RFID and RTLS technologies have been applied in the asset tracking field in many industries, such as the management of some infrastructures, research laboratories, manufacturing plants, product distribution centers, vehicle management departments, maintenance departments, and various aspects of the supply chain system.
Real-time asset tracking management differs depending on the objects to be managed, application environment, business process, and organizational functions. The assets that can use RFID and RTLS technologies can be medical equipment, aircraft parts, crop seeds, various tissue samples, reusable transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, industrial machinery, laboratory equipment, and containers.
The use of automatic identification technology in the medical industry has a long history, and the applications and technologies used by different organizations are also different. For hospitals, tracking medical equipment and medical consumables is a major part of RFID applications; while emergency medical services (EMS) organizations are more inclined to use RFID to automate their portable medical assets; medical laboratories need to use RFID to track each Medical specimens; medical devices and manufacturing companies hope to automate the management of complex business processes through the deployment of RFID.
This "five major application errors in RFID and RTLS technologies in the medical industry" details the current application of RFID technology in the medical industry and the user's misunderstandings. It will help end users in the medical industry to understand this in more depth. Technology to choose the right application for you. These five application errors include:
1. Asset tracking is only applicable to large hospitals
2. RFID can only be used to track medical devices
3. Asset tracking can only use RTLS technology
4. RFID tags are expensive, so they are only suitable for some high-value medical assets
5. The return on investment for medical RFID applications is difficult to quantify, so it is necessary to deploy the entire organization.
In fact, RFID has been widely used in many areas outside hospitals for medical care, such as medical laboratories, emergency medical services, doctors' clinics and offices, and the production and supply of health products. Even some small clinical procedures use RFID technology to track medical equipment, medicines, and some medical consumables. Currently, hospitals are tending to deploy RFID technology in highly diversified applications to track different types of equipment and supplies, manage inventory, and locate assets in real time.
The following table lists some of the business areas and processes that are suitable for RFID and RTLS technologies:
RFID-RTLS Common Application in Medical Field
| application | user | Track asset types | Why use | Effect |
| Asset tracking | • Hospitals • Clinics • Laboratories • Emergency Medical Service Providers • Medical Device Manufacturers • Pharmaceutical Companies | • Medical Devices • Test Instruments • Medical Facilities • Production Equipment • IT Assets | • High maintenance costs for high-value assets • Poorly maintained assets can affect the quality of care and endanger the lives of patients • Improve surgical efficiency • Medical institutions meet stringent industry standards at high cost | • Significantly reduce inventory redundancies • Rational allocation of resources • Streamline document management/information archiving • Reduce inventory of service spare parts • Reduce production and transportation problems caused by poor equipment management |
| High temperature and pressure monitoring | • Hospitals • Clinics • Laboratories • Medical device manufacturers • Pharmaceutical companies | • Medical Devices • Vaccines • Medical Samples • Perishables • Medical Devices | • Labor-intensive paperwork • Drug efficacy affects patient safety • Wasted medical resources • Risk of non-compliance | • Improve the timelines of business processing • Programmatic management of documents • Avoid mistakes in logistics and cause unnecessary cost loss • Improve management efficiency and accountability |
| Consumables tracking/inventory management | • Hospitals • Clinics • Laboratories • Emergency Medical Service Providers • Medical Device Manufacturers • Pharmaceutical Companies | • Medical assets • Surgical trays • Medicines • Certain controlled drugs | • Inventory split management, which is often used to address excess inventory • Labor-intensive inventory and document management • Use of expired drugs or items leads to patient safety risk | • Reduced inventory wastage • Reasonable allocation and use of resources • Document management process/information archive |
| Hospital staff and patient management | • Hospital • Clinic | • Hospital staff • Patients | • Excess staff workload • Patient care and treatment risk | • Improve employee productivity, improve patient safety and quality of treatment • Reduce human error |
There is no doubt that the use of tracking and positioning assets is indeed the most important application of RFID in the medical industry, but this application is in fact the same as other asset tracking applications in the industry, and it is for some important equipment, such as IT assets, Consumables, tools, vehicles and transport equipment, and some electronic orders.
However, RFID is not only used to track positioning. Because some special medical equipments need to be regularly calibrated and disinfected and cleaned, RFID tags also need to record this information for each asset to ensure the patient's diagnosis and treatment are safe and efficient.
