OBJECTIVES: Hospital supply costs account for more than 1/3 of the average operating budget and constitute the 2^nd largest hospital expenditure (following labor). RFID technology has emerged as a solution to manage/reduce costs yet return on investment of such adoption remains unclear. METHODS: A paper-pencil ingle-assessment, cross-sectional survey was conducted 9/2015-11/2015. The survey (~20-30min) included 32 questions across the following topics: 1) facility profile; 2) inventory management of tissue/bone products; 3) re-ordering process of tissue/bone products; 4) auditing process of tissue/bone products; 5) tracking process of tissue/bone products; 6) OR-related information; 7) preference for RFID technology.Study population consisted of 90 US-based facilities with evidence as having adopted an RFID-based inventory tracking system for bone tissue and synthetic bone graft products. Cost-savings from RFID were estimated from wages and frequency/minutes per task for several categories. RESULTS:

CONCLUSIONS: Savings realized by responding facilities resulted from less time needed to re-order products, improved audit efficiency due to tracking capabilities, less risk of products lost in the hospital, and less risk of expiration equity losses (wastage). Additional research is warranted to further quantify the value of RFID technology.