Medical Design Briefs - September 2023 - 36

Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Improves Efficient
Delivery of Healthcare Products to Where They Are Needed
GS1 develops new
guidance on the use of
RFID to deliver product
traceability.
GS1
Ewing Township, NJ
Product traceability is an increasingly
dominant concern in healthcare,
partly due to regulations like the FDA's
Unique Device Identification (UDI)
Rule for medical devices and the Drug
Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA)
for pharmaceutical products. Widespread
disruptions since 2020 have
also exposed critical supply-chain vulnerabilities
caused, in part, by a lack of
visibility - with negative consequences
reaching all the way to the point of
care, further underlining the need for
change.
Meanwhile, RAIN RFID technology
has advanced significantly over the past
several years, becoming more reliable
and more affordable than ever. RAIN
RFID specifies use of the UHF frequency
band, which leverages the GS1 air interface
protocol to communicate with tags.
With longer read range and accuracy,
expanded reader infrastructure, and
lower tag costs, RFID is now considered
a viable solution for tracking healthcare
products through the supply chain.
n Visibility
Full supply-chain visibility enabled by
real-time, electronic communications
between trading partners can help prevent
inefficiencies, delays, and even critical
shortages of healthcare products by
enabling precise inventory of products
by location throughout their life cycle.
Building more resilient, technologybased
supply-chain management systems
can better ensure the availability of critical
medical supplies when and where
they are needed.
Manufacturers, providers, retailers,
and patients all depend on a complex
system to deliver products from point
A to point B. Snarls in the system are
nearly impossible to untangle without a
clear view of existing inventory, its location,
chain-of-custody, and traceability
36
RFID is now considered a viable solution for tracking healthcare products through the supply chain. (Credit: ake78/
AdobeStock)
data, all predicated on unique product
identification.
RFID technology enables automated
identification and tracking of devices
at every stage of the supply chain.
Each medical device can be equipped
with a RAIN RFID tag that contains its
UDI and other attributes such as serial
number, batch/lot, and date. When
based on GS1 standards, the device
identifier is expressed as a GS1 Global
Trade Item Number® (GTIN®). As
these devices pass through various
checkpoints, RFID readers capture
the data stored in the tags, providing
real-time updates on their location,
movement, and status.
n Exchanging Information
A company's ability to exchange information
about products moving through
the supply chain is crucial for safe, efficient
delivery of goods. GS1 standards
provide the common language that enables
information to be captured and
shared in a consistent way across the entire
supply chain, from a product's point
of origin to its point of sale or use. As a
result, products can be accurately identified
and located at any time and place,
and their status can be communicated
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electronically between stakeholders in
real time. This gives companies necessary
insight for ordering and inventory
management, and provides new opportunities
to adjust as needed, for example,
if a product becomes unavailable or
is delayed.
The standards that unlock supply
chain visibility, transparency, and traceability
include the GTIN and Global
Location Number (GLN) for unique
identification of products and locations,
respectively, along with EPCIS (Electronic
Product Code Information Services),
a standard for providing event and transactional
data. Scanning the RAIN RFID
tag captures movements of a product at
each stop along its journey.
n Streamlining Inventory
Management
Efficient inventory management is
crucial to ensuring the availability of
healthcare products for timely patient
care. RFID technology offers significant
advantages over traditional inventory systems
by automating data collection and
minimizing manual interventions.
By efficiently and accurately tracking
the movement of devices, healthcare
providers can optimize inventory levels,
Medical Design Briefs, September 2023

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Medical Design Briefs - September 2023

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