Blogs
July 7, 2026 / July 7, 2026 by Gina Breckenridge
Hospital pharmacies continue to face compounding pressures to do more with less, all while complying with strict regulations. Pharmacists—while facing pharmacy technician staffing shortages—are responsible for reducing medication waste, improving medication inventory accuracy, and navigating critical drug shortages. RFID pharmacy automation can help address these challenges. However, not all RFID solutions offer the same capabilities. Before selecting an RFID medication inventory management platform, pharmacy leaders should ask important operational questions during vendor evaluations and during virtual or in-person demonstrations. The following questions are based on real-world conversations with hospital pharmacy directors, pharmacy managers, and health system leaders evaluating RFID automation in 2026.
Many hospital pharmacies process thousands of medications daily, which can be extremely time-consuming for clinical staff—especially if they’re still relying on manual counts.
Questions to ask vendors
A system that slows down during high-volume workflows can create bottlenecks and reduce staff adoption. Make sure to ask about “phantom reads” or the frequency with which the vendor’s customers experience “dead tags.”
What to look for
Vendor solution example
Intelliguard’s Mira Prep™ pharmacy station can accurately scan over 800 medications simultaneously within the enclosure, depending on package size. Inventory can be scanned in bulk (kits, trays, tackle boxes, pre-tagged medications, boxes of medications) without requiring item-by-item processing, which reduces the potential for human error.
The healthcare industry is moving toward pre-tagged medications, meaning the RFID tags are already embedded in the medication packaging. Tagging is handled entirely by the drug manufacturer or distributor.
Examples include:
Vendor solution exampleMira Prep supports GS1 standards and can read RFID tags from manufacturers and distributors without requiring pharmacies to rely exclusively on proprietary flag tags.
Because national drug shortages and supply chain delays are so common, hospital pharmacies need workflows that can quickly adapt to medication substitutions. This may include:
Because medication inventory is constantly changing, it is critical that pharmacists choose an RFID medication management system that offers workflow flexibility. Rigid workflows can increase waste and create unnecessary work.
Vendor solution exampleWith Mira Prep, authorized users can easily edit encoded information, correct errors, and update multiple medication batches simultaneously.
Successful technology adoption often depends on ease of use. Because pharmacies are often understaffed, they are looking for ease of use to avoid adding further steps or time to their workflows. Pharmacy teams need encoding (or tag association) workflows that are fast and easy to learn.
Simple, streamlined workflows improve consistency and efficiency.
Expired medications are a significant source of waste, resulting in thousands of dollars in losses every year. Overstocking, inaccurate PAR levels, and limited inventory visibility can all contribute to medications expiring before use. RFID helps hospitals track expiration dates in real time and identify medications that require attention before they become waste, which helps with cost savings as well as time savings for clinical staff.
Hospitals may have different compliance requirements and inventory management policies.
Vendor Solution Example
With Intelliguard’s Mira Prep pharmacy station, pharmacy teams can configure expiration alerts at 30-, 60-, or 90-day intervals to proactively manage inventory. Additionally, pharmacy technicians have real-time traceability with Logbook, which shows where soon-expiring items are located across units and sites so that teams can reallocate them before they expire.
Drug shortages continue to impact hospitals around the globe. Additionally, manual drug recall management is extremely time-consuming for clinical staff.
Large health systems may have medications spread across multiple units and sites, such as:
Mira Prep incorporates RxNorm and ASHP data, Tallman lettering support to differentiate lookalike soundalike (LASA) drugs, and recall information from industry databases.
Many hospitals already use some form of automation, including:
New technology should strengthen existing investments rather than replace them.
Intelliguard’s hardware and software solutions can integrate with pharmacy carousels and robotic systems to support connected inventory workflows.
Reliability is one of the main components that pharmacy teams will evaluate when choosing automation. And data reliability enables confident, real-time decision-making from the inpatient pharmacy to supply chain management.
Intelliguard RFID flag tags are about 2 inches long and have undergone rigorous testing to withstand routine pharmacy handling, refrigeration, and condensation. Additionally, the patented RFID technology inside the Mira Prep pharmacy station provides over 99.9% read accuracy.
Small-volume medications can create tagging challenges.
Medication identification must remain visible.
Intelliguard’s clear flag tag design helps maintain visibility of critical medication information on small vials, ampules, syringes, and IV bags.
Technology decisions should support long-term pharmacy strategies. As pharmacy is now at the center of financial performance and enterprise decision-making across health systems, it is critical that decision-makers treat automation as an investment rather than a point solution.
Health systems need solutions that can evolve alongside operational requirements.
Intelliguard supports open interoperability and GS1 standards to enable shared data language across RFID vendors, drug manufacturers, and health systems. The Mira Ecosystem creates a scalable, interconnected network that enhances end-to-end medication visibility. By connecting trusted data across the entire medication lifecycle, healthcare providers and supply chain partners can operate with greater precision and confidence, ultimately advancing the industry toward a smarter, safer, and more sustainable future.
Choosing an RFID pharmacy automation platform isn’t about replacing clinicians. It’s about giving pharmacy teams better visibility, faster workflows, and more reliable inventory management.
By asking the right questions during vendor evaluations, hospital pharmacy leaders can identify RFID solutions that reduce waste, improve operational efficiency, support regulatory compliance, and scale across the health system. As RFID adoption continues to grow, standards-based, interoperable platforms will be best positioned to support future pharmacy automation initiatives.
