The ability to manage patients, equipment, and procedures throughout the continuum of care is essential for ensuring patient safety, but it can be overwhelming for even the most efficient of hospitals. Fortunately, MEDITECH business ally InfoLogix has developed a way for hospitals to more easily optimize their resources across a wide spectrum of clinicians, departments, and facilities, with its HealthTrax asset and people-tracking software.

This technology helps caregivers to effectively monitor patient location, equipment position, and procedures using radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless capabilities.

"The biggest benefits of RFID are the time-saving improvements for patients and staff alike, especially in the hectic environment of the Emergency Department," says Rick Hodge, executive vice president, InfoLogix. "There's no more uncertainty about which patient has received what procedure, or what equipment is or isn't available right away. Patients are guaranteed accurate medical treatment as their entire stay is tracked and recorded. Plus, staff satisfaction increases because personnel can easily find the equipment they need to do their jobs."

Incorporated with MEDITECH's Emergency Department Management product, HealthTrax works by using tags on assets and people to send tiny wireless signals to the RFID exciters. Once the signal is received by the standard wireless access points, it is sent to an Engine which uses signal strength algorithms to determine location, and then to the Enterprise software (MEDITECH's EDM Tracker)—which uses location data to display maps, enable searches, create alerts, manage assets, and automatically update in real-time.

"With RFID and the MEDITECH system, we're replacing the traditional White Board with a real-time display," says Hodge. "This essentially gives hospitals another set of eyes, so the system is keeping tabs on the facility as a whole, while clinicans can concentrate on individual patient care."