Smart objects in healthcare: Impact on clinical logistics

Abstract

Hospitals are confronted today with a plethora of approaches for asset management with RFID and WLAN, cooling chain monitoring using sensor networks and RFID, and patient tracking using virtually any existing technology. The downside is that most approaches are not necessarily compatible let alone coordinated. Further, none of the technologies is really integrated into legacy systems or corresponding organizational structures and processes, thus the full power of innovative applications is not utilized. Introducing the concept of smart objects inspired by the Internet of Things can improve the situation by separating the capabilities and functions of an object from the implementing technology such as RFID or WLAN. Wireless tags become interchangeable, and business applications can be built independent from the underlying communication network. Supported by synchronized technological and business developments smart objects have the power to transform a hospital from an agglomeration of technologies into a smart environment.