The Health Care RFID Blog

As HIMSS10 came to a close today there was a lot of buzz involving new technologies that can achieve measurable value and help improve care, reduce costs and minimize risks in the industry. Hospitals and other healthcare organizations are in major need of achieving “real” ROI from the software and hardware tools that they will be implementing in an effort to reach their 2015 goal for compliance. It is important for organizations to look at implementing the right technologies that can help them sustain ROI over time.

Patient tracking seemed to be a major buzz at HIMSS10. Patient tracking is a more unique solution than asset tracking in that it involves moving assets. (Patients) A patient tracking solution consists of granularity and a much faster refresh rate than an asset tracking solution. If a quick refresh rate and a high level of granularity are absent then the patients will be out of sight before the appropriate staff is notified. Dynamic Computer Corporation offers a variety of solutions using RFID (Radio frequency identification) and RTLS (real-time location systems) technologies that can automatically update location and status information of patients in as little as 3-second intervals. Healthcare organizations have options when implementing RTLS and RFID systems into their infrastructure. There are both wired and Wi-Fi technologies available to implement a successful patient tracking solution. Wi-Fi solutions use Wi-Fi-enabled tags that interact and communicate with access points within a building to define their location over an existing 802.11 wireless infrastructure. Wired solutions use IR (infrared) and RFID technologies that communicate to determine the ultimate location of a patient in real-time. Much like a wireless access point, wired solutions can either use IR and/or RF antennas to communicate with a tag in real time as a patient moves about the facility.

Another topic buzzing around HIMSS10 was how to get smaller hospitals and healthcare organizations on board with implementing EHRs. Data standardization is extremely important and will need to be clearly defined and seamless in order for the industry as a whole to achieve meaningful use objectives. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as we all know, includes $19 billion in grants and loans available to healthcare organizations in an effort to aid in implementing an infrastructure and processes to improve care, reduce costs and minimize risks. Along with funding comes choosing the right solution for each individual organizations needs. Smaller clinics with less staff will have a problem keeping up with manual data entry processes. RFID and RTLS solutions can eliminate the need for manual entry and let the staff focus on providing quality patient care and sustaining financial stability and compliance with standardization.

With emerging technologies come advantages and disadvantages. It is important to determine what individual requirements fit your organizations needs when evaluating each solution. Dynamic has the ability to customize a solution that will not only take into consideration your current pains but will also help you plan for your future needs.

While no one knows exactly what the future holds, this time of year experts in all industries do their best to predict the trends for the year ahead. Identifying and predicting trends is something we at Dynamic do day-in and day-out for our clients. Being on the forefront of emerging technologies and the rapidly evolving marketplace allows us to identify industry issues early on, and select proven RFID partners to address them before they become full-scale problems for our customers.

Still, we are not alone in predicting that 2010 is going to be a paramount year for HIT implementations. Why? Primarily because of healthcare reform and nearly $20 billion in government stimulus funds allotted to go towards healthcare IT initiatives as part of The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).  What technology healthcare providers allocate their budgets to and how they take advantage of government incentives will be the key to reducing costs, minimizing risks and improving patient care.  So what are the trends in healthcare IT for 2010? According to an article published by Healthcare Technology Online, the top 10 healthcare IT trends to watch in 2010 are:

1. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) will gain momentum
2. Personal Health Records (PHRs) earn legitimacy
3. Cost containment is a paramount
4. Alternative care delivery models emerge
5. War waged on Medicare fraud
6. Increased focus on outbreak preparedness
7. Patient safety initiatives intensify
8. Healthcare professionals in short supply
9. Storage and business continuity concerns abound
10. Physician groups join healthcare systems

Nearly all of these trends directly align with the benefits RFID and RTLS solutions can bring to the healthcare industry and map back to the need for interoperability. 2010 will be a critical year for healthcare providers and the HIT implemented will directly affect how healthcare reform will ultimately look in the end.