ABSTRACT
Expert opinion/validation from the industry sector indicates that in Australian hospitals, the nurse is the most powerful and influential factor in technology translation. This chapter addresses the sociotechnical gap evident in academic literature pertaining to radio frequency identification (RFID) technology adoption in Australian hospitals and augments the body of knowledge concerning innovation translation in health informatics informed by actor-network theory (ANT) analysis. The ANT lens visualizes that RFID was facilitating the renegotiation and improvement of network relationships between the people involved as well as the technology. Elements of ANT were incorporated into the conceptual framework, thereby visualizing the interplay that occurred between actors. The sociotechnical factors or actors in the milieu hold the key to effective RFID deployment in the Australian context. The problem that is being analyzed is as to why RFID technology deployments are being unsuccessful within Australian hospitals, particularly when it is regarded as a technology that is relatively unobtrusive to hospital operations.
