Ekahau to Enable Advanced Patient Tracking Solution in Belgian Hospital

August 30, 2007 — Ekahau Inc., a leading provider of Wi-Fi-based real time location systems (RTLS), said it was selected to install a RTLS system in Herentals Hospital in Belgium to track patients through its operating room complex.
In the first phase of operations, leading Belgian networking and security integrator Quantum ICT installed the Ekahau Real Time Location. This includes the Ekahau Positioning Engine server software, along with the Ekahau suite of applications, Ekahau Tracker and Ekahau Finder. Added to this are Ekahau T301 tags, which will be attached to patients, to track them through the operating room complex from registration to their return to the ward.
Quantum ICT Account Manager Gert De Haes said the Ekahau RTLS had been smoothly integrated into the hospital’s existing Aruba Wi-Fi network and SAP system to enable full access to patient data and time stamping. He said following successful completion of Phase 1 of the Ekahau RTLS integration in October, the plan is to ramp up the system to include a further 800 to 1,000 tags in a two-year timeframe to include tracking valuable medical equipment.
Speaking about Phase 1 of the project, De Haes explained, “The ability to integrate RTLS with the hospital’s SAP and to enable time stamping is a very important feature of this installation. Time stamping allows the hospital to create statistical data about patient throughput and the time taken for various operations — this increases accountability and transparency for Herentals Hospital, which receives its funding in large part from the municipality.”
Established in 1253, The A.Z. St. Elisabeth Clinic is the oldest hospital in Kempen, Belgium. The 243-bed hospital is staffed by 503 employees and 68 specialists. The hospital has departments for surgery, internal diseases, rehabilitation, geriatrics, children, a maternity ward with an associated department for premature babies, a day care center, an intensive care unit, an emergency department, and a mobile intervention team.

For more information: www.ekahau.com