The majority of hospitals are unable to integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies for drug tracking due to cost and other concerns, according to a recent study.

Research from Provizio found that hospitals will continue to rely on barcode technology for another six years.

"Our conversations with many healthcare providers reveal a common difficulty to justify the cost outlay for the more expensive, but clearly promising, RFID technology," said Dr Tim Rhodes, president and healthcare practice leader at Provizio.

"Today, barcode technology has many advantages due to its lower cost and capability to use much of the already existing IT infrastructure within hospitals. Hospitals are already working with vendors to implement it."

But Provizio suggested that RFID technology could bring important advances, such as the ability to prevent mix-ups with prescriptions.

"RFID will eventually replace barcode technology at the bedside, but it will take time for RFID vendors to create a lower cost, end-to-end solution for hospitals to easily adopt," said Dr Rhodes.