RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain:

Improving Performance Through

Greater Visibility
G V R K Acharyulu*
Radio frequency-based applications in healthcare are opening up new avenues. It is the next
wave in the evolution of computing. As healthcare in India is a sunshine industry and growing
annually at a rate of about 13 percent, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will continue to
make inroads thru track-and-trace solutions, first, as asset and inventory management tools, then
gravitating towards personnel, patient, and clinical monitoring devices. High-end asset tracking,
location tracking, and anti-counterfeiting are the futuristic areas for active RFID. RFID is a
disruptive technology like other technologiesthe printing press, television, the Internet, and
even bar codesin the past. Early adopters often have a better chance keeping in view of
long-term success. The key is in figuring out where RFID fits in an organization and determine
how to best integrate RFID with the existing supply chain applications to increase corporate
Return on Investment (ROI) and improve the entire process of getting products to market. This
paper looks at the aspects of RFID technology in healthcare supply chain to ensure complete
visibility of data and thus efficient delivery of patient care. Healthcare supply chain
management can help manage patient care and administrative processes such as patient
identification, routing and treatment, drug administration and inventory, laboratory
examination, identification of departments, and medical procedures. The specific benefits that
RFID tags offer over bar codes present the opportunity for entirely new way of working in
the competitive business environment.

The right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right route, the right time."
"Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which the
problems were created."
Albert Einstein

Introduction
Healthcare has emerged as one of the major activities concerning human beings
in the recent past (changing life styles, awareness, and habits) irrespective of
age, income, region, religion, caste, culture, and so on. The need for effective
health services is the order of the day. As a result, hospitals are absorbing
tremendous amount of resources. Globalization has opened up new opportunities,
and there is cut-throat competition among hospitals in offering services to
patients at reduced rates. The needs, priorities, and expectations of the patients

This paper was earlier presented at the 3rd International Conference on Logistics and Supply Chain Management
(ILSCM), Organized jointly by PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India and Central Michigan
University, USA, held during August 2-4, 2006.

Faculty Member, School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.

E-mail: acharyulu_gvrk@yahoo.com

2007 The Icfai University Press. All Rights Reserved. Resrved.

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The Icfaian Journal of Management Research, Vol. VI, No. 11, 2007

from time to time have to be captured and the hospital services are to be
redesigned

accordingly

to

enhance

the

efficiency

of

hospital

supply

chain

operations. Adoption of appropriate technology and utilization of highly skilled and

specialized professionals add to the competitive advantage.
During the past decade, supply chain management has seen a complete
overhaul

of

traditional

logistics

procedures

as

tight

integration

between

warehouse, distribution, and retail have smoothed out duplication and improved
time to market. However, further improvements have been constrained by the
technology used to track goods through the supply chain. The use of bar codes
has become prominent in the manufacturing service organizations. But bar codes
have a tendency to get damaged easily and need human intervention to read
and give partial information as they represent only a product number.
To ensure supply chain efficiency, Indian companies are slowly realizing the
importance

of

Radio

Frequency

Identification

(RFID)

tags.

RFID

(wireless

technology) is a big opportunity for the organizations to significantly enhance

supply chain processes and improve in customer service. RFID was first introduced
in the early 1970s. The technology is currently being used in the US for electronic
highway toll collection. Drivers who bear a single RFID tag can avoid waiting at
toll booths.
In contrast to bar codes application, RFID tags are robust and do not require
line-of-sight identification, thus eliminating the need for human intervention. The
tags are programmable and contain information regarding destination, weight,
and a time stamp. The tags allow automation throughout the supply chain which
includes warehouse space optimization and efficient goods tracking in order to
bring down the cost and enhance customer service. RFID tags offer real-time,
accurate

information

and

compel

applications

and

processes

across

the

organizations to provide value to service.

