Q. What is automatic tracking?

A. Automatic tracking is a form of wireless tracking of patients, staff, and mobile medical equipment in real-time without manual data entry. Location and care progression is communicated to electronic tracking boards and maps using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi, or infrared tags placed on people and assets which communicate their location. Information on all patients is therefore communicated automatically and continuously. Automatic tracking is more than “dots on a map;” it goes beyond this idea by integrating the following concepts :

Identification and Location : Knowing who your patients are and where they are right now instantly with the click of a mouse.

Tracking : Applying business rules to location, movement, and interaction data can mark “milestones” of care as completed – all without requiring the staff even to touch a computer.

Communication : Information about status and location is delivered to the right people, at the right place, at the right time, at the appropriate level of detail, and in a format best suited to the task at hand (workstations, computers on wheels, big screens, PDAs, pagers, phones, etc.).

Workflow : The tracking status functionality expands by applying additional business rules to suggest what should happen next based on an entity's current state and other significant events.

Q. What are the components of an automatic tracking system?

A. An automatic tracking system comprises real-time locating hardware using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi, or infrared signals. PCTS partners with providers of all major forms of hardware platforms. PCTS is the leader in developing tracking software that can translate the data collected by these tracking systems into insights on patient flow and department utilization. The software includes rules-based intelligence to translate interactions between staff, patients, and mobile medical equipment into patient care “milestones.” In addition, PCTS tracking software interfaces with hospital information systems such as ADT, Lab, X-Ray, Surgery Scheduling and can send/receive information with existing communication systems such as nurse call, wireless phones, Vocera, etc.

Q. What are the key advantages of automatic tracking over traditional forms of computer-based tracking?

A. Automatic tracking minimizes manual data entry so that caregivers have more time to spend with patients. All patients are tracked providing complete and accurate location information. Integrated business process rules provide more than real-time location information; it updates patient care progression automatically . Integration with other communication tools creates a centralized communication portal for the department – giving them the ability to share key information on all patients. Because all movement is tracked and time stamped at a granular level, departments have detailed data on patient flow and resource utilization from which to optimize department performance.

Q. What departments does PCTS support with automatic tracking?

A. PCTS has department-specific automatic tracking applications for the Emergency Department, Surgical Services Department, Outpatient Services as well as enterprise-wide asset tracking.

Q. What is the difference between department-specific tracking and enterprise-wide tracking?

A. The departments for which we have developed automatic tracking solutions (ED, OR, and OPS) have specific operating rule sets that must be built into an application. For example, there is a specific workflow each surgical services department utilizes to optimize patient flow throughout an operation. Because of these department-specific workflows, we are required to create custom applications to fulfill the business needs of the department. With enterprise-wide tracking, we have to consider that the business needs and activities among all departments vary. Our enterprise-wide tracking solution is more abstract and disseminates more generalized patient flow and staff interaction data as well as assets location information within any healthcare facility (hospital, long-term care facility, etc.).

Q. What is the name of PCTS' automatic tracking software solutions?

A. The software is marketed under the Amelior (a-me-lee-or) brand name as follows: Amelior EDTracker ®; Amelior ORTracker ®, Amelior OPSTracker ™ and Amelior Tracker™.

Q. What is the typical cost of an automatic tracking system?

A. The system cost depends on many factors:

• The size of the space to be tracked
  
• The type of hardware platform chosen
  
• The mix of tags
  
• The configuration requirements
  
• The number of interfaces
  
• Whether or not the existing IT infrastructure can be used

An average installation in an Emergency Department for Amelior EDTracker will cost in the range of $200,000 for the software and interfaces. Hardware can range from $50-80,000 for department-specific tracking, or as high as $400,000 for hospital-wide tracking (averages between $.30 – 2.00/sq-ft).

Hospital-wide and department-specific average costs:

Q. What are the benefits to a hospital administrator?

A. Automatic tracking contributes to greater efficiency and higher resource utilization through better communication. This can help key departments such as the ED and OR increase their effective capacity resulting in higher revenues. The care giving experience for both the providers and the patients is improved, increasing their satisfaction. Improved patient flow in these departments can positively impact the flow of admitted patients too. Asset tracking can reduce time lost looking for equipment and dollars wasted replacing lost or stolen equipment. This can generate increased revenues that can payback more than the investment put into the tracking.

Q. What are the benefits to a department manager?

A. At a glance, an ED or OR manager can immediately identify the location of all patients and the status of their care progression. This allows the department to run more efficiently and to respond to changes in patient flow (e.g., a surge in ED patient volume).

Staff and patient satisfaction at our customer's facilities have increased because of improved information sharing and streamlined care. Department heads have the data to accurately profile department utilization to share with hospital administration and to champion resource needs.

Q. What are the benefits to a clinician?

A. The clinician has up-to-date information to help manage their time without the ambiguity and frustration of a manual process. This supports safer and timelier care giving and a quieter and more organized care-giving environment. In addition, staff safety is improved; for example, staff interactions with patients later identified to have an infectious disease can be tracked so providers can be immediately alerted.

Q. What are the benefits to a biomedical department?

A. Asset tracking can reduce time spent looking for mobile equipment and the dollars wasted because of lost or stolen equipment. Increased utilization of existing assets improved patient flow and saves significant equipment replacement expenses. Biomedical departments have accurate and real-time information of all their scarce mobile medical equipment.