Las Vegas health care center adopts RFID to protect patients with Alzheimer’s disease
chrispeng [ad_1]
This year, TLC Care Center, a rehabilitation, treatment, and long-term care facility located 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas, is building a new annex for Alzheimer’s patients. Every patient living in the attached building wears an RFID wristband to ensure that they will not get lost. The center adopted this system for the first batch of admitted patients. With the increase in the number of patients in the annex, the center adjusted the system according to the actual situation, such as customizing the reading distance, to ensure that it will only be triggered when residents try to leave the safe area alarm.
The side building was opened in February 2010. Before that, TLC Care Center had been looking for a suitable resident tracking program to ensure the safety of residents and prevent them from getting lost. The most decisive choice is to use the Accutech system.
Accutech’s ResidentGuard RFID tag and wristband
Within the first few months of adopting this system, TLC adjusted the system (adjusting the antenna and reading distance limits) based on the actual situation and the increase in the number of patients to eliminate false alarms, said Al Arzola, TLC Care Center manager.
The annex is composed of two parts-one part accommodates patients who can walk autonomously, and the other part accommodates patients who need wheelchairs or crutches to assist in walking, or who cannot leave the bed. The center uses a door to separate the two parts. TLC hopes to adopt a non-intrusive system. On the one hand, employees and visitors can freely pass through this partition door, and on the other hand, as long as the patient approaches this door, the door will be automatically locked. “We don’t want patients in the active area to be mixed with the patients in the inactive area, which may cause accidental personal injury, Arzola said.
The center also wants to ensure that residents will not leave the annex to other areas. The ultimate goal of the center is to ensure that the patient will not leave the center and get lost before falling without a guard. Although there are many employees in the side building, Arzola said, including guards-whose full-time job is to monitor the location and safety of residents-they can’t check all the residents around the clock. In this way, he said, an automatic positioning system can add a layer of security.
The Accutech ResidentGuard system installed in the center uses a total of 8 RFID readers-each corresponding to an area. Accutech’s Cut Band wristband contains an active RFID tag that uses a proprietary air interface protocol to continuously send a unique ID code at a frequency of 418 MHZ. According to Accutech marketing manager Chris Konicek, the 418 MHz frequency is lower than other electronic devices, such as IV pumps, heart monitors, and televisions, so that the tag signal will not interfere with other transmitted signals common in the medical center environment.
Each patient receives a wristband containing an RFID tag before entering the center. The ID code of the tag is input by the TLC staff into the independent Accutech software system, which stores the relevant information of the patient. The software can also issue alarms, trigger door locks and audible alarms. The staff enters each patient’s name, digital photo, room number and important medical information in emergency situations. The employee uses a handheld reader to read the ID code of the tag, and then downloads the number to the back-end system via a USB connection. The reader can also be used to switch tags to extend the life of the tag battery.
When the waterproof tag and wristband (permanently worn on the patient’s wrist) are activated by the system, if the wearer is within a pre-set distance (usually 4-8 feet) from the center forbidden entry and exit, the RFID reader will read it ID code and send it to Accutech software, which triggers an alarm and locks the door. At the same time, other information such as the patient’s name and photo is displayed on the computer screen of the nurse station, indicating his or her location.
[ad_2]