By leveraging RFID tags, programmability and integrating them into core business
systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications, organizations can
begin to introduce new business processes. Tracing and tracking of goods is vital
for organizations to survive in competitive market environment to maximize efficiency
and offer better value to the customer.
RFID technology provides an opportunity for the Indian software companies
to aim at the global market in retail, logistics, and manufacturing. The RFID market
in India is at a budding stage. Wal-Mart and the US Department of Defense (DoD)
have done extensive work in the implementation of RFID successfully and
provided a platform for other companies to adopt easily.
The RFID Association of India (RFIDAI) is a not-for-profit organization founded
by leading industry figures to promote the adoption and use of RFID technology
and its applications in India and abroad across industry, government, and

RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain: Improving Performance

Through Greater Visibility

33

academia. It is estimated that by 2008, the RFID market comprising tags,

readers, interface software, and service providing would be as big as US$4.2
bn. A leading adopters of this technology is the retail industry, particularly
Wal-Mart and their suppliers.
According to a recent International Data Corp. study, RFID spending in the US
will grow from US$91.5 mn in 2003 to nearly US$1.3 bn in 2008, as businesses
invest in chip-based tags and related hardware, software, and services for
tracking the movement of goods across the supply chain.

Concept of RFID and Technology

RFID is a technology that connects objects to the Internet, so that they can be
traced, and companies can share data about them. The concept is very simple,
all that is required is to place a transpondera microchip with antenna on an
itemand then use a reader, a device with one or more antennae to read the
data off the microchip using radio waves. The reader passes the information to
a computer, so that the data can be used to create business value. The tag briefly
converses with the reader for verification and the exchange of data. Once the
reader receives the data from the tag, it forwards the same to RFID integration
middleware for processing and management. The distance at which a tag can
be traced depends on the frequency of the tag.
The term RFID is used to explain various technologies that use radio waves
to automatically identify people or objects. RFID technology is similar to the bar
code identification systems observed in retail stores, yet one big difference
between the RFID and the bar code technology is that RFID does not rely on
the line-of-sight reading that bar code scanning uses.
There are two broad categories of RFID systemspassive and active. Passive
tags use the radio frequency from the reader to transmit their signal. Passive
tags do not have a transmitter and they simply reflect radio waves coming from
reader antenna. On the other hand, active tags are much more sophisticated and
have their own transmitter and a power source. They broadcast a signal to
transmit the information stored on the microchip. Active tags are used on large
assets, such as cargo containers, rail cars, and large reusable containers.

RFID Applications in Healthcare

In order for the supplier to deliver critical hospital equipment component to
various hospitals and to know whether the component will arrive within a
predefined time frame or whether to make contingency arrangements, RFID
tags enable to share the shipment information between the component parts
provider and distribution company to arrive at the expected time of delivery
to meet the customers needs.

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The Icfaian Journal of Management Research, Vol. VI, No. 11, 2007

RFID can add value to healthcare by identifying and locating a person around
the operating room. This enables a better understanding of the environment in
and around the operating room which can help in organizing logistics optimally.
It is easier to track and trace operating room materials, blood products, implants
and disposables (a high cost price and turnover rate), the use of materials, and
certain machines for effective hospital administration. The tracking and tracing of
blood products is done using temperature-sensitive tags.
Business processes and workflows in the organizations, which involve a
lengthy chain of custody in terms of a product, asset, document or even a person,
have complete visibility from the beginning to the end when RFID tags are used
at each stage. The amount of information immediately available at each stage
provides scope to predict the next step.
Hospitals comprise many peoplemobile assets such as beds, equipment, and
drugs and departments such as admissions, the emergency room, the operating
room, the intensive care unit, and the recovery roomthat associate with many
documents at various points in the total patient care process. It is obvious that
mistakes may happen in the medical process, leading to reasonable delay in care
while looking for information about previous steps to track the root causes.
If RFID tags are updated with the patients history and intended treatments at
every step, the process will be simplified with complete visibility of data thereby,
an efficient delivery of patient care is ensured.
In healthcare, RFID tags may be applied to people, patients, staff, and objects.
The readers can be placed at door frames, wards, and treatment areas to detect
and record interactions. Some application areas where RFID can be most
prominently used are:

Point of care: Patient identification and medication delivery;

People tracking: Patient tracking, staff tracking real-time location, and

boundary checking;

Process-centric: Operating Room/Intensive

cleaning/disinfection/sterilization process;

Asset tracking: Medical equipment/instruments, pharmaceutical inventory,

and blood product management;

Making newborns more secure; and

Reducing drug and blood administration errors.

