Location-based patient-device association and disassociation

Electronic associations between a medical device, a patient, and a care provider (e.g., a nurse) are new problems in hospitals. As today's devices transmit data to electronic health records, correct associations are necessary. Moreover, the unknown location of required mobile devices (e.g., cardiac monitors) represents additional issues such as unnecessary search effort, delays, and equipment underuse. To mitigate such issues, a patient-device connectivity management system that monitors and tracks patients and their assigned devices becomes an interesting option. Popular approaches for managing associations often involve bar-coding systems, which still require scanning time and which do not solve equipment location issues. This paper proposes a new system that exploits existing Real-Time Location System (RTLS) technology to track patients and devices and support simpler association by a nurse, until disassociation (intended or not) happens, at which point the nurse is notified. The system interacts with nurses through their mobile device (e.g., a tablet). A prototype version of this system was developed as a proof of concept, with correct behaviour. We expect this system to help avoid the above issues while increasing patient care quality and efficiency.