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Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2013)

22.10. - 25.10.2013, Berlin

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WLAN-based real time patient location system improves efficiency in Level I trauma center

Meeting Abstract

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  • presenting/speaker Timo Stübig - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Unfallchirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Germany
  • Christian Zeckey - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Unfallchirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Germany
  • William Min - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Unfallchirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Germany
  • Laura Janzen - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Unfallchirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Germany
  • Musa Citak - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Unfallchirurgie, Hannover, Germany
  • Christian Krettek - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Klinik für Unfallchirurgie, Hannover, Germany
  • Tobias Hüfner - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Unfallchirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Germany
  • Ralph Gaulke - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany

Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2013). Berlin, 22.-25.10.2013. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2013. DocPO15-1027

doi: 10.3205/13dkou645, urn:nbn:de:0183-13dkou6452

Published: October 23, 2013

© 2013 Stübig et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Objective: Patient localization can help improve patient workflow and medical treatment in the outpatient setting. Improved wait times and efficient patient treatment can lead to lower costs and effective patient tracking.The existing WLAN architecture in many hospitals opens the possibility for adaption of real-time patient tracking systems by capturing and processing position location data; once captured, it can be linked with clinical patient data. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a WLAN-based real-time patient localization system to track outpatients in our Level I Trauma center.

Methods: Outpatients from April to August 2009 were included in the study. The study was performed in two different stages. In phase I, patient tracking was performed with the real time location system, but acquired data was not displayed to the personnel. In phase II tracking, the acquired data was automated and displayed. Total treatment time was the primary outcome parameter. Statistical analysis was performed using Student´s t-test, with the significance level set at 0.05.

Results and conclusion: In total, 1,045 patients were included in our study (540 in phase I and 505 in phase 2). An overall improvement of efficiency, as determined by a significantly decreased total treatment time (19%), was seen from phase I to phase II, was noted. Additionally, significantly lower treatment times were noted for phase II patients when other parameters were examined (increased number of residents, the addition of imaging diagnostics, and comparison among various localization zones).

WLAN-based Real-time patient localization systems can improve process inefficiencies associated with manual patient manual identification and tracking.