Report on Alien Technology

Alien Technology provides

RFID ICs,
RFID Tags and Labels,
RFID Readers and Antennas,
RFID Professional Services.

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2.
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It Partners with many of the companies. But while focussing on healthcare, there are only
few as listed below:
1. VARS and SI
a. Tagit - Nothing on website.
b. Moviltrack Staff and Asset Tracking, Infant Security (Not in Detail)
c. Msmsolutions - RFID is quickly gaining traction in the healthcare supply chain for
applications such as electronic chain of custody, sample tracking, drug tracking and
verification. Utilizing the latest RFID readers, antennas and chip technologies from
Impinj and Motorola in combination with MSM PortalTrack software allows users
to gain real-time visibility into operations and immediately make decisions that can
prevent fatal errors. RFID is an excellent tool for improving accuracy and
traceability while protecting patient data and brand authentication.
2. Converters
a. Meyers Nothing on website.
b. Mid South RFID Label and Packaging - Health Label, Health label quality and
meeting FDA requirements (Customers demand quality from your products, and the
FDA demands many health products incorporate quality, safety and information into
labels.), The right solutions for your health label (best materials, adhesives and
printing methods for your health label), Pharmaceutical and medical labels, Vitamin
and nutraceutical labels.
c. RR Donnelley Nothing on website.
How can RFID be used in Health Care Systems ?
Five Rights of Safety in Medical Systems:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Right Medication
Right Dose
Right Time
Right Patient
Right Route

In order to achieve these, several techniques can be used.

Various methods by which RFID components can be used in health care:
1. Barcoded wristbands Scans, open medical databases contains indications, advisories
and restrictions. To record the time and source of the medication administration, In a
study conducted by the U.S. Veterans Administration, this method of medication
administration was found to reduce the incidence of medication errors by 86.2 percent.
2. Unit Dose Medication - Barcodes accurately identify medications by type, recommended
dosage and frequency of administration at the unit-dose level, thus providing nurses with
a second check and decision support tool in the administration of patient meds. Nurses
can combine the information contained in the unit-dose barcode with the patient
wristband to ensure the Five Rights of patient safety.
3. Specimen Collection - Barcode systems compare specimen collection orders, stored in a
handheld or bedside laptop, with information scanned from the patient wristband, and
confirm that the specimen container is the correct one for the tests ordered. A new
barcode label for the specimen container is printed at the bedside with the time and date
of collection, helping to minimize the potential for labelling errors. In the lab, barcode
tracking technology can eliminate processing errors, starting at sample collection and
continuing through the process of accession, testing and results reporting.

4. Blood Administration - A barcoding system for blood administration can reduce such
errors by as much as 90 percent. Point-of-care bedside barcoding applications are being
integrated with blood product administration activities to combine patient identification,
medication and blood product verification. Phlebotomy and blood banking are current
focal points of barcoded blood administration, and operating room (OR) barcoded blood
type/patient confirmation is currently in development.
5. Track and Trace Systems - In compliance with the FDA rule requiring barcoding of unitdose medication packaging, anti-counterfeiting barcode technology is being developed
and deployed in pharmacies, hospitals and elsewhere to improve tracking and tracing.
Barcoded lot numbers, expiration dates and unit-dose identifiers help healthcare
manufacturers, distributors and consumers manage medications throughout the supply
chain.
Pharmacy
6. Today, some medications still arrive at the hospital pharmacy without a barcodewhich
requires the pharmacy to produce its own barcode label. Pharmacies use barcoding to tag
unit-dose medications derived from bulk items and mixtures. For many medication
fulfilment processes in the pharmacy, barcode printers and automated dispensing
equipment produce on-demand, unit-dose barcodes that are legible, secure and costeffective.

Applicable grants for research:

1. Title: Use of technology to enhance patient outcomes and prevent illness (R21)
Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Health.

Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20tracking
Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-17-009.html
Areas applicable:

Address the practical utility of one or multiple forms of technology (e.g., web-based
tools, mHealth, smart devices, decision support systems, digital assessment tools,
robotics, and other technologies) as they relate to assessment; diagnosis; intervention
development and implementation; and patient outcomes.
Identify specific patient outcomes expected to improve from technological approaches
Develop specific tools and interventions that show enhanced benefits for patients in a
wide range of environments, including clinical settings, and the home and community.
Utilize eHealth (and mHealth) technologies that promote patient-provider
engagement, and other forms of social support for individuals with similar
conditions/illnesses/diagnoses.
Range: The combined budget for direct costs for the two-year project period may not
exceed $275,000. No more than $200,000 in direct costs may be requested in any
single year.
Deadline: Jan 07, 2020

2. Title: Understanding and Improving Diagnostic Safety in Ambulatory Care: Strategies

and Interventions (R18)
Department of Health and Human Services
Agency for Health Care Research and Quality.
Link:http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20trac
king
Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-15-179.html
Areas applicable:
Gain a better understanding of the complexity and incidence of diagnostic failure and
its associated costs and harms,
Expand the depth and breadth of knowledge of contributing factors that underlie
diagnostic failure and that facilitate diagnostic improvement, and
Evaluate strategies and interventions for reducing diagnostic failures and patient
harms, including approaches that enable organizations, providers and patients to better
anticipate and mitigate emerging diagnostic risk before failure and harm occurs.
Range: The total costs (direct and indirect) for a project awarded under this FOA will
not exceed $350,000 in any given year or $1,750,000 for the entire project period.
Deadline: Sep 25, 2018

3. Title: mHealth Tools for Underserved Populations with Chronic Conditions to

Promote Effective Patient-Provider Communication, Adherence to Treatment and
Self-Management (R21)
Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20tracking
Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-14-181.html
Areas applicable:

