An increasing number of hospitals are using electronic tracking systems to monitor patients and equipment, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to ECRI Institute -- a not-for-profit consulting group -- about 10% of U.S. hospitals use some kind of radio frequency identification technology, the most common tracking technology. The group predicts that most hospitals will have electronic systems in place within 10 years as prices drop.
The health care market for RFID tags and systems is about $120 million and is expected to reach $2.03 billion in 10 years, according to analysis firm IDTechEX.
Benefits
Many hospitals report that tracking systems help reduce errors and increase efficiency.
Schuyler Sanderson -- a pathologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. -- said, "The technology makes my practice more efficient and safer for patients, and eliminates delays to their care."
A Mayo Clinic study found that in the first three months of 2007 -- before the use of RFID tags -- there were 765 errors out of 8,231 specimen bottles. Meanwhile, in the first three months of 2008 -- six months after the RFID system was installed -- there only were 47 errors.
Concerns
Some privacy experts have raised concerns about the inadvertent release of personal information. They also argue that requiring health care workers to wear RFID tags prompts questions about putting employees under unnecessary surveillance.
In addition, a study published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association warned that RFID systems could interfere with medical devices (Landro, Wall Street Journal, 11/12).