RFID Gazette

The 2nd Annual RFID, TRACKING & BARCODING FOR HOSPITALS:
Innovative Solutions for Reducing Medical Errors, Increasing Patient Safety and Improving Processes

January 24-26, 2005 * Green Valley Ranch Resort * Las Vegas, NV

****************************************************

At this must-attend event you will learn how to implement tracking, barcoding, and RFID technology to achieve greater efficiency, increase patient safety, and maximize your ROI.

You'll also get the most timely and relevant updates on how you will be affected by the new FDA mandates on barcodes, and the safety goal of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) to further expedite the process of RFID implementation in healthcare.

BENEFIT FROM CASE STUDY PRESENTATIONS PROVIDING PRACTICAL AND FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE INTO:
- Quickly and accurately filling requests and repackaging individually barcoded products
- Data and voice communications capabilities of UWB for today's HIPAA environment
- Today's Auto-ID investment foundations for the future
- Utilizing barcoding to improve patient safety
- Real-time asset restocking and replenishment
- Enhancing the quality of care with these technologies
- Benefits of RFID tagging medical equipment
- Improving processes by analyzing and capturing relevant data

REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCES AND EXAMPLES FROM:
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital + North Bronx Healthcare Network + Massachusetts General Hospital + Sisters of Mercy Health System + Fleet Hospital Support Office + Bon Secours Richmond Health System + Beloit Memorial Hospital + HIMSS + EPCGlobal US + Mercy Management + Parco Merged Media + Radianse + RFID Solutions + EPC Group + Symbol Technologies + Pan-Pacific RFID Solutions + Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (AIM)

For more information and to register please visit http://www.iqpc.com/na-2149-02/1010 - Please mention code IT04.

Business Objects has formed a partnership with Velosel to offer a new product to help firms analyze large amounts of RFID data. Velosel5, collaborative product information management (CPIM) software, is integral to the partnership's ability to analyze RFID data.

According to Information Week:

Business Objects and Velosel touted their tool as an answer to the analytical challenges presented by RFID, which is expected to swamp retailers and their suppliers with new supply chain data. RFID tags track individual items, product cases or palettes being shipped from place to place. A number of large retailers, including Wal-Mart, are pushing adoption of RFID.

Read more: Business Objects Wants To Analyze RFID Data

HP will open a smart tag test center in Omaha to incorporate RFID smart tags in sensor networks, hoping to change the nature of the supply chain from asset management to an adaptive and secure supply chain.

According to internetnews.com:

HP research scientist Malena Mesarina showed off a sensor overlay network that connects RFID readers to inexpensive video cameras via an 802.11b network, code-named SmartLocus. SmartLocus controls and monitors a sensor network of cameras and readers. The cameras provide information, for example, on where items in a warehouse have been moved.

Read more: HP: Sensor Networks Next Step For RFID

In an attempt to give rival IBM some competition, Sun Microsystems has formed a partnership with SeeBeyond to work on RFID middleware solutions.

According to eWeek:

The upcoming retail solution is one of several RFID (radio frequency identification) reference architectures that Sun is eyeing for vertical and horizontal markets, Roger Nolan, senior director of Web services integration at Sun Microsystems Inc., said in an interview with eWEEK.com

"Sun will also be teaming up with many other partners on [the RFID reference architectures]," Nolan said.

Known so far only as Sun's "joint RFID solution," the co-created retail reference architecture will be implemented among retail stores by Sun and SeeBeyond, as well as by SeeBeyond's third-party SI (systems integration) allies. SeeBeyond Technology Corp. and some of its outside SIs are highly experienced in retail deployments, Nolan said.

Read more: Sun: RFID Deal with SeeBeyond Puts It 'Way Ahead'

At the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment Trade Show, Nokia demonstrated a prototype of their new RFID-enabled Nokia 5140 phone. An RFID reader is contained within the phone's shell.

According to ZDNet:

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is wowing warehouse operators and some retailers because of how easily product information stored on the chip can be transferred. Nokia said Sunday that delivering product information to a mobile device using RFID can extend the technology "beyond the supply chain, and into customer service, merchandizing, marketing and brand management."

