Excerpt from Healthcare Purchasing News
October 2006
Full article is available online at www.hpnonline.com

RFID: The new strategy in healthcare IT

Is this a technology whose time has come or not?

by Richard A. Perrin and M. Bess McAndrew

Radiofrequency identification (RFID) is being touted as the new strategic weapon to reduce costs in the provision of quality healthcare. Properly deployed, RFID is capable of addressing and streamlining some of the most basic, yet the most critical (and costly) components of healthcare provision – assets, supply distribution and tracking, patient movement, equipment management and accurate medication administration.

RFID system capabilities are powerful and accurate capture data. They can easily be integrated into the hospital’s wireless infrastructure that many hospitals already have in place. However, "To date, RFID has been limited to highly targeted and niche applications – standards are scarce, costs are high, and implementation is an art."1

Whatever the position of the healthcare provider, the goal is the provision of the five rights of medication administration: "Right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, and right time." Every individual and organization invests a significant amount of money into healthcare and in turn expects a great deal from that investment. The healthcare industry continually collaborates to ensure the provision of improved services while reducing expenses that will result in cost savings – not only to the organization, but also to the patient. In addition, scrutinizing all emerging technologies is critical to see if they are truly a value added asset that will ensure a positive return on investment. Is the technology able to provide information "better" than before? The bottom line is: "Is it worth the investment in hard dollars (cost) and soft dollars (implementation efforts, training, updating current procedures, etc.) for the benefits that will be achieved?"

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