RFID tags have for a while been used mainly for things—to keep track of the number of bandages left in the supply closet or to keep an expensive piece of equipment from walking out the door, for example. Increasingly, though, those badges are showing up on the lapels of patients. And hospitals are using the data those RFID badges gather to improve patient flow, shorten length of stay, and more.
Wilmington, DE–based Christiana Care Health System pins patients with RFID tags to track their movements throughout the continuum of care. The collected data is an "extremely powerful" tool for process improvement, says Linda Laskowski-Jones, vice president of emergency and trauma services for the two-hospital system.
The system tracks interval-level data—measuring the time a patient spends in between each activity—from the time they see a doctor to the time the doctor orders labs or an x-ray, for example.
Each department can see exactly where a patient is in the process—radiology gets an alert when the patient is ready for his or her scan, the doctor knows when the test results are ready and also knows where to find the patient to deliver those results.
The data also helps the organization spot wasted time and bottlenecks. It showed that a synchronous discharge model was more effective in the ED, for example.
And they've used the RFID data to reduce the time it takes to move patients into a bed. The tracking system and electronic bed-management system are interfaced: When staff post a patient for admission in the RTLS tracker, the information is automatically sent to the bed management system, alerting transport and bed management staff.
"It was the data from the tracker that allowed us to look at every interval that that patient went through and then start to ask if all of these intervals are necessary. Because every time they have to go through a separate, distinct process, there's a price tag," Laskowski-Jones says. "And the price tag is time."
Process redesigns like these led to another positive outcome—now the ED can now handle more volume. Fewer patients leave without treatment—a major cause of patient dissatisfaction.
Read more about the myriad ways organizations, including Christiana Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, and The Ohio State University Medical Center are using RFID and RTLS to keep small but expensive medical devices out of the Dumpster, prevent clinical technology "hoarding," and make nurses happier (hint: It involves saving them time) in the August issue of HealthLeaders magazine.
Also, learn how 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 in order to improve their experience while there: Disney Applies Technology to Improve Patient Experience.