A patient in a healthcare facility is typically fitted with some type of device, such as a bracelet or other device, in order to positively identify that patient while they are receiving services. Existing remote patient management systems frequently utilize one of a plurality of identification technologies, for example, either barcode or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, to accomplish patient identification and selection. Both the hardware and software deployed when implementing such a system are typically dedicated to the operation of a selected type of identification device using a corresponding protocol. In those situations where the management system software application does support both protocols, such support is achieved by providing alternative implementations for the respective technologies and protocols. In other words, the system user determines the technology to be deployed for patient selection prior to deployment of a patient management solution. For software vendors this requirement limits the available universe of potential healthcare provider customers to only those that have an implementation targeted at the identification technology that has already been chosen by the potential customer.
In those situations where a healthcare provider chooses to switch identification technology after an original software application is deployed, a software upgrade is mandatory, or if the patient management solution does not support the newly selected patient identification technology, a new patient management solution is selected or designed and implemented. From the perspective of an application software provider, the customer either targets a specific patient selection technology or incurs the cost of an alternative implementation. A system according to the principles of the present invention addresses these issues and their related problems.