eGov-Nov-2010-[38-40]-Too Many Positives To Ignore

TECHNOLOGY

RFID

Too many positives to ignore Benefits include improved patient care and upkeep of medical assets, and also a potential to curb fake drugs menace

By Prof Akhil Chandra

T

he need to implement RFID technology is now widely accepted by hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the world. The rewards are huge in terms of its vital applications like tracking patients and precious assets like diagnostic and surgical instruments and drugs, and in ensuring patients’ safety.

At times, during catastrophic situations like out-break of human version of mad cow disease, it is important to track the contaminated and infected equipments to avoid exposure to patients.

RFID makes such tracking and identification fast and smooth. Proper protocols and use of RFID could prevent such outbreaks by ensuring instruments are properly tracked and classified. This and other RFID applications can provide significant benefits to the healthcare industry to ensure patient safety and improve supply chain efficiency.

Multi-pronged benefits RFID technology can greatly contribute to the healthcare industry with Wi-Fi and voice over IP (VoIP), creating a single information system that can track patients and hospital assets, improve patient safety, play a role in running clinical trials of drugs, manage critical care assets and hospital equipment, reduce counterfeiting of pharmaceutical products and medical errors, and cut costs to improve efficiency.

Simply put, these potential applications provide advantage to healthcare industry in terms of tagging patient wristbands with ID and care information, managing distribution of medications,

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coupling with nano sensor technology to remotely monitor patients via implant, provide inventory control, and prevent theft.

RFID-enabled systems tend to reduce the data-entry workload of nurses, and also let them spend more time caring for patients.

Additionally, hospitals are tracking high-value assets, including wheel chairs, oxygen pumps and defibrillators. These systems reduce the time employees spend looking for assets, improve asset utilisation and enhance hospitals’ ability to perform scheduled maintenance.

RFID and its variants RFID is a wireless technology working on ultrahigh frequency (UHF) ranges. RFID system consists of transceiver equipped with an antenna, a tag and a reader acting as an intermediary between the identification and the background system consisting of computer system and

RFID

TECHNOLOGY

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TECHNOLOGY

RFID

Advantages of RFID over bar code 4 RFID makes it possible to store and read large number of items simultaneously 4 The process is automatic without involving manual intervention 4 The devices are always on and ready to read 4 Code reading does not require a visual line of sight so it can take place even through the side of truck without unloading

associated software displaying the information about goods like country of origin, description, expiry date, destination, and handling details.

Electronic product code is the key standard for RFID in retailing driven by EPC global which works in close collaboration with GSI. RFID tags were earlier used for marking cattle and pets and as such are not a new technology. However, during the last few years, plans encompassing entire value chain using RFID tags right from procurement of material to the finished goods available on the shelves at the point of purchase for the customers have emerged. Tags make it possible to identify each logistic unit or even each individual product and track their way through the supply chain.

RFID tags are used in different shapes and sizes and their costs have been brought down to a few cents. The tags are divided in two parts—active and passive.

Active tags can usually be complemented with new information as they proceed in the supply chain, while passive tags are for onetime use and only send data that is stored in them initially. A passive tag draws energy from the reader whereas an active tag has its own battery. Read-write tags can be erased and used many times along with the ability to rewrite the data. Wal-Mart made the use of RFID mandatory by its top 100 suppliers at the case level.

Benefits in healthcare RFID is now generating significant interest in the marketplace because of its robust application capabilities. RFID enables healthcare facilities to improve overall safety and operational efficiency because it operates without line-of-sight while providing read and write capabilities for dynamic item tracking. Surgical instruments and other devices must be

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Applications in healthcare segment

Patient tracking: Patient identification and location assistance are often needed to ensure patient safety when urgent medical attention is needed. Patient tags with RFID chips will meet this need.

Product tracking: Hospitals currently have to track health hazardous radioactive isotopes throughout the facility from storage to transport and then from administration to disposal. RFID tags and readers can automate these tasks and also save time and resources. Active RFID tags with read-write capabilities can be used to detect seal integrity for containers and individual packages. The tag can record the time and duration of seal loss, allowing even problems that occur mid-shipment to be detected. Unattended

and constant tracking can be achieved through well designed RFID systems.

Inventory management: RFID can address large amounts of inventory needs to be managed in hospital operating rooms. The technology can also provide an accurate account of both official and unofficial inventory levels.

Drug counterfeiting: Pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and hospitals need technology to deter drug counterfeiting. According to World Health Organisation, between five and eight percent of global pharmaceuticals are counterfeit. In some countries this percentage may still go higher, from 25 to 40 percent.

Counterfeit drugs adversely affect people’s lives. Many patients fall prey to it due

properly cleaned and packaged between uses.

Tags on the instruments and readers on the sterilisation chambers and storage cabinets can validate proper cleaning and help locate needed instruments. Since medical devices are often mounted on portable carts, smart tags placed on the devices and readers installed in the doorways can enable personnel to quickly locate a crucial piece of equipment and immediately determine its fitness for use.

RFID technology helps in tracking movement of medicines and items through the supply chain of enterprises helping in reduction of costs and improvement in efficiency. The movement of goods starts right from supply of raw material from initial suppliers to manufacturing unit of such companies and then movement of finished goods to customers through distribution channels consisting of dealers, wholesalers and retailers. The transportation of material in cartons and pallets to warehouses takes place via ships, rail road, air and trucks.

Companies like Wal-Mart have successfully used the RFID Technology and rose to become

to its low cost. RFID tags can help detect products that are counterfeit, tampered with, adulterated or expired.

Clinical trials: As new drugs go through the clinical trial phase, RFID can be used for accurately tracking patient usage. In fact, it improves the tracking of drug usage throughout the clinical-phase testing protocols.

Medical device and asset tracking: Medical device companies need better control on consignment with hospitals because returns can occur more than 50 percent of the time. RFID technology that improves visibility into returns could enable faster redeployment since the company would know sooner when an unused product could be returned.

number one company in the world after beating big Conglomerates like K-Mart and Sears in their own game of retailing.

RFID technology has been used by major pharmaceutical companies and retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Tesco, Metro, and Albertsons and by government departments in countries like the US.

Adoption in India In India, RFID will be used extensively across the country in near future. Apollo hospital uses RFID technology to speed checkups of the patients. As of now, the Department of Posts and Companies like BHEL have stated using RFID to track parcels. The awareness of RFID application is catching up and bar codes shall soon be replaced by far superior and potent technology like RFID with industries, utilities and service organisations like hospitals.

The Author is Academic Head, Logistics and Supply Chain, Institute of Logistics and Aviation Management, Indian Clinical Research Institute ICRI