RF up close in Health care (NFC, RFID, etc.) Reduces Errors

Lots of Potential Uses

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RFID and NFC in healthcare: Safety of hospitals medication care

Lahtela, A.; Hassinen, M.; Jylha, V., "RFID and NFC in healthcare: Safety of hospitals medication care," Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare, 2008. PervasiveHealth 2008. Second International Conference on , vol., no., pp.241,244, Jan. 30 2008-Feb. 1 2008

doi: 10.1109/PCTHEALTH.2008.4571079

Abstract: Use of information technology has become commonplace in healthcare. In
an ideal world a patient always gets first class treatment and everything goes smoothly and as planned. Applications of information technology are created to help the hospital staff achieve this. However, hospital staff is often working under a heavy workload and minimal workforce. This may contribute to human error, for example, in medication that may have adverse effects on patient treatment.In this paper we will demonstrate how to improve patient safety in healthcare and especially in medication care by using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and NFC (Near Field Communication) technologies. We will concentrate on the technologies itself and how they could be used in different parts of healthcare. Earlier research results concerning this area are also evaluated.

RFID, RTLS and NFC in Healthcare |

Every day, healthcare services become more and more complex. This complexity increases the potential of mistakes; one mistake in a procedure may lead to very serious problems and consequences. The correct use of technologies such as RFID, RTLS and
NFC can help to better control life-critical processes, people and devices. RFID can be used to establish the dynamic relationships between patients, care providers and the devices connected to the patient. The connection enables the rapid filtering, processing and delivery of critical information directly to the point-of-care through a variety of hand-held devices while concurrently delivering information to clinical data repositories such as the patient medical record. This delivery methodology optimizes and enhances processes, patient care and safety, enabling dynamic and remote monitoring and rapid response to critical issues. When properly implemented, RFID and RTLS can have a tremendous impact on patient safety and quality of care, while at the same time reducing operating expenses.

Such solutions enable hospitals to account for equipment, patients, personnel and processes throughout the enterprise, as well as understand resource status, processes, usage and availability. This real-time information impacts all aspects of the healthcare enterprise including processes, revenue, costs, compliance, and patient safety; thereby allowing hospital staff to assure the right equipment, the right skilled staff resource and the right patient, are in the right place at the right time.

Test It

If your depend on NFC and RFID to reduce errors, test it thoroughly.

7 Misconceptions About NFC Testing | EE Times

The following misconceptions are commonly held when it comes to NFC testing.

• Misconception No. 1: NFC is similar to other wireless technologies, such as WiFi and Bluetooth. 
• Misconception No. 2: NFC is a low-cost, simple radio. There is no reason to test it.
• Misconception No. 3: Pass/Fail testing using a "Golden Unit" is all you need for NFC. Anything more is overkill and too complicated to implement in manufacturing.
• Misconception No. 4: Pass/Fail with a Golden Unit is the shortest way to test; anything other than pass/fail would decrease my factory throughput.
• Misconception No. 5: Sample testing is fine for NFC devices.
• Misconception No. 6: The NFC standard used in my market is all I need to implement from a test perspective.
• Misconception No. 7: I have decided to test. Now I need to ensure both the NFC digital protocol is working for each unit, as well as the analog.

 Near Field Communication: What is Near Field Communication?

When developing near field communication devices and new technology, NFC standards must be met. Standards exist to ensure all forms of near field communication technology can interact with other NFC compatible devices and will work with newer devices in the future. Two major specifications exist for NFC technology: ISO/IEC 14443 and ISO/IEC
18000-3. The first defines the ID cards used to store information, such as that found in NFC tags. The latter specifies the RFID communication used by NFC devices.


ISO/IEC 18000-3 is an international standard for all devices communicating wirelessly at the 13.56MHz frequency using Type A or Type B cards, as near field communication
does. The devices must be within 4cm of each other before they can transmit  information. The standards explain how a device and the NFC tag it is reading should communicate with one another. The device is known as the interrogating device while the NFC tag is simply referred to as the tag.

Best Practices Guide: RFID Tag Implementation, Testing & Deployment - RFID_Tag_Implementation_Testing_Deployment_Guide.pdf


Lecture04 RFID Systems, Standards & Applications.pdf

Previously:

 spendergast: Hospital processes require systematic study to reduce fatal errors

spendergast: RF Wireless in the Hospital- The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly RFI

spendergast: Wireless Medical Device References