![]() RFID systems greatly streamline inventory and asset tracking, virtually eliminating human error while providing instant, detailed records of the movement of assets. Tags can be read using handheld or mobile readers, shelf or tabletop readers, or readers that can be installed at doorways or in portal configurations.Ī line of sight is not required – tags can be read automatically, even through packaging materials and in transit, whenever moving items or people come within range of a reader. Each tag is encoded with a unique identifier that is tied to a database. Radio frequency identification, or RFID, uses radio waves to communicate between an RFID reader and an electronic tag affixed to an object. You need a system that is flexible enough to resolve your greatest pain point, but scalable enough to grow as your needs change.įor many healthcare providers, that solution is RFID. You need a system for automatically tracking equipment and people – one that does not rely on the energies of your already over-taxed clinical staff for its success. To maximize your efficiency and reduce waste, you need to know what you have, where you have it and where it needs to go. Providers must find practical ways to balance patient freedom with patient safety. Yet another was not so lucky an elderly woman with dementia disappeared from her hospital room one evening and was found the next morning on the hospital roof. A patient with a brain injury wandered away from his hospital room and was finally found, still in the hospital, after a three-day search. In one case, a man being treated for mental illness simply walked out of a hospital hours before his scheduled commitment proceeding. hospitals every year – and each one is a potential lawsuit in the making.Īmbulatory patients need the freedom to walk around the facility in order to recover effectively, but those with mental challenges and neurological disorders are at risk of wandering and going missing. Researchers say about 100 babies are switched at birth in U.S. If more of those purchases could be anticipated and routinized, significant savings would be possible.ĭespite the many carefully designed plans for efficiently tracking and identifying patients, mistakes still happen. In addition, about 40% of a typical hospital’s pharmacy spend is used to purchase rush order, non-contract items. To protect against running short in an emergency, the average hospital “over spares” many consumables such as dressings and instruments by approximately 30%, tying up capital that could be put to better use elsewhere. Inefficiency also affects inventory management. It’s no wonder that many hospitals are having a difficult time complying with government and manufacturer regulations on equipment maintenance. As often as not, when the item is found, it is in use or otherwise unavailable for servicing. Yet according to experts, up to 75% of maintenance time is spent searching for the item. Regularly scheduled maintenance according to manufacturers’ specifications is necessary to ensure medical devices are performing effectively. ![]() That’s at an average cost of nearly $3,000 per item. AMR Research estimates that between 10% and 20% of a typical hospital’s mobile assets are lost or stolen during their useful life. Most healthcare providers would agree that their operations could benefit from improved efficiency, especially in managing vast supplies of medical equipment. It must be a critical component of their mission. The pressure, demand and challenges of controlling costs while delivering quality care will continue to accelerate.Īnd that means, for healthcare providers, efficiency is not merely good fiscal practice. Legislators, regulators and payers all have an interest and often their policies affect both clinical and business decisions. Yet cost of care is a serious concern to them.Īt the same time, you and your caregivers do not function as autonomously as a typical business. First, patients are not typical consumers – they do not always decide when and where they will seek care, the type of care they will get, how much to pay for it or how urgently they need it. Healthcare is a business unlike any other. What does it cost if each patient spends just one extra hour in a heavy resource use area like the emergency department or the ICU, waiting for that empty bed to be reported as available? Nearly 90% of all hospital patients will require an IV, but overstocking to compensate for lost or misplaced infusion pumps can cost the typical hospital $150,000 or more annually. FOCUS MORE OF YOUR VALUABLE TIME AND RESOURCES ON PATIENT CAREĪ wheel chair costs about $150, but in a week, a hospital’s staff can spend up to $7,000 in clinical time just searching for one.
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