RFID TECHNOLOGY HOLDS PROMISE AND PERILS IN HEALTHCARE APPLICATIONS.

This past week GlaxcoSmithKline, Inc., the pharmaceutical giant announced that encouraged by the F.D.A., it has begun inserting passive radio frequency identification devices “(RFID”) in bottles of its antiretroviral Trizivir in order to curb counterfeiting of the drug.  The device is a small postage stamp sized silicon chip and antenna which is capable of transmitting a unique source and history code when approached by a scanning device.

According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Trizivir is one of 32 drugs most prone to counterfeiting.  A World Health Organization study suggests that counterfeit drugs make up about ten percent (10%) of the global pharmaceutical market.  Earlier Pfizer, Inc.began using RFID’s to track its ever popular Viagra shipments.

Although it isn’t mentioned in the press releases, RFID technology should also be used to track re-importation of drugs that are sold overseas at lower costs and re-imported into the United States for resale at discounts below the U.S. market price.  That is a lot of information available to companies who may be interested in plugging leaks of cheaper as opposed to counterfeit drugs back into the U.S.

A number of U.S. hospital systems are also experimenting with active RFID systems, manufactured by Radianse, Inc and PanGo Network, Inc., where the chip powered by a small battery actively broadcasts information which can be fed into hospital computer systems.  The least controversial of active RFID applications is in the management and control of hospital equipment and other “assets” tagged with the devices.  The idea is to constantly track and locate hospital assets that are mobile and manned from place to place in a large medical complex.

Patient tracking devices that are built into wrist bands are being used to monitor “patient flow through” efficiency through a health care facility.  (Think of a car wash – not a pretty picture, but you get the idea).

Last July, former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary and newly appointed board member of VeriChip Corporation, indicated that he would undergo an implant of a VeriChip, glass encapsulated RFID which broadcasts identification information.  Since then Mr. Thompson, who is a very busy man, has been unable to find time for the implantation.  Some health care providers have raised concern about implantation of RFID’s in patients because of the potential of MRI incompatibility, adverse tissue reaction, device migration and unknown body electrical risks.  (RFID technology is refinement of garage door devices, which raises some odd imagery).

There are also major privacy concerns about RFID applications that are underscored by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre in their recent book, Spychips:  How major corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID, Nelson Current, $24.99.

Far fetched?  Recently, City Watcher, Inc. a Cincinnati video surveillance company, announced that it would require all of its personnel working in its secure data center to have a VeriChip device implanted in their triceps.  A number of implants are already completed.

Comments

[marty Fowler]

The impantation of a Verichip into a person sounds Orwellian to me.

[Klint Knable]

This is a great way to track valuable "assets" throughout your comapany. With RFID Readers RFID Reader you are able to immediately locate your products.

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