RFID Technology = “Really fast” identification expedites log-in procedures

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Helen Titus, Marketing Director, Digital Capture Solutions, Carestream

Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in employee ID badges are already used to restrict and monitor entry into areas of the hospital. The wireless technology is able to transfer data from the badge to the reader in order to automatically log employees onto medical imaging systems—eliminating the need for technologists and other users to remember a myriad of log-in numbers and/or passwords.

Currently each general radiology CR or DR imaging system typically requires a different log-in process and password. This process is frustrating, time consuming and inefficient. If techs forget their password, they may use another technologist’s password. Techs often forget to log out, so the imaging system shows the same user for an entire day when several shifts of technologists may have used the system. The result is inaccurate reporting that hampers management of employees and oversight of exam volume, repeat exam rates, repeat reasons and exposure settings.

The solution? Using RFID readers that are built into new generation imaging systems and adding external RFID readers to older CR and DR imaging systems. Ask your X-ray imaging supplier to assist you with this process.

The next step is to combine RFID readers with fully featured administrative analysis and reporting software. RFID technology delivers log-in procedures that expedite the imaging process and ensure accurate information is reported for each technologist and each exam. Fully featured administrative software equips radiology administrators to accurately and efficiently manage staff and workflow.

Boca Raton Regional Hospital (Boca Raton, Fla.) recently installed DRX-Revolution Mobile X-ray systems that enable technologists to log in by passing their badges containing RFID tags in front of the system’s built-in radio-frequency reader. “With RFID technology, our technologists are online instantly and can select a patient from the work list and begin imaging. This is much faster than the manual process of logging in with names and passwords—and it helps us meet HIPAA requirements for the privacy of patient records,” said Gail McNamara, Director of the hospital’s Imaging Services Department. “Now I have an accurate record of which technologist conducted each exam and what files each technologist viewed,” she added.