Radio Frequency Identification based Drug Management and Monitoring System: A Case of Public Hospitals in Tanzania

Abstract

RFID is an automatic identification technology that enables tracking of people and objects. Recently, the RFID technology has been deployed in hospitals for patient and equipment tracking, surgical equipment monitoring, medication monitoring, and improving health record access in emergency cases. The pharmacy department in public hospitals faces challenges due to manual record keeping and inventory management, which result in theft and diversion of the drugs by unfaithful workers. This work identifies the potentials behind use of the RFID technology in addressing these challenges. The paper focuses on reviewing the current situation at the hospitals to identify loopholes causing these problems and later suggests the solution based on RFID to counteract the challenges. The case study methodology is used where 5 public hospitals in Tanzania were visited to obtain data based on real situation. It was discovered that the drug management and monitoring process is done manually, involves paper based record keeping, manual counting of stock during each staff shifting time, which is hard to track in case of any loss. Therefore, there is need to develop a technological solution to manage the process and secure the drugs.