Care

Unit

Management,

Asset Management and Tracking

Managing and tracking assets create lot of operational and economic challenges
for hospitals worldwide. A typical 200-bed hospital may have approximately 3,000
assets, such as IV pumps, ultrasound equipment, portable cardiac monitors,
ventilators, monitoring equipment, diagnostic equipment, and other medical tools

RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain: Improving Performance

Through Greater Visibility

35

wheel chairs, etc. These must be accounted for, and their availability must be
ensured to treat a patient in time.
The impact of improper management of assets may lead to the following:

Increase in labor costs related to searching for the equipment and items
when needed;

Decrease in revenue generating capacity due to the non-availability of

equipment;

Increase in inventory costs as more equipments are purchased to avoid

the risk of non-availability; and

Operational inefficiencyimproper maintenance and

equipment and the resultant employee dissatisfaction.

schedulesof

Active RFID tags can be placed on valuable assets, whether due to cost or
operational necessity. The active RFID tags have the ability to detect certain
conditions such as movement, tamper, or certain environmental conditions
through the use of sensors incorporated into the tags. The movement of these
tags can be followed from distances ranging from 20 feet to 1,000 feet based
on the surrounding environment and the characteristics of the asset.
For instance, for assets such as wheelchairs, it may be sufficient to simply know
that they are within the building or perhaps on a particular floor. Other assets
such as IV pumps or certain surgical equipment may require that the location be
determined and narrowed to a particular area within the facility. In both the cases,
the technology selected and the location of the readers should be dictated by
the requirements and not the other way around.
In hospitals, patient records are key documents. Doctors, secretaries,
and medical staff record and retrieve all patient-related information from data
files. As several people access the files, patient records are often lost or
misplaced. Also, unauthorized people must not get access to the files.
RFID technology solves these document-tracking and management problems.
With an RFID label, staff can track the file movements and locate them wherever
they are in the hospital premises. As archiving records is now easy and efficient,
losing or misplacing files is no longer a problem. Hospitals can use RFID technology
to track medication dispensing, laboratory samples, and blood bags much like bar
codes. RFID saves time and improves precision because it automatically records
the movement of all items and does not require human intervention to scan a
bar code or record data on a form.

Patient Tracking
RFID can be used to track people, more specifically patients. Sometimes, a patient
who wanders from his room may find it difficult to locate his room and may be
subjected

to

unnecessary

anxiety.

Situations

like

this

can

be

avoided

by

implementing RFID tracking technology, with specific patients receiving an active

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The Icfaian Journal of Management Research, Vol. VI, No. 11, 2007

RFID tag. The tag can take on a number of forms, which include wrist straps or
a special badge. The tag contains a tamper-proof mechanism that will prevent
it from being removed or emit a tamper signal if an attempt is made to remove
it. Some uses of RFID in healthcare services are to tag patient wristbands with
ID and care information, manage distribution of medications, combine with
nanosensor

technology

to

remotely

monitor

patients

via

implants,

provide

inventory control, and prevent theft.

RFID technology uses microprocessors as small as one-third millimeter wide
that are incorporated with radio transmitters. When used for patient ID purposes,
the chips are typically fixed in plastic wristbands. Each RFID chip stores about
2 KB of information about a tagged object or individual allergies, blood type,
medications, and so on. The chips transmit data wirelessly to an RFID reader,
without direct physical contact with or even immediate proximity to the reader.
RFID can be used to track certain medical devices when brought into a patients
room for treatment purpose. It triggers a billing charge for use of the device
automatically. In addition, hospitals can use the system to track how employees
go about their work such as moving equipment, caring for patients, and so on
in order to streamline workflow. In Neonatal care ward, RFID can be used to make
sure babies go home with their rightful parents, or that they are not taken out
of the ward without proper permission. For pediatrics, only staff or parents may
be permitted to take infants or children from specific areas or boundaries of a
ward.

