TIPRP and Safe Use of
Radio Frequency Identification in the Telemedicine and E-Health
Purpose
This promotion ncreases awareness of health care organizations and the public on the safe use
of radio frequency identification, especially in the era of telemedicine and
E-health.
What is the Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID)?
RFID systems use radio
waves to transfer data. They have been used widely in health care industries
such as inventory management, equipment tracking, medication monitoring, and in
medical devices (Food and Drug Administration, n.d.) (Figure 2C). RFID improves
patient safety by quickly retrieving patient information and monitoring patient
locations in the hospital (Ajami & Rajabzadeh, 2013). For instance, RFID
surveillance systems can help reduce child mortality due to pneumonia
(Telecompk.net, n.d.), because it is an automated system for detecting
respiratory crises in pediatric patients.
Why
Is There a Concern About the Use of RFID?
RFID generates
electromagnetic waves and in health settings there is a concern regarding
electromagnetic interference (EMI) with medical devices (Chung-Feng, Hsin-Ginn,
Kuang-Ming, & Won-Fu, 2011). Figure 5 C shows that the strength of the
magnetic field increases as the distance to antenna decreases.
Examples
Figure 4 shows examples
of the effect of EMI on electrocardiogram machines. Depending on the individual
device, the EMI could occur when the device is in direct contact with the antenna
or the device is far away from the antenna.
Recommendation
Health care
organizations should take precautionary steps and pre-test all RFID’s with
medical devices for EMI assessment to ensure patient and health care worker safety.
In addition, the health care industry and RFID venders should work together to
develop more mature and safe RFID applications for the health care industry
(Kapa et al., 2011).
Hi Horace and Aixia,
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you for taking time to inform and educate on a topic that is often overlooked. It appears health policy would be a critical step to gaining more attention to this topic. In your review of literature what are your thoughts of the current policies in place or lack of policies in place related to RFIDs and telemedicine?
Thanks,
Sara
Hi Horace and Aixia,
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you for taking time to inform and educate on a topic that is often overlooked. It appears health policy would be a critical step to gaining more attention to this topic. In your review of literature what are your thoughts of the current policies in place or lack of policies in place related to RFIDs and telemedicine?
Thanks,
Sara
Hi Sara:
ReplyDeleteWe thank you for your interest in reading our blog, and your comments are important to us.
There shall not be concerns when we use RFID systems for general practice if antennas are placed in the appropriate distance (Christe et al., 2008). However, health care organizations should have policies in place for evaluating any new RFID technology and its effect on medical equipment to ensure patient safety. Currently, health care organizations have rarely done this evaluation. Our health promotion blog aims at increasing health care organizations and the public awareness of potential risk of RFID.
References
Christe, B., Cooney, E., Maggioli, G., Doty, D., Frye, R., & Short, J. (2008). Management & technology. Testing potential interference with RFID usage in the patient care environment. Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology, 42(6), 479-484.