subject: RFID in Healthcare Industry [print this page] The process of adoption of RFIDs in the healthcare sector came later than in retail, transportation and logistics, and other uses. May be the reason behind this act is just to ensure the benefit by seeing how adoption unfolded in other sectors, how performance was affected, and for "economies of scale" to decrease cost.
Cost and profit considerations were far from the only or major concern: privacy, security and safety issues had equal if not higher weight on healthcare adoption patterns. Between 2004 and 2016 research advances had addressed many of these issues, and as concerns over patient safety decreased, confidence in RFID solutions for healthcare had increased amongst adopters.
The strong technology push experienced over the past decade provided a number of opportunities for improving service quality and realizing cost-efficiency gains, specifically in preventive Medicare and outbound treatment (telemedicine). Investing in RFID solutions was a strategy that became widely adopted in both public and private healthcare systems: first for efficiency and later for better patient safety and quality of care. However, these initiatives were not coordinated and often perceived as strategic; thus depending largely on proprietary solutions.
Medical professionals have to have permission from a patient to read the data, which is protected by a patient-owned pin, or identification and authentication solutions based on biometrics. But in case of emergency, medical professionals can access the information through a trusted third party, which could be a commercial service provider or your General practitioner, with strict ex-post justification requirements. Patients generally have long-term relationships with a healthcare provider, and because providers are competing for patients there is a strong focus on ensuring privacy, security and data integrity, and preventing misuse. Data does not flow easily from one provider to the next, except in integrated or linked care delivery chains. Overall, public confidence is relatively high, and has steadily increased over time. The younger generation is very accepting of the technology and finds it pretty cool'. They are familiar with it because of its use in sectors such as retail, and even entertainment.
Some medical professionals also feel that the pressures on their time have increased substantially with the adoption of RFID technology, because they are now more easily accessible to patients, and have to spend more time checking and filtering information. This is particularly problematic in nations with a shortage of medical professionals. Some doctors just feel overwhelmed by the amount of new information they have to deal with. There are concerns that referrals to secondary care are in some contexts increasing unnecessarily, so that specialists (rather than GPs) can continue to deal with the patient and manage information and communications.
RFID in Healthcare Industry
By: Sachin Singh
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