Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., has launched a radio frequency identification system to track its patients and medical equipment, the Tennessean reports. Advocates of the technology say it will expedite patient treatment and improve health outcomes.
Patients receive bracelets that contain computer chips and antennas that send unique radio waves to receivers in the hospital. The receivers transmit the information to the hospital's computer system, which is monitored by medical staff in a room with eight computer screens. The system also monitors 1,600 pieces of equipment, according to the Tennessean.
The $1.3 million Radianse RFID system was implemented last summer. Hospital officials say that patients will not cover the cost of the system.
Liz McIntyre, communications director for CASPIAN, a consumer education group, criticized the system and asked, "How legitimate is consent when people are in dire need of health care?"
Middle Tennessee Medical Center does not track its employees with the system, however, Neal Patel, Vanderbilt University Medical Center's chief medical informatics officer, said his hospital might consider tracking employees when they purchase an RFID system (Pinto, Tennessean, 12/16).