Bernard GOUGET, SFBC FESCC representative, FESCC advisory board member b.gouget@fhf.fr
A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a high tech system consisting of tiny microchips with radiotransmitters attached to plastic or paper tags. The chips, as small as one-third millimeter wide, store data about an object or individual, e.g., inventory tracking data or a patient medical history, and transmit that information to an RFID reader. RFID systems make stored data instantly accessible to authorized users and can also track the movements and reports the locations of people and objects within a specific area. It is predicted that the RFID Healthcare Industry is a $90 million industry, which will grow to a $2.1 billion industry by 2016.  It is intended to provide full trace ability at any time to prevent medical errors, including mislabeled pharmaceuticals or blood types. Use of RFID tags in laboratory samples is likely to form 4% of all applications in the healthcare industry.

RFID is already widely used in the business world spreading to cover almost every aspect of our daily lives. It can be used just about anywhere that a unique identification system is needed. Tags can be active or passive. Active tags have a battery with a life of several years, a range of tens of meters and a larger data capacity than passive tags. Passive tags use reader emissions to power a brief response, usually just an ID number. In healthcare, RFID tags may be applied to patients, health staff and to objects. The possibilities are as promising as they are varied, creating the potential to automate administration, reduce errors and improve security. The full potential of the technology is only just beginning to unfold. RFID applications are ideal for a multitude of healthcare settings; many companies delivered a variety of ready-to-use RFID solutions for laboratory automation and hospital data management. These RFID systems deliver the security, reliability, and flexibility to surpass even the most demanding RFID applications. In the past, various two-dimensional labeling techniques such as barcodes have been used in laboratory settings. With today's advancements in laboratory automation, 2D labeling technologies are simply no longer sophisticated enough. The use of RFID applications in such environments reduces the amount of re-testing and processing costs while minimizing errors that destroy or delay vital work. The advantages of RFID tags over other methods of identification such as barcodes is that you can write to them, read them automatically even if you can not see them and read many of them simultaneously. RFID data can be secured by encryption and by careful design of transmission protocols. RFID are proven tools to accurately match the right patient with the right procedure, medication, and materials.

While the potential for RFID to improve the quality and decrease the cost of healthcare is significant, implementing an RFID solution is a big challenge. All of the elements of an RFID infrastructure must be in place, not only the tags, but the network, the receivers, and the software to process the data. These components must work together efficiently, tightly and flawlessly. Today, making this initial investment is not so easy. But continuing advances in nanotechnology and robust wireless infrastructures as well as the increase in chip production reducing costs and new developments dedicated to health care industry may help to speed the adoption of RFID. Health providers can take advantage of the benefit of such economy of scale to implement affordable RFID solutions.

It possible to envision an environment in which RFID devices put on or implanted in patients could provide real time information on health indicators and vital signs and accurately monitor the status of the patient. In the same way the outpatients could be monitored remotely, receiving nearly the same level of attention as those within the walls of the hospital.

RFID's potential is virtually unlimited amazingly configurable for expanded uses. However RFID is not the total solution to the complex challenges of healthcare cost, quality and equitable distribution. Some uses of the technology could raise issues of patient privacy and data security, which must carefully address. Nevertheless RFID is the tiny chip that is already making a very large difference in the increased efficiency and better patient care