Blogs: NFC in care – the way forward: Blogs: NFC in care – the way forward

Date Added: 10/10/2023 @ 3:52pm

Convenient, simple and secure - key characteristics of Near Field Communication (NFC) - technology present in almost every smartphone in use across the world and enabling wireless Personal Area Network connections allowing interactions for an ever-increasing multitude of tasks in retail, banking, transit systems, etc. It’s close proximity range makes it easy for users, speeds transactions, and importantly delivers significantly better data security than QR or Barcodes whilst using much less power than RFID.

So how is this extremely effective and low-cost tech being used in healthcare? For many years data has been collected to monitor and manage care and even today much of this is still collected and stored on paper-based systems. Digital Care, an initiative set by the Care Quality Commission has a key objective of reducing the reliance on paperwork in care facilities across the UK and the tide of change in general hospitals has long seen implementation of new communications systems with NFC enabled smartphones efficiently collecting and transmitting data. 

However, NFC technology is also being integrated where more ruggedised and secure staff protection systems are required, such as in mental health and social care settings, situations which often demand the addition of accurate staff attack or assistance location reporting. Here NFC adds considerable value enabling real-time data collection, better emergency management and discrete staff monitoring. Properly implemented this reduces paperwork, time delays and associated costs and provides specific immediate alerts of critical situations, fluid intake monitoring, food consumption logging, periodic check recording and helps to verify the quality of care being delivered.

Leading UK manufacturer locusXact have integrated NFC within their light weight yet extremely robust & waterproof staff protection portable device and these can be used to collect data on the care process itself. To make the solution work, locusXact provide extremely cost effective anti vandal anti ligature wall-mounted NFC tags which can be colour coded and are quickly and simply programmed with specific task information. Localised tags then deliver location reporting and information on care attributes that add organisational service delivery value - helping manage one-to-one care, dynamically accessing user groups; linking for colleagues responsible for specific areas. 

All this is added to the ability to relay locatable emergency alarms, silently if required, to only those who need to know.  Data collected is delivered securely in real time, to a central storage point which can be viewed locally for quick confirmation and is also uploaded to the Cloud. All data can be available in the cloud 24/7 to senior staff no matter their location and provide analysis or add evidence to support critical incidents.

What’s the future? With its accelerated uptake and use around the world NFC has been recognised as a key digital expansion technology.  Developments being rapidly driven by the World NFC Forum involving the very biggest tech companies include Increased range to speed user experience; richer data; one “NFC tap” trigger for multiple apps; enhanced wireless charging capability, among others.

In an era of ‘Big Data’, locusXact is an ideal solution with its NFC enabled Staff Protection system well placed to rapidly harness technological shifts and making it a winning solution for under-pressure, under-resourced mental, physical and social healthcare providers across the World.