Blog
RTLS & WiFi Conversation Heats Up on LinkedIn Group…
Posted by: Kenny on July 22, 2010 | 1 comment
If you are in the RTLS industry or a customer investigating the purchase of a a real time asset tracking solution, there is an active conversation going on in the LinkedIn Real Time Location System group. If your not a LinkedIn user, you will need to join to view the group, but worth paying attention to. Shoalib Oosman, from you the UK based firm Globalpark queried the group regarding the relevance of using WiFi vs. a parallel sensory network. I have two customer discussions going on at the moment - both require real time asset ...
Is Passive RFID Really an Option for Active RFID?
Posted by: Bill on May 26, 2010 | 2 comments
As is the case most of the time, healthcare customers don't really care whether they have active or passive RFID technology only that it solves their business problem. The only time they begin to care is when they realize the tag and infrastructure expense and consider the real return on that investment. In addition to the tags, all RFID solutions require varying degrees of sensing technology to be layered on top of the existing environment. This often opens up a complex set of issues for facilities, IT and the clinical staff. For both passive and active, the ...
Vocera iPhone Client Hits AppStore… Wider Interoperability to Come?
Posted by: Kenny on May 19, 2010 | 0 comments
Today Vocera Communications announced the availability of a iPhone client application. While there is no specific mention of interoperability with other mobile devices to come, this does begin to extend the Vocera engine beyond the badge in a direction that has yet to be fleshed out to date. The Motorola powered Vocera smartphone represented a shift beyond the badge world, as did the introduction of the Windows mobile client for Motorola MC55, MC70 and MC75; however, these are more industrial grade types of devices, and not necessarily consumer oriented like the iPhone. There were some earlier explorations with ...
Losing Telemetry Transmiters and Pulse Oximeter Probes Down the Laundy Chute?
Posted by: Kenny on April 27, 2010 | 0 comments
Active RFID and enterprise visibility systems are being discussed everywhere, but for many customers there's lower hanging fruit using passive RFID. Asset rescue applications that facilitate the efficient recovery of valuable portable biomedical equipment and accessories from being accidentally discarded in hospital laundry or trash can be deployed very quickly and reliably at reasonable cost. Two commonly cited examples of such items are cardiac telemetry transmitters and related leadsets and reusable pulse oximeter probes. Ongoing loss and replacement of these durable assets can become a large cost burden ...
In Healthcare Communications, One Device Does Not Fit All…Yet
Posted by: Kenny on January 4, 2010 | 2 comments
Is Your Hospital Considering a One Communication Device Strategy? Here are some key points to consider from my recent article in EnterpriseMobileToday.com. 1. Usability matters. A NICU nurse whose hands are busy diapering a baby has very different needs than someone dispatching code teams, or an anesthesiologist. In pointing out the difference between purpose-built healthcare devices like those from Ascom, Vocera or Cisco (and say a BlackBerry or an iPhone), Emergin often talks about "buttonology." Visualize code team members fumbling for the Chiclet-sized keys on a BlackBerry Bold when needing to respond to an emergency situation. When seconds matter, better to ...
Centrak, Ekahau, Sonitor, & Awarepoint Play Nice in Intelligent InSites Sandbox
Posted by: Kenny on November 5, 2009 | 0 comments
When the technology world is at its worst, it gets very tribal. Follow IT sales folks into sales presentations and behind meeting room doors there is likely to be competitor bashing somehow interjected into the proceedings. It can be pretty brutal out there. And the FUD that gets floated around unfortunately muddies the waters for customers trying to make sense of technology driven solutions. So indeed it is an unusual thing to get competitors together respectfully, and that's what Intelligent InSites did at their first annual partner summit last week in Fargo, ND. And while Aeroscout was conspicuously ...
If You’re Looking at RTLS, Don’t Overlook Passive RFID and Other Notes from RFID in Health Care 2009 – Boston
Posted by: Kenny on September 18, 2009 | 0 comments
Just back from attending RFIDJournal’s RFID in Health Care 2009 conference yesterday in Waltham, MA. In spite of the economic downturn, the good news is that RFID continues to gain momentum in healthcare because it is having real impact on productivity and the bottom line. What was once just a promising set of technologies and solutions is increasingly becoming mainstream. Some takeaways from the event... it seems that there are enough forces to motivate the market away from WiFi solutions. Second, creative funding models are really what are helping the adoption of enterprise solutions along with managed services. The shift ...
