August 13, 2007
RFID-based Drug Tracking System
IBM is launching an electronic tracking system that will follow medications through the supply chain until they reach consumers. The system employs radio-frequency identification, or RFID tags, which are already used to track packages of drugs, especially ones popular with counterfeiters.
The system helps drug companies create electronic certificates of authenticity for medications - down to the individual bottle - as they move from manufacturers and distributors to pharmacies and hospitals. While there is no guarantee that RFID tags will get rid of all counterfeits, it will make it substantially more difficult.
Drug companies' prior attempts at fighting fakes - such as holograms, watermarks and the like - were often reproduced within months, to the point where even their brand managers could not tell the difference between the counterfeit and the real thing.
The IBM tracking system called "ePedigree" is useful not just for battling fakes but it also useful for keeping track of expiration dates, batch numbers in case a drug is recalled.
According to DTechEx, RFID can help with a wide variety of problems in healthcare and cite that 10% of patients suffer an "adverse event"; 50% of patients take their medication incorrectly and up to 15% of hospital assets by value are lost or stolen every year.
RFID tags are being used in Europe and the British National Health Service (NHS) have used RFID to tag medical instruments in hospitals.
Some history on IBM RFID system