Using RFID yoking proof protocol to enhance inpatient medication safety.

The low birth rate has led to an aging society; the burgeoning number of elderly patients may affect the medical quality and result in negative medical incidents. There are many factors that lead to medical errors, such as similar medication names, erroneous labels and packaging, as well as staff shortages, fatigue and carelessness. Determining how to reduce medical errors has become an important issue. As RFID exhibits powerful identification characteristics, it can help nurses to quickly identify patients and their corresponding medicine. Currently, there are numerous practical applications for improving the efficiency of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems. In this paper, we use an RFID yoking proof mechanism which conforms to EPCglobal Class 1 Generation 2 standards to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors. Our scheme can achieve different goals such as resist numerous known attacks, achieve mutual authentication, anonymity and non-repudiation. It also provides a practical medical care and offer higher quality of medical care. The pharmacist cannot deny that this prescription was confirmed for the patient and the nurse cannot also deny he or she dispensed this medicine to the patient for protecting the patients' interests.