|
University Of Maryland Medical Center
Selects InnerWireless’ PanGo
Asset Tracking Solution
Department of Radiation Oncology to track patient files across
downtown campus, improving department workflow and patient care
RICHARDSON, Texas
Nov. 15, 2007
InnerWireless®,
Inc., the leading provider of in-building wireless solutions, today
announced that its PanGo real-time location system (RTLS) has been
deployed by the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Radiation
Oncology Department to track approximately 600 patient charts within
their building and across the entire downtown campus. By leveraging
its existing Cisco Wireless Network and Cisco Wireless Location
Appliance to incorporate PanGo, Radiation Oncology will become the
first department in the University of Maryland Medical Center to
use RTLS. Due to the complexity of a radiation oncology
patient’s care,
several specialists throughout the department review each case,
so patients’ charts are highly mobile. The University of Maryland
found that medical records staff and department clinicians often
spent hours searching for patient charts, causing delays in care.
The department wanted a highly accurate, easy-to-use, Web-based
location solution that could reduce the amount of time that staff
spent locating files and improve the department’s workflow,
so patients could receive more timely care.
“Using PanGo on our Cisco infrastructure has dramatically
enhanced how quickly and efficiently we can locate radiation oncology
patient files,” said John Kornak, project manager for the
Information Technology Group at the University of Maryland Medical
Center. “The notifications provided through the PanGo Locator
software have streamlined communication among the staff about the
location of a file, and the reporting feature allows us to provide
our executives with data to identify and eliminate inefficient processes.”
The ability to locate files quicker also enhanced
the productivity of chart rounds, which involves a group of clinicians
discussing
a patient’s status. If a chart can be located in time for
this review, the patient’s treatment can be more thoroughly
evaluated, thus enhancing the quality of care.
“The Radiation Oncology Department’s use of PanGo is
a clear example of how University of Maryland Medical Center is
a leader in implementing emerging technology in a clinical setting,” said
Chris Click, InnerWireless vice president of marketing. “Their
intuitive use-case sets an example for all health organizations.
As healthcare providers determine new opportunities for asset tracking
to meet clinical objectives and enhance the patient experience,
the adoption of RTLS in the healthcare industry will quickly accelerate.”
PanGo is the first location management platform
to aggregate location data from a variety of RTLS and RFID sources
and integrate it into
the enterprise in a standards-based way, delivering a cost-optimized,
scalable solution. This flexible architecture allows InnerWireless
to recommend the best mix of RTLS and RFID technologies to meet
each customer’s unique location requirements. Additionally,
PanGo’s visualization tool is the only asset-tracking application
that provides a seamless, Web-based view of thousands of assets
regardless of the RTLS or RFID technology used to track them. Through
this combination of features, PanGo offers a solution specifically
designed to give users real-time visibility, alerts and analysis
about the location and status of key assets. |