Abstract
Australian emergency departments (ED) are experiencing challenges due to overcrowding despite the government implementation of an improved model of care. This paper explores the opportunity for the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in Australian hospital ED to reduce overcrowding. The Australian ED model of care with Triage scale and improved patient journey were studied. The best possible RFID integration was sought and evaluated against the applied Australian Hospital’s domain model of care. Potential indicators of suitability were ED length of stay, ED wait times. Ambulance diversions were studied and contrasted from the start of the patient journey to the end of the patient’s treatment cycle, to find opportunities for the implementation of RFID technology. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that RFID implementation be tested in actual scenarios. Only then can the benefits of the concept be validated.
Paper Type
Event
Use of Radio Frequency Identification Technology in Reducing Overcrowding at Hospital Emergency Departments
Australian emergency departments (ED) are experiencing challenges due to overcrowding despite the government implementation of an improved model of care. This paper explores the opportunity for the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in Australian hospital ED to reduce overcrowding. The Australian ED model of care with Triage scale and improved patient journey were studied. The best possible RFID integration was sought and evaluated against the applied Australian Hospital’s domain model of care. Potential indicators of suitability were ED length of stay, ED wait times. Ambulance diversions were studied and contrasted from the start of the patient journey to the end of the patient’s treatment cycle, to find opportunities for the implementation of RFID technology. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that RFID implementation be tested in actual scenarios. Only then can the benefits of the concept be validated.
Recommended Citation
Thapa, R., Bhuiyan, M., Krishna, A., & Prasad, P. (2017). Use of Radio Frequency Identification Technology in Reducing Overcrowding at Hospital Emergency Departments. In Paspallis, N., Raspopoulos, M. Barry, M. Lang, H. Linger, & C. Schneider (Eds.), Information Systems Development: Advances in Methods, Tools and Management (ISD2017 Proceedings). Larnaca, Cyprus: University of Central Lancashire Cyprus. ISBN: 978-9963-2288-3-6. http://aisel.aisnet.org/isd2014/proceedings2017/ISDevelopment/8.