Identifying key factors of adopting an RFID system in nursing care using DEMATEL-based ANP

Technology in an aging society can reduce the impact of the shortage of health care workers, with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology quite suitable for solving the issue of a labor shortage in the nursing care industry. This study constructs an evaluation model for adopting RFID in nursing care, using a hybrid modified multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) and dividing it into three stages: (1) selecting important factors by the modified Delphi method; (2) constructing the causal diagram through Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL); and (3) exploring the weights of the factors utilizing DEMATEL-based ANP (DANP). The results show that one should consider five dimensions, which contain twenty-four criteria, when adopting an RFID system in nursing care. Moreover, the most influential dimension is technology. The dimension that is most related to the other dimensions is cost, whereas organization is considered the most important dimension. The contribution of this study is to define the key dimensions and criteria for adopting an RFID system by the nursing care industry. This study also constructs an evaluation model that can be used as a guidance for decision making in a nursing care facility that adopts an RFID system.