Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a practical tool--often used to keep track of supplies and equipment, for example, or to keep track of surgical instruments such as sponges in the operating room. But a new use for this time-tested technology is emerging: improving the patient experience.
The Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center in Burbank, CA, uses RFID tags to track the location of its patients as they move through the system. At their first visit, the patient gets a small card with an RFID chip in it that's loaded with his or her preferences for lighting, temperature, color, and music. The patient keeps the badge over the course of their treatment.
Readers are installed throughout 55,000 square-foot outpatient facility, which is part of the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. Each time a patient walks through the front doors, the reader loads the customized setting. It also sends a message with the patient's name and the time and room number of his first appointment via phone line to the concierge, who greets patients by name and directs them to their appointments.
When a patient walks into an exam or treatment room, the passive RFID tag sends a signal to nurses that the patient is waiting and sets environmental controls such as lighting and temperature just the way the patient likes it.
The goal was to create a soothing environment that helps cancer patients feel as though they have some control of their cancer therapy and care plan, Ray Lowe, Providence's regional director of IS operations, said in a phone interview. "We believe in healing the whole person—the body, mind, and spirit.”
The center also uses the technology to customize the patient experience in CT and linear accelerator treatment rooms, which come equipped with projection equipment so that patients can watch the scene of their choice--a swaying palm tree on a tropical island or an eagle soaring above a mountain vista, for example--during the procedure.
Such high-tech soothers not only improve patient satisfaction, they also offer a clinical benefit. When patients are relaxed their bodies are more relaxed. Blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate are slower and steadier. And technicians can obtain clearer images.
"So the patients are happier and the outcomes are better,” Lowe says.
The tags can store other information about patients, as well, including their appointments and the names of their physicians. Doctors are alerted via their VoIP phones when patients arrive at the center.
The system also contains prescription, billing, admission, discharge, and transfer information.
Active RFID can also help lost patients find their way through a building or allow staff to find them when it's time for their appointment. This enables them to take a walk or sit in the cafeteria rather than being tied to the waiting room.
The center, in part with the help of its foundation, made a hefty investment in the high-tech/high-touch strategy. The organization's leaders, from board members to clinical leaders to the c-suite--agreed that if they were to make patient experience a top priority, the investment was mission-critical, Lowe says.
"The building itself was a $65 million building. And the hardware—basic plumbing stuff—was easy. The experience part was really expensive … It’s on order of $150,000 to $200,000 per room. So it’s not trivial money,” Lowe says. "When you have a name like Disney with your own brand on top of it … people just expect it’s going to be premier … The expectations of delivery of quality of care and of the experience is set. I believe we meet it. That’s why it’s so transformational what we’ve done here.”
See Also:
What Disney Can Teach Hospitals About Patient-Centered Care