Introduction Patient safety is the most important and uncompromised issue for hospital.

Our hospital has shown that is our number one concern and we have won numerous of awards to account for it, including the. Let us continue to be a patient-centered facility by rising with new improve technologies such as RFI to enhance the overall !uality of patient care. Implementing RFI can help enhance patient safety, inventory management and asset trac"ing in the surgical department of our hospital. Industry representatives estimate that about #$$ hospitals are using RFI technology %page, & or &' #$$() to protect patient from potential mista"es in surgical procedures. *lthough bar code eliminates some potential problems, it has drawbac"s. RFI is a more efficient process when there is a need to identify, trac", and manage inventory. +he primary goal of RFI is to improve patient care by reducing medical errors, potential lawsuits, cost, and most importantly the time not spent on patient since now more than ever patient are choosing their hospital.
Rising health care cost and patient safety are a ma,or concern for hospital. -overnment studies suggest strong I+ investment could cut health care costs by #$ percent each year, and RFI can definitely contribute to these health care cost reductions %.urphy). *s our hospital see" ways to reduce e/penses, it is important that patient safety is not the trade-off %adversely affected) and RFI holds great potential %in our hospital) to significantly reduce cost, and improve patient safety. Our hospital has been fre!uently recogni0ed for providing a !uality wor" environment, as well as demonstrating a commitment to !uality care by implementing processes, procedures, and technology to reduce potential errors in our surgical unit medical errors, eliminates inefficiencies and errors, and improves !uality patient care and safety. Let us continue to we "eep our competitive edge by rising with new improve technology to enhance overall !uality of patient care, especially since now more than ever patient are choosing their hospital. In order to "eep our competitive edge, increase patient safety, and reduce cost, I propose that %to increase patient safety and reduce cost) we implement the use of RFI in our surgical department. cited patient safety as the 1o. & reason for interest in the technology %.urphy). 2urvey showed that patient safety and medical error reduction are top priorities for hospitals %.urphy). uring the past decade, patient safety and high-!uality patient care have increasingly become the focus for healthcare organi0ations across the country. 2afety is an area of great concern for consumers and health care providers. +echnology is a strategy to enhance patient safety. RFI can help reduce three potential problem that can occur in our surgical unit such as misidentification, foreign retain and inventory misplacement. Leading-edge hospitals are using RFI to tag surgical sponges, scalpels and other surgical e!uipment to reduce medical errors and potential law suits. .ost of our patient are from outpatient surgery sees a business Opportunity in the growing number of surgeries and our hospital could loss mar"et share in our surgical services, if we do not pull even with our competitors and enhance patient care. Losing mar"et will be very hurtful considering that &.3 million of our dollars come from our outpatient surgical units. .

Advantages of RFID RFI is a bar code that4s been upgraded. 5nli"e traditional bar code, it doesn4t re!uire a line of sight to visually read or scan tags. 2o therefore, RFI data can be read through patient clothing, non-metallic materials, and even the human body %#673). RFI scanner can read at longer distances than bar code, and read multiple tags at once. It also yields larger memory capacities and faster processing. 8ar code scanning has drawbac"s li"e

not being able to read barcode, if the paper is ripped off or becomes unreadable. RFI will continue to grow in its established roles where barcode or other optical technologies are not as effective. What is RFID?
Radio Fre!uency Identification %RFI ) is a communication technology, often referred to as automatic identification that uses radio waves to routinely identify people or ob,ects and which include bar codes. * RFI system consists of three components a RFI tag, RFI reader, and RFI database. Inside of each tag is a radio transmitter and radio receiver

