Radio Frequency Identification Applications in Health Care

When lives are at stake, zero defects should be the established standard. This philosophy applies whether the federal government is attempting to protect the nation?s drug supply from terrorist attack or in other healthcare environments where patient safety is critically important and where medical errors can result in death or serious injury. Therefore, any technology that can reduce the threat of terrorist attack, reduce medical errors, and increase patient safety should be thoroughly tested and evaluated. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is one technology that holds great promise. In this paper we discuss the potential benefits, the areas of applications, implementation challenges and corresponding strategies of RFID in the healthcare industry. Key Words: Health Care, RFID, Supply Chain Management, Adoption and Implementation, E-Busines