Business value of RFID-enabled healthcare transformation projects

Purpose – This paper aims to assess the business value realised from radio frequency identification (RFID)enabled healthcare transformation projects as compared with other industries. The paper starts with a review of RFID technology in the healthcare industry and further extends to an in-depth analysis of mini-case studies collected from RFID Journal, a leading professional journal dedicated to RFID technology, in order to identify the major benefits of the implementation of RFID systems as well as its business value achieved. In addition, there is further analysis that is being carried out on other industries to have an overview of the benefits of RFID implementation. Design/methodology/approach – Key findings on RFID systems are being obtained from a thorough review of case studies collected from the RFID Journal’s database – which for this purpose, provided 20 cases from the healthcare industry and 49 cases from other industries–, so as to assess the business value of RFIDenabled healthcare transformation projects. Findings – Implementation of RFID systems in healthcare resulted in enhanced automational, informational and transformational effects that helped to eliminate paper-based processes, manual processes and low visibility of patients, staff, equipments and data, etc. Such a transformation definitely gave rise to high financial performances, patient satisfaction and better decision quality on their treatments, which in turn provided a high control, co-ordination and planning of the healthcare organisation. Further, the results showcase the business value of RFID technology and the benefits gained within the healthcare sector, in comparison with other industries. Overall, our case analysis has indicated that implementation of RFID clearly produced evident effects at the process level of an organisation, thus leading to substantial gains at the organisational level. Implications – The paper expands the current body of knowledge in assessing the business value of RFIDenabled organisational transformation in the healthcare sector and marshal’s sufficient data on the overall benefits achieved by RFID implementation both in healthcare and in other industries. The results from this study may serve as a checklist for managers in the healthcare sectors who are looking towards implementing/ exploring RFID technology. Additionally, this paper identifies potential areas for future research on RFIDenabled healthcare transformation projects. Originality/Value – This paper delivers a review of case studies on RFID-enabled transformation projects and process innovations, mainly in the healthcare industry, albeit it extends to other industries. For this reason, a review on RFID technology is being discussed while 69 cases are being scrutinised. The results from this paper therefore provide significant evidence of RFID-enabled healthcare and organisational business value.