RFID

application

will

eliminate

opportunities

for

baby-snatching

or

kidnapping in the hospital premises.

RFID tags can be used to track in real-time the location of assets and personnel
at any given time. In future, healthcare executives can electronically locate any
asset or person in the medical facility or on the campus, freeing up time to better
care for patients. Personnel may include doctors, nurses, patient escort services
staff, and other human resources.

Impact on Healthcare IT Strategy

To realize the benefits of RFID, it is required to upgrade the existing
IT infrastructure in a number of areas and create integration with the business.
To achieve integration, there are three areas that need to be addressed:
data management, network and end-user device management, and sensor
management. In addition, tying all these together and integrating them with
legacy systems will require a new level of systems integration capabilities.
In healthcare sector, the entities are diverse which include manufacturers,
distrib utors, he althcare servi ces prov iders , he althc are insti tuti ons
(clinics/ hospitals/medical centers), drug stores and other outlets through which
healthcare products are finally consumed. Healthcare supply chain management
can help manage patient care and administrative processes such as patient

RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain: Improving Performance

Through Greater Visibility

37

identification, routing and treatment, drug administration and inventory,

laboratory examination, identification of departments, and medical procedures.
RFID initiatives from some of the Indian software companies are presented
in Table 1.
Table 1: RFID Initiatives
Company

Initiative

Patni Computer

Systems Patnis Lab has delivered an RFID pilot that integrates with a
SAP back-end for processing transactions. It has

successfully

delivered a complete Animal Tracking System for an overseas

customer to track farm animals.
Wipro Technologies

It has been associated with the Auto-ID lab at MIT for the last two
years. Wipro Technologies is among the first Indian companies to
become a member of the Electronic Product Code (EPC), a unit of the
Uniform Code Council that oversees the development of standards
behind the development of RFID in retail and consumer product goods.
It is setting up a lab to study RFID and plans to try out the technology
in its Electronic City campus at Bangalore. The company is working on
a pilot project with a UK-based retail company. Three other customers
in the US and Europe are in pipeline.

Infosys Technologies

One of the founding members of EPC. It undertakes consulting on

areas where clients can effectively implement RFID. It is working with
a US-based logistics player in the RFID space.

Intellicon

Intellicon sells retail solutions from Tag Master, Zebra and MIRC in India.
It worked on a pilot project for BEL Bangalore in the RFID space three
years

ago

where

tags

were

installed

on

employee

buses.

Buses inside the BEL campus were tracked with the aim of gauging
employee punctuality.

TCS, Satyam, and HCL companies have also made forays in the field of
developing RFID applications. Oracle-Warehouse Management System (WMS),
SAP, and other ERP systems have been integrated with RFID enabled solutions.

RFIDImproving Supply Chain Efficiency

Supply chain efficiency can be enhanced by using RFID technology in order to
maximize warehouse space, minimize goods shrinkage, minimize errors in
delivery, minimize inventory, and improve customer service.
In order to improve the performance across the supply chain, organizations
are also constantly striving to improve customer service to create a tighter bond
between supply chain members and build customer loyalty. Real-time tracking of
goods throughout the supply chain provides one of the major opportunities
for improving customer service. Real-time information on delivery time supports
Just-in-Time

38

(JIT)

manufacturing

and

retailing,

enabling

organizations

to

The Icfaian Journal of Management Research, Vol. VI, No. 11, 2007

make

strategic

end-customer

decisions.

Goods

tracking

is

also

important

for

direct

service.

