Dollinger index

(Kiana) #1

Initial marketing efforts will be conducted
in the Midwest through trade magazine
advertising, trade shows, and personal con-
tacts in the hospital administration arena.
Initial launch partners will likely be found
through personal contacts and may include
government grant dollars.


Long Term


The key long-term objective will be to part-
ner with the drug companies and the equip-
ment suppliers so that the RFID tags are
attached to the equipment and supplies when
shipped by the manufacturers (an estimated
three to five years). It is expected that this
partnering will create a rapid acceptance of
the technology as well as significant market
opportunities. MedTrack will be positioned
to capitalize on this opportunity via rapid
deployment of reliable systems. Further
objectives will be to integrate the value chain
by partnering with suppliers of components
and customers.
MedTrack will have a national presence in
five years and become a global leader in
RFID systems for hospitals in ten years.
MedTrack will also investigate other markets
for their potential as the health-care market
adopts this technology throughout the next
decade. Industries that employ high-dollar
equipment or experience significant invento-
ry losses are potential opportunities in the
long term.


MARKET ANALYSIS


Overall Market


The overall outlook for MedTrack and RFID
applications appears to be that of high
growth. Propelled by aggressive plans of per-
suading retailing giants Wal Mart and Target
to implement RFID, the RFID industry is
expected to grow rapidly to $3 billion in the
next two years. Software companies like
Microsoft and Oracle are also racing with
each other to develop middle-ware platforms
to create RFID-based products and services.
Three different approaches^1 are evolving


in company strategies to implement RFID:
(1) slap and ship by vendors who have to
comply with a mandate like Wal-Mart’s, (2)
closed-loop strategy that focuses within the
company, and (3) supply chain strategy that
focuses on supply chain integration with ven-
dors and customers. Applications of RFID
technology are being tried in a variety of
industries such as (1) agriculture, where the
USDA is tracking cows for mad-cow disease,
(2) armored vehiches, which are being
tracked by the Department of Defense
(DOD), and (3) the airline industry, which is
tracking luggage.
With such rapid interest and investment in
RFID technology, the industry is expected to
undergo rapid consolidation in the near
term. Industry standards continue to evolve
to create uniform and compatible RFID sys-
tems. Furthermore, a rapid drop in the prices
of RFID components is expected as manu-
facture of the components shifts to Asia. In
addition, as the industry rapidly evolves,
many companies may prefer to be “late fol-
lowers” rather than “early adopters,” which
could choke growth. The industry might also
be affected by privacy-related concerns, as
the growth of RFID is driven by the retail
industry.
Specific Market
Saving Lives. It is estimated that as many as
100,000 patients die each year in hospitals
due to the incorrect administration of med-
ications. The RFID system will monitor
exactly which drugs are in which patient’s
rooms, and sound an alarm at the nurse’s sta-
tion when a drug enters the patient’s room
that has not been prescribed by the doctor.
In addition, hospitals have difficulty
keeping track of their mobile medical equip-
ment, to the point of simply losing it alto-
gether through theft. By installing sensors in
the appropriate locations, hospital staff will
know exactly where all equipment is located.
Each piece of equipment will have an area in
which it is required to reside (think of the
system as an invisible fence), and if a piece of
equipment leaves the area, an alarm will

MedTrack 425
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