RFID Pilot to Monitor Medical Supply Chain for Air Force

The U.S. Air Force Surgeon General's office awarded a contract for an RFID pilot project with VeriSign, Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.), Alien Technology Corp. (Morgan Hill, Calif.), and E. Smith Consulting LCC (Leesburg, Va.). Based at Wright Patterson Medical Center near Dayton, Ohio, the pilot program will test the ability to improve process efficiencies and patient care services by utilizing passive RFID technology to track patient movement items and medical devices within an Air Force medical facility.
"We are delighted at the opportunity to collaborate with the Air Force and industry leaders to validate the inherent benefits of passive RFID within the hospital setting," said Susan Pearson, vice president of alliances for Alien Technology. "The RFID Solutions Center in Dayton, Ohio is ideally suited to stage, to test, and to optimize this system prior to the live hospital test, ensuring seamless integration to hospital operations."
According to market research firm, INPUT (Reston, Va.), the Department of Defense is the largest adopter of RFID in the public sector to date. The firm forecasts that the DoD total RFID budget is expected to grow from $115 million in 2006 to $215 million in 2011.