Evolution of RFID
Hospitals have wheelchairs stolen; nurses might hide an infusion pump so they can find it when needed; expensive surgical tools get misplaced; heart rate monitors can accidentally fall into the red bags. For these reasons and others it’s hard to imagine that radio frequency identification tags are not universal among hospitals in managing their supply chains. They are not, but nevertheless RFID technology continues to improve and this piece describes the “EmbraceRF” system from Netc (Trumbull, CT) that is cloud-based and capable of defining/locating assets, tracking movement and reporting the asset’s history to a smart phone. Netc’s tags are passive (meaning the asset has to move in the range of an electronic reader), while other companies make active tags that broadcast a signal about their location and status. MORE
Image Credit: Netc and Virtual Strategy Magazine