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March 2005 Tracking people & equipment |
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Lost and Found
Tracking People & Equipment in HospitalsBy Mark Sunderland
The author is President, Biomedical Industry Group, Ottawa (
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) and columnist for DPN.
 In the face of increasing pressure on hospitals to provide quality service with fewer resources, tighter budgets and fewer staff, the rapid access to people and equipment is an essential component of efficient management and streamlined procedures.
In order to provide that access, Sololab Inc., a Canadian biomed company in Gatineau, QC, (versustech.com) has introduced a system called Versus. The Versus Information System (VIS) is a real-time locating system that eases the pressure that inevitably rises when people and things are not where they are supposed to be ñ itís a sort of electronic search party.
VIS creates the possibility to find who and what you need within seconds. There is no need to comb the halls and check the washrooms ñ itís just a matter of glancing at a monitor and the people and equipment you need are right at your fingertips.
 There are many features that are unique to VIS but the essence of its success is simplicity. It has the ability to automatically retrieve and update data and, once installed, there is minimal need for manual entries ñ itís virtually hands-free. By identifying locations at the ìroom-levelî using a patented infrared (IR) and radio frequency (RF) technology, rather than a basic RF system, it excels in a medical environment.
Small, lightweight badges associated with the system are worn by people or attached to equipment. They transmit signals that contain each badgeís unique ID code and the systems versatility allows multiple options for coding (e.g., patient/staff locating, nurse call integration, call/alert notification. etc.).
As people and equipment move within a facility, ceiling-mounted sensors installed in rooms and hallways ìthe sensed zones,î receive the unique ID signal from each badge. The sensor converts and routes the signal for transmission to the workstation. At the workstation or personal digital assistant (PDA), there is a variety of tools and different displays to best suit the specific needs of the users i.e. a floor-plan (a real time blueprint of people and equipment within the facility), or a list that simply itemizes names and locations, and a tracking log. Alternatively, data can be retrieved by telephone dialing to VIS. Enabling rapid access to people greatly reduces telephone tag time and enhances service.
 Another benefit of VIS is its ability to monitor system activity. It continually watches for events such as a button press, unauthorized access or extended wait time, and then automatically initiates the pre-configured appropriate responses ñ an alert message, an icon change, etc. to the event. By this means, when a recognized event occurs, staff can be effectively deployed to respond appropriately.
With the capability and options to address so many functions, the system can be designed to best suit the needs of the institution.
Beyond its basic locating capabilities, VIS is a robust, versatile tool that helps to improve overall operating efficiency. Its applications range from biomed to the emergency department, and its global locating platform can operate not only as a stand-alone system but also as an integral component of a variety of healthcare information systems, enhancing them with the power of real-time locating.
Although there are compelling arguments for the effectiveness of such a system in a facility in which people and things are mostly mobile there are, none-the-less, obstacles to addressing institutional time-related problems. They are problems of a budgetary nature and the dichotomy of capital vs. operating costs. Time is costly and it can often outstrip the cost of what it produces, and if the remedy involves a capital cost, even though it be less, it may well lose out to the operating cost of time.
As an example: some years ago, I was an outpatient for a course of ultrasound treatments to an injured shoulder. In the cubical I was able to observe the activities and correlate them with time and distance (ceiling tiles serve as a measurement). But what was more startling than the time spent by the therapist in looking for cables and equipment was the interview on the other side of the partitioning curtain and the oral account of a patientís medical history.
The explanation to me, in a letter from the hospital, as to why the patient could not be interviewed in private was that there was nothing in the budget for an interview room ñ and there could be no possibility of transferring the costs saved by streamlining the procedures to provide one.
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