By Gina Shaw
Radiofrequency identification (RFID) inhances patient safety, improves asset tracking and inventory management, reduces costs and streamlines workflows. Given those benefits, it’s not surprising that RFID is gaining traction: almost half of respondents to a recent ASHP Foundation report noted that they had adopted some form of the scanning and tracking technology at their institutions.

But obstacles to RFID adoption remain, including scalability and interoperability issues. Here are some strategies for overcoming these and other challenges from experts who have played integral roles in RFID rollouts.

1. Focus on tagging the right products. “Instead of saying ‘We’ve got to tag everything,’ which is going to create a lot of unnecessary work, start by identifying your products that really need to be RFID tagged,” said Andrew Brereton, the vice president of corporate sales at Tecsys, a supply chain and inventory management solutions provider.  “I’m going to manage a box of bandages very differently than I’m going to manage a hip or an implant [device] or a high-dollar drug.”

2. Don’t let space constraints derail the effort. Mr. Brereton cited, as one potential fix, the recent growth of off-site consolidated pharmacy service centers (CPSCs) at many health systems. “That’s a perfect location for RFID tagging to be done,” he said. “Tagging can also be done in a very specialized way, working with state authorities so that you don’t have to use a pharmacist to do it, while ensuring that the process you build is rock-solid so that it is done in an extremely accurate way. If you’re planning a CPSC, that’s something that you want to consider.”

3. Be forward-looking to maximize savings and return on investment. Les Louden, PharmD, a pharmacy manager for BayCare Health System’s St. Joseph’s Hospital, in Tampa, Fla., noted that RFID allows his hospital to monitor drug utilization and waste, “which has been a big win for reducing inventory costs and having the right medications in those trays and kits,” he said. “It’s also a boon for tracking expiration dates, knowing exactly what we have where, and moving medication around the hospital so that we don’t have to waste it.” However, “although we’re already really good at RFID with kits and trays, can we start integrating RFID into the electronic health record, and using it in areas such as automated dispensing cabinets and refrigerators and freezers where we store our highest-cost medications? There’s definitely a lot of opportunity.”

4. Focus on interoperability. Integrating the key RFID and related pharmacy technology components is critical if hospitals are to make the most of RFID’s capabilities, noted Anthony C. Scott, PharmD, MBA, the director of pharmacy services for Emory University Hospital, in Atlanta. “From a competition perspective, vendors might prefer to have only tags that are compatible with their system, but if we want broader adoption of RFID, it’s important to be able to use these tags interchangeably with your software, no matter what system you have.”

5. Don’t forget about specialty pharmacy. This growing area of operations is is a perfect candidate for RFID, said James Roof, the director of inventory programs for Cardinal Health. “Specialty pharmaceuticals account for more than half of drug spending, so tracking these medications should be a top priority. Not only can RFID technology track specialty drug spending; it can also provide greater visibility to a pharmacy’s inventory,” Mr. Roof said. “Additionally, by using RFID, pharmacies can manage limited supply by automatically updating on-hand inventory and setting reordering thresholds based on par levels. Because specialty pharmaceuticals are often in limited supply, automated ordering can help ensure these critical medications are on hand when patients need them.”



6. Consider avoiding burnout as a driver of adoption. Part of the return-on-investment calculus for RFID should factor the technology’s ability to mitigate pharmacist burnout—a growing concern in the pharmacy profession, Mr. Roof noted. “Pharmacists are being challenged with doing more with less, and in some cases, with less staff,” he explained. “Stretching employees to the point of burnout may lead to costly medication errors and put patients at risk. Through automation and reduced waste, RFID can help lower costs, as well as support overstretched staff through greater efficiencies, increasing the quality of care.”

The sources reported no relevant financial disclosures.