By Claire Swedberg
August 27, 2008—Wisconsin's Waukesha Memorial Hospital, part of national health-care provider ProHealth Care, has completed one year with an infant and pediatric RFID security system that alerts staff members if a patient's ID tag is tampered with, or if that tag approaches an exit. The system, which replaces an older RFID infant-tracking solution, improves security and enables employees to determine which patient triggered an alarm, says Roberta Sonnentag, the hospital's clinical manager of labor/delivery/recovery/postpartum (LDRP) and gynecology services.
The previous system did not alert the hospital if a ID tag was removed, nor did it identify specific patients. Thus, if an alarm was sounded as a result of a pediatric patient approaching an exit or elevator, workers were unable to determine which patient had done so, only which exit or elevator that person was approaching. The greatest concern, Sonnentag says, was that the hospital could not detect when a security bracelet was being removed. Patients recognized that weakness in the system as well, asking the staff, "What would happen if I took this off?"
Therefore, about two years ago, Waukesha Memorial began reviewing its options. The staff investigated systems offered by three vendors, ultimately choosing the SafePlace Pediatric and Infant Security Solution, provided by RF Technologies, because of its band-cutting technology—which transmits an alert if a band is tampered with—and because RF Technologies offered what it deemed the best customer service. "All of the systems had sensors that would work," Sonnentag says, but RF Technologies also offered training and follow-up customer service.
The system was installed in the summer of 2007. "RF Technologies sent its staff and trainers on the site," Sonnentag states, "and they stayed with us for two or three weeks." During that period of time, the company set up the system, trained the staff on its use and provided troubleshooting as it was launched.
The system consists of RF Technologies RFID interrogators deployed throughout the women's and children's wing of the hospital, located on the building's third floor. There are 33 LDRP single rooms in that wing, as well as eight pediatric beds and 19 neo-natal beds. Sonnentag declines to provide the exact number, or locations, of those readers, but indicates they are deployed to locate RFID tags throughout the pediatric, obstetrics and infant intensive-care units, as well as to sound alerts if the tags approach an exit or elevator.
New pediatric patients and infants all receive an RF Technologies dual-frequency RFID tag that transmits at 262 kHz to interrogators located in doorways, and at 318 MHz to readers deployed in hallways and other locations. Patients checking in are instructed as to the purpose of the tag, Sonnentag says, and instructed not to remove it. The hospital staff then inputs data about the patient, which is linked in a back-end server, managed by the hospital, to the unique ID number on the RFID tag.
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Once a patient is wearing a tag on a wrist or ankle, readers deployed around the units capture the tag's ID number and transmit that number to the server via a cabled connection. The tag or bracelet must be attached shut on a patient in order to operate. If a person attempts to remove the bracelet, thereby breaking the connection, the tag immediately sends an alert to area interrogators that transmit data to the server. RFID Technologies software interprets that information, enabling the system to sound an audible alarm at nurses' stations, and to contact the staff's cell phones.
If a patient ID tag comes close to a doorway, a shut door will automatically lock. If the door is open, an audible alarm will sound and the doors will swing shut and lock. If an elevator door is open and the tag is in close proximity to the elevator, a louder audible alarm will sound. Staff members throughout the wing can view computer screens to see which zone the patient is in, as well as that patient's identity.
The original system also had many false alarms. Some still occur, Sonnentag says, though they are usually caused by human error. For instance, a patient may attempt to remove an infant's tag to readjust the fitting, thereby setting off an alarm. To prevent such false alarms, the staff can ask patients to inform a nurse if they need to adjust the fitting. The nurse can then input data into the system that a specific tag will be opened, and make the authorized adjustment.
According to Sonnentag, the hospital has conducted practice drills on the system several times throughout the past year, including removing tags in a hospital room and determining how appropriately the staff responded. She has been very happy with the results, she says, noting, "We know the system is doing its job. It's working very well."
The tag batteries have a life of about one year, says Kathie Vick, RF Technologies' marketing communications manager, but that is a conservative estimate. Waukesha purchases new tags every year to ensure there are no failures. Thus far, Sonnentag says, there have been no battery problems.
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