Part 3: RFID in Healthcare

Conclusion
We have given suggestions on what needs to be considered, why the Micro-Modularity approach is valid, how to overcome the security and data-transfer issues (See “EPC IS and Data Visibility: Projecting a Low Cost of Ownership”) and where we can address the problems (see “Physical Markup Language: Its Projected Evolution,” above) There are only two questions left for healthcare to implement RFID, and one of those questions is, When it will happen? The when and why will drive the future of this industry. Both when and why are intertwined with the client’s needs. Often the client knows it can improve its management of the supply chain. However in a new industry, there are numerous options with many valid approaches. The importance is to provide a clear path for the client.

We believe we have shown that by the tagging of limited value assets ($90-$5,000) there are additional gains to an organization’s labor efficiency, inventory management, risk management (patient safety), and resource standardization and utilization, that can not be accounted for by tagging only high asset value items.

Inevitably, it comes down to timing. Do we know the industry regulations and how they impact our client? Have we asked the right questions to understand the client’s problem? Does the client believe that by addressing their internal operation, there will be greater returns than if they where to concentrate on another area of there operation? Finally, have we approached enough potential clients to gain momentum within their industry?

We wrote this study because as long as there is uncertainty in a market, people will be hesitant to invest. We took a risk as independent authors to solidify our industry’s direction in demonstrating how a vertical system approach to an industry will help RFID gain faster acceptance in every industry. We offered our future clients tangible proof that there are ways to look at your assets “true value” to find an operations hidden efficiency’s. Finally, we determined the minimum breakeven point for investment into an RFID initiative.


Contacts and references

Company/Person	Web Address/Email Contact
Patni	http://www.patni.com/
Mobile Aspects	http://www.mobileaspects.com
SRI/ Surgical Express	http://www.surgicalexpress.com/
Crossbow Technology Inc.	http://www.xbow.com/
Honeywell	http://content.honeywell.com/
GE Healthcare Asset tracking	http://egems.gemedicalsystems.com/
McKesson Corporation	http://www.mckesson.com
Lawson Software	http://www.lawson.com/index.shtml
Picis	http://www.picis.com
Oat Systems	http://www.oatsystems.com/
Siemens Medical	http://www.medical.siemens.com
Agility Healthcare solutions	http://www.trenstar.com/agility
Precision Dynamics Corporation	http://www.pdcorp.com/
Texas Instruments (RFID div.)	http://www.ti.com/tiris/default.htm
Matrics	http://www.matrics.com/
Digi International	http://www.digi.com/
EM Microelectronic-Marin SA.	http://www.emmicroelectronic.com/
RF Code	http://www.rfcode.com
AI Technology	http://aitechnology.com/
InfoWave Solutions	http://www.infowavesolutions.com
ODIN Technologies	http://www.odinrfid.com/
Association of OR Nurses	http://www.aorn.org
RfidEXchange	http://www.rfidexchange.com/
Accenture	http://www.accenture.com
Advanced Medical Technology Assoc.	http://www.advamed.org/
Global Medical Device Nomenclature	http://www.gmdn.org/
Susquehanna Health System	http://www.shscares.org/
Ingalls Same Day Surgery	http://www.ingalls.org/
Ingalls Hospital	http://www.ingalls.org
The Midwest Sinus Center	http://www.midwestsinuscenter.com/
Rush Hospital	http://www.rush.edu/
Yeatman and Sons	johnyeatman@iib.ws
Ken R. Thompson Consulting	ken.thompson@earthlink.net
Joe Rodgers	jmrogers9@gwi.net