NFC Used in Hospital?

There is an interesting usage of NFC in hospital. According to California based Identive Group, the company has partnered with WPG Americas to provide NFC solution to transfer data from high-end medical imaging devices to multiple exam room monitors throughout a provider's office, without cables, wires or additional network investment. Here is how it works: 

The innovative new solution utilizes NFC tags and readers from Identive with software from WPG Americas that associates the images from a digital x-ray camera with the patient records. An NFC tag is affixed to the digital radiography camera. The tag is simply tapped on one of Identive's SCL3711 NFC readers that are attached to the computer in each exam room. The associated software then reconfigures the wireless communication between the camera and local computer to transmit the x-ray images from the camera and associate them with the appropriate patient record.

"NFC technology makes it possible to move much of what we do in the physical world to the virtual world, in a way that is easier and more convenient. In the healthcare market there are dozens of areas that will benefit from the use of NFC, from making treatment information available to managing patient records. Partnering with WPG Americas on this NFC transfer solution allowed us to benefit from their extensive understanding of the medical office environment and their strong engineering expertise," said Dr. Manfred Mueller, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Identive's ID Infrastructure division.

"By making it easier to transfer x-ray images from digital sensors to computer viewing monitors in multiple exam rooms, we can help doctors, dentists and other healthcare providers extend the value of this expensive equipment while ensuring the images are associated with the correct patient," explained Dave Bowers, VP Supplier Marketing for WPG Americas. "With their growing portfolio of NFC readers and tags, Identive is becoming known as the go-to company for NFC solutions. We are excited to continue our successful collaboration as we work together to extend this NFC pairing solution to other applications."