nGage: RFID hand washing compliance system to improve sanitation in hospitals

Filed in archive Healthcare on June 15, 2010

As per WHO reports, 5 to 15% people admitted to hospitals in developed nations end up needing treatment for the infection which they acquired during their stay. Now a 36% reduction in patient time visit has been reported by Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham since it started employing RFID based hand-washing compliance system.

Dubbed as nGage, it installs customized readers and tags operating at 2.4 GHz and uses IEEE 802.15.4 specification. It is aimed at increasing hand washing compliance for health care employees without disruption of normal hospital activities. This hand washing system enables users to view messages displayed on screen mounted above the soap at every hand washing station which even includes an RFID reader. The screen will display personalized information for dispenser user and even showcase health care information regarding patient in the room.

Whenever the doctor enters the room, he or she is required to approach the hand washing station and press the dispenser lever for use as sanitizer. The software links the ID number of the person standing in front of the station with dispenser activation and messages specific to the user are displayed with significance of hand washing on preventing infection and it even records the event stating when and where the employee washed his or her hands. After the healthcare professional leaves, the system takes note of the fact whether the healthcare professional has washed hands the second time or not and if he or she doesn't, it is recorded.

The data regarding hand wash is displayed on the screen indicating the number of times an individual washes his or hand. This encourages healthcare professionals to maintain sanitation level so that infections don't spread easily.