Digital tagging, or RFID (radio frequency identification), is improving patient safety and managing the location of high cost hospital equipment, according to an article in Health Informatics Now, the magazine from the British Computer Society (BCS) Health Informatics Community.
Colin Jervis says: “Almost anything can be tagged; assets, patients and consumables. In hospitals, tagging of equipment such as electrocardiogram machines, wheelchairs and IV pumps makes them easier to locate, thereby reducing the overall numbers needed.”
RFID is opening up other opportunities. For example, Nice University is testing the use of electronic tags to improve the delivery of meals to the elderly and infirm through its “Meals at Home” service. Delivery people scan tags on the meal trays and the patient’s cards to make sure the correct meal is delivered to the patient. If a patient appears unwell, information can also be sent by SMS (short message service – otherwise known as a text message) directly to the patient’s doctor and relations.
