Innovation in Dubai's Healthcare Sector - Coursework Example

Innovation in Dubai's Healthcare Sector

• Introduction

Over the years the healthcare system has grown in leaps and bounds and simultaneously the health care management system has incorporated investments in and implementation of modern and innovative technology to make it more efficient and improve its quality standards. The use of technology in the healthcare has ranged from tracking the status as well as movements of various things along with hospital staffs and patients. One such way has been the use RFID (Radio frequency identification) technology (Mehrjerdi, 2010). This technology has been found to have great utility in the healthcare system by upgrading operation and emergency rooms and reducing the chances of medical errors. The study of Ajami and Rajabzadeh (2013) showed that there is a positive relationship between use of RFID technology and patients’ safety and logistics management in the hospitals.

Figure 1: Application of RFID Technology

(Source: Iyer, 2005)

Medical errors has been one of the great concerns in healthcare management but the use of RFID technology has potential of preventing dosage errors, adverse drug effects and in case of operation theatres this technology can reduce the chance of using wrong tools or leaving behind operational equipments (BMJ, 2016). The characteristics of RFID technology helps to maintain the inventory correctly for example, real-time identification of critical assets like, infusion pumps wheel chairs, blood pouches, etc. can done with the use of RFID micro-chips. Many hospitals have initiated the use of wristbands containing RFID tags as a medium tracking and ensuring safety (Mehrjerdi, 2010).

This paper focuses on the use of RFID technology in the health care system of Dubai to save more lives by eliminating the chances of medical errors.

Dubai is one of the seven federal emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The country offers internationally recognised healthcare services that can be compared with any developed nation’s healthcare facility (Expatfocus, 2016). Well-being of the citizens is the prime concern of Dubai’s health care authority and they operate with the strategy of providing greater attention and patient-specific treatment (Allianz, 2016). In order to attain this objective this paper suggests the use of RFID technology in the hospitals of Dubai.

• Literature review: RFID in Healthcare

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a wireless technology that can detect objects with microelectronic tags automatically without any ambiguity. This technology is already in use by disaster management personnel for tracing victims during any calamity. The use of RFID has tremendously increased in the recent years although the overall growth has slow and steady. RFID technology has been able to grab many eye balls and has been termed as the new wave of IT revolution with its wide range of application in many industries like, luggage tracking in airports, book stores, recording attendance of the employees at offices, toll collection and most importantly in health care service.

There are many studies that have already been done on the use of RFID technology in hospitals. The greatest utilization of this technology can be only found in tracing and tracking patients and medical equipments. RFID has the potential of improving operational efficiency of a hospital. There are number of benefits arising from the adoption of RFID on the part of a hospital, like, fewer medical errors, reduction of thefts and efficient inventory management with increased real time analysis (Tosh, et al., 2014). Many pharmaceutical companies have also incorporated this technology to prevent manufacturing of fake medicines and unauthorized sell (Morrison, 2007).

Figure 2: Projected growth of RFID tags

(Source: Statista, 2016)

Tracking through RFID can be confusing because of its diverse application. Hospital industry can benefit from two specific use of RFID. Firstly, the use of RFID tagged chips can be used for identification of tagged patients or medical objects. Secondly, Real-Time Location Service (RTLS) can help in locating a tagged object’s location or any movement on a real time basis. The above mentioned both technologies have their benefits but it is difficult for a particular technology to solve all the problems. Many hospitals use a combined solution of RFID and RTLS. For example, in medication, RFID can be used since the other is too expensive while RTLS can be used in ensuring patients’ safety and location (Cho, et al., 2013).

The implementation of RFID technology has many benefits in terms of improving safety measures for patients, but there are certain issues regarding the privacy and security of patient’s information. It is very important to know that this technology is very costly to implement and sometimes, hospitals use lower quality tags in order to save cost. However, low quality tags involve the risk that the information of the patients becomes available for other unauthorised users. It is so because low-quality tags do not possess the capability of verifying whether a particular reader has the required permission to get hold of such information or not. This can result in jeopardizing private and confidential health information notified in the records of the hospital (Coustasse, et al., 2015).

