Development of an RFID-based surgery management system : lesson learnt from a Hong Kong public hospital

Abstract

Medical errors happen during surgery such as leaving medical instruments in patient's body after surgery. In recent years, numerous cases have shown successful applications of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in hospitals. This paper aims to investigate the potential applications of RFID in surgery management in a Hong Kong public hospital where the nurse to patient ratio is much lower than other countries. An RFID-based Surgery Management System is proposed to tackle the problems identified in the current situation. Apart from helping to reduce medical errors and enhance patient safety, it is expected that this system will also reduce the workload of care givers so that they can put more emphasis on providing high quality services to patients.