Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Mar 03, 2010 @ 08:05 AM
The annual ACCA Cardiovascular Leadership conference gets underway next week at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, GA. Always a hot topic, healthcare reform opens the door's to this year's conference.
Opening keynote speaker, Jack Lewin, MD, CEO, American College of Cardiology, will offer an insider's view of the healthcare reform agenda, including how current legislation could affect your organization. Addressing the tough issues-from disparities to cost-effectiveness to physician payment-Dr. Lewin reviews ACC tools and initiatives to help you implement evidence-based guidelines, measure quality and improve patient care. Also, hear how to prepare yourself to face the increased scrutiny of the CMS Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program.
One of the few conferences focused on the issues and concerns relevant to cardiovascular administrators, here are 4 reasons you should consider attending ACCA this year:
•Pre-conference tour of CDC with a guided tour from Belinda Minta, MPH, MBA, Program Consultant, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, CDC - Health Perspective on Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.
•Listen to top keynote speakers address pressing healthcare issues including healthcare reform and new reimbursement models.
•Network with other administrators and build relationships with a peer group that can become your sounding board and think tank as you face future challenges.
•Browse the exhibit floor to learn about new technologies, products, and listen to poster demonstrations hand-picked by editorial staff for their relevance in providing valuable insights to cardiovascular administrators.
Memorial Healthcare System in Chattanooga, TN will be presenting a poster on how RFID in healthcare is helping to reduce costs and improve care in the cath lab. To learn more, read this article.
Visit the ACCA Conference page for event details.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Thu, Feb 25, 2010 @ 07:11 AM
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and co-sponsor American Society for Quality, introduced the Stories of Success! case study program to share quality and patient safety improvement success stories.
The Stories of Success project is focused on linking the use of HIT with two major national initiatives to generate change, The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals and the National Priorities Partnership recommendations for national focus for improvement activities. Stories of Success! showcases outstanding accomplishments in the adoption and use of information technology to achieve improved patient safety, quality, effectiveness and efficiency. The chosen case studies highlight the fulfillment of the national priorities established by the National Priorities Partnership (NPP) and The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG).
Six "Tier 1" applicants (the most informative submissions aligned with the Stories of Success! purpose) were chosen, one of which highlights the use of RFID to manage inventory of critical medical supplies. Read the Mercy Medical Center case study and learn how RFID is improving patient safety in their Cath and EP labs.
"With the submissions we received, those who are using IT every day showed us and identified how technology helps support the six priorities of National Priorities Partnership and The Joint Commission's national patient safety goals and priorities. These from-the-field examples, focused on national quality and performance improvement, pinpointed technology's positive impact on the lives of patients," said Louis H. Diamond, M.B.Ch.B., F.A.C.P., F.C.P. (S.A.), chair of the HIMSS NPP/JC (National Priorities Partnership/The Joint Commission) Work Group that is leading this project.
Read about the Stories of Success project
Read the chosen case studies
To learn how RFID can help your facility improve patient safety, read the Mercy Medical Center case study.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 @ 01:02 PM
Oftentimes, inventory management strategies are forgotten on the collegiate steps. However, the lack of visibility and control of inventory will surely get the MBA-types excited, but for the wrong reasons.
In a nutshell, inventory is money. Too much inventory and cash is tied up, affecting future purchases. Too little and you may be losing customers or paying a premium to rush orders. The absence of good inventory management practices could also lead to theft, damage, lost products, obsolescence and worse, a compromise to patient safety.
If you are experiencing any of the following, it may be time to rethink your inventory management strategy.
- Overstocks-too many products sitting on the shelf. If you don't have a method to understanding demand and usage, then you can easily be left paying for products that will never be used/reimbursed.
- Understocks/increased backorders-not enough product or product still in transit. If you don't have what you need, when you need it, then patient care levels may diminish.
- Product obsolescence-products exceeding their expiration life (or have been recalled) are still on the shelves. If there is no means to accurately track lot and serial #s of products, then inventory write-offs will increase and patient safety is compromised.
- Theft/Waste/Loss - the removal, authorized or not, of product from receivables inventory. If you don't have a way to monitor where product is stored, when it is used, and for whom, then charge capture rates decrease.
Preventing stock-outs without overstocking products requires a disciplined process and an information system that can dynamically manage this balance. Optimizing inventories can be accomplished with visibility and accuracy of information in the healthcare supply chain.
