Lehigh Adopts RFID for Surgical Patients

Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network is adopting an ultra-wideband (UW) RFID system for patients undergoing surgery to facilitate communication between healthcare providers as patients undergo surgery. The system, which will utilize software from Patient Care Technology Systems and RFID tags from Parco Wireless will also use the RFID devices to document key pieces of information during surgery to document the workflow process.

Patients will be given the RFID tags upon admission. The tags emit short pulses, which are read by interrogators placed in fixed positions. Three readers document the patient location.

Buttons on the tags are pressed to document completion of procedures before patients go into the operating room. This can help minimize pre-operative omissions by documenting completed procedures easily, as well as reducing the paperwork burden. Tags can also be used during the operative procedure, again using the buttons to document certain events such as the time of first incision. Use of information technology tools to automate capture of such information can help improve workflow and efficiency.

In light of recent reports that note the high potential for errors during surgery, integration of this tool may help minimize the possibility for such. These sorts of electronic solutions also provide means to support efficiency throughout the OR, using IT to facilitate documentation.

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