Ethical Dilemmas To Use RFID Tags In Healthcare

Using this wireless technology makes it harder to control the content viewed, especially when personal computers can access the network. RFID can typically be a more expensive technology than your normal barcoding system. You can choose between using active RFID tags or passive RFID tags. Passive tags are very similar to a barcode; however active tags can be activated to track movement and count in a quick manner. Active tags are more expensive, but certain types can be reused. RFID tags can also be larger than a regular barcode and can be more difficult to understand than a typical system. Also, “Some common problems with RFID are reader collision and tag collision.” (What is RFID?, 2012) These types of collision occur when multiple readers or tags are in one area making it difficult to pick up the correct signal.

Another study was conducted on the privacy impact of RFID tags used in medical facilities. The primary concern here is that RFID tags can be used by an unauthorized user. The perpetrator can solicit private information or gain access to medical history records of a patient. Juels (06) offered a novel access control mechanism. A technical solution that involved the use of encryption and symmetric key was suggested.

Abstract With the continued growth of healthcare information systems in the last several years, comes the priority to protect and secure the privacy of the patient information. Healthcare information systems such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are becoming increasingly more important in the healthcare industry because of the attempts to improve quality care and to make accessibility to healthcare information more simplified for all involved. Physicians and hospitals are implementing these EHRs because they offer several advantages over paper records. They increase access to health care, improve the quality of care and decrease costs. Unfortunately, healthcare providers have to face the fact that violations of protected healthcare information will increase just as rapidly as the healthcare information systems grows.

Pharmaceutical industries face many security issues while importing the drugs without any substitutes been added to their product .The research objective of this paper is to study the implementation of RFID, interference, security and privacy issues.

This can be result in violation of patient’s privacy and confidentiality and is considered as negligence. (McEwen & Dumpel, 2011). Nurses are responsible for the accurate documentation of the clinical findings. Cutting and pasting or copying the information to save time can create both information overload and incorrect information. Medication bar coding has introduced to ensure the medication safety. Nurses are expected to scan the barcode on the medication and the patient’s wrist band. Many times barcode labels can be torn, wrinkled or missing and nurses may use extra labels to scan so that they can increase the speed of scanning. This practice can skip the safety of scanning patient’s wrist band. Providers may stick this bar code labels on desks, walls or cabinets and can subverts safety features. Overriding the medication can deactivate the alerts that would warn the provider that the wrong medication or patient has been selected. (Iyer, Leone, & Zapotochny Rufo,

Where the idea of RFID tags seems to be a good idea, it also makes me nervous. The idea that I can walk out of a store, the tags will be detected, and the amounts will be sent to my bank to be deducted from my account poses a problem for me in more than one way. First, it makes me nervous because what if I get in over my head. Sometimes when I am shopping I realize I have spent too much money. This isn't very often, but like everyone else I am on a budget. I do have to put something back once in a while. If I am just walking out of the store and there is no way for me to know how much money I have spent (if I lose track), then I will blow my budget. Secondly, it is a hackers dream. I don't know how exactly they would do it, but I am sure some

This is dangerous because your information could potentially be getting into the wrong hands. RFID chips are

This will reduce the risks of medication errors that can seriously the harm patients, and cost the healthcare organization lots of money in order to compensate the patient, and to provide new drug dosage. Also, tis technology will help reduce the number of counterfeit prescription drugs that are given to the patients for a sick leave in the healthcare organizations. It is like mass sterilization of the prescription drugs where it ensures that each prescription is credible to use by the patient. The product will have a unique number to each prescription drug in order to record the to record information about all transactions involving the product. Overall, track and trace prescription drugs using RFID technology help in improving patient safety in and out side the healthcare

Another side of this issue deals with the cons of getting an RFID implant. With any new technology, it takes a while to work out all the bugs and kinks. When putting so much information and dependence on a single chip it makes it a perfect target for hackers. In addition, if the information is writable or readable, there is also the likelihood of impersonation or data corruption(6). It is easy to hijack data off of an RFID chip. Anyone with an RFID scanner can connect to the implant and access the signal information and intercept the code that is being broadcast. This means anyone with a scanner can easily access and scan implants without anyone realizing it and steal their banking information and other identification information in a split second. Digital mimicry is a real-world likelihood, meaning