To learn how RFID can ensure the availability of the right products at the right time for the right person, read this case study.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Feb 10, 2010 @ 12:18 PM
RFID has gained significant traction in the healthcare market. Many publications are dedicated to delivering content about RFID, while others report regularly on the technology. By knowing the identity, location and conditions of assets, tools, inventory, people and more, organizations can optimize workflow and reduce operational costs. Bookmark these 4 sites to learn more about RFID in healthcare:
RFID Journal For eight years, RFID Journal has been the trusted source that potential users of the technology turn to for objective information. The Web site features thousands of free news articles, as well as opinion pieces, expert views, videos, white papers and more. RFID Journal hosts the RFID in Healthcare events in January and September, with its flagship event -RFID Journal Live--in April, having a special Healthcare track.
RFID Monthly RFID Monthly covers recent industry developments, including industry commentary and thought leadership articles as well as a summary of relevant news flow. Healthcare has been an increasingly important area for RFID adoption as more hospitals and providers consider investing in automatic identification technology for asset management, operating room inventory management and specimen tracking. RFID Monthly offers a quick and easy summary on the latest industry and healthcare news and comment.
Switchboard Media Is a community dedicated to providing educational content and news items to its visitors and subscribers. The website offers a section dedicated to healthcare, along with ROI success stories. You can also ask the expert to have your questions answered.
RFID in Healthcare Consortium The RFID in Healthcare Consortium (www.rfidinhealthcare.org) is organized under the auspices of The RFID Educational Foundation, a non-profit charitable educational institution. The vision of the RFID Healthcare Consortium is to globally advocate the safe and effective use of wireless-based technologies in healthcare delivery.
The following sites offer an in-depth look at the technology, how it works, standards, and more.
Aim Global
MIT Auto-ID Center
EPC Global
To learn more about how RFID is used in hospitals, watch these videos.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Feb 03, 2010 @ 07:11 AM
The RFID in Healthcare show in Dallas last week highlighted many uses of RFID. As in past years, the emphasis was again on asset tracking and using active and UHF tags. There was, however, one presentation that excited attendees with its proven success in using item-level HF RFID tracking to streamline workflow for clinicians.
The implementation of RFID for hospital inventory management has provided this particular hospital with the automation and information necessary to enable clinicians to be better clinicians.
Streamlined Clinical Processes = Better care for patients
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Nurses and techs are now confident when the physician asks for a particular product, they will have it readily available. Automated RFID tracks product usage and recommends par levels, ensuring the right products are always available. Prior to RFID, nurses and techs sometimes had to leave the procedure room - making multiple trips daily to other buildings or down the stairs - in search of a particular product needed for a case
- Clinicians are able to stay in the room longer with patients, post-op. Physical counts are completed every 20 minutes by the RFID cabinets and procedure rooms are easily restocked using an automated restocking report - even 2 - 3 times per day, freeing nurses from the duty of counting products before and after each procedure
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Nurses can confidently pull any product from the shelf and be relieved of the constant worry of an expired or recalled product reaching a patient. Automated expiration and recall management, with built in safety alerts, is available with RFID. 
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Documenting cases is accurate and fully automated with the integration of RFID inventory control with other hospital systems. Nurses are no longer burdened with manual data entry; just a wave the box sends product barcode and serial/lot # to the appropriate hospital information systems for billing, replenishment and clinical documentation
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Job satisfaction for nurses has improved dramatically. Nurses are happier being nurses and not worrying about supplies.
Read a case study article on how RFID is improving patient care through nurse satisfaction.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Jan 27, 2010 @ 11:11 AM
WaveMark CTO, Jean-Claude Saghbini, responds to recent FDA testing of RFID in a clinical setting.
Dear WaveMark Friend,
You may have recently read about tests conducted by the FDA to assess the reaction of ICDs and pacemakers to RFID. At the frequency used by WaveMark, 13.56MHz HF, the study concluded that a small fraction of pacemakers and ICDs (6% and 1% respectively) exhibit some form of a reaction at short distances. The conclusion of the FDA study stated: "We do not believe the current situation reveals an urgent public health risk."
WaveMark uses low power passive HF RFID and the system is designed such that the active electromagnetic field is retained within the smart cabinet. We are awaiting the details of the study to be published, in order to better understand the power levels used during the testing and the design of the tests. Meanwhile, we are confident in the basic design principles of the WaveMark system of low power and confined electromagnetic field, fully supported by the fact that we are approaching six years of clinical deployments with no known adverse interactions. We are also encouraged by the FDA's general conclusion that the current situation does not reveal urgent public health risks.