For instance, retailers could put RFID-embedded "touch phone here" signs on store shelves to send a coupon to the phone, or put the same signs at checkout stands to instantly transfer personal information stored on the phone in order to complete a warranty, Nokia Director Gerhard Romen said.

Read more: RFID cell phones take shape at Nokia

The U.S. State Department will soon add RFID chips to all U.S. passports, enabling remote reading of identifying information at borders around the world.

From the Wired News:

But civil libertarians and some technologists say the chips are actually a boon to identity thieves, stalkers and commercial data collectors, since anyone with the proper reader can download a person's biographical information and photo from several feet away.

"Even if they wanted to store this info in a chip, why have a chip that can be read remotely?" asked Barry Steinhardt, who directs the American Civil Liberty Union's Technology and Liberty program. "Why not require the passport be brought in contact with a reader so that the passport holder would know it had been captured? Americans in the know will be wrapping their passports in aluminum foil."

Read more: American Passports to Get Chipped

AXCESS International Inc. has announced the availability of its new RFID sensor tag that can warn of toxic levels of ammonia leakages.

According to the press release from PR Newswire:

The use of portable ammonia sensors and a wireless monitoring network provides an easily installed and cost effective blanket detection coverage area where expensive hard-wired systems fall short. The battery powered RFID architecture allows for sensors being easily populated in greater quantities at less cost, thereby increasing protective coverage. The TCP/IP transmission capability of the AXCESS ActiveTag(TM) receivers allows for transmission of sensor alerts to personnel in containment centers via email and pagers during an incident.

Read more: AXCESS Adds Ammonia Detection Capability to RFID-based Sensor Tags

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, is to address political and industry leaders meeting to discuss Asian developments in the field of radio-frequency tagging. Commonly referred to as RFID or Smart Labels, this simple but far reaching technology is the focus of Smart Labels Asia 2004, a conference on 10-11 November in Tokyo, Japan.

Drawing on his success as Premier, Dr Mahathir will explain how RFID is vital for Asian development. A cornerstone of the Malaysian government’s hi-tech vision, RFID tags on Malaysian passports and national ID cards have increased security and ease-of-use.

The National Cargo Security Council is teaming up with the RFID Journal to offer a seminar that will address how RFID can be a solution for supply chain and homeland security threats. The seminar will be held December 5-7 at the Long Beach, California Hilton.

According to the press release from Business Wire:

The comprehensive program features 22 world-renowned experts from international manufacturers and shippers, leading consultancies and universities, government and law enforcement agencies, as well as RFID software and hardware providers.

Speakers are confirmed from a wide range of organizations such as Target Corp., International Paper, Hasbro, Starbucks, Hutchison Port Holdings, Stanford University, Deloitte, AIDC100, RFID Journal and Savi Technology, including many others.

Attendees will visit the Port of Long Beach for a half-day tour and to see how RFID-enabled solutions are being deployed in an innovative, real-time system to track trucks entering and exiting terminal facilities. Early on, consenting attendees will be "RFID tagged" and, at a post-seminar report, learn where they have been during the two days of the program.

Read more: NCSC and RFID Journal Co-Host World's First Major RFID Seminar on How RFID Addresses Supply Chain and Homeland Security Threats

The new SkyeRead M3 is a small universal read/write module developed by SkyeTech to expand their existing line of Tagnostic RFID reader modules.

From the press release at ThomasNet:

With Tagnostic® multi-protocol support, the SkyeRead M3 removes existing barriers to interoperability by reading and writing all ISO and EPC UHF tags on the market, and by operating universally in North America, Europe, or Asia. The RF power is adjustable, and the M3 is frequency-agile across the UHF RFID spectrum from 860–960MHz. The same popular SkyeTek Protocol gives host application developers a powerful software programming interface and API that simplifies integration and minimizes design time.

“We’ve now done for UHF what we did for HF”, said Rob Balgley, Executive Chairman of SkyeTek, Inc.

Read more: SkyeTek Announces Entry into the UHF RFID Reader Market