RFID-Related Process Improvements Require Managerial Commitment

A group of university researchers has found that the installation of a radio frequency identification system for monitoring hand-hygiene compliance at health-care facilities is only one part of what is required if hospitals want a long-term solution. The way in which an RFID system is managed post-deployment can have a significant impact on its success when that technology is used for hand-hygiene compliance. The researchers found that compliance rates increased following the technology's implementation, but in instances when a hospital discontinued its use of the RFID-based monitoring system, hand-hygiene compliance, on average, dropped below the pre-installation rates.