Now, the company has expanded its product and service scope. The hospital has experimented with its RFID based asset management function in WANDA, so that they can not only track the cleaning of unmovable parts (such as the bathroom), but also track the cleaning of key equipment (such as wheelchairs) used for patient care.

Visionstat provides services for hospitals and other spaces that need cleaning. This Alberta based company has added RFID functions to its existing WANDA platform, which is based on the needs of hospital customers who are facing greater pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By adding passive UHF RFID tags to mobile devices, WANDA can track the location, moving time, time of providing care for patients and cleaning time of items. In this way, hospitals can better ensure that equipment is ready when needed.

WANDA application

"Tracking key assets is an important part of efficient operations," said John Putters, CEO of Visionstat. "RFID tracking helps to control inventory and accurately measure its use and consumption". The company has the background of RFID solutions and provides asset management technology for the oil and gas industry through its solution partner Safe-T-Wip. RFID solutions provide companies renting equipment in the oil and gas industry with the ability to track and simplify inventory and product movement.

Each product will receive an RFID tag, which can then be tracked by an RFID reader as it enters and leaves a designated area (such as a warehouse or supply room). Putters explained that this process improved inventory management and provided more accurate billing data based on the length of time a particular product was leased.

Take RFID to the hospital for asset management

Putters added that RFID can now be used as part of the WANDA solution in healthcare. About half of Visionstat's customers are healthcare companies, and the other half are cleaning service enterprises that provide services for them. He recalled that the initial goal was to ensure that services were provided appropriately and efficiently. Putters pointed out that facility management is based on labor, so how companies use labor is crucial.

The Internet of Things technology can judge the time spent by cleaners working in a designated space (such as the toilet) according to their use of mobile phones or tablets when entering the area to be cleaned. First, they can log in to the WANDA application and create the start record of each new task. When they scan the sensors around the room, they can complete the corresponding work as instructed. This data can be linked to other sensor based information, such as data selected from the personnel counter, to track the room usage since the last cleaning and the number of times the soap dispenser has been visited. It is reported that Visionstat is cooperating with Tork to capture these data through its hand hygiene product dispenser.

During the prevalence of COVID-19, the company found that there was an increasing demand for hospitals to seek to track cleaning agreements for health and safety purposes. So the company developed this mobile application to meet the latest cleaning agreement, which will be released in 2021. However, a Canadian hospital (requiring anonymity) that uses this technology for toilet cleaning management also wants to track the cleaning agreement of beds and wheelchairs. "This is where RFID provides benefits," Putters said.

"The hospital hopes to be able to track the location of each asset and the cleanliness of the project. We began to study RFID technology from then on, especially in our applications.". Putters said, "When we embarked on this path, we suddenly found that many of our customers require similar solutions.". Therefore, the company established an RFID based asset management system in its application earlier this year.

Real time grasp of the cleaned content and location

"We have always been supporters of clean space", Putters said, "but the addition of RFID is a good differentiation factor for us, because it adds an important function to the industry". He explained, "Usually, UHF RFID tags (Visionstat uses Link Labs' label products) are attached to assets, and the unique ID number encoded on the tag is linked to the data in the WANDA application. Every time the tag is read, this information is updated to the system to indicate its location.

The system can use hand-held RFID readers that staff use when walking through the facility or interacting with assets, or it can use fixed readers that can be deployed in key areas, such as at the entrance to a department or room, or at an elevator door The application can provide a dashboard that shows any items that need to be maintained and where they are located. It can also alert if the item is misplaced or has exceeded its expected service date.

Master the position and status of medical bed and wheelchair

The Canadian hospital initially piloted the RFID version of WANDA on a wing of its building to track medical beds and wheelchairs. The medical institution has been using the WANDA system for cleaning service management. At present, all these data have flowed into the single portal of WANDA, where we can analyze and manage the cleaning service efficiency of static areas such as bathrooms, and track assets.

After a six-month pilot, the company intends to conduct a comprehensive commercial promotion of its asset management system with RFID tags. Visionstat positions itself as a cleaning and hygiene visualization company for healthcare customers, not an RFID technology company. Putters said, "RFID based function is not only an independent RFID technology product, but also needs to be integrated into the rest of our solutions. In these solutions, data can be compiled to obtain an overall view and analyze health and public security.".

Putters pointed out that the focus of the hospital is to create a safe environment for patients and personnel. He believes that the trend created by COVID-19 makes it more challenging for these facilities to meet their expectations without technology. Workers are often inexperienced because of the shortage of personnel. They stay on the job for a shorter time, so they need more on-site guidance and management support provided by WANDA.

Looking ahead, Visionstat plans to continue to provide RFID technology to other industries, including oil and gas. The company also said that it could upgrade its cloud based databases and applications according to customer requirements.