Army Medical Center Looking To Boost Asset Awareness
Featuring Jason Howe, CEO, Awarepoint

Used with permission from RFID Journal, Inc.

Walter Reed Army Medical Center, one of the largest medical treatment facilities within the U.S. Department of Defense, is adopting a real-time location system (RTLS) that uses ZigBee-based RFID tags. The hospital plans to utilize the system to track 4,000 pieces of equipment, according to Awarepoint, a San Diego provider of RTLS technology designed for tracking assets in healthcare facilities.

The Washington, D.C., hospital expects the Awarepoint system will help its nursing staff more quickly and easily locate equipment, allowing more time for direct patient care and reducing wait times for patients requiring transport throughout the 1.1-million-square-foot facility. Administrators will use the system to generate automated messages when an instrument is due for periodic maintenance, and to locate equipment in the event of a recall.

Awarepoint has signed a four-year contract to provide its services to Walter Reed, says Awarepoint's CEO, Jason Howe. Those services include the installation, management and maintenance of the system. The company plans to begin installing the system sometime after Thanksgiving, and hopes to have the installation completed before mid-December.