The following table details the medical assets that can be tracked with RFID:
RTLS is indeed a technology that is well suited for real-time tracking of assets, but it is by no means the only technology that can be applied in the medical industry. With the widespread adoption of wireless networks in medical institutions, it plays an enormous role in the transmission and protection of information, and it is also increasingly used in asset tracking. However, with the development of UHF passive RFID technology, low-cost tags and readers have also been applied to distributed consumables management, such as asset management in a medical facility and ambulance. Even GPS and traditional bar codes are used in certain aspects of medical asset management. Therefore, in the field of medical asset management, staff can find suitable asset management solutions based on their positions and levels.
| Label type | Operational use and reading and writing | Reader settings | Applications |
| UHF Passive RFID Tags (without battery) | The tag is powered by the RF signal emitted by the reader antenna. Reading distance: ~ 5 meters Theoretically has an infinite lifetime | Set fixed readers at points or use handsets to read and write | Ideal for inventory management, asset management in specific areas/ranges, such as operating rooms, physiotherapy rooms, laboratories, etc. |
| Semi-passive RFID tags require battery power | The battery is used to drive the chip and the circuit (but not the reader) Read and write distance: longer, up to 20 meters (depending on battery power) | Long read/write distance, so there is no need to set a read pass point. The acquisition and storage of sensor data may require the use of a dedicated reader/writer. | Suitable for applications that require higher reading distances, or that sensed information (such as temperature) needs to be tracked using assets |
| Active RFID (RTLS) battery power | The label is driven entirely by the battery Reading distance: 50 to 100 meters | Long read and write distances eliminate the need to set read points to capture and store sensor information | Suitable for applications that require high reading distances, such as plant maintenance, warehouses, or sensing information (such as temperature) that needs to be tracked using assets |
| WiFi tag powered by battery, WLAN access point reading tag | The tag includes a processor, a MAC address, and information transmitted by a specific WLAN access point, with a precise range of about 5-10 meters. | For use in a WiFi-covered environment, assets that require precise tracking of locations may be calculated using triangulation by special requirements | Use in fields that require automatic real-time tracking of asset information, provide information security protection for energy, or for personal and patient tracking |
The price of RFID tags has dropped significantly in the past few years, and this declining trend will continue to be maintained in recent years. According to different technologies and applications, the price of labels is also divided into different levels. The label used for general consumer goods is only a few cents, while the special labels with high tolerance in the industrial field are relatively expensive, and some active labels for vehicle management are also relatively expensive. In most cases, the price of RFID does not depend on the value of the labels and assets used, but depends on factors such as the actual application environment and the frequency of daily use, and how the labels are installed.
| Label type | Label price |
| UHF Passive RFID Tags (without battery) | Packaging method determines the price of the label Flexible label price is relatively cheap 10% High-strength labels for surgical instruments cost about $5 |
| Semi-passive RFID tags require battery power | Label price: about 10+ dollars, and the cost of battery replacement |
| Active RFID (RTLS) battery power | Label price: about 25+ dollars, and the cost of battery replacement |
| WiFi tag powered by battery, WLAN access point reading tag | Label price: about 25+ dollars, and the cost of battery replacement |
Many mature areas of RFID applications have data-recognized returns on RFID investments, and the medical industry is no exception. The way to achieve the best RFID investment return is to apply RFID technology in the business field with high measurable indicators. These areas are directly related to the organization's core business and business lines. Business processes that have an important influence on the operation of the entire organization (especially those that need to spend labor, time-consuming and costly), and apply RFID and RTLS to these business processes will not only help improve the visibility of asset management information, but also Resources can be rationally allocated and utilized. Therefore, if RFID technology is used only in a small area, it cannot benefit from the advantages of the technology to the greatest extent. It is not the best application method in the long run.
| Business metrics | Can I use RFID to achieve compliance? | Financial impact on the organization |
| Avoid asset loss or theft caused by renting too many devices | Compliance with standards • Reduce rental costs for third-party asset vendors • Define inventory based on the number of patients admitted | Big - The percentage of hospital operating budget has dropped significantly |
| Avoid penalties for unauthorised use of unapproved or expired assets | Up to the standard • No more penalties for non-compliance | Big – positive impact on the reputation of medical institutions and investor evaluation |
| Avoid overdue costs for medical supplies such as drugs and vaccines | Meet the standard • Increase the value of discarded inventory • Reduce illegal operations and reduce waste | Medium - reduce the cost of asset purchases and management |
| Avoid medical accidents and improve patient safety | Reaching standards • Reduce monthly accidents • Reduce medical injuries every month • Improve accountability • Improve medical quality | Medium to large - The rate of medical accidents has been significantly reduced and doctor-patient disputes have decreased |
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