RFI +ag
*n RFI tag contains an embedded microchip, radio receiver and radio transmitter. +he chip stores basic information about a tagged ob,ect, typically a product code and a uni!ue serial number. +he information is relayed using radio waves to an RFI reader, which then transmits the data to business software systems where it can be put to use. RFI tags are available in three different types9 passive, semi passive, and active. Passive tags store a small amount of data, are powered by an electronic reader, and react when a signal is received. +he passive tags have a range of about 7 feet and are effective for uni!uely identifying things and people in controlled settings. Semi-passive tags are similar to passive tags but contain an internal power source. ue to this power source, the semi passive tag holds more data and has a greater range. Active tags offer the most features, largely due to their internal lithium-battery power source. *n active tag continuously transmits and receives signals on many different fre!uencies and is capable of immense data storage. +hey are effective for identifying and locating people or items that move fre!uently and over large distance indoors. Low- fre!uency systems have short reading ranges. +hey are most commonly used in asset trac"ing and identification application. :igh fre!uency systems offer longer read ranges and higher reading speed. +he reader decrypt the data encode in the integrated circuit of the tag and the data is passed to the host computer processing.

RFI Reader
Readers can either be portable handheld terminals or fi/ed devices that can be positioned in strategic places such as loading bays in shipping and receiving facilities, or the doors in transport truc"s. Often antenna is pac"aged with the transceiver and decoder to become a reader;interrogator. *n RFI reader, or interrogator, is a device to communicate with the RFI tag. It broadcasts a radio signal, which is received by the tag. +he tag then transmits its information bac" to the reader. +his enables a RFI reader and RFI tag to communicate to each other through a specified radio fre!uency. +he reader decrypt the data encode in the integrated circuit of the tag and the data is passed to the host computer processing .

. RFI database
RFID middleware consists of computer hardware and data processing software that connects readers to computer systems and data repositories. It converts data from tags into tracking or identification information. It may also help filter data more effectively, and remotely monitor, control and maintain readers. .iddleware is a generic term used to describe software that resides between the RFI reader and enterprise applications. It<s a critical component of any RFI system, because the middleware ta"es the raw data from the reader=a reader might read the same tag &$$ times per second =filters it and passes on the useful event data to bac"-end systems. .iddleware plays a "ey role in getting the right information to the right application at the right time. +he most important component is the RFI specific software that translates the raw data from the tag into information about the goods and orders that are represented by the tags. +his information can then be fed into other databases and applications for further processing.

How will RFID be implemented/used/incorporated? RFI can have profound impact and benefits for our surgical units when the right resources are tagged. RFI applications are for identifying patient, tagging surgical e!uipment, and managing inventory. +hese applications of RFI will help eliminate potential problem in our surgical department and provide %:ospital RFI applications) provide the following significant benefits. Real-time data on assets Improved inventory efficiency and management Increased efficiency and product flow Fewer errors >ost reduction Reduce administrative burdens on care givers 2horten patient wait times Increase patient safety +hese benefits will help enhance the overall !uality of patient care in our surgical centers. +he benefits of using RFI in our surgical department are compelling. +o achieve these benefits at .inistries :ospital, I propose that we choose %use RFI to) %use rfid for one of the three) from one of the three possible %options) solution9 5se RFI to identify patient, 5se RFI to tag surgical e!uipment, or %and)5se RFI to manage inventory. How will RFID process work at inistries Hospital? Identifying Patient *s you "now, the F * now re!uires :ospital to do a universal protocol procedure to eliminate the li"elihood of wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong patient surgeries %F * &, #$$3). -overnment estimates indicate that five to eight wrong-site surgeries occur each
month%). ue to the fact that paperwor" is time consuming, patient transfers are often poorly coordinated, and busy staffs ,uggling multiple responsibilities do not always communicate well with each other or with the patient and their family. +hese system inefficiencies create opportunities for medical errors and safety gaps, potentially harming the patient. RFI can %has

the potential to) help enhance the standard operating procedure. by ma"ing the human process more accurate, efficient and less time consuming. .arcy hospital implemented RFI to patient wristband and 2chaeffer said, ?1urses appreciate the time savings and convenience that can be applied to their wor"flow@ %Aoung #673). +he RFI wristband
also reduces misidentification of patients and allows for more accuracy. +he RFI system reduces the time nurses spend entering data about the patient, leaving them more time to provide care. 8efore surgery begins, surgical staff can read RFI tags Bmbedded in wristband with handheld readers to confirm the right patient and procedure. +he memory of the tag can store

information li"e doctor4s name, patient4s name, age, gender procedure, operative site, and medical-record number. +he uni!ue I number of the tag is then associated with the record of the patient in the hospital4s bac" end information system. It also lists critical information such as allergies, precaution, and special needs. +he device also displays a chec"list of procedures that must be carried out before that specific patient can progress through to the ne/t stage of the surgical process. Our nurses will be aware of the status of their patients and can avoid delays in patient flow caused by a lac" of information. RFI

could provide a useful means for our hospital to avoid surgical errors and alleviate patient concerns.

