Framework for establishing asset visibility and traceability of medical devices
Name
1192462574-MIT.pdf
Size
5.97 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
fee5fd278cdbfae80e9f5b28b385b6a8
Author(s)
Smith, Abigail J.(Abigail Joanne)
Advisor(s)
Yossi Sheffi.
Date Issued
2020
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
As support grows for price transparency and universal healthcare, pressure rises on the American healthcare system to administer better care at lower prices. Within this broad goal, many healthcare providers and medical device suppliers seek technological and operational improvements to their management of reusable and implantable medical devices. Medical devices are the tools and implants used by surgeons and hospital staff to diagnose and treat patients. After years of high profit margins, many inefficient processes have developed within the medical device supply chain obscuring instrument location and use from all members of the industry. The limited visibility of these devices engenders problems including avoidable surgical infections, unnecessary logistic expenses, and waste in tool sterilization processes. To find a solution for the industry at-large, this thesis analyzes device management programs and technologies undertaken by different manufacturers and hospitals. Through industry expert and stakeholder interviews and a review of news articles and research literature, this thesis assesses the technological requirements, and it recommends an architecture for an effective asset visibility and traceability solution to medical device management in the US.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Transportation Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, May, 2020
Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 103-115).
Subjects
Civil and Environmental Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.
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