RTLS Healthcare: GE Healthcare Teams With Centrak To Introduce Battery-Based RFID Asset Optimization Solution
GE Healthcare recently announced a predominantly battery-operated Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tracking system in partnership with CenTrak, Inc. of Newtown, PA. The new asset optimization solution, an innovative introduction to the marketplace, will enable healthcare facilities to reduce installation barriers and costs, compared to current RFID systems, thereby serving them to maximize return-on-investment (ROI) potential. In addition, the solution's ability to accurately view locations at the room-level will enhance a hospital's operational efficiency and improve overall patient care.
GE Healthcare, one of the pioneers in the use of RFID in the healthcare industry, currently has 18 enterprise-wide installations in the United States, 200 workflow consultants, and thousands of managed assets with its RFID tracking systems. Current RFID solution clients include Emory HealthCare, Atlanta, GA; Lahey Clinic, Burlington and Peabody, MA; and Williamson Medical Center, Franklin, TN.
The new hybrid DualTrak product, operating on both CenTrak's patented GEN2IR technology and 900 Megahertz (MHz) radio frequency (RF), also employs CenTrak's RTLS, the only predominantly battery-powered RTLS system with room-level accuracy in the world. "We partnered with CenTrak to deliver what our customers told us they wanted in a medical RFID tracking system: the ability to provide room-level coverage, be accurate and scalable, and be cost-effective, " said Bret Barczak, Director of Marketing, GE Healthcare. "Prior to this latest evolution, traditional RFID installations in a separate, wired infrastructure took six months. Now, with battery-operated readers, it may only take six days, minimizing installation costs, operational disruptions, and other hurdles."
"By partnering with GE Healthcare, we couple GE's established healthcare expertise in RFID technology with our proven track record of providing precise, adaptable, and cost- effective tracking systems " said Ari Naim, CEO, CenTrak. "We realized early on that the basic physics of RF-only RTLS solutions, such as WiFi RTLS, can never deliver a reliable room-level location and will always be just estimates with unpredictable accuracy. By incorporating our patented GEN2IR technology, trusted location accuracy can now be reliably delivered. It is no secret that room-level accuracy is the key to unlocking the most valuable functionality for many RFID applications and significantly impacting customer's ROI".
About GE Healthcare:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat, and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest.
SOURCE: GE Healthcare