RFID Technology to ensure patient safety and improve supply chain efficiency

RFID Technology to ensure patient safety and improve supply chain efficiency in Health care segment

The need to implement RFID Technology is now widely accepted   by Hospitals and Health care 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 in the hospitals and ensure patient’s safety. The pilot tests are being conducted and it is a well known fact that the applications shall bring far reaching effects in the healthcare segment. At times, during the 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 Technology makes such tracking and identification fast and smooth. Proper protocols and the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology 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.

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, reduce medical errors, and cut costs improving efficiency.

The applications are plenty and can be broadly summarized as:

• Patient tracking and identification
• Asset and Equipment management and tracking
• Reducing drug and blood administration errors
• Making newborns more secure

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

A popular and vital application of RFID is to track surgical sponges to ensure they are not inadvertently left behind inside patients. And many hospitals are now tracking patients to ensure the right patient is given the proper care. These 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 utilization and enhance the hospitals' ability to performed scheduled maintenance.

What is RFID Technology

RFID is a wireless technology working on UHF range of frequencies. 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 associated software displaying the information about Goods like country of origin, description, expiry date, destination, handling details etc.   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 cattles and pets and as such are not a new invention. However during the last few years plans encompassing entire value chain using RFID Tags right from procurement of material up 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 Logistics 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 few cents. The Tags are divided in two parts viz Active and passive:

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

Advantages of RFID Technology over traditional identification methods like bar code

• RFID Technology makes it possible to read large number of items simultaneously
• The process is automatic without involving manual intervention.
• The devices are always on and ready to read.
• Code reading does not require a visual line of sight so it can take place even through the side of truck without unloading.
• Tags can contain large amount of information.  

RFID is now generating significant interest in the marketplace because of its robust application capabilities. RFID enables healthcare facilities improve overall safety and operational efficiency because it operates without line-of-sight while providing read/write capabilities for dynamic item tracking. Surgical instruments and other devices must be properly cleaned and packaged between uses. Tags on the instruments and readers on the sterilization 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.

Category of Application 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 todisposal. RFID tags and readers can automate these tasks therebysaving time and resources.Active RFID tags with read/write capabilities can be used to detectseal integrity for containers and individual packages. The tag canrecord the time and duration of seal loss, allowing even problemsthat occur mid-shipment to be detected. Asset tracking by RFID thus can minimize thefts and losses increasing thereby return on investments. Due to RFID Tags being read in automated operation without requiring manual intervention, unattended and constant tracking is provided by the well designed RFID systems.

Inventory Management

Large amounts of inventory needs to be managed in hospital operating rooms. RFID technologycan 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 Organization, t between 5 to 8 percent of global pharmaceuticals are counterfeit. While in some countries this percentage may still go higher ranging between 25 to 40 percent. The losses reported are around $2 billionper year due to counterfeit drugs.n Counterfeit drugs adversely affect people’s lives by preventing patients from receiving needed medication and in country like India, many patients fall prey to it due to its low cost. Fortunately, RFID tags can help detect products that are, Counterfeit or fake, Tampered with, adulterated or substituted expired.

Clinical Trials

 As new drugs go through the clinical trial phase, RFID technology is 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

RFID has strong application potential with medical device companies.  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.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) Technology helps Pharmaceutical Companies and Retailers to improve their supply chains and resulting in reduction of cost and improvement in Efficiency

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 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 like U.S. Defence.

Indian Scenario

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 organizations like hospitals.

Written By

Professor Akhil Chandra

Academic Head, Logistics and Supply Chain

Institute of Logistics and Aviation Management (ILAM)

Indian Clinical Research Institute ICRI, Okhla Phase I

New  Delhi

9810223277, E-Mail : akhilchandra06@gmail.com