Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a subset of a group of technologies, often referred to as automatic identification, that are used to help

machines identify objects, and which include bar codes and smart cards. RFID refers to the subset of automatic identification that uses radio wa es to automatically identify bul! or indi idual items "n RFID system consists of three components# a tag (or multiple tags), a reader or interrogator and $ag is a tag that can ha e its memory changed, or written to, many times.. %assi e&RFID systems are effecti e for uniquely identifying things and people in controlled settings. Reader can be configured as either a handheld or a fi'ed mount de ice surgeon all use handheld de ices equipped with RFID interrogators to identify that patient positi ely Information is organi(ed in status iew screens for each stage of the department from registration to reco ery units $he combination of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and )i&Fi allows real&time trac!ing of objects or people inside a wireless networ!. $he radio emits radio wa e sin range of anywhere between one inch to *++ feet or more depending upon the power output and the radio frequency used

%atient ,are and -anagement (pro iding a means to rapidly and accurately erify information concerning patient allergies, prescription history, etc. to pre ent surgical errors). ,linicians achie e greater efficiencies, patients reali(e a better o erall surgical e'perience, and waiting lo ed ones are engaged with rele ant surgical status information..."mong the fears are a mista!e such as the doctor operating on the wrong leg or performing the wrong procedure. "lthough such mista!es are rare in the thousands of operations that ta!e place in the .nited /tates each day, they do happen.. . $he product could pro ide a useful means for health care organi(ations to a oid surgical errors and assuage patient concerns, she said. $his information is documented before

during and after surgery to ensure correctness and patient safety. .sing RFID to identify
patient will help ensure information is correct and increase patient safety. 0$his is one more way for us

to be super&sure0 that the correct patient is about to undergo the right surgery, says Dr. Fran! ,oo!, 01,"23 4the 1oint ,ommittee on "ccreditation of 2ealthcare 3rgani(ations5 is reporting fi e to si' wrong site surgeries per month,0 said Debbie -urphy
"ccording to ,lear,ount, recent studies ha e estimated that cases of retained foreign bodies occur between * out of e ery *++ to * out of e ery 6,+++ surgical procedures, and studies ha e shown that two&thirds of all retained foreign bodies are surgical sponges. $his seems li!e a really cle er use of RFID
Many of them are not discovered until years later. Infections around the sponge cause them to be detected earlier. This required an additional operation, causing unnecessary worry to both doctors as well as patients.

during postoperati e safety chec!s to find any sponges mista!enly left behind. $he idea is to embed chips in surgical equipment, and then wa e a detector o er surgical patients to ma!e sure the doctors didn7t accidentally lea e something inside the body. "nother ad antage is that the technology may help minimi(e staff time in the operating room not dedicated to patient care through use of RFID for instrument counting before and after procedures.

RFID&based

patient trac!ing can speed up patient flow in high& olume areas such as 3R, increasing income and eliminating the need for costly capital e'pansions . It will be frustructing to find out on the day

of the schedule surgery that our staff don8t ha e the instrument needed to complete the /urgery. -anagement departments can reduce the time required to manage equipment in entory. RFID
has been implemented in se eral major hospitals around the country. $heir e'perience shows how RFID can decrease in entory loss, increase time de oted to patients and impro e the accuracy of instruments required for surgeries and other treatments. . ,onsider the consequences of nursing not able to find a medical de ice that would sa e a patient7s life. ,onsider the consequences or nurse time spent loo!ing from room to room for hospital assets. ,onsider the frustration of your nurses an %atient identification and %atient tags with RFID chips will meet this need. 9asy, accurate in entory counts, Reduce out&of&stoc! items on the sales floor,

-ost companies will need to hire a systems integrator to install the readers, determine the right placement of tags for products and ma!e sure that they are feeding data to the middleware in the right format. ,ompanies will also need to in est in training for their employees, particularly engineering staff who will manage readers in manufacturing and warehouse facilities, and I$ staff who will wor! on the systems that manage RFID data. "cti e tags generally cost from :*+ to :6+, depending on the amount of memory. 3rderI;< a radio frequency identification system in ol es a lot more than purchasing the right tags and installing the right readers (see =asics of RFID $echnology). $o get business alue from the all of the information collected, companies will need middleware to filter the data. $hey may need to $he cost of middleware aries from endor to endor and is usually based on the number of locations where it will be installed, the comple'ity of the application and many other factors. Forrester Research put the cost of middleware at :*>?,+++ for a :*@ billion manufacturer loo!ing to meet the RFID tagging requirements of a major retailer. If your RFID infrastructure is e ol ing, consider teaming up with other companies in your supply chain to buy together in olume. $here needs to be bridge software, or middleware, incorporated into the o erall architecture to pre ent the amount of data that hits the system at the same time from o erwhelming it. /o RFID requires data filtering and data&flow management, to turn parallel, two&way data into the seriali(ed data that a legacy system can handle. $hese functions can be also partially handled by the printerAencoders and readers. depends on how much RFID increases the o erall amount of data flow within the networ!. If e'isting networ!s can handle the additional traffic with the speed required by the applications, they should not necessarily need to be upgraded or be any more comple' "t this time, no significant barriers ha e emerged that would pre ent implementing and using RFID technology in a ariety of applications. ,ompanies will also need to purchase ser ers to run middleware within a warehouse, distribution center or production facility. $hat means that companies will need to in est in enterprise applications that can ma!e use of RFID data. $hey made need to upgrade enterprise applications and integrate it with RFID middleware. $he cost of these applications ary depending on the number of 0seats0Bhow many users will access the applicationBthe number of locations CCC and other factors. companies need to purchase middleware to filter RFID data Deep in mind that e ery company7s needsBand e ery applicationBare different, so costs will ary widely from implementation to implementation RFID tag prices ha e fallen in recent years, but they7re still pricey. ,onsider buying tags in olume to negotiate a better price. "nother considerationBthe need for more bandwidth in the networ!

