Mobile Display of Information about Aggregated Antibiotic Resistance in the Hospital Setting Supported by Near Field Communication.

Antibiotic resistance is a heterogeneous phenomenon. It does not only differ between countries or states, but also between wards of hospitals, where different resistance patterns have been found. To support clinicians in administering empiric antibiotic therapy, we developed software to present information about antibiotic resistance using a mobile concept. A pre-existing infrastructure was deployed as the server component. The systems analyze and aggregate data from laboratory information systems, generating statistical data on antibiotic resistance. The information is presented to the Android client using a Representational State Transfer (REST) interface. Geographical localization is performed using near field communication (NFC) tags. The prototype provides tabulated data concerning antibiotic resistance patterns in the wards of a hospital. Using Android, NFC, and data caching, the usability of the system is estimated to be high. We hypothesize that antibiotic stewardship in hospitals can be supported by this software, thus improving medical monitoring of antibiotic resistance. Future studies in a productive environment are needed to measure the impact of the system on the outcome of patient care.

Framework for near-field-communication-based geo-localization and personalization for Android-based smartphones--application in hospital environments.

Various applications using near field communication (NFC) have been developed for the medical sector. As a method of short-range wireless contact-driven data transfer, NFC is a useful tool in medicine. It can be used to transfer data such as blood pressure, control adherence to medication, or transmit in vivo data. The first proposed general framework uses NFC as a mechanism for indoor geo-localization in hospitals. NFC geo-localization is economical compared to classical concepts using indoor GPS or WLAN triangulation, and the granularity of location retrieval can be defined at a tag level. Using this framework, we facilitate the development of medical applications that require exact indoor geo-localization. Multi-user Android systems are addressed in the second framework. Using private NFC tags, users are able to carry on their personal settings for enabled applications. This eliminates the need for multiple user accounts on common Android devices, improves usability, and eases technical administration. Based on the prototypes presented here, we show a novel concept of using NFC-enabled Android devices in hospital environments.

Delivering antibiotic resistance information specifically tailored to location and time.

Antibiotic resistance poses a significant threat to humanity. Hundred years since the beginning of the era of antibacterial drugs, we are facing increasing numbers of infections with multi-resistant pathogens. The current approach of distributing information on antibiotic resistance in printed form in the clinics has disadvantages with respect to the actuality of the data and the regional heterogeneity of resistance patterns. We developed an application named qRe using representational state transfer as a communication standard to deliver antibiotic resistance percentage information to the end user. The data is selected specifically for his/her geographic location. The user can display the information using either the application for Android smart phones or the web application. With the presented software we show the technical feasibility of delivering antibiotic resistance information specifically tailored to location and time. A short evaluation of the software showed an overall positive response from physicians. Based on recommendations of previous investigations, we expect a measurable clinical impact.