Southard Peter B, Chandra Charu, Kumar Sameer
Opus College of Business, University of St Thomas, St Paul, Minnesota, USA.
Int J Health Care Qual Assur. 2012;25(4):291-321. doi: 10.1108/09526861211221491.
The purpose of this paper is to develop a business model to generate quantitative evidence of the benefits of implementing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, limiting the scope to outpatient surgical processes in hospitals.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The study primarily uses the define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) approach, and draws on various analytical tools such as work flow diagrams, value stream mapping, and discrete event simulation to examine the effect of implementing RFID technology on improving effectiveness (quality and timeliness) and efficiency (cost reduction) of outpatient surgical processes.
The analysis showed significant estimated annual cost and time savings in carrying out patients' surgical procedures with RFID technology implementation for the outpatient surgery processes in a hospital. This is largely due to the elimination of both non-value added activities of locating supplies and equipment and also the elimination of the "return" loop created by preventable post operative infections. Several poka-yokes developed using RFID technology were identified to eliminate those two issues.
Several poka-yokes developed using RFID technology were identified for improving the safety of the patient and cost effectiveness of the operation to ensure the success of the outpatient surgical process.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Many stakeholders in the hospital environment will be impacted including patients, physicians, nurses, technicians, administrators and other hospital personnel. Different levels of training of hospital personnel will be required, based on the degree of interaction with the RFID system. Computations of costs and savings will help decision makers understand the benefits and implications of the technology in the hospital environment.
本文旨在开发一种商业模式，以生成实施射频识别（RFID）技术益处的定量证据，研究范围限定在医院门诊手术流程。
设计/方法/途径：该研究主要采用定义-测量-分析-改进-控制（DMAIC）方法，并运用各种分析工具，如流程图、价值流映射和离散事件模拟，来检验实施RFID技术对提高门诊手术流程的有效性（质量和及时性）和效率（成本降低）的影响。
分析表明，在一家医院的门诊手术流程中，实施RFID技术进行患者手术操作每年可节省大量成本和时间。这主要归功于消除了查找物资和设备的非增值活动，以及消除了由可预防的术后感染所产生的“返回”循环。利用RFID技术开发的多个防错措施被确定可消除这两个问题。
确定了利用RFID技术开发的多个防错措施，以提高患者安全性和手术成本效益，确保门诊手术流程的成功。
原创性/价值：医院环境中的许多利益相关者将受到影响，包括患者、医生、护士、技术人员、管理人员和其他医院工作人员。根据与RFID系统的交互程度，将需要对医院工作人员进行不同程度的培训。成本和节省的计算将有助于决策者了解该技术在医院环境中的益处和影响。
