RFID Solutions

• Improve patient outcomes. RFID technology can be used in a number of ways to improve the efficiency of the hospital, and therefore improve patient outcomes. RFID can be used to manage medications and inventory. It can track physical objects, such as film & lab specimens and tie them to the patient's electronic records. Using RFID technology can eliminate time wasted searching for supplies and equipment, allowing nurses and doctors to focus on the patients.
• Locate patients and hospital staff. Using RFID in staff ID badges and patient identification bands will allow the administration to be able to locate patients and staff in an instant.
• Eliminate 'stashing' behaviors. Hospital staff worry they spend too much time searching for things, so they will tend to remove items from inventory and stick them in a drawer or pocket. This leads to materials management problems when the items cannot be found and used by other staff, or when they are prematurely re-ordered. RFID technology can eliminate the need for 'stashing' by giving staff real-time locations on all items.
• Use this technology to improve patient and family experiences at your hospital. Give family visitors to longer-term units an RFID badge at the registration desk. Set up a monitor at the nurses' station that notifies them when the family has arrived in the building, reminds them of their names and faces, and who they have come to visit. Nurses can use the information gathered by visitor RFID badges to greet visitors by name, provide a status update, and direct them to the right room. They can also use the system to look for trends in visiting times, and perhaps schedule things like bathing and therapy visits around those times. Automatically check patients in and out of areas of the hospital, and automatically notify the family of their new location and room number via email. Use the same system to notify the family when the patient has temporarily left their room to go to radiology, for instance, and when they have returned.
• Prevent precious losses. Place tags on babies' ankles, and create security alerts or engage door locks to prevent unauthorized exits.
• Improve patient experience for new parents. Place monitors in parents' hospital bedsides that automatically bring up a photo ID and verification of each staff member entering the room. This not only allows the parents to check staff ID, but can also inform the parents of the staff member's title and area of expertise.
• Tag critical items for up-to-the minute inventories. For example, you can create 'smart' operating rooms, in which surgical instruments are tagged. The room can notify surgeons if the full complement of instruments are not present.

• Track samples throughout the lab without having a human being scanning a barcode.
• Track reagents and supplies, and have accurate inventory data to prevent shortages or surplus orders.
• Improve surge capacity without the need to add staff. RFID systems are capable of reading and tracking any number of samples in an instant. If the lab were to suddenly receive ten times the normal daily amount of samples, you would be able to receive those samples just as easily as your normal workload, because they would automatically be tracked through the RFID zones. No one is standing there checking them in with a bar code scanner.
• Handle expiration dates. Let's say you have soil samples from three counties, and need to store them for a certain number of months. You can set up an event so that the items automatically send an email to the lab assistant when it is time for them to be discarded.
• Manage valuable equipment. There are two common use cases for RFID in asset management. First, you can prevent losses; by tagging an expensive piece of instrumentation you'll know where it is at all times. Second, if you have maintenance schedules on your equipment, the system can notify a technician via email when it is time for a service call. If desired, the laboratory manager can receive notification when the warranty expires, or when the expected duty cycle of a device has ended, and it is time to buy a replacement. This is good for you financially, since it means you won't need to buy replacements for lost or poorly maintained equipment. It's also good for your lab's efficiency when important items are easy to locate, well-maintained, and their life cycles are managed appropriately.
• Improve safety of workers. RFID can be used to ensure each worker entering the lab has an ID badge, goggles, mask, and gloves. Set up the gateway to deny access to persons without these objects, or to notify the lab manager.

• Comply with requirements. The DoD is among many organizations requiring suppliers to use RFID tags on their items.
• Gain value. Don't just tag the items you are required by the DoD to tag. You can get ROI from your RFID technology by using it internally. Tracking IT assets is a great place to start, or using RFID for hands-free inventory control. (No scanning!)
• Track items in the shipping and receiving area. Set up 'smart' dock doors which can tell you when items enter and exit your facility. The system can automatically generate the DoD's required advanced shipping notices for you.
• Initiate customized events. Want the project manager to be notified when an order has been shipped? The system can automatically send him a text message or an email when the item rolls out the door.
• Prevent losses. Track valuable items or sensitive documents. Create security alerts, or interact with door locks to prevent theft. Set up a camera to snap a photo if a tracked asset is being moved through the doorway.
• Prove your shipments' authenticity. RFID tags create a trail of data, which can be used as a pedigree to determine item authenticity. By checking the RFID trail, the recipient can verify the origin of the shipment.
• Control access. Using RFID cards to identify workers, you can easily control their access to any area of your facility. If desired, you can use RFID to automatically report time and attendance to an HR database.
• Check out valuable assets. You can also use RFID tags to match up employees with valuable assets, so you'll know which employee took the TabletPC out Doorway 1 on Wednesday at 3 PM.

Dynamic is pleased to invite you to visit our RFID demonstration room beginning May 13 of this year.

The room will be open Tuesday and Friday afternoons from 1 PM until 5 PM EST. If you are interested in seeing our RFID gear in action, drop in or call us at 248-473-2200 to arrange a time. Our office is in Farmington Hills, Michigan, near major freeways. Plentiful free parking is available in our lot. For directions, use this map.