India’s largest hospital adopts RFID system to improve the efficiency of patient flow detection
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Apollo Hospital, the largest medical institution in India, uses Icegein’s real-time positioning system, using Ekahau tags, to guide 250 patients through as many as 26 diagnostic procedures every day. This system was installed in May this year to help hospitals speed up the flow of patients and save patients’ waiting time. Although it is still too early to measure all the benefits of the system, the application not only shortens the patient’s time in the hospital, but also facilitates the hospital to receive more patients every day.
Apollo is the first in India to launch a package service, that is, to complete all the procedures required for a patient’s annual health check in one day. The patient can complete a series of examinations on the same day, instead of having only one examination procedure at different times and locations. In an annual health check, the patient arrives at 7 am, moves from one department to another, and undergoes 26 inspection procedures. These tests include blood tests, X-rays, cardiac ultrasound, ultrasound, and mammography. Since Apollo launched this medical package service, other hospitals in India have also provided similar services.
However, due to the size of the Apollo Hospital and the large population of residents in the community it serves (the Chennai city alone has 3.5 million people), the patient population is large-250 people per day-and managing their movement among so many departments is a big challenge. Patients often don’t know which department they should go to next. They may have to wait too long in one department, which causes too many patients to gather in one area, and sparse patients in another area, which creates a bottleneck. The sluggish flow of patients is eliminated. Although the inspection service starts at 7 am and is expected to end at 11 or 11:30, Icegein CEO Anand Surana said, patients often do not complete the inspection until 3 pm or later. This limits the number of patients that doctors can serve each day.
The Icegein system includes active RFID tags used by patients, Wi-Fi nodes to read tags, Icegein software to compile and manage the read data, and digital monitors to indicate the flow of patients. Ekahau sent 2.45 GHz RFID tag data to 24 Cisco Wi-Fi nodes installed in the diagnostic area by Icegein and Cisco. The node then forwards the information-the ID code and location of the tag (based on the ID code of the Wi-Fi node receiving the signal)-to the Icegein software Patient Mantra, which is installed on the hospital’s back-end database. The software compiles the location data and corresponds this information with the existing patient management software system (Apollo is used to manage the data related to patient visits and charges).
India’s largest hospital Apollo uses Ekahau T301B tags to track and locate patients
The hospital manager logs into the Patient Mantra system to view a map showing the location of each patient in the hospital, the process that needs improvement, and the number of patients waiting in each district. If an area is too crowded, the software informs the management staff and asks them to guide the patient from one area to another, or re-arrange the process. The system also recognizes the ID code of each patient’s location, which corresponds to their predetermined location. If he or she is in the wrong area, the manager receives an alert and decides what to do next-for example, they can decide whether they need to send someone to lead the patient to the right area. At the same time, the video screens installed in each department show the name of each patient and the department they should go to next.
When the patient was registered at the hospital, Surana explained that the hospital assigned a 2 * 5 inch Ekahau label. The unique ID code of the label corresponds to the patient’s name and medical information in the Icegein software and the Apollo back-end software. At the registration desk, patients receive a testing arrangement listing all the departments they need to go through and which department to go to first. The Ekahau label has three buttons, and the staff presses one of them to activate the patient tracking process. The patient can be tracked through the Wi-Fi system anywhere in the hospital’s diagnostic department. For example, when a patient comes to the blood department, the system knows the time of their arrival based on the reading of the tag ID, and judges that the patient is waiting for this examination. If the patient’s waiting time exceeds the system setting, the Icegein software displays an alarm on the administrator’s monitoring PC. The management then instructs the staff to re-dilute some patients and use the data to adjust future testing procedures to increase the flow of patients.
When a patient is undergoing a certain examination, such as a blood draw, the hospital staff presses another button on the patient’s label to indicate that the examination has started. When the test is complete, the employee presses the third button on the label. At this time, the software shows which department the patient should go to next. The patient’s name and the next testing department are displayed on the digital screens of each department to help guide the patient to the correct area of the hospital. If the patient misses the information and comes to the wrong department, Surana said, the software adjusts the difference to allow the patient to check in that department, and the software then again guides the patient to the next correct department on the screen.
This system has another function. If the patient leaves the hospital without completing the scheduled test, the system detects that a tag has left the Wi-Fi node range, and the computer screen displays an alert to the exit security personnel. The security guard then intercepted the patients and redirected them to the correct area. If the patient completes all the tests but does not return the tag when leaving the hospital, he or she will trigger an alarm to notify the security that the tag will be retrieved. If the patient encounters an emergency situation during the test, he or she only needs to pull down the tag forcefully, and the system triggers an alarm, which is sent to the back-end system. The alarm is displayed on the Icegein software, indicating the name and location of the patient who needs assistance.
So far, Apollo is very satisfied with this system and believes that it has greatly improved the flow of patients in the hospital and avoided bottlenecks.
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