Pharmaceutical, health care firms launch RFID projects

IT execs at some companies see RFID as a way to deter illegal drug trafficking

By Heather Havenstein

February 21, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Recommended

Computerworld - Dallas
Radio frequency identification technology is generating interest from pharmaceutical companies as a way to deter illegal drug trafficking and from health care executives who are trying to keep tabs on medical equipment.
Late last year, Stamford Conn.-based Purdue Pharma LP announced plans to become one of the first pharmaceutical companies to integrate RFID into packaging at the manufacturing level to prevent counterfeiting. And last week at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's conference here, Purdue and Symbol Technologies Inc. said they plan to use Symbol's RFID mobile computers to further that effort.
"We have to identify counterfeit drugs before they penetrate our supply chain, and identify vulnerabilities in our supply chain," said Aaron Graham, vice president and chief security officer at Purdue. "While there may not be an ROI in dollars, how do you put a price on patient safety?"
The Symbol MC9000-G computers, which combine RFID and bar-code reading with imaging and wireless connectivity, will be provided without charge to state and federal law enforcement agencies for use in efforts to stop illegal drug trafficking, Graham said.
The Food and Drug Administration has recommended RFID as the best way to thwart illegal drug trafficking, and several states, including Florida and California, have passed laws requiring pharmaceutical companies to track drug shipments as they move through the supply chain.
Purdue has already added RFID tags to bottles of two of its pain relief drugs, Graham said. RFID readers capture tag information at stations along the manufacturing line.
By the end of the year, Pfizer Inc. will be adding RFID tags to bottles of Viagra, and it plans to use the technology to prevent thefts of other products, said Bryant Haskins, a spokesman for the company.


Aaron Graham, vice president and chief security officer at Purdue

Most pharmaceutical makers have started pilots using RFID to deter counterfeiting, said Bob Goodman, an analyst at The Yankee Group in Boston. But many are struggling with the cost of RFID tags - about 30 cents per bottle, compared with one cent per bottle for bar codes, he said.
Meanwhile, some hospitals are beginning to use RFID to help staff locate pieces of medical equipment more quickly. Glen Allen, Va.-based Agility Healthcare Solutions last week announced that Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque will use its RFID-enabled equipment management system to track 6,000 pieces of mobile medical equipment at Presbyterian Hospital.
The hospital projects a 200% ROI over five years by reducing equipment rental costs and labor, said Jason Fahrlander, Presbyterian's materials management administrator.
Twomonths ago, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston started to track emergency-room equipment using RFID tags and asset management technology from PanGo Networks Inc. in Framingham, Mass. The technology has boosted efficiency in locating devices, said John Halamka, CIO at CareGroup Inc., Beth Israel's parent company.

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Security

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER

Do You Know the 7 Steps to Successful Data Migration?

Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.

WHITE PAPER

Total Cost of Ownership of Server Computing Vs. PCs

Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.

WHITE PAPER

IDC White Paper: Linux in a Global Recession

Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

White Papers & Webcasts

Informatica 9 Launch: Transform your Business. Transform your world.

LIVE Nov 10, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

LIVE Nov 12, 2009 02:00 PM ET

The State of PCI DSS Compliance at Organizations Today
Download this resource today!

Managing Secure File Transfer to Save Time, Money and IT Resources
Learn how companies are using innovative technology to overcome these challenges and improve user productivity by offloading e-mail attachments and replacing FTP with...

Can Heuristic Technology Help Your Company Fight Viruses?
What is Heuristic Technology and how can it help safeguard your business against viruses? Learn more.

Security Convergence Equals Network Security Cost Savings
Listen to IBM Internet Security Systems' take on network security convergence.

Why Email Must Operate 24/7 and How to Make This Happen
Learn how to avoid an email outage by implementing a hosted email continuity solution.

Lower the Cost and Complexity of a Mobile Workforce through Automation
Download This Resource Now!

Eradicate Spam & Gain 100% Asurance of Clean Mailboxes
Get this paper now!

Managing Mobility: Improve Data Security, Compliance and Manageability
Download This Resource Now!

Mastering eDiscovery: The IT Manager's Guide to Preservation, Protection & Production
Get this paper now!

Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...

All White Papers | All Webcasts