The Health Care RFID Blog

El Centro Regional Medical Center sits right along the fault line of last week’s earthquake that registered at 7.2, according to an article in Health Leaders Media. Fortunately the hospital only experienced minor damages and the safety of the patients and healthcare workers was not compromised.  It is important in situations, such as this, to have a system in place to aid in supporting the patient overflow. Safety is the principal concern when unforeseen disasters such as an earthquake occur. It is critical to immediately identify the location of staff, patients and equipment when in emergency situations. The time spent identifying the location of staff and equipment WILL compromise safety within the facility.

An RTLS asset tracking solution has the ability to rapidly gain location information on staff, patients and equipment in real-time. How does the solution work? With the ability to utilize an organizations current infrastructure, RTLS systems use enabled tags to send out a signal to an access point or sensor therefore identifying the location of the tagged “object” in real-time. This data is then passed on to the server where the data can be stored for current and future use.

In an extreme situation, such as a natural disaster, it is important to know the location of all assets on hand in order to execute a flawless recovery.  Other than the safety of patients and staff, a RTLS solution can also help identify loss of high valued inventory and equipment vital to the financial success of the organization.

As healthcare reform continues to be debated, the role of health information technology continues to evolve alongside it. Hospitals are expected, now more than ever, to meet a growing list of requirements and hot button issues including compliance with various regulatory organizations and federal legislation such as HIPAA, Medicare and Medicaid; and the creation of comprehensive electronic medical records (EMR) and legal health records (LHR). Above all else, the objective on which every member of the health care community must place the most emphasis is increasing patient safety. Today’s healthcare providers are held more accountable and required to provide an environment that improves, and in no circumstance compromises, patients’ health. This, of all mandates, is the one that should not be viewed as ‘policy’…for the dedicated healthcare institution; it is the inspiration for doing what it does.

To help the healthcare industry maintain focus, on January 1 the 2010 National Patient Goals went into effect. Issued by The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO or the Joint Commission), an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 17,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, the NPSGs were established to help accredited organizations address specific areas of concern in regards to patient safety. Half of the 2010 National Patient Safety Goals are directly applicable to healthcare organizations like yours, and those goals are as follows:

Goal 1 – Improve the accuracy of patient identification.

Goal 2 – Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers.

Goal 3 – Improve the safety of using medications.

Goal 7 – Reduce the risk of health care–associated infections.

Goal 8 – Accurately and completely reconcile medications across the continuum

Goal 9 – Reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls.

Goal 14 – Prevent health care–associated pressure ulcers

Goal 15 – The organization identifies safety risks inherent in its patient population.

Are these your organization’s goals? If so, how do you plan on achieving them? Dynamic works with healthcare providers every day to integrate RFID solutions that address several and sometimes all of JCAHO’s stated goals. We work hard to stay in front of industry issues and enlist technology partners that can help our customers address them head on – which is why we don’t feel like we need to ‘catch up’ to these goals each year. In fact, it feels a bit as though they’re catching up to us.

The industry is undergoing significant changes in a short period of time. However, there’s a difference between ‘knowing’ the trends, and ‘understanding’ them, the latter, which requires context and an action plan for applying them to one’s business. The paired adoption of EMR and RFID/RTLS systems holds the highest potential for reducing costs, minimizing risks and improving patient care, and it is this understanding that can drive the industry toward a truly interoperable model.

No surprise, then, that pairing the adoption of an EMR system with RTLS/RFID solutions helps to address many of the top trends identified in the Healthcare Technology Online above.

·         One way RFID can work efficiently with EMRs is to eliminate the need to manually enter data into the system. A change or pause in work flow is not required in order to enter and share patient information, nor will it add extra duties to staff and clinicians. Manual data entry is time consuming, expensive and prone to many of the same types of human error as found in paper records.

·         A second benefit to pairing the two technologies is accuracy, which is critical to EMR success. Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) obtained through use of RFID solutions is accurate without requiring human intervention and seamlessly integrates with EMR systems. The best systems are accurate 100 percent of the time, with no missed events and no false positives, and they accept information in real time.

·         A third benefit is real-time updates. Most EMRs are accessible through Web browsers. Delivering information into the record immediately means that individual patient and facility summary data are available both through EMR systems and through the AIDC system dashboards. These executive dashboards allow clinicians to make informed decisions based upon the most-current patient and facility data.

As staff and budgets continue to be slashed throughout the sector, HIT is not just important – it is paramount in order to do more – and better — with less. By staying ahead of industry trends and working with the best-in-class vendors, Dynamic is able to provide cutting-edge technology and precise solutions to help healthcare providers meet both predicted – and unpredictable — challenges on the horizon  in the year ahead.

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.