An RFID network design methodology for asset tracking in healthcare

a r t i c l e i n f o The purpose of this research is to provide decision makers with a methodology to optimize the design of a medical-asset tracking system constrained by a limited number of RFID readers. Using an enhanced formulation of the maximal covering location problem along with a new criticality index analysis metric (derived from the severity, frequency and dwell time of the critical medical assets) the optimal placement of the limited number of RFID readers is determined. The proposed methodology is implemented in a healthcare facility where the RFID system coverage has improved by 72% compared to the currently utilized expert/heuristic-based placement strategy. Effective and efficient tracking of medical assets in healthcare facilities could be achieved by means of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system implementation. However, RFID systems are fairly new, complex, and often prohibitively costly to implement. Therefore, most of the time adequate number of RFID readers are not obtained and properly placed in these facilities for appropriate coverage. Due to the managerial as well as cost related constraints, the number of readers may also be fixed and hence cannot be increased to improve the system performance (size of the total coverage field). In such a scenario, the best way to make use of the current system would be to optimize the RFID reader placement. This research proposes a methodology based on a maximal covering location optimization for optimal placement of limited number of RFID readers. The proposed methodology is validated in an actual healthcare facility where a significant increase in the RFID system coverage performance was observed. Recently the importance of the service industry has increased considerably as the economies in developed countries have expanded towards a service orientation while gradually shrinking on the manufacturing base [13]. Among all service industries, the healthcare sector is perceived to be the fastest growing and the most critical due to the fact that it deals with human life and any deficiency in this sector can cause inevitable and incurable results [10]. Because of the unpredictable service demand and the complex infrastructure of hospitals, quickly locating the critical assets (which ironically have high utilization numbers) has been one of the perpetual problems in the healthcare service industry [14]. Consider the case where an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse is using an oxygen regulator with a stable patient and is called up to help in an …