Topic

Healthcare & Pharma

RFID and NFC in hospitals, medical devices, pharma serialization, and patient safety workflows.

Original coverage

Pfizer Puts RFID Into the Label. The Next Test Is the Hospital Workflow.

Factory encoded medication labels can remove a tagging step, but hospitals still have to prove read performance, data matching, and exception handling.

News wire

newsRFID NewsOctober 30, 2026 Europe

Dutch academic hospital tracks endoscopy equipment and patient samples with Kathrein RFID

An academic institution in the Netherlands deployed RFID readers in various locations to track endoscopy equipment using Kathrein Solutions. Utilizing the established infrastructure, institutions can monitor the movement of patient samples in transport containers using similar technology.

newsRFID NewsOctober 20, 2026 Europe

RFID cabinets end missing tissue grafts at Kansas City hospital, TrackCore case study claims

North Kansas City Hospital eliminated the monthly loss of human tissue grafts following the implementation of RAIN RFID cabinets. This development suggests that automated inventory tracking can effectively mitigate financial shrinkage associated with misplaced or unaccounted-for biological materials in clinical settings.

newsRFID NewsOctober 9, 2026 Europe

Vietnam hospital tracks every gown’s wash count with RFID in Japanese-funded laundry

Le Van Thinh Hospital has implemented an RFID-enabled laundry system to monitor the specific number of wash cycles for each surgical gown. This application suggests that RFID technology can provide precise asset lifecycle visibility within clinical environments, potentially assisting in the management of textile durability and replacement schedules.

newsRFID NewsOctober 7, 2026 Europe

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly pathology cuts single-use plastic with Indexor RFID iRack sample transport

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has implemented Abbott's Indexor system, utilizing reusable iRacks equipped with RFID tags to manage specimen barcodes and test requests across multiple GP surgeries. This transition suggests that substituting traditional single-use plastic specimen bags with RFID-enabled reusable containers can significantly reduce the volume of medical waste sent to incineration within pathology transport networks.

newsRFID NewsOctober 5, 2026 Europe

RFID in Healthcare: Patient Safety, Asset Tracking, and Beyond

The implementation of RFID wristbands within closed-loop medication systems has reduced drug administration errors while the technology has transitioned from pilot programs to standard clinical practice for tracking surgical sponges and infusion pumps. This development suggests that hospital administrators can leverage RFID to improve patient safety protocols and streamline the management of mobile medical equipment.

newsRFID JournalOctober 1, 2026 Global

Zebra Technologies Upgrades RFID Readers with Impinj Gen2X

Zebra Technologies is integrating Gen2X support across its handheld, sled, and fixed RFID readers to enhance the identification of items typically considered difficult to tag, such as pharmaceuticals, jewelry, and groceries. This hardware expansion may allow for more consistent automated tracking and loss prevention in environments containing high product density or materials like liquids and metals.

newsRFID NewsOctober 1, 2026 Europe

Medigas Italia Integrates UHF RFID Technology Into Home Ventilator Distribution

Medigas Italia has implemented UHF RFID technology using on-metal tags to manage the distribution of oxygen containers and cylinders. This integration suggests that utilizing bulk-reading capabilities for metal assets can significantly reduce manual data entry errors and accelerate loading processes in medical gas logistics.

newsRFID NewsOctober 1, 2026 Europe

Zebra RFID lifts Spex warehouse picking efficiency 50%

Spex transitioned from paper-based manual picking to a system utilizing Zebra UHF RAIN RFID handhelds and fixed readers to verify medical device orders at nesting stations. The implementation allows for rapid order completeness checks and facilitates the tracking of serial and lot histories for regulated products.

press releaseRFID JournalSeptember 24, 2026 Global

RAIN Alliance Launches Working Group to Support Growing RAIN RFID Sensor Ecosystem

The RAIN Alliance has established a new working group dedicated to standardizing RAIN RFID sensor technology for industrial IoT and asset management applications. This initiative aims to streamline deployments in the food and pharmaceutical sectors while ensuring compliance with upcoming EU Digital Product Passport mandates, providing a crucial framework for cross-industry interoperability.

press releaseCheckpoint SystemsSeptember 24, 2026 Global

What is FSMA 204? A practical guide to compliance and the role of RFID

The FDA's FSMA 204 mandate shifts food traceability from a voluntary best practice to a legal requirement for maintaining granular, end-to-end digital records. RFID technology provides the automated data capture necessary to meet these strict compliance deadlines while simultaneously reducing operational waste and mitigating the financial impact of product recalls.

newsRFID NewsSeptember 23, 2026 Europe

Case Study: Cooperatie Hoogstraten

Coöperatie Hoogstraten has implemented RAIN RFID inlays across its entire inventory of reusable crates to track 45,000 tonnes of strawberries annually. This transition enables real-time traceability from grower to harvest date, significantly reducing the commercial risk associated with product recalls and cold chain failures in the perishable food sector.

researcharXiv (Networking)September 22, 2026 Global

Protocol-Flexible Custom NFC for Wire-Free Wearable Sensor Networks

Researchers have developed a custom, software-defined NFC system that leverages fabric-integrated meander coils to create garment-scale sensor networks without the signal attenuation common in Bluetooth or the rigidity of wired systems. By enabling protocol-level flexibility on a microcontroller, this architecture allows for high-frequency data acquisition across multiple body-worn tags, offering a scalable and comfortable solution for continuous biometric monitoring and indu

newsRAIN AllianceSeptember 21, 2026 Global

Q&A: How Pfizer is Using RAIN RFID to Help Advance Healthcare Supply Chain Visibility

Pfizer is scaling its SmartDose™ platform to integrate RAIN RFID tags at the unit-of-use level, enhancing real-time visibility from manufacturing through to patient administration. This initiative is significant for the industry as it establishes a scalable framework for pharmaceutical giants to automate inventory management and combat drug counterfeiting through standardized digital identity.

newsRFID NewsSeptember 17, 2026 Europe

Aksigen IVF puts RFID electronic witnessing in new Panvel fertility lab

Aksigen IVF has integrated RFID electronic witnessing and biometric verification into its new Panvel facility to automate the tracking of samples throughout the embryology workflow. This deployment addresses a critical 0.131% error rate in manual IVF cycles, providing manufacturers and integrators with a high-stakes use case where automated error-prevention justifies the investment in granular, item-level tagging.

newsRFID NewsSeptember 10, 2026 Europe

AP-HM to tag linen with RFID after losing 60,000 sheets a year across its Marseille hospitals

AP-HM is implementing RFID tracking across its Marseille hospital network to combat the annual loss of 60,000 bed sheets, valued at €400,000. By automating the sorting and allocation of 14 tonnes of daily laundry, the system reduces overhead costs and provides a high-ROI case study for large-scale institutional textile management.

newsRFID NewsSeptember 10, 2026 Europe

Bradford Teaching Hospitals takes Lyngsoe X-Tracking to St Luke’s Hospital, reaching 172 RFID readers

Bradford Teaching Hospitals has expanded its Lyngsoe X-Tracking network to St Luke’s Hospital, deploying 40 additional Zebra FX9600 readers to track up to 38,000 medical devices. The expansion and subsequent license renewal through 2030 demonstrate a long-term commitment to high-density fixed infrastructure for hospital-wide asset visibility, improving clinical workflows and equipment utilization at scale.