OR Monitors Supplies, Safety Via RFID

The University of Tennessee (UT) Medical Center is expanding its use of a radio frequency identification system for monitoring equipment trays and consumables within all of its 36 operating rooms. Five of the hospital’s ORs are already employing the technology to track every item used for each surgery, based on a reading of the RFID tag on that item’s wrapper as the tagged packaging is thrown into a trash bin. The UT Medical Center is also considering the use of fixed and handheld readers to perform inventory counts of medical supplies stored on shelves within its operating rooms, and to record which surgical supplies are being used on each patient. Learn how the RFID system is enabling the staff to leave off items that are never utilized for specific procedures, thereby reducing the number of times that an asset is taken out of storage and returned.