Radio Frequency Identification in Health Care

Publisher: RFID Journal
Publication Date: December 2007
Length: 17 pages
Price: Single-user: $295; Company-wide: $995


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Many hospitals and other medical centers around the world have been piloting and/or deploying radio frequency identification technology to help them keep track of high-value assets and inventory, as well as improve patient care and automate business processes. In many cases, these health-care facilities are realizing benefits and finding quick returns on their investments.

Every organization has its own issues and problems, of course, so it’s important to identify the RFID applications that will deliver the most value for yours. In this report, RFID Journal provides the insight and information your organization will need to help it make the right choices among various RFID applications—and to justify the investment.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. How RFID Can Help Hospitals
3. Applications
4. Technology Options
5. Costs and Return on Investment
6. RF Interference and Other Challenges
7. Meet the Vendors
8. Case Studies
9. Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
The health-care industry does not have a history of investing in information technology; many processes, for example, still rely on paper record-keeping or telephone messages. But with exploding operating costs, the sector is now looking to technology—particularly RFID—to improve inefficiencies that might impact the bottom line.

RFID holds the promise of addressing key business problems by enabling staff to automatically identify the location of assets and patients, and track inventory. This could help reduce the over-procurement and under-utilization of equipment, optimize personnel’s time and increase caregiver job satisfaction, as well as improve patient safety. In addition, data from RFID systems that track assets and people could be used to improve business processes—from housekeeping to equipment maintenance, record-keeping and billing.

In some cases, RFID is well served by the fact that IT budgets in most hospitals aren’t very large. That means these institutions haven’t spent a lot of money putting into place competing automatic identification technologies that would need to be integrated with or replaced by RFID. One place where most hospitals have spent IT dollars is on Wi-Fi infrastructures, which they may be able to leverage for RFID-based applications.

In this report, RFID Journal explains the major applications of RFID in a hospital setting, including asset tracking and maintenance; patient tracking and safety; inventory management; and business process improvement. Health-care facilities will gain insight into the various technology options; costs and return on investment; and implementation challenges. The report also provides information on some vendors specializing in the space, and examples of how some medical centers are exploiting the technology to their advantage today.

Target Audience

• Hospitals, clinics and other health care providers looking to improve patient safety, become more efficient and enhance their bottom line
• Healthcare management personnel responsible for tracking patients, staff personnel, equipment, inventory, and other critical resources
• Health care personnel responsible for merchandise inventory and ordering processes, patient safety and billing
• RFID hardware, software, and solution vendors and related professional services companies targeting the health care sector
• Managed services providers, outsourced RFID solutions and application providers targeting the health care sector
• Providers of value-added applications and services for health care, such as asset management and maintenance, equipment monitoring and replenishment
• RFID hardware manufacturing companies
• Venture capitalist and startup companies exploring opportunities for RFID in health care

Key Questions Answered

• What are the major applications for RFID in health care?
• Where are health care providers using RFID successfully today?
• What are the major differences between the various types of RFID technologies?
• Which technologies are most applicable in the health care sector?
• What obstacles are hospitals likely to face as they deploy RFID systems?
• How can these obstacles be overcome?
• What is the cost of an RFID system and the likely return on that investment?

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