RFID in Health Care Industry

Radio Frequency Identification is bingle of the technological promotional material that has made its way into almost all the industries. It serves the purpose of identifying and tracking the objects by transferring the data. Health caveat sector is bingle of the industries in which RFID is being employ to enhance clinical practice, uncomplaining c be and access the medical records of affected roles. RFID in addition helps in alter the operational efficiency and also patient safety. This piece of music gives a basic overview of the use of RFID in wellness care persistence and the standards associated with it.Radio Frequency Identification is the process of identifying a person or an object or a thing using the RF-transmitted identification code. oer the years, the technology has played a vital role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health care formations. Today the health care strategys are using a wide range of RFID applications to enhance the general per formance of their industry. A few applications include RFID tracking system of rules, RFID bracelets, RFID under the hide, RFID for patient care system and RFID for resource management system (Banks, 2007).Hand hygienics Monitoring in Hospitals According to (Symonds, 2011) RFID can also be apply to ensure that proper hygiene (and other) procedures are followed (p. 10). Hand hygiene monitor is an important step to be taken by healthcare industry. The RFID system can keep a track of the employees washing their custody and also the cycle time of their devolve washing process using an RFID menu or a bracelet. This system utilizes the simple c one timept of washing tump overs and aids in reducing the number of infections passed on by the lag in the hospitals (Symonds, 2011).According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthcare associated infections are one of the major causes for the death of hospitalized patients. Humans or the healthcare workers are one of the m ajor means of transmission of viruses and infections. Infections can sp involve either by direct contact or through the equipment employ by these health care workers. Hand hygiene is therefore the fundamental measure in reducing the number of healthcare associated infections. The main aim of RFID systems here is to better the hand hygiene in hospitals by building an automated observe system (Bennett, Jarvis, & Brachman, 2007).The hand hygiene system comprises of the following measures to be taken to prevent the transmission of diseases * Cleaning hands with soap * Hygienic hand rubs The main objective here is to kill the bacteria that live on the surface of the skin to avoid its transmission to other people when in contact. The hand rubs consist of alcohol that kills micro organisms from nails, hands and forearms. They prevent drying of skin and reduce the rapid re-growth of bacteria (Raftery, 2008). RFID Hand Hygiene Monitoring governanceThe RFID technology uses small tags whic h emit radio signals. These signals are read by the RFID readers. One of the recent developed RFID enabled system is a IntelligentMs carpus joint roofy system which functions as follows. * The RFID readers are placed on the hand washing and sanitizing stations and the RFID system know all the locations of these stations. The employees who wear the articulatio radiocarpea band developed by IntelligentM consist of the tags that can be read by the readers that are present on these sanitizing stations.The accelerometer that is present in the wrist band will identify the time spent by the wearer in washing the hand. The wrist band will not buzz once if the hands are washed correctly and thrice if they are not. * The RFID tags are also placed on some of the equipment and outside the patients rooms. Before carrying out any procedures that nurture higher risk of carrying infections, this system alerts the health care workers to properly clean their hands. * The employees are monitored at the curiosity of each shift by collecting the data from the wrist band through the micro USB.In this way the hand hygiene system is monitored by the use of RFID (Young, 2013). RFID World Regulatory Bodies The regulating bodies from the following countries have an influence over the advancements of the RFID related technologies. * United States FCC regulates electromagnetic spectrum. * Japan Ministry of existence Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) * Europe Bothe FCC and MPHPT are related to European Conference of postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT). RFID Standards in Health Care IndustryInter guinea pig Standards Organization (ISO) ISO is a non-governmental, international body based in Geneva, Switzerland (McDonnell & Sheard, 2012). It provides standards for the tag data management and air interface protocols. European deputation for Standardization (CEN) European Committee for Standardization is a European based non-profit organizat ion located in Belgium. CEN works in collaboration with ISO to develop balanced international standards in healthcare (McDonnell & Sheard, 2012). British Standards Institute (BSI)British Standards Institute is a national standards body in the UK. It is concerned with the products that are used in health care and standards of these products (McDonnell & Sheard, 2012). American National Standards Institute (ANSI) American National Standards Institute is a body that is based in USA. It provides guidelines to develop products and approves the products that have met the recommended practices set by Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (McDonnell & Sheard, 2012).It provides standards related to the RFID labels on the products used by health care providers. ISO Standards for Health Care * ISO 13485 Provides guidelines for companies that manufacture medical equipment. * ISO 11784 Provides guidelines for structuring data on the tag. * ISO 18047 Provides guidelines for t esting the conformance of RFID tags and readers. * ISO 18046 Provides guidelines for testing the performance of RFID tags and readers. * ISO 17664 Requires guidelines to be provided by the manufacturer to re-sterilize and decontaminate the medical devices. ISO 14937 Guidelines for developing and validating the sterilization process of healthcare devices (McDonnell & Sheard, 2012). Conclusion The RFID technology has come a presbyopic way in improving the productivity and efficiency of healthcare sector. By using the RFID technologies healthcare organizations can aim at providing improved patient care. By providing standards for development of various products equipped with RFID, the products can be soft trusted and widely accepted.