Pretty thorough piece by Marshall Kilpatrick at RWW … really gets to a point I have been making for some time that one of the biggest near term value props of the internet of things, particularly for B2B apps, is that of associating people with assets/things/places. Assuming that GPS is a non-option in indoor environments like hospitals, as this article explores, what is the shortest path to “LBS-enabling” the many docs, nurses, attendants, and other personnel (don’t forget patients!)? My contention continues to be that 13.56MHz is the incumbent technology for access control or, as some would say, “people tracking”. I hate the term people tracking for some of the obvious Orwellian connotations, but it’s not inaccurate. But this is more than just tracking … it’s about providing context to the location and environmental info being transmitted by the things around us … associating those transmissions with the people that are near them or using them isn’t so much people tracking as it is providing an additional layer of enterprise visibility. Sure, there are apps where just knowing where a person is may be valuable, but it’s the context in which that information is presented that will ultimately drive value for businesses as well as consumers. Speaking of, for consumers this is about turning your health insurance card into a (public key, encrypted) longer-range wireless device that is activated upon entering a hospital … or even an ambulance if you like … vital stats, blood types, allergies, etc. are transmitted automatically before you ever set foot in the hospital, where they are waiting and ready for the incoming patient. 
This would all be opt-in —- if you are anti-data sharing for things like this … and many people are — you are free to continue using your existing non-wireless device. If you think you might benefit from the added features of, say, a DASH7-enabled health insurance card, you can ask for it. It might save your life … who knows.
There is a deeper and more complex thread here on healthcare — HIPAA, cold chain, asset management, billing, and much more. In the hospital, the wifi folks have done a good job of getting traction but most that I speak to in the wifi world acknowledge the limits of the technology for apps like those discussed here. Fortunately, DASH7 co-exists brilliantly with WiFi, including 802.11n which is to 2.45GHz technologies like IEEE 802.15.4 what water was to the Wicked Witch of the West.
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