Excerpt From iHealthBeat

Boston Hospitals Test RFID To Track Patients, Equipment

February 01, 2005

Several Boston hospitals are testing radio frequency identification tags to track critical medical equipment, the Boston Globe reports. Some local hospitals also are piloting programs using the technology to monitor patient wait times and to ensure that patients are given the correct medications or blood types.

Massachusetts General Hospital, which two years ago began using Radianse RFID technology in its operating room, this spring will roll out RFID technology in other departments and also will use the tags to label medicine and medical equipment. The hospital's computer system will send alerts to staff members' pagers to warn them of certain situations, such as if patients are about to be given the wrong medicine or if a patient waits more than 30 minutes between medical tests, the Globe reports. The hospital also this month will begin using RFID tags in its blood bank to ensure that transfusion recipients get the right blood type.

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