RFID Technology Selection and Economic Justification for Healthcare Asset Tracking

摘要

Each year, hospitals lose money due to lost, stolen, and inefficiently allocated equipment, but refrain from implementing RFID due to the fear of interference with critical healthcare equipment and the fixed cost associated with development and installation. The reason for fear isn't unfounded; RFID systems in the past have been shown to interfere with medical equipment under certain conditions. In this study we show that there are several ways to safely install RFID systems to improve the processes of a hospital. RFID is mostly used to track inventory because of the undeniably quick payback period. We show that RFID can have a payback period of under a year. Our models can be used to show that RFID can greatly reduce the inventory-related operating costs in a hospital. It can also be adapted to similar mixed service and goods environments.