Dual-Frequency Active RFID Solution for Tracking Patients in a Children's Hospital. Design Method, Test Procedure, Risk Analysis, and Technical Solution

• Published in: Proceedings of the IEEE Vol. 98; no. 9; pp. 1656 - 1662
• Main Authors: Biffi Gentili, Guido, Dori, Fabrizio, Iadanza, Ernesto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-09-2010; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Active RFID tags; Children; Children & youth; Design engineering; Design methodology; Hospitals; Intensive care; medical services; Multilayers; Nonhomogeneous media; Patients; Pediatrics; Process design; Radio frequency identification; Radiofrequency identification; Risk analysis; Risk management; Studies; Testing; Tracking
• ISSN: 0018-9219; 1558-2256
• DOI: 10.1109/JPROC.2010.2053330

This work addresses the problem of reliable identification and tracking of children in an intensive care unit in a children's hospital. Tracking and identification of patients are critical for the clinical risk management process, particularly for a children's hospital intensive care unit where patients' identities can easily be confused. This work offers a multilayer approach to the design of the process of identification and tracking; it gives an active radio-frequency identification (RFID) solution that best fits all the given constraints. The paper is divided in the following sections: design (where a multilayer method is provided, including project aims, functional requirements, and technical constraints); risk analysis [a failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) method is used to assess the risks of each stage of the process of patient management]; technical solution with a specific test phase and a review of the risk analysis results. As a result of the proposed approach, we got a strong coherence between the initial aims and the technical solution, improving patient safety and reducing the clinical risk in the process of tracking and identifying patients.