Managing the Supply Chain

In todays dynamic world, companies in their pursuit of improvement are investing
in tools and systems that optimize their processes and have made significant
progress by adopting various technologies for increasing efficiencies and reducing
costs. The intense competitive market makes it vital for all business organizations
to continuously evolve with an emphasis on optimizing all levels of the value chain.
This has led to the growth of supply chain management.
Supply chain management effectively integrates suppliers to the end
consumers and emphasizes the need for collaboration to optimize the entire
system. The basic aim of any supply chain management function is to make the
organization more agile to respond to drastically changing consumer
preferences by capturing material, financial, and information flows at all levels
of the value chain. Supply chain intelligence can be enhanced by adopting RFID
Figure 1: Supply Chain Impact

Lack of tracking

Inefficient methods

Error-prone

of data capturing

processes

mechanisms

Disparate,

the items at
various

non-integrated

nodes

in the supply chain

No proper visibility of inventoryin transit, at various nodes

Improper forecasts for demand and supply

Decision-making based on out-of-date or inaccurate data

Stock-outs

Lost
sales

Delayed

Production

shipments

s lowdowns

systems

Excess

Shrinkage

buffer

and billing

inventory

delays

Effect on Supply Chain Management

RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain: Improving Performance

Through Greater Visibility

39

technology. The huge volumes of data, which cover all aspects of the supply
chain, including order entry, manufacturing, maintenance, shipping, receiving,
and inventory, will push the boundaries of data warehousing scalability,
performance and manageability.
The factors which affect the supply chains working at different levels are
presented in Figure 1.

Advantages of RFID Applications in the Supply Chain

Here are a few examples of how RFID technology is being used in various places:

RFID systems are used in hospitals to track a patients location and to

provide real-time tracking of the location of doctors, nurses, technicians,
other support staff in the hospital. Besides, the system can be used to
track the whereabouts of expensive and critical equipment, and even
to control access to drugs, pediatrics, and other areas of the hospital
that are considered restricted access areas.

RFID in retail stores offers real-time inventory tracking that allows

companies to monitor and control inventory supply at all times.

On route to their end destination, goods often pass through several

depots. As they move in and out of each depot their location is identified
automatically by an RFID tag system. The information is then automatically
sent to a central monitoring application where it is used to direct the
goods to an appropriate part of the depot or next transport vehicle.
Information can also be shared with the sender and end customer. Goods
arriving late, or at the wrong destination, are immediately flagged up and
reassigned to the correct placeall without human intervention and in
real-time. In this way, the accuracy and timeliness of goods flowing
throughout the supply chain is significantly enhanced.

RFID application areas include warehouse management, distribution of goods

and services, retail store, manufacturing and service, as well as streamlining
libraries with smart labels. By adopting RFID technology, huge quantities of
information can be analyzed and made available to both internal and external
systems in real-time, leading to improvement in the quality of business operations.
With the help of RFID, the following can be achieved:

40

Improved tracking of high-value items/assets

Reduced shrinkage and shipping errors in the supply chain

Inventory visibility, accuracy, and efficiency at each stage

Improved production planning and smart recalls for effective scheduling, and

Technology standards to drive down costs with higher consumption of

tags (economies of scale).

The Icfaian Journal of Management Research, Vol. VI, No. 11, 2007

RFID provides a quick, flexible, and reliable electronic means to detect, identify,
track and manage an array of items. RFID can also improve efficiency and reduce
cost in different industries which include shipping and receiving, warehousing,
manufacturing, logistics, pharmaceutical, library, cashless payment, transportation
management, and hospitality.
RFID system is mandated by Wal-Mart as defined by the Electronic product
Code (EPC) specification. This specification describes five major components of
an RFID system that includes the EPC, tags, readers, middleware, and the
information service. The EPC is a globally unique number that identifies a specific
item in the supply chain. The number is stored on an RFID tag, which is a silicon
chip mounted on an antenna.
The biggest benefit is the visibility across the entire supply chain.
RFID technology has the ability to track items in real-time as they move through
the supply chain covering various touch points (Figure 2). Greater visibility to the
supply chain will provide opportunities to lower inventory carrying costs, as well
as reducing the need for storage warehouses, thereby improving cash flow,
boosting productivity, and reducing overheads.
Figure 2: Components of Supply Chain Visibility
Total Visibility

