to be prepared. With several outbreaks happening within hospitals it is important for healthcare workers to abide by the guidelines set by the CDC in regards to proper hand-hygiene practices.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) and Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) have the ability to not only monitor the compliance of hand-hygiene but also have the ability to aid in reminding the staff to wash their hands in high stress situations. An RFID hand-hygiene solution offers a simple tool that follows the guidelines set forth by the CDC.

With Medicare and Medicaid cutting back reimbursements in regards to patient re-admittance, due to the growing number of Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs), healthcare organizations will have to take extra measures to prevent the spread of influenza this fall.

Is your organization ready to combat the flu season?

On Tuesday the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) issued the “final rule” outlining the guidelines and standards of a successful EMR implementation. The leader of these efforts, David Blumenthal, MD, National Coordinator for HIT, stated that the rule is primarily intended to address financial barriers and benefits of implementing an electronic medical record (EMR) system.

With this rule came incentives for physicians and hospitals, extending some flexibility in criteria required to qualify for the billions in federal funding made available with the meaningful use initiative. In regards to flexibility, a “core” plan has been set. All healthcare professionals and hospitals will be required to reach a “core” set of mandatory objectives and then will have the liberty to pick and choose five additional objectives from a supplementary group. With the achievement levels and quality measures reduced, it will be much easier for physicians and healthcare organizations to gain access to grant funding for their IT projects. The goal here is to get everyone onboard quickly so that when more sophisticated uses of electronic records become available it will be easier to adapt. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be rewarding users of EMRs with monetary incentive payments made available through the 2009 economic stimulus funds.

Dr. Don Berwick, head of the CMS, mentioned that properly modernized healthcare can bring tremendous benefits to improving the quality of care and workflow processes creating a much smother shift while also reducing costs. Healthcare organizations staff and patients will all benefit with modern HIT in terms of improving safety, care, transparency while also reducing costs.

Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, noted that the standards of the rule have been designed to work for all healthcare organizations large and small and that having better health information can save lives. The main concept of this rule is to improve the quality of care while keeping down costs. President Obama has a goal to have an electronic record for all Americans in 2014.

The Journal of the American Medical Association has been covering the topic of infection control practices heavily over the past several months. In an article posted recently, Infection Control Practices in Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs), it was reported that a couple of ASCs in the Nevada area were directly tied to the largest healthcare associated infection (HAI) breakout linked with hepatitis C in the nation’s history. Kevin B. O’Reilly, an amednews writer, noted recently that a 28-count criminal indictment was filed against the staff members involved in this breakout.

The Center for Disease Controls (CDC) infection control hand hygiene guidelines observation tool was used to conduct an inspection of ASCs nationwide. After the initial random inspections the ASCs that displayed extremely noncompliant practices faced reinspection. 68% of the facilities had a reported lapse in their infection control practices with 19% associated to poor hand-hygiene after the reinspection. The study flirts with the idea that millions of patients as well as healthcare workers across the United States are potentially at a high risk of contracting an HAI every year.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be limiting financial reimbursement to hospitals for patients that have been readmitted within 30 days after discharge. With these restrictions being made healthcare workers will need to comply with all standard prevention procedures in order to help maintain the financial status of the organization. If an outbreak occurs like the outbreak in Nevada the healthcare organization involved will have no chance of surviving the financial ramifications. With more people projected to go through the system, Medicare reimbursements falling and no funds available for expansion what will healthcare organizations do in an effort to prevent HAIs?

Dynamic RFID was selected as a 2010 Innovator by the Premier healthcare alliance and was highlighted at this year’s BREAKTHROUGHS conference in Washington, DC. The honorees were chosen due to their commitment to improving healthcare quality through innovation. Twenty-three healthcare related innovations were selected to take part in the Innovation Celebration, all with the same goal: improve care, reduce costs and minimize risks. More than 3,000 healthcare providers, experts and researchers were present at this year’s conference.

The event not only showcased new products, but also highlighted manufacturers that have taken existing technologies and made them more accommodating. The innovations displayed showed a strong focus on continuing procedural advancements in the industry.

