RFID Improves Management of Anesthesia Trays

Standardizing anesthesia trays using radio- frequency identification (RFID) tags can reduce medication errors in the operating room while also providing robust OR data collection, according to Adam Trimble, PharmD, a clinical pharmacy manager at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, in Columbus.

An assessment of medications in anesthesia trays found variability across the 12-hospital system, which has more than 200 ORs.

The frequency of medication errors in ORs, which are often underreported, varies widely, but studies found that errors in this setting may occur as often as one in 20 medication administrations.

After a used RFID-tagged anesthesia tray is returned to the pharmacy, the kit is scanned and its status entered in the system.