The Health Care RFID Blog

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.

Henry Tenarvitz, addressing the GDAHC audience

Henry Tenarvitz, Chief Intellectual Property Officer of Versus Technology, was one of the three speakers at the Greater Detroit Area Health Council Coffee & Controversy session yesterday. The topic was “Meaningful use beyond EMRs: Health IT trends to improve quality and patient safety.”

Ternarvitz spoke about hospitals using RTLS solutions for improving quality, safety, and efficiency. He explained that the data provided by real-time locating technology results in significant cost savings and improvements in patient care.

Tenarvitz demonstrated how with Versus’ system, hospitals use infrared-radio frequency (IR-RF)-enabled staff, patient & equipment tags to know exactly where people and assets are located with 99.9% accuracy. The system then marries this real-time data with a set of business rules to automatically update electronic systems with key information.

Below, two screenshots Tenarvitz showed the audience demonstrate how the information can be viewed by staff (these are only two of the several key views). The first shows an electronic greaseboard with the most current patient status information.

Versus E-Greaseboard

The second shows a color-coded floorplan view, which shows staff the status of rooms and facilities at a glance. Both of these views are automatically updated using passively collected data from the IR-RF tags.

Versus Floorplan View, showing color-coded room status

The following is a list of outcomes Tenarvitz reported from Versus’ case studies.

• Increased the number of patient care rooms by 150% without adding staff.
• Decreased ED wait times by over 60 minutes or more.
• Automated room turnover based on patient discharge and “room clean” status.
• Decreased room cleaning times to 24.6 minutes.
• Increased bed capacity by 25% with enhanced patient flow.
• Eliminated clinic waiting rooms, automated staff communication.
• Reduced phone calls by 75% creating quieter healing environments.
• Decreased equipment search time from 2 hrs. to <5 min.
• Decreased annual property loss from $1.5M to $40K.
• Alleviated equipment hoarding and nurse frustrations regarding equipment availability.
• Reduced the number of miles nurses log during their shifts by a ½ mile.
• Identified staff requiring prophylaxis after short, forgotten interactions with infectious patients.
• Increase hand washing tracking/compliance
• Increased Efficiency/Communication/Safety
• Automated 3rd Party Systems (E-greaseboards, reporting, Pyxis Medication Units)

The two case studies that were discussed in detail were St. Joseph Hospital (PeaceHealth) in Bellingham, WA. and the St. Louis VA Medical Center in St. Louis MO.

Contact us to learn more about these case studies, or to learn about Versus’ RTLS solutions for process improvement.

Dynamic Computer Corporation is an authorized systems integrator of Versus Technology RTLS solutions.