RFID-based information system for preventing medical errors

A report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences estimates that as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year because of medical errors. In this project, we propose an innovative IT-based approach to prevent errors in various medical processes by utilizing advances in radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless communications. The goal of the study is to perform an in-depth study of existing RFID technologies for patient care in medical facilities. In the paper, a new system architecture that integrates various wireless technologies such as RFID and Wi-Fi was proposed. In the pilot study, we primarily focused on the limitations and shortcomings of passive RFID technologies in medical settings. Our experimental results show the reliability challenge in the current passive EPC Gen 2 RFID systems for use in a dynamic medical environment.