RFID Technology in Preparation and Administration of Cytostatic Infusions

Cytostatics which are drugs used to treat oncologic diseases belong to very dangerous substances. These drugs often have very low therapeutic index, i.e. the difference between therapeutic and toxic dose is very low. Wrong dose can thus endanger the patient very easily. As these drugs are perilous also for the personnel who are handling them, Czech laws demand that the personnel concerned pass regular medical examinations. The number of shifts on sites where contact with cytostatics is possible has to be recorded. The laws order the record of basic information on preparation and administration of cytostatics; however, detailed monitoring of the drug in the course of the whole process is not required. A state-owned medium-sized hospital with 200+ beds and more than 80 years of experience, Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute highly specializes in the treatment of oncologic patients by surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The institute is focused on the treatment of solid tumours, which are in Czech environment represented mainly by breast cancer and colorectal cancer. For the treatment, the patients can be hospitalised, or, which is less expensive and has psychological benefit for the patient, receive their treatment at the outpatient clinic. Thus, the patient comes to the hospital, is checked by his/her physician, chemotherapy/radiotherapy is prescribed and administered/applied. On the same day, often just after a few hours, the patient is sent home. In the pharmacy of Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute (MMCI) we intended to implement a system that would be able to record who, where, when and how were exposed to cytostatics. Furthermore, we wanted to use the active support of preparation, i.e. introduce software that would help and navigate the personnel during the whole process, thus reducing the possibility of error. In the course of the project, we decided to include the outpatient clinic so as the administration of cytostatics could be recorded and supported, too. There are several ways to monitor the process and the possibilities of information technology can offer numerous solutions. In the end, radio-frequency identification (RFID) was chosen because it is more advantageous in some aspects than other systems.