We do not believe that it is. CPOE eliminates handwritten orders and reduces errors related to medication prescribing (Forni, Chu & Fanikos, 2010), whereas barcoding is another tool to potentially aid in patient safety during the medication administration phase. Barcode scanning at the patient’s bedside identifies the medication being administered to assure it is the correct prescribed medication and dose for the specific patient. By placing a barcode on a patient wrist bracelet and on an identification (ID) badge, we can assure an identical match between patient and medication and capture the practitioner administering the medication (Forni, Chu & Fanikos, 2010). According to Eric Poon, MD, MPH, Director of Clinical Informatics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, both of the technologies prevent errors, but in different ways. CPOE is more likely to prevent errors caused by bad judgment, lack of knowledge, or lack of clinical information when choosing which care plan, including lab tests and radiology orders, to pursue in treating a patient. Barcoding assists in preventing medication errors related to memory lapses or mental slips. (Blum, 2010) We believe both are important to implement, but barcoding cannot be substituted for

The medical supplies/equipment I will be using the two dimensional bar codes on all items inside the container since this allows for more data storage accurate description of products being sent and received. With the use of contact memory buttons (CMB), disturbances to a shipping containers will be made know when the containers are scanned when it reaches the port and final receiving port. The benefits of such technology is it allows for full life cycle support and high data capacity. The Yellow Trucking Company uses the universal RFID readers and CMB scanner prior to transport the medical equipment getting loaded on to the ship. The Yellow Trucking Company scans at multiple travel points, such as when stopping at truck stop to refuel, this is included in our agreement with the trucking company. The last scan before leaving for overseas is at the port, the shipping container is scanned by our San Diego based operations to detect if any variances were detected during shipment. If variances are detected the container is opened, reviewed for accuracy according to the shipping list via the RFID reader/scanner and corrected before

Another major issue involving healthcare currently being discussed is the use of technology in nursing practice. A new tend in medication administration is the use of barcoding technology. Next to “smart” intravenous pumps, barcode medication administration is the most common technology that is being implemented (Seibert, Maddox, Flynn, &

There are many ways that health care informatics has improved patient safety. One example includes having Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).These EMRs have greatly improved patient safety including notifications for allergies, clear and organized notes from other health care providers, and the elimination of misinterpreting physician orders based on illegibility. Another example is the barcode on the backs of all medication to ensure nurses are administering the correct medication and the right dose to the right patient. This has improved patient safety by reducing medication errors by using barcodes as an additional safety check during the medication administration process.

The pros of the technology are it makes it safe to help with filling of the medication. It generates and label, and comes with drug information forms that provides complete information about the drug, giving the patient all the needs to knows, regarding the medication. The technology informs the associate about what medication are in stock and what is not, as well as showing detailed picture of exactly how the medication looks. Also, the verification check within system helps low rate for medication errors. The cons of the technology are that due to it being technology it’s not always reliable, you can have a computer glitch, or patient information can get erased or compromised. Sometimes with the satellite signal you may not always get updated

Some of the disadvantages of the RFID technology are that it is expensive to install. Small and medium scale enterprises find it costly to use it in their firms and offices. In the case of Harley Davidson, getting products from many different suppliers’ would mean that the tags may have to be installed in liquid and metal products. The problem is that the liquid and metal surfaces tend to reflect the radio waves, which makes the tags unreadable. The tags have to be placed in various alignments and angles for taking proper reading. This is a tedious task when the work involves a large organization like Harley Davidson. Another disadvantage of the technology is that interference has been observed if devices such as forklifts and walkie-talkies are in the vicinity of the distribution centers. The presence of mobile phone towers has been found to interfere with RFID radio waves. Wal-Mart, the retail sector giant, has installed billions of RFID tags in their products throughout the world and they have encountered such problems.