Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 3. Evolution of RFID technology in Healthcare
Years
Up to 2004
2005 - 2010
2011 Onwards
Main uses
Error prevention of products (drug
dose, correct blood and treatment,
mother/baby mismatch, etc.).
Error prevention of products now includ-
ing auto rejection of wrong luer connec-
tions and parts.
Error prevention of products.
Patient tagging for error prevention.
Patient tagging for error prevention.
Locating staff/staff alarms/tags that record
incidents.
Locating staff/staff alarms.
Locating assets/speedy, accurate stock
taking.
Locating visitors/visitor alarms.
Patient tagging for error preven-
tion.
Theft prevention.
Virtual queuing.
Cost control.
Locating assets/speedy, accurate stock
taking.
Recording procedures (e.g. for defense of
lawsuits).
Theft prevention.
Drug trials compliance monitoring/
prompting.
Cost control.
Locating staff/staff alarms.
Behavioral studies to optimize operation.
Recording procedures (e.g. for defense
of lawsuits).
Locating assets.
Pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting.
Drug trials compliance monitoring/
prompting.
Behavioral studies to optimize opera-
tion.
Pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting.
Track and trace of most medicines,
consumables and assets.
Lieshout, M.V, Grossi, L., Spinelli, G., Helmus, S., Kool, L, Pennings, L. … Borean, C. (2007, May). RFID Technologies: Emerging
Issues, Challenges and Policy Options (Publication No. EUR 22770 EN). Retrieved from European Commission Joint Research Center
Online: http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/eur22770en.pdf
CONCLUSION
widen the scope of RFID into many more fields.
The industry will not only use RFID technology
to monitor and track equipment, staff and pa-
tients, but will also apply it to lessen the patient
wait time or queues, control their costs, prevent
thefts, minimize medical errors during surgery or
otherwise and also deter counterfeiting of drugs.
RFID has limitless applications that can be
put to use, not only in the healthcare sector but
in others as well. As the technology matures, more
attention needs to be given to the less developed
research areas. Most importantly, useful guide-
lines, principles, policies and stringent laws in
relation to privacy and security need to be formu-
lated for the process of RFID system design,
development, implementation and evaluation.
Despite the drawbacks, Radio Frequency Iden-
tification has become quite prominent in market
today. Healthcare has exploited this technology
to its best, but there still is a lot more that RFID
has to offer to this sector. As discussed earlier
in this chapter, scores of applications have been
developed and successfully implemented in
various parts of the world, with many more still
coming up. However, for RFID to get worldwide
acceptance, it has to address and surmount some
of its issues in the near future. Since the RFID
systems can fail due to several reasons, there is
need for real time fault tolerant RFID systems that
can prove reliable and deal with emergency situ-
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