Published on 31 Jul 2009
"“The tracking solution, built using state-of-the-art technologies like RFID, along with an open source approach, provides the medical school with an inexpensive entry-level tracking solution that we can build on for the future." - Timo Stübig, doctor and project manager, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Customer:
Hannover Medical School
Industry:
Education, Healthcare
Deployment country:
Germany
Solution:
CIO, RFID, Sensors & Actuators, Smarter Planet
Overview
MHH wanted to optimize its patient treatment process by prioritizing and tracking patients from admission to discharge, based on medical priority and treatment.
Business need:
There was no system in place that could track admissions by medical priority or track patients as they moved through the hospital system.
Solution:
MHH engaged IBM to create a comprehensive patient and asset tracking solution.
Results:
The solution is adaptable and scalable, enabling the hospital to deploy other tracking solutions for medical devices and assets without investing in new hardware or system architecture to support such solutions.
Benefits:
• Provides high scalability and adaptability through the SOA environment
• Improves overall patient care by helping doctors locate and prioritize patients
• Reduces patient wait times, increases patient security and cuts costs by
improving medical asset tracking capabilities
Case Study
Founded in 1965, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH), or Hannover Medical School, is one of the world’s leading university medical centers. The school’s world-class research and patient care help set national and international standards.
Challenge
MHH wanted to optimize its patient treatment process by prioritizing and tracking patients from admission to discharge, based on medical priority and treatment. Typically, patients were entered into the hospital information system (HIS) as soon as they arrived at the facility, but after that, the IT support ended. There was no system in place that could track admissions by medical priority or track patients as they moved through the hospital system.
Solution
MHH engaged IBM to create a comprehensive patient and asset tracking solution. A team from IBM Global Business Services designed and implemented the solution architecture using a service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach. The solution uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to automatically track and record the position of each patient or device. The solution is adaptable and scalable, enabling the hospital to deploy other tracking solutions for medical devices and assets without investing in new hardware or system architecture to support such solutions.
Benefits
• Provides high scalability and adaptability through the SOA environment
• Improves overall patient care by helping doctors locate and prioritize patients
• Reduces patient wait times, increases patient security and cuts costs by improving medical asset tracking capabilities
For more information
To learn more, please contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit us at:
www.ibm.com/services
Components
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Software:
WebSphere Application Server
Service:
Engineering and Technology Services (E&TS), GBS Package Application Mgmt Services - Other, GTS Integrated Technology Services, GTS ITS Integrated Communications: Mobility & Wireless, GTS ITS Integrated Communications: Networking Strategy & Opt.
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 IBM Corporation 1 New Orchard Road Armonk, NY 10504 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America June 2009 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. The information contained in this documentation is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this documentation, it is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this documentation or any other documentation. Nothing contained in this documentation is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM (or its suppliers or licensors), or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software. This document illustrates how one organization uses IBM products and services. Many factors have contributed to the results and benefits described; IBM does not guarantee comparable results elsewhere. References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates.
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