The hospitals initially will use the RadarFind technology of Pittsburgh-based TeleTracking Technologies to track more than 15,000 pieces of equipment. These will include infusion pumps, compression devices and wheelchairs, among other items. The hospitals also have begun planning to track patients in specific areas, such as emergency departments, surgical suites and outpatient facilities.
The RadarFind system uses radio frequency identification technology to read coded tags on equipment and patient wristbands. The tags send location data to readers and ultimately to tracking software via RFID signals. The system's readers plug into electrical outlets, rather than connect to the hospital's Wi-Fi network. The readers communicate the location data to a collector box, situated in a data storage closet. Data is then sent over Ethernet cable to a dedicated server and displayed on computers or Web-enabled PDAs via the hospital's intranet.
More information is available at radarfind.com.
--Joseph Goedert
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