ANSI approves RFID standard for tagging medical devices
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved the Health Industry Business Communications Council’s (HIBCC) new standard for using radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags for medical products.
The standard, known as ANSI/HIBC 4.0, was developed amid concerns over the consequences of radio-frequency interference with medical devices.
In June 2008, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study of electromagnetic interference from RFIDs with medical equipment in critical-care settings. The study concluded that ultra-high-frequency (UHF) tagging from RIFDs interfered with medical devices in 63 percent of the device's tests.
"Since we first published our initial position paper on RFID in 2007, HIBCC has consistently warned that the UHF implementations proposed by non-healthcare standards organizations and some RFID product vendors could create problems in hospitals,” said Robert Hankin, PhD, president of HIBCC. “The use of generic retail identification standards in medical care settings poses unnecessary risks and the JAMA-reported RFID study confirmed our position by indicating that there can be serious consequences from RFID in critical-care environments."
In the approved standard, HIBCC recommends the use of 13.56 MHz high frequency for tagging healthcare products because its smaller range is less likely to interfere with medical devices.
For more information, access the HIBCC standard at: http://www.hibcc.org/Front%20Page%20Attachments/HIBCC%20RFID%20Standard%204.0.pdf
The standard, known as ANSI/HIBC 4.0, was developed amid concerns over the consequences of radio-frequency interference with medical devices.
In June 2008, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study of electromagnetic interference from RFIDs with medical equipment in critical-care settings. The study concluded that ultra-high-frequency (UHF) tagging from RIFDs interfered with medical devices in 63 percent of the device's tests.
"Since we first published our initial position paper on RFID in 2007, HIBCC has consistently warned that the UHF implementations proposed by non-healthcare standards organizations and some RFID product vendors could create problems in hospitals,” said Robert Hankin, PhD, president of HIBCC. “The use of generic retail identification standards in medical care settings poses unnecessary risks and the JAMA-reported RFID study confirmed our position by indicating that there can be serious consequences from RFID in critical-care environments."
In the approved standard, HIBCC recommends the use of 13.56 MHz high frequency for tagging healthcare products because its smaller range is less likely to interfere with medical devices.
For more information, access the HIBCC standard at: http://www.hibcc.org/Front%20Page%20Attachments/HIBCC%20RFID%20Standard%204.0.pdf