RFID and Barcode Checks Secure Blood Transfusions at ASL Frosinone
ASL Frosinone in Italy will introduce the Securtrasf platform from Biotrac in October 2026. RFID and barcode identification will support bedside verification of patients, blood samples, blood products and procedures, adding machine-verifiable checks to a safety-critical clinical workflow.
Preventing ABO transfusion errors
Blood transfusions require an unambiguous match between the patient and the blood product being administered. ASL Frosinone identifies ABO incompatibility as one of the most serious transfusion risks.
ABO refers to the blood group system that classifies blood as A, B, AB or O. If incompatible blood is transfused, the recipient’s immune system can attack the transfused red blood cells, potentially causing a severe haemolytic reaction and, in extreme cases, death.
The health authority is therefore introducing Securtrasf at the request of Dr. Carla Gargiulo, Director of the Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine Unit at Frosinone-Alatri. The implementation is coordinated by the Digitalization Unit, headed by engineer Cataldo Loiodice.
The objective goes beyond digitizing documentation. According to ASL Frosinone, Securtrasf guides physicians and healthcare professionals through the individual stages of the transfusion process and supports safety directly at the patient’s bedside.
RFID and barcodes verify patient, sample and blood product
Securtrasf, supplied by Biotrac, uses RFID identification and barcode scanning within the same transfusion workflow. The platform enables unique patient identification and checks the matching between the patient, blood sample, blood product and procedure.
The two identification technologies provide machine-readable identifiers that can be checked by the software at defined stages of the transfusion process. ASL Frosinone expects this approach to significantly reduce errors and increase traceability throughout the transfusion pathway.
This makes the deployment different from typical hospital RFID projects focused on locating beds, wheelchairs or medical devices. Here, automatic identification becomes part of a clinical verification process. The system helps establish whether the physical patient, sample and blood product belong to the same authorized transfusion procedure.
What is known about the RFID technology?
Earlier BIOTRAC implementations point to passive 13.56 MHz HF RFID as the technology used for identification in transfusion workflows. Technical documentation of a BIOTRAC-based system describes RFID patient wristbands as well as RFID-tagged blood components, enabling patients and blood products to be identified and matched during the transfusion process.
The documented architecture also includes dedicated 13.56 MHz RFID readers and a bedside verification step in which the compatibility between the patient and the blood unit is checked using an RFID device. This shows how RFID can become an integral part of the safety workflow rather than serving only as a means of tracking objects.
For the new Securtrasf implementation at ASL Frosinone, the detailed RFID configuration has not yet been published.
Source: Università Politecnica delle Marche: Safety in transfusion processes based on RFID technology
RFID becomes part of the clinical workflow
The Securtrasf project shows how RFID can support more than identification and tracking in healthcare. In this case, the technology becomes part of a clinical verification process that helps connect the patient, sample, blood product and procedure at the relevant stage of the transfusion workflow.
For hospitals and system integrators, the value lies in combining patient identification, barcode verification, software integration and workflow logic within one coordinated process. RFID therefore contributes to traceability and process reliability directly where identification errors can have serious consequences.
ASL Frosinone places the implementation within its broader digitalization and lean-management strategy. Technology is intended to make clinical processes more efficient, measurable and less susceptible to risk. Securtrasf is scheduled to become operational from October 2026.