RFID IN HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Lockheed Martin's Savi Gets U.S. Air Force OK For RFID Tracking Tags
Approved For Use Aboard All Aircraft Transporting Supplies For Defense
Fri, 14 Aug '09 - Article from Aero-News.net
The U.S. Air Force has approved usage of Savi Technology's RFID asset tracking and security devices aboard all sizes and classifications of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft - government, commercial, passenger or cargo - that transport supplies for the U.S. Department of Defense. Certification of Savi's Radio Frequency Identification devices followed extensive tests determining that they did not interfere with onboard avionics, such as radios, navigation or flight instruments...
The entire article is available here: http://www.aero-news.net/news/military.cfm?ContentBlockID=a83167b0-59d4-44ad-8907-d9a5d0eccec2&Dynamic=1
Rand Report Focuses on RFID in Health
Tags: European Commission RFID
15 July, 2009
A major new research report commissioned by the European Commission has detailed the opportunities for, and barriers to, the deployment of auto-tracking technology in European healthcare systems.
The report, which focuses on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), says that despite being a useful tool in logistics and operational management it is so far “less successful in patient care and quality of care improvement.”
The report states: “Compared to logistics, patient care delivery applications face greater implementation problems. Interference of RFID and other wireless equipment with electronic equipment remains the single biggest obstacle to RFID roll-out in healthcare.”
The study titled: “Requirements and options for Radio Frequency Identification application in healthcare,” was conducted by RAND Europe, the US-based policy research organisation.
The report includes an assessment of expert views from the healthcare industry and seven case studies from healthcare organisations in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, America and the UK in order to establish the cost benefits of existing RFID applications.
It stresses that RFID is not unique in many of its functionalities and that other more consolidated auto tracking technologies, such as bar coding and DataMatrix [2-D bar coding], provide similar capabilities, often for a lesser cost.
“In several contexts, RFID is seen as complementary to these technologies, increasingly in combination with WiFi infrastructures,” says the report.
Of the seven case studies, the hospital in the Netherlands failed to complete the pilot, which entailed running three pilots simultaneously. A further two, in Geneva and Germany, decided to opt for DataMatrix solutions instead of RFID.
The document highlights that physical constraints, such as tag size, lack of “off-the-shelf RFID systems” and poor battery capacity are present further obstacles to the wider roll-out of RFID.
It also states that “the cost-benefit ratio of RFID applications can be either unclear or even negative in some healthcare settings”.
In addition, despite RFID being promoted to improve patient safety, “the experience across most cases suggests that hospitals are not ready to carry the costs and are not yet convinced of the benefits.”
However, the document also clearly stresses that RFID offers benefits in providing a better operational overview of medical assets, tracking patients and improving the automatic collection of data and its transfer to back office mechanisms.
The report concludes that the benefits of RFID depend largely on organisational, financial and technical considerations and that, in particular, strong commitment of senior management and direct engagement of all relevant interests are essential.
Change and the Technology-Education Continuum
- commentary by RFID in Healthcare Consortium co-founder Emily Sopensky on an article in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Packing Source
Education comes in handy in order to discern the difference between the hype and the real solution. “Disasters do lurk around every corner, unless you prepare for the worst and learn how the technology applies to your product and manufacturing twist,” says Mary Faith Tamborino, division manager for All-Pak, Inc.’s on+qor Division. The company offers track and trace tools, such as RFID tags, to brand, authenticate and secure their clients’ supply chains.
“We’re constantly educating our customers and clientele and customizing our products to meet their needs and how innovation can really solve their problems. Of course, that means that All-Pak has to be constantly inventing and re-inventing its own offerings,” notes Tamborino.
on+qor often finds that they are constantly working to provide interoperability for its clients’ supply chains. When technology is used to smooth distribution with a major supplier and vendor, a company may well think it is on its way to nirvana. But if the same solution doesn’t work with all the remaining suppliers and vendors, then the company is right back where it started--depending on its weakest link to ensure distribution, as well as authentication.
The division has found that it is essential to incorporate client education into the sales process, To truly leverage benefit from wholesale education, multiple departments are involved with the client. For example, when selling track and trace technology to counteract diversion, on+qor trains the marketing team to use this same technology to promote customer loyalty and educates the operation department to improve logistics. In this way, the entire company benefits. The division leverages RFID training seminars in an effort to streamline the process of educating clients more easily and faster. “Our clients and we have discovered that the education we provide allows the end user to make a valid decision, therefore, the expense and disruption are easily justified because of the benefits gained corporate-wide,” explains Tamborino.
The full article is available as a PDF download:
Tech-Ed_Contiuum_PMPS_02-09 (482kb)
Study Published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) on RFID Interference Ignores Real-World Use Cases, According to SkyeTek - from Forbes.com PR Newswire
View the article here
Response to JAMA Study - Members of the RFID in Healthcare Consortium and others working with RFID in Healthcare are seeking signatures to a letter to the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA). Members advocate scientifically grounded testing methodology be agreed to by an international and objective standards-setting organization.
The letter with 21 signatures is available as a PDF download:
JAMA-ltr2ed_9Sept08.pdf (664kb)NEHTA Limited (National E-Health Transition Authority), a not-for-profit company established by the Australian, State and Territory governments to develop better ways of electronically collecting and securely exchanging health information.
Visit the NEHTA Web site
NSF report documents decline in federal funding of academic R&D - from nsf.gov - NSF released a report documenting that federal funding of academic R&D is not keeping pace with inflation. According to the report, "a 2-year decline in federal funding in constant dollars is unprecedented for this data series, which began in 1972." The report notes, however, that R&D funding from all nonfederal sources grew and outpaced inflation. These sources include state and local governments, industry, academic institutions, themselves, nonprofit organizations and other nongovernmental entities.
The report is available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08320/?govDel=USNSF_178