Applications Of Secure Location Sensing In Healthcare

Secure location sensing has the potential to improve healthcare processes regarding security, efficiency, and safety. For example, enforcing close physical proximity to a patient when using a barcode medication administration system (BCMA) can mitigate the consequences of unsafe barcode scanning workarounds. We present Beacon+, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device that extends the design of Apple's popular iBeacon specification with unspoofable, temporal, and authenticated advertisements. Our prototype Beacon+ design enables secure location sensing applications such as realtime tracking of hospital assets (e.g., infusion pumps). We implement this exact real-time tracking system and use it as a foundation for a novel application that applies location-based restrictions on access control.