The benefits and barriers to RFID technology in healthcare

Here is how RFID benefits within different applications in the healthcare sector.

• Asset management

Asset management is an essential functionality in healthcare, given the high costs involved in purchasing medical equipment. It helps prevent tampering and theft of valuable medical assets in hospitals. RFID solutions provide medical asset management by providing real-time location of equipment. 

RFID technology can also help find the location of a specific piece of medical equipment fast, rather than spending time trying to find it in various rooms across different departments. Large hospitals have several floors with a large number of medical equipment, which can be hard to locate. RFID makes finding these equipment a seamless process.

• Infant safety

The safety of newborn babies is a major concern in the US and all over the world. There have been many incidents of babies gone missing, either intentionally or being accidentally switched at birth. RFID solutions enable monitoring and tracking of babies in maternity, neonatal, and pediatric wards. The RFID tag is attached to the baby’s wrist or ankle, while a similar tag with a unique identifier is attached to the mother’s wrist. It ensures that the babies are paired with their mothers and not switched by mistake.

• Patient safety and efficient care

The improved efficiency in patient care is one of the major benefits of RFID solutions implemented in hospitals. RFID technology paired with cloud-based software can improve turnaround time by about 25 minutes in hospitals. It can make a significant impact on critical situations where every second can mean the difference between life and death. 

RFID solutions also streamline the entire process of patient care, starting from registration to surgery and postoperative recovery. Patient locations are also tracked in real-time to ensure their safety. Alerts are sent to the relevant staff, whenever a patient goes beyond his permitted boundaries, if any. Real-time tracking and monitoring ensures patient safety in hospitals.

• Inventory control

RFID technology assists in managing the inventory in a hospital. It ensures the availability of medicine, medical devices, and other equipment. It is vital to have everything in hand in a hospital, especially when required to conduct any critical or emergency procedures. The last thing the medical staff needs to know is that the hospital has run out of essential surgical supplies or has malfunctioning equipment. From heart pumps to bed pans, everything in the inventory is controlled and monitored via RFID solutions. It also helps track medical supplies including the ordering and sorting of prescription drugs via the system.

• Quality control

Even with an advanced inventory control system, it is still essential to have an advanced quality control mechanism to provide the best possible services to patients. Patients need to be given the correct medication in the required dosages. RFID tags allow this by providing the relevant medication and dosage details to medical personnel so that they can make informed decisions. 

• Monitoring critical systems

The healthcare industry involves the use of many critical systems from medical devices to surgery equipment. Each of these devices and equipment plays a vital role in providing high-quality medical services. RFID tags ensure reduced errors and better tracking of equipment in laboratories such as test tubes and blood vials.

It also efficiently and effectively manages surgical tools during operations. It ensures that nothing, not even a sponge or clamp, is left inside the patient during the operation. 

It also ensures the safety of items stored in hospital refrigerators by monitoring the temperature and humidity inside these. It is vital for tracking and monitoring tissue and blood samples, or medical devices with expirations dates. It is because all of this requires it to be stored in specific temperature and humidity levels. Therefore, it is common to find RFID technology applied in medical research facilities where human tissues and other elements are safely stored and monitored.

• Personnel management

The use of RFID solutions in managing medical personnel is on the rise. It has managed to make a positive difference in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. RFID solutions in healthcare personnel management has translated to more efficient use of manpower in this industry, especially in hospitals. RFID also helps nurses to better assist surgeons by tracking and counting surgical tools and equipment.