RFID in Healthcare: A Physician’s View Michael Meistrell, MD IEEE RFID World March 27, 2007

Potential for RFID is Huge Secure, Confidential, Accurate Consistent, reliable patient identification ID for Medication, dosage Match intended procedure to patient Many ICU applications Aid transition from hospital to outpatient Medical record ID Enhance patient workflow …and many, many more

Improved Security and Confidentiality Compare with written documentation Passive devices probably best Encryption mandatory Don’t confuse database security with chip security issues Place tight constraints on the READER

Hospital Errors An Enormous Problem 37 Million admissions per year in US 15 Million “Adverse Events” annually 40,000 per day! About 10 per hospital per day No patient is immune – We’re all at risk Cause: Flawed (Systemic) processes

Focus on Patient Workflow 50% of errors are due to communication failures –Written or verbal Interruptions in flow account for the most serious errors RFID  potential drastic reduction of the effects of unexpected changes

HEALTHCARE NEEDS: Systems expertise (IEEE) Elimination of many manual steps and processes Expanded use of technology –Computerized alert algorithms –Very tight security—beyond passwords –Invasive real-time diagnostic testing RFID applicable in almost every step of every care process

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