The Integration of RFID Technology into Business Settings

[Abstract] At present, the term Internet of Things (IoT) is a key aspect in determining the sustainability, safety, quality and efficiency of the majority of the most important business sectors in society. The capacity to track processes that are undertaken, facilitates the recording of data of the professionals and clients involved. Identification technologies such as RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) when integrated into sectorial activities, can generate multiple benefits

Tracking and Minimization of Adverse Events in the Patient Care Process while in a Hospital Emergency Service Area

[Abstract] The aim of this work was to integrate and computerize into a single program the most important tasks in the process of prescription, dispensation, and administration of medication to patients during their stay in a hospital center. This will increase quality, efficiency, and safety in the care process. An interface was also developed that allows for real-time determination of the whereabouts of a patient within the emergency services unit and the implementation of solutions provided by identification technologies, such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), to calculate the location of a patient with more precision and at a reduced cost.Xunta de Galicia; ED431B 2018/42Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad; ESP2016-80079-C2-2-RXunta de Galicia; ED431B 2018/42Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y Universidades; RTI2018-095076-B-C2

The incorporation of Radio Frequency Identification Technology in health institutions and the determining aspects of adoption

The process of traceability by radio frequency identification system (RFID) is considered one of the biggest contributions of the last years in the health sector. This article aims to study the academic contributions that this technology has brought to the segment in question and the consequent difficulties resulting from the implementation of this technology in the ambit of hospital and outpatient facilities. To carry out this work, we proceeded to survey and literature review in order to select the research related to the topic of RFID in the context of traceability. The data obtained clearly show that the benefits of this tool are numerous, ranging from drug screening to the correct availability of patient data. Although it is imbued with all these advantages, RFID still represents a visible difficulty of insertion in the hospital environment due to economic and security problems in terms of information privacy. However, this new reality is undeniable and its implementation is increasingly present in the medical environment, being a necessity rather than a technological advance

Predictors of Radio Frequency Identification Adoption for Medication Administration in Hospitals

Medication administration challenges within the United States hospital system have led to adverse drug events from medication errors among patients, resulting in 1.3 million emergency room visits and 350,000 hospitalizations annually. Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been identified as a useful tool within hospital systems; however, this technology has been slow to be incorporated to manage medication administration processes, necessitating exploration of predicting factors of RFID adoption. This quantitative, cross-sectional study explored the contributing factors of United States hospital’s adoption of RFID for medication administration using the technology-organization-environment framework as a foundation and secondary data from the Health Information Management Systems Society’s survey of United States hospitals. A binary regression analysis was used to explore the relationships between technological (RFID interoperability, networked environment, and vendor selection), organizational (hospital size, financial status, and presence of a chief information officer), and environmental (presence of an Electronic Medical Record and the attainment of Health Information and Management Systems Society Stage 6) factors as predictors of RFID adoption for medication administration. The results of this study found an association between RFID interoperability and either no association or the inability to determine a relationship between the remaining variables and RFID adoption for medication administration. This research contributes and supports social change research as it provides information for hospital leaders exploring best practices for improving medication administration in hospitals via technological solutions

Evaluation of a Tracking System for Patients and Mixed Intravenous Medication Based on RFID Technology

At present, one of the primary concerns of healthcare professionals is how to increase the safety and quality of the care that patients receive during their stay in hospital. This is particularly important in the administration of expensive and high-risk medicines with which it is fundamental to minimize the possibility of adverse events in the process of prescription-validation-preparation/dosage-dispensation-administration of intravenous mixes. This work is a detailed analysis of the evaluation, carried out by the health personnel involved in the Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) system developed in the Day Hospital and Pharmacy services of the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña (CHUAC). The RFID system is evaluated by analyzing surveys completed by said health personnel, since their questions represent the key indicators of the patient care process (safety, cost, adequacy with the clinical practice). This work allows us to conclude, among other things, that the system tracks the patients satisfactorily and that its cost, though high, is justified in the context of the project context (use of dangerous and costly medication)

