Hospital Israelita Albert EinsteinRFID SolutionsReal-time location tracking and temperature monitoring using RFID.
At a glance
The Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, a major private hospital in Brazil has implemented RTLS (Real Time Location System) which provides inventory and location tracking of medical equipment, as well as temperature management system for their medical freezers using RFID aiming at cost reduction and enhanced medical services by streamlining asset management.
RTLS enables constant identification of location and number of devices through in-hospital wireless LAN by applying RFID tags to about 600 medical devices such as infusion pumps.
In the temperature monitoring system, RFID tags with embedded temperature sensors are installed in the hospital refrigerators and freezers where blood, pharmaceuticals and body tissues are stored. By automating temperature measurement and monitoring, as well as providing alarm notifications to administrators in case of abnormal situations, it has become possible to surely conduct rigorous temperature control required for each stored object.
Utilization of these systems has provided efficiency in medical practices, as well as better medical services and safety for patients who require intensive cares.
The Einstein Hospital is planning to deploy RFID in their patient services and work force administration based on the system implemented this time in order to achieve higher work efficiency and security. The application of RFID solutions in medical institutions as in this case is receiving attention as the first progressive approach in South America.
Background and issues
- The Einstein Hospital had a demand to promote higher efficiency in medical practices by streamlining network infrastructure and integrating location management system. To achieve the goal, the hospital developed a three-phased plan, beginning with asset management and temperature monitoring, followed by patient management and process streamlining, and eventually, the work force administration. As the first step, they have introduced RTLS for the medical equipment and the temperature monitoring system for the refrigerators/freezers.
- The man-hour to search medical devices and their losses have been big issues for the hospital, which resulted from an incapability to grasp whereabouts of the devices scattered in the hospital. To address this challenge, it was necessary to improve the utilization ratio of medical equipments as well as the efficiency in asset management.
- The temperature measurement using the thermometers deployed in the past required excessive man-hour. Therefore, there were needs to automate the constant temperature measurement at the refrigerators and freezers to increase reliability.
Results
- RTLS of medical equipment using active tags has realized a real-time management of the location, status and condition of assets. The hospital is expecting reduction of the operation cost through the increased efficiency in the asset management.
- By monitoring the temperature automatically using active tags with embedded temperature sensors, it has enabled to enhance accuracy of the temperature monitoring to maintain safety and quality of substances such as blood, pharmaceuticals, and body tissues which require rigorous control.
- The system has realized "asset management". With the first phase for the comprehensive streamlining of medical practices being completed, the future service expansion has become feasible. Based on the same infrastructure, the hospital is planning to introduce RFID for their patient management and work force administration. With the features to track location and status of both patients and staff, this will allow to optimize work flow processes and improve security, enabling the further streamlining and higher quality services.
NEC proposal
- Based on our extensive experiences to provide both leading networking technologies and solutions, NEC have proposed RTLS using active RFID technology, combined with the construction of the network infrastructure which had already been installed previously by NEC. Consequently, we have constructed the in-hospital network which collects data from wireless active tags via the wireless LAN, as well as the RTLS to track location, state and condition of medical equipment and the temperature monitoring system for the medical freezers. We NEC, as a leading company in the RTLS, will keep actively promoting the real-time location, asset, and temperature management systems employing RFID tags in medical related markets and manufacturing industries throughout the world.
Introduction of products and solutions
Deplyoment of wireless LAN, initial process survey, location blueprint and deployment of RFID implemented the real-time location system for location tracking of medical equipment and, temperature management system for medical freezers.