The next factor is high cost of implementation. It is not just one small chip or a device, a hospital has to incur expenditure on the purchase of RFID tags, tag readers, software development and also on the maintenance of those systems with qualified engineers and supporting staff (Cho, et al., 2013). Although the initial purchasing cost is high, yet it becomes a profitable investment within one or two years because of the money that a hospital can save from the installation of the RFID technology. For example, the application of putting small tags on the sponges can eliminate the chance of leaving them behind during surgeries thus, not only saving the life of the patient but also saving themselves from expensive law suits and bad image (Coustasse, Tomblin and Slack, 2013). The supply chain management of a hospital definitely improves because the cost of replacing lost equipments and inventory can be saved by the use of this technology.

• RFID in Operation Rooms

In spite of having world class health care, Dubai still registered 500 cases of medical errors that had caused either serious health damage or many cases death for patients (The Nationals: UAE, 2014). This depicts how crucial it is to implement certain measure to prevent such damaging consequences. One such way is the use of RFID technology in the operating rooms of the hospital. There are other instances not only in Dubai but also around the world such as leaving behind sponge and other surgical instruments. An experiment undertaken by four Danish hospitals showed that they in order to keep a track of their medical equipments used in surgeries, utilized “Caretag’s reader and Xerafy’s RFID technology”. They had placed RFID tags on medical equipments and have also rigged the surgical trays with similar tags. They had installed software connecting all the relevant data regarding the requirement of surgical tools to the server of the hospitals. All the operating rooms consisted of readers so if the tray did not have needed surgical tools in a correct order, the information will be flashed in the computers. At the end of each surgery again the tray was placed under the reader so that they could know if any equipment is missing or not (SecureIdNews, 2007).

In the medical journal, the Archives of Surgery, a report of a survey was published which was conducted by the Stanford University School of Medicine regarding the use of RFID during surgeries to avoid medical errors (SecureIdNews, 2007). The most common item is a sponge that is used during surgeries to wipe away excess blood. Instances were noticed when such sponges were found within patient’s body resulting in serious health problems even after surgeries. In this survey, Eight cases trials were done where a doctor had previously placed a sponge with 20mm diameter RFID tag and a second surgeon was called, who was unaware of the presence of such sponge, to check with a reader. In all the eight cases sponge was successfully detected.

• Business Model Producing RFID Tools

A business is only successful when a company is able to sell the product to the customers to get positive return on the investment that he or she has made. The medium to connect the seller to the customer is determined by the business model. It can be a direct customer retailing or virtual retailing or a combination of both (Kuratko, 2016).

In Dubai, RFID technology has not introduced and this provides a huge scope for an entrepreneur to start up a business with the products of RFID. The health care sector shows the need of an innovative solution which can change the scenario to betterment. However, in order to earn profit, the entrepreneur will require making the hospital management authorities understand that such an investment from their end will only prove to be advantageous for them in the long-run. Here, an entrepreneur is required to engage in direct sale with the hospitals because this will make the task of educating the consumer easy. The clients were required to be aware of the value that use of RFID tool kits can create for them.

The hospital can save cost by using RFID tracking system. The cost of installation of RFID toolkits and wristbands ranges between $100,000 and $200,000. However, a hospital by using the said technology can trace its critical assets through its wireless system. In addition, researchers have estimated that for a 200-bed hospital using RFID, it can save around $600,000 each year (Coustasse, Tomblin, and Slack, 2013).

An entrepreneur using direct sale will be able to present the above mentioned impact of RFID technology to the Hospital. However, as the utility of such products gets popularised, the entrepreneur can use online platform as well. Dubai offers free zones for doing business and if a company is doing business within GCC countries then special discounts and relaxation in terms of licensing and regulatory fees is allowed. The market devoid of competition in Dubai, if exploited carefully can provide huge profit for the entrepreneur.

Figure 3: Working of RFID Technology

(Source: RFID Journal, 2005)

• Target Market and Customers

A business is run with the sole purpose of earning profit and this motive drives an entrepreneur to choose a product which will have the potential of earning profit for the company. Dubai offers an international standard of healthcare and maximum patients receiving treatment in the hospitals are expatriates. The healthcare system is quite expensive in Dubai although certain subsidies are provided for foreigners.