AN INVESTIGATION OF NOVEL UHF MICROSTRIP FRACTAL PATCH ANTENNAE FOR AN RFID DOORWAY READER SYSTEM

The applications of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has expanded drastically after the arrival of data revolution and coming age of human-free industry: Industry 4.0. The focus has been reduction of installation costs by developing plug and play systems when transitioning from traditional manual-scan systems to fully automated systems with improved efficiency. The main contributor to efficiency of an RFID system is the reader antenna. Microstrip patch antennae are found to be most suitable for RFID applications. Miniaturisation of the antenna without compromising its efficiency has been one of the central concerns in the last few decades. For fixed reader RFID antennae, maintaining enough gain while having the ability to read tags moving in any orientation and speed as well as blindspots when clustered together have been major challenges in the industry. The work proposed in this thesis aims to design miniaturised novel modified fractal antennae suitable for an RFID doorway reader system, operating at UK’s RFID UHF band, 870MHz. The work proposed combines novel miniaturising and gain enhancement techniques to meet desired requirements. Fractal patterns are used to increase the electrical length of the antenna while maintaining its physical size and obtain multiband behaviour thus reading tags slightly off-tuned with the help of RFID reader’s Frequency hopping technique. Antennae are made on high dielectric constant substrates, RF60A for further miniaturisation. Several geometry techniques including copper wall construction and 90 degree delayed two port feeders are used for gain enhancement, narrow beamwidth and circular polarisation. CST Microwave Studio Suite simulations demonstrate that a commercially available directivity (5dBi) compared to market research and published research papers have been achieved. RFID testing on manufactured prototypes demonstrated that antenna designs are suitable for a fully automated doorway reader system to obtain 100% detection efficiency with precise manufacturing and fine tuning

Smart e-Health System for Real-time Tracking and Monitoring of Patients, Staff and Assets for Healthcare Decision Support in Saudi Arabia

Healthcare in Saudi Arabia has been lagging behind the developed countries of the world, due to the insufficient number of healthcare practitioners and the lack of applications of tracking and monitoring technology. These shortages have contributed to problems such as patient misidentification, long patient waiting times, and the inability to locate medical equipment efficiently. The country’s Vision 2030 plan outlines ways to solve the deficient workforce problem by promoting more local health-related educational outlets, and by funding this expanding sector. Consequently, Saudi Arabia needs to adapt to the demanding nature of modern healthcare, which presents major problems that this research aims to help solve. The literature has shown that Information Technology systems have begun to be implemented in some hospitals across Saudi Arabia, but even in those hospitals these technologies are being under-utilised. The intention of this thesis is to provide an appropriate choice for a real-time tracking and monitoring technology in healthcare, in the form of an integrated RFID/ZigBee system. This thesis develops a holistic framework for healthcare institutions, to be followed for customised solutions in improving staff efficiency and productivity, and for better patient care, while minimising long-term costs. This holistic framework incorporates contextual elements from both the Information System Strategy Triangle (ISST) and the Human, Organisation and Technology-fit factors (HOT-fit) frameworks, in a way that ensures the new framework addresses technology, organisational, human and business factors. The holistic model is refined through Communities of Practice (CoPs), one of which was developed and utilised for the research purposes of this thesis, and assisted in the creation of a questionnaire for assessing the requirements and challenges of the KSA healthcare system. This questionnaire was based on 220 usable responses. It also helped to refine the framework for its final version, which included all identified factors relevant to the decision a healthcare institution faces in choosing a health information technology system. Various cases were analysed to improve the hospitals workflow, using the proposed technology and including processes such as relocating staff and medical assets. This led to the need for visualisation and knowledge management, to support real-time data analysis for business intelligence decision making. The end goal of this analysis is to provide interactive platforms to healthcare staff for use in improving efficiency and productivity. The outcomes of these improvements will be to ensure better patient care, lower patient waiting time, reduced healthcare costs, and to allow more time for staff to provide improved patient-centric care in the Saudi healthcare sector. Keywords: e-Health, Health Information Technology, Tracking and Monitoring System, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Holistic Framework, Communities of Practice, Knowledge Management, Visualisation, KFM