IBM Introduces RFID Enforced Hand Washing Technology

Just because a hospital is a place where lives are rescued to the best of the doctor’s abilities each day in the operation theater, not to mention it is a sanctuary for those who need to recuperate from a serious illness, it does not mean that it is a fully sterile platform. Actually, hospitals are pretty good candidates to be a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria. MRSA, a bacterial infection which has proven itself resilient to majority of the antibiotics out there, will run rampant in healthcare environments if given the chance. Of course, such infections can be easily stopped if hospital workers wash their hands on a regular basis. IBM intends to make use of technology by reminding them to wash their hands, all through the clever implementation of RFID-enabled badges.

Employees will use badges that have an integrated RFID chip, where this RFID badge will “talk” to sensors placed in different locations throughout the building. Should someone happen to walk into a patient’s room, and leaves without washing their hands, the sensor will detect the situation as such, and report to the central server. This means all staff members will be monitored of their respective failures, and hopefully, corrective moves can be made to improve the situation down the road.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Medical
Tags: ibm, rfid