Information Technology Reference
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spent in searching for the right equipment, when
the same time and resources could be spent for
patient care. Owing to the failure of locating as-
sets, many of the assets are not checked, repaired
or replaced when required which leads to pos-
sibilities of equipment breakdown in emergency
situations, increase in insurance liabilities and
shortage of working equipment. Thus, multiple
hours are wasted in searching for assets within
the healthcare facility which result in increased
patient care times, reduced patient throughput
and increased equipment and maintenance costs
(Kamel & Liang, 2009, p.6).
Patients and even their families suffer through
distressing consequences due to medical errors
like miss-transfusion of blood, surgical errors,
expired medicines administered, etc. that occur in
hospitals. According to a recent study conducted
by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it
was reported that at least 1.3 million people are
injured annually in US alone. The United States
of Medicine in its study found that around 44,000
deaths occur in the country every year because of
in-hospital medication errors. Since patient care
is a time sensitive process, it calls for the right
diagnosis so that the right treatment can be admin-
istered at the right time; but every year thousands
of hours are spent on running inventory cycles
in hospitals to verify that medical supplies are
stocked, medications are not expired/adulterated/
fake and all inventory is accounted for (Kamel
& Liang, 2009, p.7). Apart from the human and
asset tracking, it is also required to know which
medicine was administered at what time in order
to provide quality care and services to the patients.
A number of patients while they are in hospital
undergo drug overdose or are given the wrong
medicine or are given the medicine at the wrong
time or at times not given the drug dose at all, due
to which the patients' health is put at risk.
Drug counterfeiting is another area of concern
in the healthcare sector. The pharmaceutical in-
dustry loses $2 billion per year due to counterfeit
drugs. The World Health Organization estimated
that between 5 to 8 percent of the $500 billion
trade in pharmaceuticals (all countries inclusive)
are counterfeited. It is also found that in some
countries, the percentage of counterfeit drugs is
higher than the rest by 25-40 percent (Reiner &
Sullivan, 2005, p.2).
Healthcare industries are on the lookout for
a technology which will greatly improve the pa-
tient's care by providing the right care with the right
treatment at the right time; significantly reduce the
hospital's operating costs; avoid severe medical
mistakes; improve asset and inventory visibility;
reduce counterfeiting and theft of crucial assets.
RFID is a key technology that can provide solu-
tions to most, if not all issues, that the healthcare
industry is currently facing.
RFID in Healthcare
The widespread adoption of RFID technology has
covered almost every possible sphere of human
endeavor. Healthcare is one of the few businesses
in which a large number of RFID based applica-
tions have been developed. RFID however is still
in its infancy in healthcare than in other areas
such as retail, manufacturing, logistics and sup-
ply chain. Owing to the rising costs, inadequate
patient care, inventory mistakes and surgical
errors; virtually everyone has been compelled to
recognize the need for change in the healthcare
industry. Researchers and practitioners believe
that the Radio Frequency Identification technol-
ogy has great potential benefits in store for the
healthcare business. At present, it is so projected
that the global healthcare market for RFID tags,
readers and systems is about $90 million. But
since RFID is growing rapidly and people in the
healthcare sector are becoming more aware of it,
the Business Wire Market has predicted that the
technology will rise up to $2.05 billion in 2017
(Vanany & Shaharoun, 2008, p.149).
As discussed in the earlier section of this chap-
ter, healthcare organizations are undergoing many
issues, which can be resolved by proper protocols
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