Develop, test, and compare effective strategies that incorporate mHealth tools to
improve patient-provider communications
Develop, test, and compare mHealth tools for improved adherence to treatment
Develop, test and compare mHealth tools for effective self-management
Develop, test, and/or compare technologies that incorporate interventions for
adherence and self-management strategies
Develop, test, and/or compare mHealth technologies or tools in underserved
populations
Range: The combined budget for direct costs for the 2 year project period may not
exceed $275,000. No more than $200,000 may be requested in any single year.
Deadline: May 07, 2017

4. Title: Advancing Interventions to Improve Medication Adherence

Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20tracking
Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-14-335.html
Areas applicable:

Studies of approaches to address adherence in individuals who have completed

surgery or survived a disease (e.g., cancer) and return to primary care from their
specialty care practitioner;
Research testing innovative approaches for maintaining patient adherence to
medication regimens through social or peer support, lay health worker delivered
approaches (e.g., peer-led, patient navigator, or community health worker), and/or the
integration of adherence monitoring/support within routine health care;
Testing the efficacy of institutional-level interventions that target clinic or provider
practice (i.e., health care policy, electronic medical record practices, or physician,
nursing and other health care and support staff) in order to promote patient adherence;
Studies of adherence-promoting interventions that incorporate technological tools,
such as electronic health records and mobile health technologies, to target clinician
behavior, patient behavior, both, and/or provider-patient interaction and feedback;
Interventions that test targeted and multi-level interventions (e.g., at the patient,
clinician and community level) to improve adherence behavior;
Research to test interventions that enhance health literacy and/or health numeracy to
improve medication adherence in settings that deliver primary care;
Research testing complementary or integrative health approaches to improving
medication adherence.
Range: The combined budget for the direct costs for the two-year project period may
not exceed $275,000. No more than $200,000 may be requested in any single year.
Deadline: Jan 07, 2018

5. Title: Behavioral Interventions to Address Multiple Chronic Health Conditions in

Primary Care (R01)
Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20tracking
Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-14-114.html
Areas applicable:
Interventions should be practical and have potential, if successful, for implementation
in primary care (e.g., in terms of cost of training, staff, office space and patient
burden);
Test a behavioral intervention in a primary care setting that targets health behaviors in
three or more related chronic diseases or health conditions;
The most rigorous design and methodology possible, given the populations and
settings in which the study is taking place. In some cases, randomization (by patient,
clinic, or community) is possible and feasible; in others, randomization may not be
possible, and other rigorous, but non-randomized designs (e.g., quasi-experimental)
that are both internally and externally valid, may be necessary;
Researchers should elicit input from key stakeholders, including providers and
consumers, to maximize implementation feasibility and sustainability potential;
Assessment of health outcomes (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol levels, BMI, viral
load in HIV, or HbA1c) that should be affected by behavior changes;
Range: Not mentioned
Deadline: May 07, 2017

6. Title: AHRQ Health Services Research Projects: Making Health Care Safer in
Ambulatory Care Settings and Long Term Care Facilities (R01)
Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20tracking
Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-15-339.html
Areas applicable:
Epidemiologic studies of patient safety such as incidence studies of the various
domains of medical errors and subsequent adverse events that occur in different types
of ambulatory care settings;
Factors (human, system, and other) that contribute to medical errors;
Evidence-based studies of intervention strategies that can improve patient safety at
different levels of the health care system:
The role of patient and caregiver behaviors in improving patient safety;
The role of provider-patient interactions in improving patient safety;
The role of the community and health care system in improving patient safety;
Approaches for improving coordination, continuity of care and patient safety;
Creation of evidence-based tools to facilitate implementation of these strategies;
Range: The total costs (direct and indirect) for a project awarded under this FOA will
not exceed $500,000 in any given year and will not exceed $1,500,000 for the entire
project period.
Deadline: March 05, 2018

7. Title: Strategies to Increase Delivery of Guideline-Based Care to Populations with

Health Disparities (R01)
Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20tracking
Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-15-279.html
Areas applicable:
Investigations testing strategies for successful guideline-based care among patients
with sickle cell disease, thalassemia and other non-malignant blood diseases.
Trials testing optimal sequencing (e.g., timing, order, specific combinations) for
implementation of two or more guidelines to treat patients with multiple HLBS risk
factors or conditions.
Studies to identify barriers among providers and healthcare systems to implementing
guideline-based lifestyle treatment for obesity, and strategies to overcome these
barriers.
Range: Not mentioned
Deadline: June 21, 2018

8. Title: Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program

Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/searchgrants.html?keywords=patient%20tracking
Additional Information: Not mentioned
Areas applicable:
The Network Planning program promotes the planning and development of healthcare
networks in order to: (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to, coordinate, and
improve the quality of essential health care services; and (iii) strengthen the rural
health care system as a whole.
The goals of the Network Planning program are to help rural providers better serve
their communities given changes taking place in health care, as providers move from
focusing on the volume of services to focusing on the value of services.
To appropriately address emerging community health needs and challenges, systemic
efforts are key. This program will assist communities in establishing a rural health
network of health care providers committed to forming relationships with each other
and stakeholders. It is expected that the rural health networks will maintain the
highest level of access to care, increase the use of health information technology,
explore alternative health care delivery models and continue to achieve a high level of
quality health care across the continuum of care from prevention and wellness to acute
and long term care.
A rural health network is defined as an organizational arrangement among at least
three separately owned regional or local health care providers that come together to
develop strategies for improving health services delivery systems in a community.
Range: $2,400,000
Deadline: Jan 03, 2017