Stik
09-12-2005, 11:16 PM
I love reading stuff on how PPC's are helping out working folks in real world situations. :D
Here's a fine example...
Pittsburgh Hospital Pilots Hybrid System
Sept. 12, 2005—At St. Clair Hospital, in Pittsburgh, the medical staff in one of the hospital's surgical units is using dual bar code and RFID readers to track medication administered to patients. Plugged into palm-size Pocket PCs linked to the hospital's computer network via a Wi-Fi connection, the devices save the staff time and help prevent errors.
At St. Clair, where a bar code/RFID system tracks medication given to patients, hospital administrators expect to extend the system to track blood transfusions and lab specimens.
The pilot will be held for another week. If it continues to operate without errors, as hospital administrators expect, St. Clair will begin adding enough Pocket PCs with CF RFID Reader-Scan Cards to equip nurses in all 16 units of the 331-bed facility, says Tom Ague, St. Clair COO. That would mean six to eight devices per unit, according to Schaeffer.
Currently, the pilot is taking place in one surgical unit in the hospital. Nurses wear badges with passive ISO 15693 RFID tags, which they scan by waving the Pocket PC within a few inches of the badge before administering medication to any patient. After selecting the name of the patient on the PC's screen, the nurse scans the bar code on the medication she intends to administer and is alerted on the screen as to whether that medication is correct, and what the dosage should be. Finally, before administering the drug, the nurse scans the patient's RFID wristband by bringing the Pocket PC within a few inches to ensure he or she is indeed the individual who should be receiving the medication.
By adding the RFID option, Ague says, the St. Clair staff is able to scan more easily their own badges, as well as the patients' wristbands, without the line of sight necessary for a bar code reader. "As busy as nurses are today, every little step you can save is very important to them, and it drives adoption," Schaeffer says.
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1863/1/1/
Here's a fine example...
Pittsburgh Hospital Pilots Hybrid System
Sept. 12, 2005—At St. Clair Hospital, in Pittsburgh, the medical staff in one of the hospital's surgical units is using dual bar code and RFID readers to track medication administered to patients. Plugged into palm-size Pocket PCs linked to the hospital's computer network via a Wi-Fi connection, the devices save the staff time and help prevent errors.
At St. Clair, where a bar code/RFID system tracks medication given to patients, hospital administrators expect to extend the system to track blood transfusions and lab specimens.
The pilot will be held for another week. If it continues to operate without errors, as hospital administrators expect, St. Clair will begin adding enough Pocket PCs with CF RFID Reader-Scan Cards to equip nurses in all 16 units of the 331-bed facility, says Tom Ague, St. Clair COO. That would mean six to eight devices per unit, according to Schaeffer.
Currently, the pilot is taking place in one surgical unit in the hospital. Nurses wear badges with passive ISO 15693 RFID tags, which they scan by waving the Pocket PC within a few inches of the badge before administering medication to any patient. After selecting the name of the patient on the PC's screen, the nurse scans the bar code on the medication she intends to administer and is alerted on the screen as to whether that medication is correct, and what the dosage should be. Finally, before administering the drug, the nurse scans the patient's RFID wristband by bringing the Pocket PC within a few inches to ensure he or she is indeed the individual who should be receiving the medication.
By adding the RFID option, Ague says, the St. Clair staff is able to scan more easily their own badges, as well as the patients' wristbands, without the line of sight necessary for a bar code reader. "As busy as nurses are today, every little step you can save is very important to them, and it drives adoption," Schaeffer says.
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1863/1/1/