CAST STUDY: RFID
RFID in the Blood
Supply Chain
Increasing Productivity, Quality and Patient Safety
By Lynne Briggs; Rodeina Davis; Alfonso Gutierrez; Matthew Kopetsky;
Kassandra young; and Raj veeramani
KEyWORDS
RFID, supply chain, process, technology, pain points.
ABSTRACT
As part of an overall design of a new, standardized RFID-
enabled blood transfusion medicine supply chain, an
assessment was conducted for two hospitals: the University
of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (UIHC) and Mississippi Baptist
Health System (MBHS). The main objectives of the study
were to assess RFID technological and economic feasibility,
along with possible impacts to productivity, quality and
patient safety. A step-by-step process analysis focused on
the factors contributing to process “pain points” (errors,
inefficiency, product losses). A process re-engineering
exercise produced blueprints of RFID-enabled processes
to alleviate or eliminate those pain-points. In addition, an
innovative model quantifying the potential reduction in
adverse patient effects as a result of RFID implementation
was created, allowing improvement initiatives to focus on
process areas with the greatest potential impact to patient
safety. The study concluded that it is feasible to implement
RFID-enabled processes, with tangible improvements to
productivity and safety expected. Based on a comprehensive
cost/benefit model, it is estimated for a large hospital (UIHC)
to recover investment from implementation within two to
three years, while smaller hospitals may need longer to
realize ROI. More importantly, the study estimated that RFID
technology could reduce morbidity and mortality effects
substantially among patients receiving transfusions.
As indicated by the Institute of Medicine’s revolutionary studies To Err is Human: Building a Safer HealthSystem1, Crossing the
Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century2 and Preventing Medication Errors3, the high rate
of medical errors and significant gaps in the quality
of healthcare are great cause for concern. Annually,
an estimated 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die from
medical errors. 1, 4, 5 Accordingly, reducing medical
errors and improving patient safety has been identified as a top- 20 priority for national action in transforming healthcare quality. 6 Playing an integral role
in patient care, transfusion medicine represents a
great opportunity for safety and quality improvements. Risk of mis-transfusion, or mis-match
between patient and blood, is more than 100 times
greater than HIV or HCV transmission from blood
transfusion7, making mis-transfusion the arguably
the most important and serious hazard of transfusion. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Mis-transfusion, which most frequently
occurs among surgical patients, typically results
from an error made during the bedside check, performed manually using eye-readable information,
just prior to transfusion. Despite the availability of
new supportive technology, and indications that
repetitive task performance is enhanced by using
technology12, the methodology used for this check
has changed little over the past 50 years.