Our commitment to patient safety is one of the founding principles of our inception and mission. We take great pride in our ability to deliver real-time product visibility, providing nurses and techs with the confidence that expired and recalled products never reach a patient. The automated tracking of product use ensures the right mix of products is always available and hands-free tracking allows clinicians to spend more time caring for patients and less time with administrative tasks.
We are fully confident that we have a safe and clinically-friendly system. We will continue our due diligence in this research, while continuing our focus on providing our customers the best solution and service in the industry.
We will keep you apprised of any new developments. We welcome your discussion.
Sincerely,
Jean-Claude Saghbini
CTO, WaveMark, Inc.
Read about RFID standards that were recently approved and have always been supported by WaveMark solutions.
ANSI Approves HIBCC Standard That Addresses RFID/Medical Device Safety Concerns Health Industry Business Communication Council, July 31, 2009
Attend RFID in Healthcare Conference, January 28, 2010
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Jan 20, 2010 @ 09:44 AM
John Wass clears up some common confusion between the acronyms RTLS and RFID. Each is widespread in healthcare, yet many do not understand the differences and where best to apply each.
"The way to think about this is that RFID is a technology and RTLS is a solution. Using the term RFID is like saying that you are using electricity. It tells you what powers the solution, it does not tell you what the solution is. It is the difference between a gas powered lawn mower and an electric lawn mower. Both mow the lawn, one uses electricity, while the other uses internal combustion as the powering technology.
RTLS on the other hand, describes a solution, Real-Time Location System, which allows you to find assets in real-time inside your hospital. RTLS solves a major problem for hospitals, namely finding wheel chairs, infusion pumps, and other items, quickly and easily. RFID is one of many technologies that can power RTLS, other technologies are ultrasound, and infrared."
What are the key distinctions/distinguishing factors between RFID and RTLS?
"The more appropriate question is: what is the difference between RTLS and Inventory/Supply Chain Management? The use of RFID as an enabling technology is available to both. That being said, RTLS is primarily used for the real-time locating of people and capital-intensive, mobile items such as medical equipment, furniture, and computers inside the hospital.
Inventory/supply chain management solutions are used to control, track, and trace inventory from the point of manufacture to the point of use in the hospital. Across the healthcare supply chain, RFID is being used to provide visibility into product availability and replenishment needs of high value consumable items such as stents, pacemakers, replacement joints, etc. used in cardiac cath labs, operating rooms and other interventional suites in the hospital."
Where should each be used to provide the greatest benefit to patients?
"If we continue with the notion that RTLS and inventory management are the solutions we are comparing, then RTLS is more appropriate than inventory management for identifying the location of people and critical mobile equipment. When a particular piece of equipment is mobile (wheelchairs, IV pumps, and gurneys) and doesn't necessarily have a specific "home" location, it's easy to lose track of where it is when you need it. Capital intensive equipment which has a relatively long life cycle in a hospital can easily be found with a real-time location tracking system.
Inventory management is preferred over RTLS for the tracking of high-value consumable medical products and supplies. In the case of medical devices, tracking the on hand quantity and the use of individual products is important to ensure the right product is always available for a procedure and that the use of the item is accurately captured. RFID makes it easy to monitor and control inventory levels, usage patterns and replenishment needs, providing a more efficient workflow for clinical staff. With RFID, critical product details including lot and expiration date can be tracked for each individual item, improving patient safety and increasing regulatory compliance."
Learn more about the benefits of RFID for inventory tracking. An RN shares her experiences with RFID.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Jan 13, 2010 @ 11:18 AM
When it comes to managing inventory in a specialty department such as the cath lab, a variety of systems are in use. From the cost effective, yet cumbersome and error-prone manual system, to semi-automated bar code, to a more fully automated RFID solution, departments use a variety of means to manage inventory for regulatory compliance. The Joint Commission, an accreditation and regulatory body, has developed and documented specific protocols for compliance to achieve their National Patient Safety Goals.
"Errors are usually the result of a breakdown in a process, ... medical errors can still occur even when extensive systems and safety infrastructure processes are in place," said Peter Angood, MD, FRCS(C), FACS, FCCM, chief patient safety officer and a vice president for The Joint Commission.
With respect to inventory in specialty departments, here are 3 tips that can help you maintain compliance by automating the process of locating products:
- Real-time expiration tracking - Nowadays, many implantables have expiration dates for identify safe use. Unlike everyday food products that have a "sell by date" with an acceptable "use by date" of several days later, an expiration date on an implantable is a hard date. To be in compliance, labs cannot have any product with an expiration date older than today's date on the shelves. Having such can put patients at risk.
