Misidentification of patients remains a significant safety issue for the NHS. In one recent quarterly period alone, there were 493 reports of misidentification among 45 Trusts and of those, forty per cent were due to inaccuracies on a patient's wrist band. Ultimately, eight of those cases were actually operated upon.
BT's Wireless Patient Tracking solution gives clinicians the ability to link the correct data about a patient to that patient. This helps to prevent 'wrong side surgery' and the prescription of the inappropriate drugs to a patient.
However, Wireless Patient Tracking goes beyond patient safety benefits. It can also result in improved operational efficiencies.
For example, tracking patients wirelessly can help to make the 'traffic light' theatre process more efficient by highlighting precisely where the patient is in that process. It can also be used to predict bed availability by monitoring how a patient is moving through the whole treatment process.
Analysis shows that a hospital's return on investment can be achieved in around four months with Wireless Patient Tracking.