Surgeon tags patients with WiFi to improve safety

The system was introduced as part of a pilot three weeks ago to save time on verifying pre-operative checks, and to improve patient safety.

“What we have designed is something akin to VDUs you see in stations and airports," consultant ENT surgeon David Morgan, who developed the software behind the system through his IT development firm Intelligent Medical Microsystems, told E-Health Insider.

“When patients go to the ward, they are given an active tag, and they have a photo taken of them. At the moment, we are just doing this on ENT patients."

“I then go to the ward to do my pre-operative walks around, and I have my wireless PDA. When I go to the patient, the PDA then shows a picture of the patient so there’s no chance of error."

The patient details are kept on a simple electronic record that is currently separate to the hospital’s own patient record, and the WiFi tags are embedded in the normal hospital nametags patients are routinely given.

Morgan has also created an electronic operating list that better reflects the order that patients are sent to theatre and can be altered as needed. “For many years I have found it incredibly inefficient that we have a paper-based list that doesn’t bear any correlation with the order that you do the operations."

“I can use the PDA to change the order of the list. All the sections are updated simultaneously, and it works on any wireless network."

When pre-operative checks are completed on each patient, an indicator on the electronic list goes green. If there are still checks to be done, the indicator remains amber. This is so that surgical staff can make sure that all checks have been done on each patient before s/he goes to theatre. Every time the patient is moved, the WiFi tags generate time stamps on their record, so their progress can easily be monitored.

The digital photograph was incorporated for extra safety, explains Morgan: “When the patient moves into the operating theatre, it automatically brings up their electronic patient record with their photo so there’s no chance of the wrong patient being operated on."

Morgan explained that the rationale behind the tagging system came from his own experiences as a clinician: “The advantage is that I am an end-user." The NPfIT has no requirements for electronic operating lists or checks, and small businesses were better able to supply outside of the NPfIT for these requirements on a local level, he explained.

Furthermore, as both a clinician and a software developer, he can update the system according to clinical need during the pilot; for instance, last week a new infection flag was introduced into the patient record to help isolate MRSA or other diseases, and prevent them from spreading throughout the ward.

The hardware and some of the software has been supplied through collaboration between Morgan and IT hardware companies. The network and middleware was supplied by Daconi through their WiSec Wireless system, and it includes the Ekahau wireless positioning software and WiFi tags, with Proxim WiFi access points to pick up signals.

Keith Jones, CEO of Daconi, said the system had been designed to be as portable and economical as possible. "The advantage of using Ekahau’s location tracking software is that it works with standard WiFi equipment. This makes the network very cost-effective and competitive.

“The Ekahau WiFi tags are cheaper than RFID tags when you consider that they are reusable, active and don’t require specialist reading equipment."

Intelligent Medical Microsystems and Daconi are intending to market the new system throughout the UK if the pilot proves successful.