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Applications

A survey of RFID applications in healthcare shows that RFID is currently most used in tracking individuals. The survey also shows that in most cases a single application is involved, for example the tracking of medical equipment or patients. The most common combination of applications is the tracking of patients and patient identification.

Based on the survey of cases within and outside healthcare the various fields of application were scored on a scale showing feasibility against (anticipated) returns, . This is represented schematically in the figure below. The diagram reveals that according to the present state of knowledge, the RFID applications in quadrant 2 are the most promising .

With regard to applications C1, C2 and F it should be observed that the business case will come out positively primarily when the applications are rolled out in the complete health care supply chain .

  Objectives and outcomes
The survey of the various examples of RFID applications in health care identified improvements in (certain aspects of) patient safety and the optimization of processes as the principal objectives of the application of RFID.

Reduction of costs is also an important objective. The costs of health care continue to rise, so that any investment that leads to a reduction in costs for patient care is more than welcome. Until recently there was no clear business case in which the investments in RFID in the healthcare sector are justified and the payback period is calculated. 		 
 

Some beneficial outcomes are identified however, including:

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Retrieval of data on contacts between patients and medical and paramedical personnel has been reduced from six hours to around half an hour (the SARS issue);

Patient safety has improved because information on the patient appears immediately on the screen when the patient is brought into the operating theatre;

Improved coordination of the surgical throughput procedure;
Recording of events against time delivers improvements in processes;

Patient satisfaction has increased due to reductions in waiting times and bed occupancy periods and improvements in internal transport services;

The number of morning discharges has been improved by 21%;


The mean time required for the inputting of admissions, discharges and transfers has been improved by 85%, allowing beds to be reoccupied more quickly;

Staff morale is improved because staff are sent on fewer fruitless "errands" and lose less time when responding to call-outs.