Ixtapaluca Hospital deploys RFID technology to help track surgical instruments and assets
chrispeng [ad_1]
Ixtapaluca Hospital Infrastructure Development and Operation Company (DOIHI) is planning to use passive UHF RFID tags to track 11,000 surgical instruments in Ixtapaluca Specialist Hospital to ensure that these instruments are not lost before, after and during the operation. There will be a trial run phase involving 500 tools before the formal deployment. The RFID solution is provided by Mexican system integrator HTK. The technology will also be used to track medical equipment, furniture and other assets.
(In the pilot phase, DOIHOI will attach RFID tags to 500 surgical instruments)
The hospital is located in the southeast of Mexico City. It has been open for half a year and currently serves the community of 5 million people. The hospital has 246 beds, 69 ICU beds, 30 emergency beds and 14 operating rooms. DOIHI, a division of Mexican construction company GIA, is responsible for providing surgical instrument maintenance and disinfection services for hospitals. DOIHI is also responsible for the management of hospital assets and has installed an RTLS system in the hospital’s delivery room facilities.
HTK CEO Gabriel Haddad said that the original purpose of DOIHI’s use of RTLS was to ensure the safety of babies. In this solution, the hospital distributed wristbands with built-in Elpas active UHF RFID transponders to babies and their mothers, and distributed RTLS badges to nurses and doctors. Reader antennas were installed in several places on the ceiling of the delivery room. When the baby leaves the nurse or when the walking position is abnormal, the software will recognize this event based on the position of the wristband. If the baby is moved by an unauthorized person, HTK’s web-based software will trigger the system to issue a warning. The lpa system BabyMatch was deployed half a year ago.
Then, DOIHI and the hospital began to consider deploying other RFID applications. In the end, the hospital used passive EPC Gen2 UHF tags to track and manage assets such as surgical instruments, and used HTK Asset web software and Android apps for operation.
The hospital has various assets such as medical equipment, computers, printers and office furniture, and DOIHI wants to automatically track these assets. Before adopting the RFID system, the hospital used stickers and barcodes to track medical equipment and furniture. Hospital staff manage the surgical instruments by visually viewing the laser-etched serial numbers.
In 2015, DOIHI installed CSL CS203 readers in 35 locations. In addition, DOIHI has attached 9,000 Confidex Steelwave Micro and Carrier Pro tags to wheelchairs, hospital beds, pumps, meters, electronic medical equipment and IT assets.
35 readers are installed in a specific area so that DOIHI can determine that the asset has entered a new area or building. In the software, users can view a virtual map showing specific items. In addition, hospital staff can use the CS101 handheld reader to locate specific assets or perform inventory counts.
Lopez Arango said that the high cost of surgical instrument management is also a hidden concern for DOIHI. Before being brought to the operating room, employees need to spend several hours to take inventory, and the same is true after surgery and during maintenance. Despite these inventory tasks, some items will still be lost.
Lopez Arango explained: “The Mexican market also has other options for RFID tags for surgical instruments.” Other solutions also use laser-engraved barcodes or QR codes, but the company prefers to use RFID technology.
Haddad said that to track surgical instruments, HTK uses TSL’s handheld RFID reader. HTK also uses Xerafy passive EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID tags. The label is attached to the surgical instrument with glue, and the instrument information is bound to the label ID number in the HTK software. Before the equipment is cleaned and used, employees need to use TSL RFID readers to read tags in the disinfection area.
When the instruments leave the autoclave, employees will pack them in a sterilized tool box. The employee needs to use the TSL reader to read the tool tag in the specific tool box to confirm the item information. These data will be stored in the HTK software. When an error occurs, the tablet connected to the reader will display these messages.
Previously, employees had to unpack the device and visually inspect the device. Now, these data can be collected through RFID, and the packaging does not need to be opened.
Another handheld TSL device was used in the operating room to read these tags before the operation. After unpacking, the label will be read again to create a time to use the patient’s record.
When the tool box is returned to the cleaning and disinfection area, the equipment requiring repair will be removed from it. The nurse will use the reader to read the device tag, view the item history and maintenance type.
The company encountered some label placement difficulties during repeated cleaning and disinfection processes. Lopez Arango explained that, first of all, Mexico’s water quality has a lot of salt and minerals. In order to prevent corrosion of the equipment, DOIHI installed reverse osmosis equipment to remove these salts and minerals and clean up deposits. However, this process may damage and destroy the label. He said: “We have conducted tests with pressure and sand technology providers, and found that this solution can effectively avoid label damage.”
HTK and DOIHI conducted 900 high temperature sterilization tests on the label. These tags are attached using Xerafy special tags. DOIHI is currently waiting for these test results to ensure that the sterilization effect is good. In the coming weeks, the company plans to mark 150 devices every week. In addition to microscopic instruments, all surgical instruments in the future will have Xerafy RFID tags attached.
Lopez Arango said that so far, the RFID project has eliminated equipment losses and increased the speed of inventory counting.
DOIHI started to install RFID readers in 13 operating rooms and hopes to complete it next year. He added that DOIHI and the medical facility are pioneers in RFID in Latin America.
[ad_2]
