How RFID Technology Can Help Drug Safety

Nearly 40% of ambulatory care providers surveyed in the first half of 2016 failed compliance inspections for safe storage of medications, according to a report by the Joint Commission.¹ Improper drug storage ranked third in the top five most challenging requirements affecting ambulatory care. Hospitals are solving the proper storage problem and other challenges by installing radiofrequency identification (RFID)-enabled refrigerators and storage units. A small RFID tag on each medication is associated with the drug’s information, such as name, manufacturer, lot number and expiration date. Once that information is logged into the hospital’s relational database, critical medications can be tracked automatically throughout the facility.