[giarc]

I work in a large urban hospital. Equipment belongs to a unit (a hospital bed belongs to Unit X and specifically in Room Y). Equipment gets moved around all the time and we often get All Staff emails saying "Has anyone seen equipment X, we are missing it and need it back for a patient."

I think the use case is obvious in hospitals and I know there are other RFID based solutions out there. Perhaps bluetooth might be a better solution as you won't have to install large readers at doorways etc.

Additionally we also have "Code Yellows" daily which means a missing patient (or patient that hasn't returned to unit on time).

[brian_krejcarek]

Exactly. This is very much an intended application. It’s also perfect for hospitals because of the density of staff with phones and tablets as they walk around. Not having to install readers and gateways, as you mention, is also helpful in reducing barriers to deployment, i.e. by avoiding the network security issues of connecting directly into the network. Re: Code Yellows — Interesting. One thing we’ve been thinking about is putting the labels on to those patient bracelets you get when you’re admitted. They’re almost the exact same size. The app would know where a patient is located in the hospital, as well as what doctors or staff, along with what equipment was also with that patient.

[giarc]

The hospital I work at is currently installing a wander guard system. Due to cost it is only installed on units where patients with dementia etc are admitted. However, patients from any unit can wander (intentional or not). We, unfortunately, have had 2 patients wander off the premises and die in the last few years and therefore have a heightened sense of it's importance.

[yobananaboy]

The tracking of which doctors are with the patient is HUGE. Especially for insurance billing.

[nihakue]

Do doctors typically have smartphones on them? I guess that shouldn't be a surprise, but I wouldn't have assumed.

[giarc]

Yes, everyone has a smartphone on them. My healthcare system has policies that say smartphones aren't allowed in patient care areas, but that isn't followed or enforced. Physicians definitely have phone since many use app for clinical care (there are a lot of online risk calculators, reference materials etc).