Sharp Memorial Hospital Tests RFID-Enabled Drug-Management System

Published: February 8, 2013

Sharp Memorial Hospital is currently conducting a pilot project using RFID-enabled drug-dispensing cabinets in conjunction with standard EPC Gen 2 tags. The 368-bed facility is utilizing the system to manage the inventory levels, lot numbers and expiration dates of slow-moving, high-cost pharmaceuticals that hospitals seldom administer, but that are vital to have ready nonetheless. These medications—such as rabies vaccines, blood factors and snakebite antivenom—not only are expensive, but also sometimes have a short shelf life. Learn how the RFID system is enabling the staff to know where the drugs are located, as well as the amount of each product available in stock at all times, so that it can reduce the quantity of items that are never administered due to exceeding their expiration date.
Speaker: John Johnson, Ph.D., Director of Pharmacy, Sharp Memorial Hospital