Case Study: New Oregon Hospital Adopts IR-RFID Hybrid System

PeaceHealth, a health-care provider that operates six hospitals in the states of Alaska, Washington and Oregon, has installed a hybrid system using infrared technology and RFID provided by Versus Technology, to help it track patients in the emergency section of its newly constructed hospital, the Sacred Heart Medical Center, River Bend, located in Springfield, Ore. The new hospital, which receives approximately 160 visits in its emergency room daily, provides RFID-enabled badges to its emergency patients in order to track them throughout the facility. Some staff members also wear similar badges to allow the hospital to track their location, and when they are treating which patients.

PeaceHealth had installed the same system in 2006 at its Sacred Heart Medical Center, University District, located in Eugene, Ore., and in 2007 at St. Joseph's Hospital, in Bellingham, Wash. The health-care group also intends to deploy the technology in at least one more of its six hospitals.

Used with permission from RFID Journal, Inc.