Global Market for RFID in Healthcare
Posted by Sabine Nickel on Fri, Oct 22, 2010 @ 08:50 AM
RFID in hospitals seems to remain an important topic in the industry. A few weeks ago we evaluated 5-challenges-for-Implementing-RFID-in-Hospitals in our blog.
Lots of hospitals think about improving their asset tracking and about implementing RFID solutions. To do so, you need to identify the weak points of your hospital’s asset tracking, and define clear goals you want to achieve with RFID tracking.
According to a report from 
Kalorama, the market for RFID in healthcare more than doubled in the last two years and a number of factors have suggested growth will continue at more than 30% annually through 2014, including growing concerns over healthcare spending, safety, streamlining, and efficient patient care.
The reasons are evident: RFID offers various solutions for the main segments of the healthcare industry—hospitals and nursing homes, pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies.
Nursing homes and hospitals are starting to use 
RFID-enabled applications such as wander-prevention systems, as the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease increases. And the pharmaceutical industry, which faces the same supply chain management challenges as any warehouse or distribution center, is relying on RFID solutions for accurate asset tracking.
The report provides market estimates and forecasts for the following market segments
- Pharmaceutical/Blood Product Distribution and Tracking;
- Patient/Medical Staff Identification and Tracking;
- Medical Asset Tracking and Locating;
- Implantable Device RFID use;
- Other areas (including medical documents and patient records).
and also discusses trends, such as U.S. Healthcare Employment Projections, Aging Population, Global Counterfeiting and more.
Read the whole report or learn more about Zebra’s RFID opportunities.