Adapting RFID Technology for Implementation of a New Birth Record in Jordanian Hospitals Bassam AL-Mahadeen Department of Computer and Information Technology, Tafila Technical University Tafila, 66110, Jordan Abstract This paper introduces a new integrated clinical record in Jordan using the RFID technology, where currently no clinical report links antenatal, birth and postnatal care for women. As a result no continuity of information is provided to clinicians nor are there national statistics on trends, or performance of hospitals around birth. The paper is based on a study conducted in the Jordanian Ministry of Health, the maternity wards and registration departments of three hospitals in Jordan and in the Maternal Child Health Centers located near these hospitals [1]. Lack of active follow-up to ensure the best service for antenatal, birth and postnatal care for women is the main problem. An RFID model for managing the clinical record for maternal child was proposed. The model is valuable to policy makers and program implementers in strengthening implementation of programs and activities to improve maternal child care services. The statistics yielded from the proposed RFID model is of particular importance to help fulfill this need. The proposed maternal child management system is expected to control the health care cost, improve the care quality, and provide a comprehensive strategy for restructuring maternal child care delivery system. Keywords: RFID technology, Maternal Child health, RFID reader, RFID tag. 1. Introduction Jordan, is a developing country located in the Middle East, has one of the fastest growing populations in the world. Between the two censuses in 1979 and 1994, the population grew from 2.1 to 5.1 million people, an average in-crease of 2.7 percent annually. At this rate, the population of Jordan will double in 25 years. The Government of Jordan (GOJ) has recognized that this will place tremendous strain on Jordan’s health services [2]. Jordan faces several issues including less than fully functional public health systems, a significant unmet demand for high quality health care services and information, and a significant increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases. There are three sectors in the provision of health-care services in Jordan: the public, the private and the international sectors. The public sector is composed of the Ministry of Health, the Royal Medical Services, the University of Jordan and the Social Security Organization. Most hospitals provide primary and secondary health services with referrals of some patients to the tertiary hospitals located in the capital city of Jordan, Amman. Primary Health Centers provide healthcare services that include maternal and child health services, school health services, and health education [2][3]. A comprehensive clinical information system for maternal and child health care is of great importance in Jordan now. Jordan hosts millions of refugees from Iraq, Palestine, and Syria. There is no database or electronic medical history for maternal and child health. Building a computerized and databases to record and follow up maternal child health will provide policy makers with online statistics about the current problems that face them and the actual needs of their medications. Comprehensive vision about health problems and their distribution over geographical areas could also be provided. Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is an innovative technology with many applications in a number of fields. Academic research into RFID has proliferated significantly over the last few years. A typical RFID system consists of tags and readers, application software, computing hardware, and middleware. An RFID tag consists of an integrated circuit with memory, which is essentially microprocessor chip. RFID tags can be active (with batteries) or passive (without batteries). The tag has an identity (ID) that can be broadcast to a reader that is operating on the same frequency and under the same tag protocol [4][5][6]. An RFID reader is a device that can read data from and write data to compatible RFID tags. Communication between tag and reader enables the location information of an item to be recorded and transferred to a server through a computer network, thus allowing the movement of the item to be tracked and traced. To ensure the compatibility of the communication, the tag and reader IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Volume 12, Issue 1, No 2, January 2015 ISSN (Print): 1694-0814 | ISSN (Online): 1694-0784 www.IJCSI.org 124 2015 International Journal of Computer Science Issues