Patient centric identification and association.

Increased technological complexity of medical devices and systems coupled with increased workloads and reduced staffing, have created difficulties and discontinuities in the management of patient information. These issues have directly impacted and contributed to a rise in equipment-related errors, patient dissatisfaction, a potential for patient injury and resulting overall increased concern for patient safety. In response these concerns a variety of new devices, systems and applications have been developed to share information, provide cross checks along with verified delivery of critical information to the point of care. These applications include biomedical information systems, medication administration, sample collection, and electronic medical records. The deployment of these new integrated and networked devices, systems and applications are dependent on an accurate and consistent patient identification and association methodology which dynamically manages the relationship between patients, staff and equipment. Since the association information is common to many applications and utilizes a variety of technologies, (i.e. active and passive radio frequency identification (RFID), barcodes, etc.) an institutional approach is necessary to mange these processes in a consistent manor utilizing a common set of identification hardware. Implementation of a "Patient Centric Identification and Association Platform" represents a significant advance in the management of clinical patient information. The implementation of a Biomedical Device Information Network at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) integrates the identification and association of patients with devices and care providers and provides the methodologies to manage alarms, providing the ability to filter low priority or nuisance alarms. This implementation enables critical information to be distributed directly to care providers utilizing dedicated communications devices. Patient Centric Identification and Association is the enabling technology providing precise identification and association establishing an enhanced environment of care, increased patient safety, and a clear proactive response to the regulatory requirements of the Joint Commission (JCAHO) national patient safety initiatives.