R aw
materials,
Ingredients,
Packaging

Procurement

To stores

Stock
Control

Planning

Stores

Production

Finished
goods

To RDC

and
Consumer

The biggest problem in managing a supply chain is directly or indirectly related

to uncertainty. Uncertainty is the mother of inventory and the father of stock-outs.

Inventory Management
It is easy to maintain and track a real-time movement of tagged inventory while
it flows through the supply chain with trigger alerts around inventory.

Maximizing Warehouse Space

With the high costs associated with storage, the goal is to maximize warehouse
space. This will improve effective utilization of space with which goods can be
moved in and out.

Minimizing Goods Shrinkage

Theft combined with improper inventory management can create a significant
shortfall in actual versus expected goods available. Within the retail environment,
goods shrinkage is widely perceived to account for up to 1 percent of stock,
representing a significant impact on the profit margin.

RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain: Improving Performance

Through Greater Visibility

41

Benefits to Consumers
RFID can go beyond intangible cost savings in the areas such as food safety,
counterfeit control, and warranty programs. Businesses should stay focused on
how RFID can improve consumer value and address complex business issues.

Minimizing Errors in Delivery

Incorrect deliveries or orders can immediately result in on-shelf out-of-stock
situations leading to reduced sales and damaged customer relationships. Indeed,
for organizations relying on the delivery of specific components to fulfill their own
order schedule, such errors can have a serious impact on customer satisfaction.
RFID can solve all the problems in a supply chain.

Direct Benefits in Supply Chain Management

Reduction in receiving costs

Reduction in machine maintenance, and

Reduction in cycle count effort

Indirect Benefits in Supply Chain Management

The successful implementation of RFID project enables the internal departments
of an organization trust the data, to use it proactively for better planning, and
thereby achieve the following indirect benefits:

Inventory accuracy will rise significantly

Safety stock levels will decrease, and

Improvement of inventory turns and fill rates

RFID systems in a hospital require installation of receivers at key points,

a process that takes collaboration between the suppliers and building integration.
The floor plans have to be studied closely, and installers have to make sure
receivers connect with existing computer networks and transitions between floors
are smooth. RFID applications in hospitals are, at present, mostly limited to
closed-loop or within-the-four-walls applications. For expanding the scope of RFID
application across the healthcare services network, e.g., hospitals, testing labs,
blood

banks,

and

EMS,

concerted

effort

is

required

to

develop

industry-wide standards for RFID technology and practices.

The Challenges
RFID is the front-runner technology for automatic identification and data collection.
RFID in India is still in its infancy with an untapped potential. Unless and until
more standards are set within the industry, awareness of the benefits is created
and the reduction in the cost of RFID tags is achieved, more implementations
would not be possible.

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The Icfaian Journal of Management Research, Vol. VI, No. 11, 2007

RFID is a disruptive technology like other technologiesthe printing press,

television, the Internet, and even bar codesof the past. Early adopters often
have a better chance of keeping the long-term success in view. The key is to
figure out where RFID fits in an organization and determine how to best integrate
RFID with the existing supply chain applications to increase corporate ROI, and
improve the entire process of getting products to market.
RFID buying decision depends to a large extent on the return on investment,
the total cost of ownership, interoperability and integration, and ease of adoption
considerations. RFID should be useful not only in terms of asset tracking in supply
chain, but also in patient safety, workflow optimization, and business processes
integration. In addition, integrated medication management, auto ID, asset
management, and inventory control are a few industry opportunities that are
poised for growth.
Cost of integration with companys systems and effective data transmission,
technical concerns related to data capture mechanisms, standards and consumer
concerns are the keys for prospective implementations.
It should be considered for any application that could realize a clear benefit
in terms of efficiency, reduced loss, or improved service. Because RFID tags are
reusable, do not require line of sight to read or write, enable unattended reading,
and offer read/write data storage, they can improve efficiency in many operations
by reducing labor and material costs.
Companies should consider the following points before deploying RFID:

Learn about the capabilities of different data capture technologies.

