The RFID privacy debate is not an issue when it comes to medical patient safety, according to analysts at IDTechEx. Despite mass roll-outs and successful RFID implementations there is still a concern among consumers about their loss of privacy, yet when it comes to patient care things are apparently different.

     David Morgan, an ear, nose and throat surgeon in the UK, has recently employed RFID technology in two operating theatres to increase patient safety and to avoid the possibility of patient mismatches (where the patient either gets the wrong drugs or the wrong operation). 116.30.151.81 This article is copyright 2005 UsingRFID.com.

     This scheme has proved to be very successful and it also highlights another aspect of RFID in healthcare: that privacy concerns become almost non-existent when personal health and safety is involved. Morgan commented: "We asked one hundred patients if they had any concerns about the introduction of RFID technology and not one of them had an objection."

Hospital errors
     According to IDTechEx, since 19% of errors in the UK''s National Health Service (NHS) hospitals come down to misidentification, and over 11% of errors in the US come down to drug misidentification, the value of this type of programme become obvious.

     Likewise, counterfeit drugs entering the supply chain can cost lives. Giving the wrong medicine or even the wrong strength to patient can have deadly consequences, and experts believe that RFID is becoming an essential element in the fight against counterfeit drugs worldwide.

     Aegate, which has recently trialled its anti-counterfeit smart label solution, believes that these systems (such as its own, which combines RFID and barcodes) could prove vital in stemming the flow of counterfeit drugs. In July 2005 a large consignment of a common drug was found to be counterfeit. The batch comprised around 120,000 packets and was worth several million dollars. The entire batch had to be recalled for patient safety, a costly exercise that could have been avoided if each individual item could have been individually identified – the main advantage of RFID smart label identification.

Unique advantage
     The ability of RFID to uniquely identify individual items has many practical applications in all areas of business, not just in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. IKEA and Marks & Spencer have both used this technology in the retail sector. IKEA have run a pilot project testing RFID in a closed-loop system and Marks & Spencer have tagged food at tray-level and clothing at item-level to improve customer service.

     The RFID benefits for customer service are also being trialled by British Airways. They are planning on using the technology to help avoid lost luggage situations. So far trials have been a success with the number of lost items dropping to almost zero.

Conference
     These cases are just a few examples of RFID being implemented to provide a definite improvement in the way organisations are run. More details of case studies like these will be available at the forthcoming Smart Labels Europe 2005 conference.

 

 

 

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