A post‐retail consumer application of RFID in medical supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to investigate the feasibility of using radio frequency identification (RFID) total asset visibility technologies for post‐consumer monitoring and ordering of medical supplies.Design/methodology/approach – A laboratory experiment in a consumer context was designed. This involved the application of RFID tag technology for glucose monitoring and supply management.Findings – It was found that embedded RFID monitoring of blood glucose levels can be used to effectively monitor and help manage patient care. An integrated system of monitoring and management with an effective medical supply chain information system is presented.Research limitations/implications – The laboratory study provides initial validation of the merits of the approach. Extensive human field‐testing would still be required prior to any strong inference about the viability of the technology in this application.Practical implications – The findings provide a directly relevant system design template for hom...