)e may need to hire a systems integrator and upgrade enterprise applications, such as warehouse management systems. )e may also need to upgrade networ!s within facilities and, we will need to pay for the installation of the readers.
enterprise applications Price Range $1,233 to $1,279 $he simple fact, today, is that RFID middleware can be purchased for as little as :6,+++ to :@+,+++, and with enough functionality to run most RFID applications RFID middleware, simply put, is a software layer residing between the RFID hardware and the e'isting bac!&end system or application software. It e'tracts data from the RFID interrogators (readers), filters it, aggregates it and routes it to enterprise applications such as a warehouse management system ()-/), enterprise resource planning (9R%) software or a manufacturing e'ecution system (-9/). $he ad antages of RFID systems are more than cost. It supports self chec!&ins and chec!outs, the in entory, and the handling of materials. $he ability to pinpoint the misplaced items sa es a lot of money spent for replacing items. "n RFID system can sa e labour cost. readers range in price from :6++ to :?+++, depending on their functionality. ... Radio tags help eliminate retained foreign bodies

However we can take action to protect our patient privacy by the hospital setting, acti e tags most commonly are used for locating portable equipment (eg, infusion pumps, blood pressure monitors, wheelchairs) to help ensure that caregi ers and other hospital staff aren8t ta!ing time away from patient care by chasing down de ices. "cti e tags also can be used to locate staff or patients. %assi e tags, howe er, typically are used on fi'ed assets or at the point of care when close& pro'imity scanning and data deli ery are needed, such as scanning a wristband tag for a patient8s medication information. Dey components of a system include the chips and recei ers, as well as software that captures and processes the signals and applications using the information for business support. RFID systems can help impro e patient care while cutting costs. wrong site surgery ). However we can take action to protect our patient privacy 3nce the information is written to the tag, it7s electronically loc!ed,so the information cannot be changed or altered,0 /tewart says. 0$he information is encrypted, so we meet 2I%"" compliancy because all the information that7s stored on the tag is protected.0 It7s important to understand, and to effecti ely communicate with sta!eholdersBincluding patientsBthat tags cannot be trac!ed anywhere e'cept inside the hospital. "lso, chnicians might e'pect the abilit)7 to temporarily disable their tags when they choose not to be disturbed. In e aluating a technology, erify that neither personal nor confidential information is transmittedE that data is stored on a secure ser erE and that the solution pro ides the tools to allow the hospital to be compliant with the 2ealth Insurance %ortability and "ccountability "ct (2I%""). These issues relate to data sharing and consumerpatient privacy

concerns and present greater costs and challenges in the hospital industry than they do in other industries adopting RFID technology (Collins J. 2 !). "ealthcare providers need to comply #ith the $.%. Department o& "ealth and "uman %ervices "ealth Insurance 'orta(ility and )ccounta(ility )ct ("I')))* #hich re+uires an organi,ation to ta-e .reasona(le/ measures to sa&eguard electronic health data (Fenner 2 !).To prevent snooping* the tags #ould need either a random num(er stored in a secure data(ase to identi&y the medicine or a security code to access the data stored on the chip. 0ither security option #ould increase the cost o& chips and readers (1ontni- and Dahod 2 !).
-arch *, @++@ -ar! is the founder and editor of RFID 1ournal. 2e has reported on business for major publications worldwide since *F>6 Roberti, -ar!. G$29 )3RHD7/ RFID ".$23RI$IJ. * -arch @++@. RFID 1ournal. Khttp#AAwww.rfidjournal.comAarticleAarticle iewA@@*AL http#AAwww.rfidjournale ents.comAhealthcareA http#AAwww.rfidjournal.comAfaq