Real-time patient tracking for healthcare facilities
Patient safety is one of the major priorities that healthcare facilities have. Real-time tracking services can make a great difference to ensure immediate assistance and to ensure compliance of procedures. Learn how in the article below.
- Patient tracking ensures patient safety, especially elderlies affected by Alzheimers or patients with mental diseases
- Thanks to tracking as well as emergency automation, immediate assistance is guaranteed to patients in need
- Real-time tracking services also assure procedure compliance
Safety is and should always be a central concern in healthcare facilities, since they are considered to be an overall protected place. Real-Time patient tracking services can make a huge difference in the safety of patients. In the following paragraphs you can discover how this technology works and why it is so crucial in order to ensure excellent patient safety in your healthcare facility.
Tracking patients in hospitals: how does it work and why is it crucial for patient safety?
Patient tracking has a key role in ensuring patient safety, especially regarding people with Alzheimers or similar illnesses as well as patients with mental diseases, who might feel confused sometimes.
Tracking patients in hospitals is enabled by little devices, called TAGs, which are usually in the shape of a bracelet and are worn directly by patients. These devices transmit the location signal to other devices (receivers) placed around the healthcare facility (on walls or ceilings) which, in turn, send the collected location data as well as other important environmental information (depending on the type of receiver), such as temperature and humidity, to the gateway.
With this infrastructure in place, patient safety can be monitored in real-time, since medical staff knows exactly where patients are in the facility and they are warned when they find themselves in potentially dangerous situations, such as leaving the room or approaching staircases or exits.. Moreover, thanks to the devices’ features, the staff can know whether the environmental conditions are appropriate for patients who are in a specific area.
Patient tracking systems: emergency automation and tracking of medical equipment
Patient tracking systems can be extremely helpful also in emergency situations which can be facilitated or automated. Indeed, if conscious, through a panic button, the patient can easily ask for help when needed and be localised immediately. n case they are not conscious, the device detects the patient's position on the ground and sends a help request automatically. In addition to the tracking of patients, medical equipment can be tracked in order for the staff to easily find important equipment, such as ventilators, defibrillators, and so on. Thanks to the tracked position of both patients and medical tools, the staff knows exactly where they need to go to support patients in need, thus ensuring immediate assistance.
How tracking technologies can help with the compliance of procedures
Tracking technologies can also help to comply with specific procedures, especially nowadays due to the pandemic. For instance, the disinfection of mattresses and pillows might cause issues, since it can be difficult to establish whether these objects are sanified or not and at which disinfection phase they are in a specific moment. Asset tracking enables you to know which are the mattresses and pillows that have been disinfected already, at which sanification stage they are as well as their precise location in the healthcare facility. In this way, the staff knows where to find cleaned mattresses and pillows right away.
Moreover, healthcare facilities have protocols to ensure hand hygiene before interacting with patients. Controls over these kinds of procedures can be easily performed thanks to tracking technologies, with which it is possible to monitor interactions with patients and dispensers for hand sanification. In this way accurate reports are created to ensure maximum hygiene for patient safety.
In conclusion, patient safety has to be a priority in all healthcare facilities. Real time tracking of both medical equipment and patients can give an immense contribution to the healthcare staff. As a result, real time tracking services ensure exceptional safety to each patient, who will feel protected as it should be within the healthcare facility.
