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Wireless hospital systems can disrupt medical devices

Healthcare Security Weekly, June 30, 2008

Wireless systems used by many hospital to keep track of and help prevent the theft of medical equipment can cause potentially deadly breakdowns of lifesaving devices, researchers reported.

The Dutch study warned hospitals to conduct safety tests after finding that some of the radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs)—also commonly used in security access cards—can cause problems with devices such as respirators, external pacemakers, and kidney dialysis machines, reported the Associated Press. The study appeared in the June 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The use of RFIDs appears to have the potential to cause crucial care medical equipment to malfunction because of electromagnetic interference, according to a JAMA news release. Researchers discovered the problem in 123 tests they performed in an intensive-care unit at an Amsterdam hospital. Patients were not using the equipment at the time.

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