Figure 4: Total Hospitals in Dubai

(Source: Colliers, 2014)

Figure 5: Health Clinics in Dubai

(Source: Colliers, 2014)

However, the health care also shows certain alarming scenario. In one of the leading newspapers in Dubai, it was reported that rising incidents of medical error is a serious concern in the healthcare sector. As many as 500 such cases were reported in 2013 and it is a fact that in case of negligence on part of the hospital or staff, the management authorities tries to save their shoulder from the blame and many cases are not allowed to come to the public knowledge (The Nationals: UAE, 2014). The Dubai Court of Cassation, in one of their cases related to medical errors, had given the verdict in favour of the victim and had asked the concerned hospital to pay Dh1.5 million. The victim was a lady who had gone to get two surgeries done on her legs but due to the mistake committed by the surgeon, the lady had to undergo another surgery which resulted in permanent damage to her legs. This made her bound to a wheel chair for the rest of her life (Emirates24 /7 News, 2015).

Dubai’s healthcare scenario provides the necessity for an entrepreneur to step up and provide an innovative solution to make the necessary amendments. At present, there are no manufacturing units producing such technological solution for the hospitals in Dubai. This means that if a company decides to enter Dubai’ market with RFID technology, then it will have no competition; hence, there will be high chance of making profit. However, the entrepreneurs will also be required to make the management authority of hospitals to understand about the utility of such a technology and how it can be a way of saving cost in the long-run.

• Discussion and Analysis

The business model consists of five components but the main driving factor being profit. The market of Dubai offers opportunity for RFID technology to set a firm footing in the healthcare sector. The entire medical care system is handled manually in Dubai and hence, it provides greater scope for mistakes. Experts in UAE and also around the world believe that occurrences of such mistakes are often hided by the medical staff on board and the greatest contribution to these malpractices comes from employees at the lower level. The entire medical hierarchy is aware of the situation but all lend their support not in preventing but in hiding the evidences. The lowest level is helpless since they have the fear of unemployment. The healthcare system in Dubai follows a policy of ‘no blame’ which allows less if not nil accountability from the medical practitioners. Closing eyes from the face of ugly reality does not make any change while it only facilitates ways of future occurrence of such medical error (Patient Safety, 2015). Installation of RFID tools in the working of the hospitals will only ensure minimal human error. Although it involves huge initial cost, but the implementation will only have beneficial effect on the healthcare system.

This initial high cost is a limiting factor to the growth of the business of RFID manufacturing companies and hence, product prices will also be high. Against this backdrop, in order to earn profit from the production of RFID toolkits, the company will be required to make the customers (here, the hospitals and clinics of Dubai) aware of the potential value that the later might get after implementing such a technology in their daily business. This needs to be done through direct selling because if a client has any doubt regarding the working and effect of RFID incorporation, then it can be directly addressed by the company executives.

It is a fact that the hospital has to incur a substantial investment during installation of RFID but it will definitely seem low if the expensive law suits because of medical errors are included in the cost of running a hospital. The calculation from the research show that a hospital will be able to save $60,000 annually and this saving can make the hospital go for buying RFID tool kits.

If patients are aware that hospitals have incorporated such measures to provide greater safety to them it will not only build a good image of the hospital but also will increase trust of the patients in them. Under such circumstances, patients will not hesitate to pay for higher charges for the medical treatment. This will simultaneously lessen the cost burden of the hospital.

• Benefits and Outcomes

If the benefit is viewed from the perspective of the company that would like to enter the market of Dubai with the business model for RFID tools manufacturing then it will have huge prospect of earning profit by doing business with the hospitals and clinics.

On the other hand, if the benefit of the healthcare system is considered then, there are a number of things to count. Firstly, there will be fewer chances of medical errors. More lives can be saved as all the data will be directly linked from the hospital’s server. Secondly, if any medical equipment gets misplaced or stolen, then with the help of the reader and software they can be detected saving a substantial amount of the hospitals that they might have to incur because of buying the replacement equipments and tools. Thirdly, advanced infrastructure for the hospitals, such as, electronic record keeping which can help in more accurate medical records for the patients. Fourthly, this prevents counterfeiting and smuggling of medicines. Fifthly, improves the image of healthcare system and finally, saves the hospitals from expensive legalities.

• Conclusion and Recommendations

Dubai although having an international standard of healthcare, it is not totally free from medical errors. In 2013, there were 500 cases of such practices reported while the experts are of the opinion that most of the cases are not allowed to be reported by the hospital management. The current situation needs to be changed where the first step should be to change the culture of “no accountability” to a more responsible and technology oriented system.

