The RFID solution allows staff members to remove implants or other necessary items from a locked cabinet, and automatically creates a digital record of which items have been removed, and by whom. In addition, the system enables the hospital to maintain a record of which items were actually used during a particular procedure, via barcode scans. In the future, says Jed Golden, New York Hospital Queens' director of materials management, this information may be linked to existing management software, for the purpose of billing those products to that patient.

If the system proves to enable it to automate inventory management at the unit, the hospital plans to install the technology at other locations within its 519-bed facility, such as the interventional cardiology and operating rooms.

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