There are numerous RFID, bar code, and imaging technologies available,
and care must be taken to choose the right ones for specific applications;

Purchase hardware that supports multimedia data capture capabilities

RFID, bar code, and imaging technology;

RFID data will have to be managed differently than bar code data,
therefore, a solid middleware solution is crucial for organizing the
information; and

Find a solution provider with the right experience to design low-risk solutions.

Finally, it is important to see through the hype and understand that bar codes
cannot be replaced by RFID overnight. The best choice will be a hybrid solution
that employs a range of multimedia data-capture technologies to deliver greater
visibility and lower costs across the supply chain. Compatibility of incorporating
legacy systems with future RFID requirements in a single hand-held unit is a much
more open, flexible approach to meet the future challenges. RFID will certainly
drive the mass adoption of auto-identification technologies and services in Indian
industries following the successful implementation of the RFID adoption programs
of large retailers such as Tesco in the UK, Wal-Mart in the US and the US
Department of Defense (DoD).

RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain: Improving Performance

Through Greater Visibility

43

RFID is being tagged as the next big thing to bring a revolution in the
enterprise software solution market. It promises to help companies to get rid of
problems related to inventory management, material tracking, and supply chain
processes.

RFID Standards
There are two primary organizations that are taking steps to develop the
standards for RFID technology. They are:

EPCglobal, a joint venture between the Uniform Code Council (UCC) and
the European Article Numbering International (EAN)collectively
EAN.UCC; and

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

EPCglobal took over the standards-related responsibilities of the Auto-ID

Center, which ceased operations on October 26, 2003, and is currently in charge
of developing and administering RFID standards based on the EPC network.
Wal-Mart, and to a lesser extent, the DoD have announced intentions to endorse
certain standards being developed by EPCglobal.

Conclusion
Radio frequency-based applications in healthcare are opening up new avenues.
It is the next wave in the evolution of computing. As healthcare in India is a
sunshine industry and growing annually at a rate of about 13 percent,
RFID will continue to make inroads via track-and-trace solutions, first as asset
and inventory management tools, then gravitating toward personnel, patient, and
clinical monitoring devices. High-end asset tracking, location tracking, and
anti-counterfeiting are the futuristic areas for active RFID. As volume of
consumption drives down unit costs, workflow and business process efficiency
will become key drivers of RFID implementation.
Supply chain visibility is the key to increasing supply chain performance, from
both financial and service level perspectives. Greater visibility as well as accurate
and timely information about supply chain execution leads to reduced safety
stocks, thus optimizing cash-to-cash cycles and reducing inventory carrying cost.
RFID helps in identifying the expired drugs, real-time tracking of expensive and
critical instruments, restricting the access of drugs to only authorized medical staff,
accurate matching of test samples to the patients, and reduction in medical errors.
Supply chain efficiencies are being driven by improvements in information
accuracy and availability. Organizations need to take a strategic look at the
development of an information management structure that exploits the availability
of real-time, accurate information to drive business improvements.
Exploiting the power of RFID technology is not simply about replacing bar codes
with tags. The specific benefits that RFID tags offer over bar codes present an
entirely new way of working in the competitive business environment.

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The Icfaian Journal of Management Research, Vol. VI, No. 11, 2007

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6. Health Care RFID Startup Scores $9 mn in Venture Funding, Dow Jones Reuters.
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9. Report: RFID Can Aid Health Care, Health Data Management, December
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10. RFID in the Pharmaceutical Industry, META Group, 2004.

Reference # 02J-2007-11-03-01

RFID in the Healthcare Supply Chain: Improving Performance

Through Greater Visibility

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