As the old proverb says, “Necessity is the mother of invention”, the incorporation of RFID technology into the healthcare system of Dubai will be an innovative way of changing the current scenario to betterment. According to me, I would like to recommend manufacturing of RFID tool kits which will have microchips attached to the kits, while there will be tags attached to the equipments and sponges. If medical equipments are not returned to its rightful place then an alarm will go off, notifying the doctors and other medical staff that an error has occurred. The operation rooms should have RFID readers so that after a surgery is done, the surgeons can check whether there is any anomaly or not. The entry and exit points of the hospitals should have readers so as to detect any unauthorised trespasses. Patient on getting admitted should be asked to wear a RFID tagged wristband which will ensure their location and whereabouts; in case of emergency the alarm system will notify that help is needed. This technology can also be utilised to get to know what the hospital staff are doing. Wristbands with RFID chips can reveal if they are reluctant on their duty or not. This can bring great improvement in running of the hospital. Human error can occur due to negligence in one’s responsibility and RFID technology can prove to be a guard against such mistakes.

The installation of RFID tool kits not only save lives of patient but also allow the hospitals to depict a clean image by showing greater accountability to them. The hospitals can obtain so much benefit from installation of such a technology that over a few years, the initial cost may seem to be low. People only go to the hospitals when they are ill and expect that correct treatment will be provided and I feel it is definitely their right too. Technological innovation reduces the chances of human error and saves the priceless life of a human being and as far as Dubai health care is concerned then there is huge market opportunity for RFID technology in the country.

• Reference List

Ajami, S. and Rajabzadeh, A., 2013. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and patient safety. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences : The Official Journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 18(9), pp. 809–813.

Allianz, 2016. Healthcare in Dubai. [online] Available at: <http://www.allianzworldwidecare.com/healthcare-in-dubai > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

BMJ, 2016. Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. [online] Available at: < http://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139 > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

Cho, J., Cobbs, S., Curtis, E., Overton, K. and Render, M., 2013. Use of RFID in Healthcare Industry. [PDF] Available at: < http://www.aabri.com/OC2013Manuscripts/OC13056.pdf > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

Colliers, 2014. Dubai Healthcare Overview Growth Potential in a Competitive Market Environment. [PDF] Available at: <http://www.colliers.com/-/media/83e76364901e465986cbf44594578c2a.ashx?la=en-gb > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

Coustasse, A. DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH, Cunningham, B. MS, Deslich, S. MS, Willson, E. MBA,MHR,MS and Meadows, P. MS, BSMT(ASCP), 2015. Benefits and Barriers of Implementation and Utilization of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems in Transfusion Medicine. [online] Available at: < http://perspectives.ahima.org/benefits-and-barriers-of-implementation-and-utilization-of-radio-frequency-identification-rfid-systems-in-transfusion-medicine/ > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

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Emirates24 /7 News, 2015. Dubai woman awarded Dh1.5 million for surgeon’s mistake. [online] Available at: < http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/dubai-woman-awarded-dh1-5-million-for-surgeon-s-mistake-2015-06-01-1.592418 > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

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 Kuratko, D. F., 2016. Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, and Practice. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Mehrjerdi, Y. Z., 2010. RFID-enabled healthcare systems: risk-benefit analysis. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 4(3), pp. 282-300.

Morrison, J. A., 2007. A Case Study of the Implementation of Radio Frequency Identification Asset Visibility Tracking at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. [PDF] Available at: < http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a477517.pdf > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

Patient Safety, 2015. Medical errors may go unreported as some healthcare workers in the UAE fear consequences. [online] Available at: < http://www.patientsafety-me.com/en/Media/Press-Releases/All/Press-Release-Folder/Medical-errors-may-go-unreported-as-some-healthcare-workers-in-the-UAE-fear-consequences-/ > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

RFID Journal, 2005. RFID System Components and Costs. [online] Available at: < https://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?1336> [Accessed 16 June 2016].

SecureIdNews, 2007. Is RFID in the operating room a “Sponge worthy” idea? [online] Available at: < http://www.secureidnews.com/news-item/is-rfid-in-the-operating-room-a-spongeworthy-idea/> [Accessed 16 June 2016].

Statista, 2016. Projected size of the global market for RFID tags from 2010 to 2020. [online] Available at: < http://www.statista.com/statistics/299966/size-of-the-global-rfid-market/ > [Accessed 16 June 2016].

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Tosh, P. K., Feldman, H., Christian, M. D., Devereaux, A. V., Kissoon, N. and Dichter, J. R., 2014. Business and Continuity of Operations: Care of the Critically Ill and Injured During Pandemics and Disasters: CHEST Consensus Statement. Chest, 146(4), pp.103–117.