Could NFC Be the Next Big Thing in Healthcare?

While we’ve often discussed NFC, it’s usually in reference to replacing QR codes or mobile payment. Now, NFC could be a game-changer in the healthcare industry.

At MIT, the recent event, “NFC in Smartphones Transforms Healthcare,” featured an array of solutions, mostly involving monitoring and tracking for in-home patient care. For example, NFC could be used on patient smartphones to track and monitor sleep patterns, or track prescriptions. However, would patients be willing to use their smartphones for this? And if so, would they remember? How many patients receiving in-home care even own a smartphone? There are definitely still a lot of unanswered questions, but I think eventually, NFC will be an integral part of patient care-taker relationships.

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Unique identifiers, such as barcodes, are needed to avoid potentially fatal complications with breast implants.

Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), is a French company that manufactures breast implants. However, rather than using traditional silicone, they used silicone designed to stuff mattresses in order to cut costs. After women started experiencing ruptures, it was estimated that 300,000 faulty implants had been sold across the world.

Obviously, with anything in the medical field, there are strict regulations—so how did PIP get away with this for over 12 years? Although the company received regular inspections, they were given a six-week notice, so it was easy to swap the industrial grade silicone for more expensive medical grade silicone, keeping inspectors at ease.

However, there’s also a lack of traceability within the system. Some clinics don’t always keep good records of which implants were used on which patient, causing confusion and uncertainty as to which women could be endangered. This needs to change. A unique identifier, such as a barcode or RFID chip, is needed in order to track and trace implants from distributor to patient.

In addition, there are no standardizations in place for record keeping, so it’s up to each clinic to track patients as they see possible. And should a clinic close, there are no requirements for what should be done with their patient information.

This is just one (potentially tragic) example of how traceability and standardizations are key. Are you doing everything to ensure proper tracking and traceability? Learn how to manage your supply chain.

VDC Research recently released an enterprise mobility report as it pertains to the transportation industry. Recognizing that mobile solutions play a significant role as organizations leverage technology in order to cut costs, the need to automate and mobilize the supply chain remains strong.

Currently, VDC estimates that the market for enterprise mobility solutions in the transportation sector will reach $2.5 billion, growing by over 10% annually through 2015. Although IT budgets continue to remain tight, it’s clear that mobile technology solutions maximize productivity and improve customer service, thus making them worth the investment.

The transportation industry faces many challenges, including:

• Carrier related issues such as freight capacity, driver shortages, service regulations and fuel surcharges
• Cross-border compliance regulations
• Lack of process/logistics control
• Use of paper-based, time intensive processes

Although much of the transportation implements advanced mobile solutions, there’s still a large amount using paper-based systems, which leaves a much wider margin for error. Those in the transportation industry are able to take advantage of mobile technology in order to reduce costs, enforce regulations, gain visibility and rapidly respond to urgent situations.

Learn more about mobile solutions for transportation.

Barcoding Inc. was featured in the 2011 FL100 from Food Logistics magazine

Each year, Food Logistics magazine recognizes 100 software and technology companies that allow grocery and food service distributors and manufacturers to achieve their business goals. This year, they focused on solution providers that are helping their customers differentiate themselves in the marketplace, while facilitating improved safety and traceability throughout the supply chain.

Barcoding Inc. made the FL100* list, which is featured in the November/December 2011 issue of Food Logistics. Barcoding Inc.’s robust partner network allows for comprehensive supply chain distribution solutions. Many of our partners also made the list, including: Airclic, Descartes Systems Group, Intermec, Lucas Systems, LXE (now part of Honeywell), Motorola Solutions, Psion, Xata and Zebra Technologies.

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Mobility in the retail industry is changing everything from the way consumers shop, to purchasing habits, to checkout and the way we pay.

According to a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey conducted by BIGresearch, a record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up 14 million from last year.

But, of the online shoppers, which ones were e-commerce, and which ones were m-commerce. Short for mobile commerce, m-commerce is taking retail by storm—and it’s no surprise. As consumers continue to do more with their phones, they want to be able to shop on their phones. And consumers aren’t just making purchases from their mobile devices—they are also using their smartphones while in the store, looking up prices and comparing products.

An article from Internet Retailer states, “Mobile commerce is different than e-commerce in that it is tying the e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar channels together. Customers are standing in stores looking up product information and prices and reviews, and that is having an impact on sales online and in stores.” In order to keep sales up, retailers need to cater to the consumer, not only creating mobile websites, but also mobile apps and QR code campaigns.

And consumers aren’t the only ones turning to their mobile devices. In our last look at the retail industry, we explored the possibilities of using Apple iPhones, iPod touches and iPads as point of sale systems, a growing trend among retailers. Many retailers operate at a loss all year, depending on 4th quarter holiday sales to drive business. However, in order to cater to consumer demands and increase sales during busy holiday times, traditional POS systems are becoming outdated, bulky and expensive to scale. With a cloud-based POS system, such as those offered with the Apple products, retailers gain the ability and agility to quickly meet demands. Since these solutions are portable, manpower is no longer tied up at the register and can be used as necessary to keep lines moving, help customers and ultimately, keep sales up.

Mobility has brought exciting changes for both retailers and consumers. But, what else is in store for the future of retail? Share your thoughts by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.