Healthcare
Mobile computers, bar code technology and RFID have enormous potential for improvement of productivity, inventory control, and patient safety within the healthcare sector.
Internal logistics
Hospitals with thousands of employees and patients handle large volumes of shipments every day. Large quantities of medical supplies, technical equipment, specimens, blood bags, laundry, hospital beds, etc., are received and delivered to internal and external recipients.
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TrueMobile, Optidev’s mobility service for healthcare, provides real-time traceability and more efficient handling of all shipments. It gives full control of the hospital’s logistic flow – including orders of supplies, inventory management, and goods receipt and delivery – and all data is registered in a mobile computer by scanning every item’s bar code. All data is sent to a track and trace Web site in real time. 
"TrueMobile, Optidev’s system for "track & trace", has enabled us to lower the value of lost of goods from SEK 15.000 to SEK 400 per month but more importantly than the economic gain is that the system has helped us to improve our reputation."
Jonas Berglund, Director of Transport and Logistics, Uppsala University Hospital |
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For a flat rate per month and per user, everything is included – a mobile computer, track and trace software, a standalone track and trace Web site, 3G/GPRS communication, support, and 24-hour exchange repair service. TrueMobile does not require any initial investment or development cost.
TrueMobile consists of software modules for different user scenarios. The solution is easy to use and does not require any training. Each software module can easily be adapted to business requirements, allowing hospitals to define what information should be captured and communicated to the central IT system.
TrueMobile can either be integrated with a hospital’s IT systems or used as a standalone solution. All captured data can be accessed through TrueMobile Web, a password-protected Web site for track and trace. This removes any complexity, and the hospital can benefit from the system even without integrating it with the central IT system or network.
RFID in healthcare
An RFID tag can be described as an electronic bar
code that can be read without requiring contact or free sight between the reader and the tag. The RFID technology is well established and provides secure, automated data capture. With a RFID bracelet around the patients arm and bar code or RFID tag on the medicine, the care giver can ensure that the patient is getting the right medication at the right time. RFID can also be used instead of bar codes to track technical equipment, supplies, hospital beds, etc.
Examples of some RFID applications:
Hospital clothing
RFID can be used to ensure that clothing and other textiles that are sent to laundry service are returned to the right department and charged the right amount.
Patient safety
RFID can be used to track patients with dementia and to ensure that newborns are not taken from the nursery by unauthorized visitors.
Home care
Visiting nurses can be tracked by RFID in the door frame.
Blood bags
RFID can be used to track and trace blood bags and to control that the right blood bag is used for the right patient. Additionally, RFID makes it possible to track the bags exposure to the temperatures.
Learn more about RFID