Dynamic’s hand-hygiene solution proved to be a great fit for the deficiencies that many Infection Control specialists have been pained with over the past several years. The technology behind the solution showed a fit for all departments within healthcare facilities creating a great “buzz” for Dynamic RFID.

Innovation Celebration 2010, HAI Solution Displayed

BREAKTHROUGHS Conference 2010

In an article written by Stephen J. Dubner titled, “Is this the answer to Hospital-Acquired Infections?” , he mentions that it has been 10 years since first talks about the HAI (Hospital Acquired Infections) problem that the healthcare industry is now faced with and that in that ten years the problem has not gotten any better. But whose fault is it?

Many people like to place the blame on doctors, but in reality all healthcare workers should be held accountable. Trying to hold a single person and/or group accountable for something that is not tracked is impossible. Healthcare organizations need to start taking advantage of technologies that can aid in improving hand-hygiene compliance. Singling out one group, which will constantly be changing, will only be a temporary fix. Why not use technology as a tool to improve procedures?

Hospitals and other healthcare organizations should start implementing these new technologies in an effort to help change old habits and adopt new ones. Using technology to help mold a new culture within the healthcare industry would be a great start to improving the number of HAI incidents reported.

Now that the HAI problem has become visible to the public, hospitals, clinics and other healthcare organizations will need to start taking actions in an effort to improve compliance. RFID (radio frequency identification) and RTLS (real-time location systems) solutions have the ability to track compliance in real-time holding each healthcare worker accountable for themselves. Although there may be other variables involved in contracting nosocomial infections, improving hand-hygiene practices would show a significant increase in the annual improvement rate.

With technology rapidly advancing it can be easy to overlook key capabilities of existing products that are used on a day to day basis. For example Smartphone’s are typically used to surf the web and check email, what about using them to improve the quality of management within an organization whether onsite or in the field?

Software developers have come up with a solution that can operate as the middleware for an RFID infrastructure. Middleware creates interoperability between applications and acts as a client for RFID technologies. With a place to launch the software, RFID has the ability to interact with a Bluetooth interface to capture, collect and store data in real time from a remote location while also communicating with the main server. Bluetooth technology acts as a personal area network for the mobile device. If a wireless network is absent, the mobile device can still collect the information and will sync to the main server as soon as the connection is restored.

Mobile enterprise software solutions are enabling mobile devices to act as a reader and as a display, therefore everything happening at the tag level can be viewed in near Real Time.

Potential Uses

·         Offsite employees will have the capability to interact with the enterprise software

·         Personnel can take a workstation capability with them offsite

·         Information needed to make business decisions are in the users pocket

Is this is the next generation of technology.

As EMR systems gain population in the industry, there will be many different applications available for use in an effort to manipulate all of the data collected. The systems are platforms for many different applications that can drive the industry to interoperability. Each “healthcare worker” has something different that they are focused on tracking, whether it is a mobile asset, compliance by healthcare workers or patient vitals.

According to an article published this week in Healthcare IT News, healthcare technologies have the potential to transform the industry. Lisa Suennen, a managing member at Psilos Group stated, “EMRs are becoming a commodity, but putting applications on top of EMRs to deliver usable data creates value.” Suennen also mentioned that another area with growth opportunity is patient safety.

RFID and RTLS technologies have the ability to seamlessly integrate with EMRs. What are the benefits that come from implementing RFID and RTLS solutions into EMRs?

·         Eliminate the need to manually enter data – by eliminating manual entry an organization will improve work flow, minimizing human error therefore minimizing costs.

·         Improving Patient Safety – Tracking compliance of hand-hygiene as well as OR/ED patient tracking and medication tracking.

The more activities that can be tagged and tracked on a sensory network provide an opportunity to manipulate additional data and additional input without additional manual entry. With real-time updates each staff member will have the ability to gain visibility geared toward their own interests within the organization, from wheel chairs to IV pumps. With this we can work to improve care, reduce costs and minimize risks.