+agging surgical e!uipment Our nurses spend &3 to 7$ minutes counting surgical sponges before, during, and after each surgery to ensure that all sponges used are removed. +his manual process is time consuming, and sub,ect to human error, even with our most conscientious surgical staff count can be unreliable in our busy surgical unit. *ccording to clear count an estimated &,3$$ ob,ect are left inside patients during surgery each year, and studies have shown two-thirds of them are sponges %>lear >ount .edical 2olution &). Many of them are not discovered until years later, which required an additional operation. Bmbedding our surgical e!uipment, tools and assets such as, sponges with RFI tags can save us from potential lawsuits. RFI can prevent sponges and other materials from being left inside our patient during surgery because it does not re!uire a line of sight to read tags. +herefore, sponges and other surgical instruments can be detected inside the human body. *le/ macario, .. . led a study at 2tanford university medical center to determine if RFI technology could be used to help reduce such errors %schuerenberg 76). uring the study, #' RFI sponges were left in eight patients, surgeons pulled together the patient4s incisions and used scanning device to scan for sponges and all sponges were detected %schuerenberg 76). 8y implementing RFI to trac" surgical instrument, our surgical teams will be able to scan the patient with an RFI
interrogator in the form of a wand after surgery to ma"e sure no sponges are mista"enly left inside the body. +he technology could supplant time-consuming manual counts done by nurses several times during the course of a surgery, or costly and time-consuming C-rays that can detect threads sewn into the sponges which reduces staff time not dedicated to patient care.

.anaging inventory Our staff spends vast amounts of time loo"ing for surgical e!uipment and shared resources, which fre!uently delay our surgical procedures.
*sset management is critical for patient safety. :aving the right products, for the right doctors, at the right time, is complicated and challenging which, potentially trade-off patient safety, staff ,ob satisfaction and overall productivity. 8y monitoring the status and whereabouts of critical medical e!uipment used in the surgical units, staff can ensure that e!uipments are ready for surgical procedures. 5sing RFI to manage inventory can lead to more precise supply orders and more accurate delivery of appropriate materials to physicians and patients. .anaged inventories will lead to improved asset use, lower rental costs. 8on 2ecours :ealth 2ystem, Richmond,Da., installed RFI at three hospitals to trac" &#,$$$ pieces of e!uipment. +he health system no longer has to spend money on replacing lost e!uipment=a once common problem=and the nursing staff saves 7$ minutes per shift because they don<t have to search for e!uipment. %.urphy) clinical environments can improve operating efficiency and reduce costs. .any hospitals are using RFI to trac" high-value assets within their facility so that care givers spend less time loo"ing for assets, utili0ation is improved and routine maintenance can be scheduled and managed automatically. Our hospital incur high costs related to lost and misplaced e!uipment which leads to increase cost because of the need to rent e!uipment to meet usage demands. RFI -based trac"ing eliminates staff time spent searching for e!uipment and inventories can be pulled

out because e!uipment does not get lost.

RFI asset trac"ing systems are reported to return their investment in less than 7 years %nagy(7). * study of trac"ing in operating room showed an improvement in the utili0ation of surgical department from 3EF to GE$F, which in turn paid for the RFI system through a reduction in need for overtime pay %nagy(7) Basy location of items in bac" room. +he impact on patient satisfaction. Location assistance is often needed to ensure patient safety when urgent medical attention is needed.

