title: Management of surgical instruments with radio frequency identification tags.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To prevent malpractices, medical staff has adopted inventory time-outs and/or checklists. Accurate inventory and maintenance of surgical instruments decreases the risk of operating room miscounting and malfunction. In our previous study, an individual management of surgical instruments was accomplished using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a new management method of RFID-tagged instruments.
  
  
  METHODS
  The management system of RFID-tagged surgical instruments was used for 27 months in clinical areas. In total, 13 study participants assembled surgical trays in the central sterile supply department.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While using the management system, trays were assembled 94 times. During this period, no assembly errors occurred. An instrument malfunction had occurred after the 19th, 56th, and 73 th uses, no malfunction caused by the RFID tags, and usage history had been recorded. Additionally, the time it took to assemble surgical trays was recorded, and the long-term usability of the management system was evaluated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The system could record the number of uses and the defective history of each surgical instrument. In addition, the history of the frequency of instruments being transferred from one tray to another was recorded. The results suggest that our system can be used to manage instruments safely. Additionally, the management system was acquired of the learning effect and the usability on daily maintenance. This finding suggests that the management system examined here ensures surgical instrument and tray assembly quality.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Division of Life Sciences, Department of Human Environmental Sciences, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kusuda
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohnishi
authors.forename: Kiyohito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komino
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okubo
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tripette
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohta
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008318:Malpractice; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration; D061214:Patient Safety; D057233:Radio Frequency Identification Device / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013525:Surgical Instruments / Q000145:classification*; D000066477:Work Performance
keywords: Learning; Management; Patient safety; Performance measurement