RFID Hospital Patient Tracking - Safety, Security and Privacy

With the advent of the digital age coming on us, many things were developed as well. This includes the radio frequency identification (RFID) system which was first used in tagging goods and animals in transport. Today, we now have a working system that includes the RFID hospital patient tracking system.

By far, this type of identification for security purposes that had spread to include people as its subjects had been a success for many reasons. Security and safety are still the primary considerations, but the system had undergone some more sophisticated upgrades from its older versions.

Applications

One big reason why hospitals and other medical facilities are giving patients ID tags with individual radio frequencies is simply for faster search in locating them. Some special cases include patients with dementia and with Alzheimer’s. However, the other patients share some of the reasons for the data on their tags.

The big one is bodily monitoring. The targets are out-of-bed detection (including fall off) for in-bed patients. The stored data also have the patient’s medical history, including current medications and correct dosages, the schedules, etc. the idea is to prevent wrong medications.

Data

The important data actually is about the patient’s medical status. They might be in schedules for their treatments that need strict times of the day to be administered. They might on X-ray schedule, or some other important medical procedures (including surgery) that need to be on schedule.

The patient on an RFID hospital patient tracking might require a medical once-over by the attending doctor. The stored readings on the ID will greatly help the medical authority to refer to which might include the patient’s current conditions.

Restrictions

Some of the tag date might be related to the patient’s movements within the hospital premises. Doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel have their own tags to monitor their movements inside the facility.

Patient tags sometimes have their own strict restriction access to many things in the facility: drugs, pediatric areas, and other high-threat places with the authorized staff. Likewise, these patient tags will isolate them from other persons who are inside the facility but are not authorized to do so. These people, mostly outsiders, are not allowed to loiter around, much less in high-threat areas.

Restricting access to authorized staff and other approved personnel (including patients, sometimes) during medical emergencies can result in the orderly traffic of people (patients and the others). The emergencies might include epidemics, terrorist threats, and sudden influx of multiple accident victims.

Without restrictions, the hospital cannot deliver its proper services because of confusion and the absence of systems in place.

Other RFID uses

The ID tags also carry with them other information that is needed for many things. These include the checking in and out of the facility, recorded medication history, the services rendered to the patient, and the recording of the patient’s vitals including biometrics and time stamping.

An RFID hospital patient tracking is one very important necessity in linking to the hospital’s needed services and other aspects that concern his or her individual privacy, security and personal safety.