Patient wristband with RFID chip wins award

14 December 2005

New York's Jacobi Medical Center and Siemens Business Services have received recognition for their patient wristband system in the US "Chime Collaboration Competition". Chime is the association of Chief Information Officers of hospitals and medical technology companies.

Since 2004, patients in New York's Jacobi Medical Center have been carrying their medical history around with them on an RFID radio wristband, thus allowing medical staff to take better care of them.

On being admitted to the New York Jacobi Medical Center, patients are fitted with a wristband with an RFID chip on which their unique patient number is stored. Medical staff can read this number using PDAs or tablet PCs with an RFID reader. This allows doctors and nursing staff to identify patients in a matter of seconds and to gain online access to a protected database with details of their medical history and the appropriate medication. Protection against unauthorized access to the patient data is ensured by cutting-edge encryption technology (PKI).

The solution leads to improved patient care and security by enabling them to be identified faster and more simply. Medication can be allocated more securely: the right patient gets the right medicine at the right time in the right dosage and in the right form. In addition, both the entry and the communication of patient data at the point of care are simpler, faster and more accurate.

This is the second award for Jacobi Medical Center system. In January it received an award from the American Health Care Research & Innovations Congress.

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