New market research published by Transparency Market Research estimates the global RFID market for health care to be worth $1.2 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach $34 billion by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 19.3% from 2012 to 2018.

According to the report, “RFID in Health care Industry – Global Market Size, Share, Growth, Analysis and Forecast, 2012 – 2018,” major contributing factors include increasing application of RFID technology in health care, rising issues of counterfeiting, need for tracking and localizing medical equipment, and enhancing safety and efficiency of healthcare delivery.

The tracking medical hospital equipment segment of the RFID application market is the largest revenue generating segment, while tracking medication from pharmacy to patients is the second largest. The blood transfer monitoring application market for RFID is one of the fastest growing markets across the globe as blood banks need to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the blood bags delivered.

North America is expected to account for the maximum share of about 50%, with support from the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and many other agencies are exerting pressure to explore RFID and other technology to improve quality of patient care.