In The News
Excerpt from Washington Post
February 22, 2005, page HE02.
Also available in .pdf format Patient ID Tags
Patient ID Tags
by Matt McMillen
It's time to operate. Do you know where your patient is? If not, the wrist-watch size location tag pictured above may help. Made by Lawrence, Mass.-based Radianse, Inc., the radio frequency identification device is attached to a hospital patient's ID bracelet -- or anklet for kids -- at admission. The hospital's wireless network continuously tracks the patient's movements -- whether he's on a gurney somewhere in the pre-op process or in the shower (it's waterproof) -- said Radianse CEO Michael Dempsey. The $9.95 disposable tag can also be programmed to alert staff if a patient wanders off. The full cost for the system, including software, training and equipment, is about $850 per bed, according to Radianse.
John Cockerham, a cardiologist and director of clinical informatics at Children's National Medical Center, likes the concept. "It would save time in a dispersed environment [like Children's]," Cockerham said. When it's appointment time and there's no patient, "you want to know whether the mom has taken the child to the cafeteria."