>O2+ +he cost of implement RFI depends on the application, the si0e of the installation, the type of system, maintenance and many other factors, so it is not possible to give a direct figure. Bach component will have up-front costs and some une/pected costs. RFI passive tags are priced anywhere from #' cents to H& each. 2emi-passive tags range about between H( and H3$ tag, depending on capabilities. *ctive tags are priced between H&3 and H&$$ a tag, based on options and memory. RFI readers range in price from H3$$ to H7,$$$,
depending on their functionality. +he cost of middleware varies from vendor to vendor and is usually based on the number of locations where it will be installed, the comple/ity of the application and many other factors. Forrester Research put the cost of middleware at H&'7,$$$ for a H&# billion manufacturer loo"ing to meet the RFI tagging re!uirements of a ma,or retailer. In addition to tags, readers, and middleware costs. Our >ompany will need to invest in training for employees and pay for the installation of the readers. Ie may also need to hire a systems integrator, upgrade enterprise applications and networ"s within facilities. It<s not possible to provide a list of every element that our company will need and the cost of those systems. +hese !uestions will be discussed and answer with RFI vendors. :owever I loo" at company who had a bac"ground li"e ours who deployed RFI but applications were different so the cost of implementation varies. *ccording to page, !uotes from various vendors indicate

that it costs H#$$,$$$ to H($$,$$$ or more to install a facility wide RFI trac"ing system in a medium-si0ed hospital. 8ut vendors are !uic" to say that the new efficiencies RFI systems produce can pay for the investment in one to two years, and many hospital clients agree %page &', #$$(). In total, the system reports saving H#$$,$$$ a year over the cost of
installation and maintenance of RFI , not including productivity gains . For these early adopters, the savings and improved patient care far outweighed the cost of RFI installation and maintenance

%.urphy).

Privacy * technological tool "nown as a bloc"er tag or bloc"er, on the other hand, can prevent privacy violations before they occur. * bloc"er effectively ,ams readers that emit private-read commands. In a nutshell, when it detects a private-read command, it simulates all possible RFI tags in the world, rendering the reader incapable of communicating with other tags. 8y carrying a bloc"er, a consumer can ensure against scanning of her personal possessions.

.any RFI tags include a built-in <"ill< function. Ihen provided with the correct passcode, a tag can be either reprogrammed or told to <self destruct<, rendering it useless
!onclusion +here is a clear advantage to using RFI tags in department where trac"ing supplies, beds, trays, plasma bags and thousands of other items remains a ma,or challenge for health care institutions. .any hospitals are implementing one-off systems to achieve a specific goal, such as trac"ing assets and managing inventory. +oday as well as insights into how to move from one-off applications to an infrastructure approach to RFI . *pplication of RFI for counting surgical instruments which would improve safety, time and inventory control. .any hospitals are implementing one-off systems to achieve a specific aim, such as identifying patients or trac"ing one type of assets. Ihile these systems can achieve significant benefits, implementing RFI

infrastructure that can be used to trac" patients, assets, surgical instruments that need to be decontaminated and other applications can profoundly improve our hospitals bottom line. I propose we ta"e an infrastructure approach to RFI and implement for applications of patient identification, trac"ing surgical instruments and asset management. I PROPO2B +:*+ IB I.PLB.B1+ RFI as a trial base in our surgical department for &# .onths. I propose that to increase patient safety, reduce cost and enhance the overall patient care we implement RFI technology use in our surgical unit. I propose that we plan for implementation in our surgical department since it enhances the most benefits short-term or long-term plan. Implementing this technology will help our company, enhance !uality patient care by reduce costs while increasing patient safety, eliminating errors
Healthcare providers today face serious challenges on all fronts. Hospital administrators have Sharpened their focus on cost containment and efficiency. The government has greater interest in Healthcare issues, and hospitals must monitor compliance. Patients are becoming more informed and therefore more discerning about who provides their healthcare its new facility, which
employs 7 !! wor"ers and serves # ,!!! patients each year, its primary goal was to improve standards of treatment with patient$centric care. The hospital also wanted to increase productivity, improve coordination between caregivers, and create a collaborative care environment where patients choose to receive treatment and clinicians want to wor". The new system uses radio frequency identification %&'()* technology to continually monitor device location. The hospital+s staff can quic"ly locate any tagged device in moments using the map$based interface. Patients are more satisfied because they don+t have to wait