Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
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The Argentine Pharmaceutical Distribution
Company, Axxa Pharma, reported in early
2010 that it witnessed a 40 percent rise in
its profit margins since the time it started
using the RFID technology for tracking
drug as its Buenos Aires warehouse. With
the help of RFID and sensor technology,
finding and recalling drugs (if necessary)
is more effective than before (Swedberg,
2010).
need medical assistance. RFID systems have been
developed in this regard so that people with health
problems can be spotted easily in a crowd and first
aid via medical staff/ambulances can be rushed
to the patient in case of an emergency.
RFID tags are even used for security and ac-
cess control in healthcare centers. These tags are
embedded into the ID cards or badges of all hospital
personnel so that they too can be tracked just like
the patients. Only authorized staff is allowed to
go into particular areas of the hospital, pharmacy
or care homes, so as to discourage theft of drugs,
equipment, specimens, controlled substances and
important documents which might be of great
value to the organization.
Following are examples of different RFID
based solutions wherein the use of RFID is ap-
plied to people:
Medical errors like administering wrong
medicine or wrong blood type, mixing up the
pathology sample, operating or removing wrong
parts of the body during surgery are very common
all around the world. But the arrival and usage of
RFID technology has diminished such medical
errors to a great extent by tracking medications
and patients at every stage.
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Hospitals in Melbourne use the RFID based
Hospital Real Time Management System,
wherein each patient is issued an RFID
wristband (RFID tag attached to it) and
each of them have a unique identification
number so as to identify the patients during
their hospitalization period. The tags store
important information about patients like
their name, ID number, age, blood group,
allergies, medication prescribed, drugs the
patient is on today, when the medicines
were given, etc. These RFID encoded
wristbands can even be read through bed
linens, so that the information stored on
the tags can be read without disturbing the
patient, especially when they are asleep.
Doctors can access or update patient's re-
cords remotely via Wi-Fi using PDA, lap-
top or other mobile devices. This system
also links the patient information with oth-
er hospitals through internet so that in case
of an emergency or when any help or sug-
gestions are needed, the appropriate people
can be contacted and time can be saved as
they would already be well informed of the
RFID Applied to People
Patient identification and location assistance
are often needed to ensure patient safety. RFID
technology provides hospitals with solutions that
address patient care validation, patient tracking
and extended services to families. Patient tracking
systems help hospitals to optimize patient flows,
reduce wait times in waiting rooms, and improve
patient satisfaction.
Passive RFID tags are used to associate patients
with their health record that gives details about
their treatment and their medical history regarding
medications, blood bags, surgical operations, etc.
Patients are usually made to wear a bracelet or
necklace with an RFID tag attached to it, which
sends real time information to doctors. These tags
also help during patient inspection and bed counts;
to track and alert patients when they accidentally
enter into restricted areas and also to increase
operational efficiency by monitoring and track-
ing patients throughout their stay at the hospital.
Active RFID tags on the other hand, help in
the identification and localization of people who
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