Many hospitals are having great success using RFID to track products and their individual expiration dates. The use of RFID enables individual item-level tracking where expiration dates are captured upon receipt at the hospital and then monitored throughout the lifecycle. RFID allows for the real-time tracking of expiration dates and subsequently an alert system to be implemented. While staff still needs to be trained in the process of capturing and tracking dates, a major obstacle has been removed with the automation of product visibility.
- Product recall locator - Whether it's issued by the FDA or the manufacturer, product recalls need to be addressed with the utmost efficiency. The greatest challenge in swiftly responding to recalls is knowing exactly where such items are stored-in which procedure rooms and/or store rooms and on which shelves-to ensure prompt removal.
RFID has proved to be an effective technology for recall management, again, because of its item-level tracking capability. RFID allows for the lot and serial #s of each individual item to be tracked and made accessible for easy look-up to everyone responsible for inventory management. The capture and tracking of individual items enables staff to identify exactly where a recall product is located, and remove it expeditiously.
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Know Universal Protocol procedures - The Joint Commission published the Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure and Wrong Person SurgeryTM as a result of frequent medical errors, and in an effort to improve patient safety. While the specific wording of the Universal Protocol does not state the verification of the availability of specific items to be used in a case, many departments have included such in their time-out procedures.
Hospitals are also using RFID to track product usage. This information is used to match inventory levels with usage patterns to smooth order patterns and enable departments to ensure the right products are available at the right time.
For a more complete listing of compliance regulations, please check with your Quality team and refer to the Joint Commission's website.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Jan 06, 2010 @ 10:12 AM
1. Diligently track expiration dates
Specialty departments are seeing an increased number of implantable products with limited shelf lives. With the trend towards medicated implantables, the need to track expiration dates is ever pressing. When items are received, make a note of their expiration dates and store items in such a way that you can easily track and monitor dates. Be diligent about how often expiration dates are checked and rotate products with shorter life expectancies so they get used first.
2. Logically store items so you know where to find them in case of recall
Although we like to think the likelihood of a recall is slim, it is a reality that needs to be prepared for. While arranging items in a logical order may sound obvious, it is no trivial task when you consider how your logic may differ from the physician scrubbing in for his next procedure, or the Rad tech prepping the room next door. With input and buy-in from others, organize and store the array of products in a manner that will allow you and others to easily locate a specific item by lot or serial number in case of recall.
3. Faithfully replenish items when used
Just as you would replace the milk in your refrigerator, be acutely aware of products being used in your department and generate timely replenishment orders. Making sure the right products are available at the right time is at the core of patient safety.
4. Continuously monitor product usage trends
While the billing department will tell you it's important to track products being used for reimbursement purposes, administrator and savvy inventory clerks will say that same information is needed to analyze product usage. Identifying trends and understanding usage patterns enables departments to satisfy physician preferences, establish par levels, smooth ordering patterns and monitor outcomes.
5. Seamlessly integrate existing hospital systems
The Holy Grail for administrators is to have a seamless integration between all hospital information systems from billing to ordering to recall management. Capturing information at the source and sharing downstream data yields patient safety improvements, cost containment and regulatory compliance.
At first glance, these tips may seem elementary; however, departments are continuously challenged with how to achieve inventory visibility. Some specialty departments are handling inventory management with manual tools, making it virtually impossible to be aware of every expiration date on every product. Many departments have done the financial analysis to justify automating these processes. Not only have these hospitals seen a reduction in costs, the patient safety and clinical workflow improvements are exemplary.
To learn how one nurse was able to turn her department around by automating inventory management tasks, read her article in the December issue of Cath Lab Digest.
Posted by Colleen Terry on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 @ 01:32 PM
The clock is ticking ever so quickly towards the New Year. The final post of 2009 is a look at attending an RFID conference in 2010 to hear real-life case study information on the benefits of RFID in healthcare. As RFID continues to gain significant traction in the healthcare supply chain, one of the leading authorities on RFID, RFID Journal Live, is again hosting a one day conference in January specifically on how RFID is used in healthcare. This conference could provide some valuable insights for hospitals considering the use of RFID technology in the new year.
While RFID is a technology its applications solving specific healthcare challenges continues its rapid growth. Two such applications are RTLS (real-time location tracking) and RTIM (real-time inventory management) as a means to track assets-the former for capital equipment and the later for managing consumable inventory. While the acronyms RFID, RTLS and RTIM are often confused, each has a distinct meaning and offers unique benefits for its specific application. Attending a conference-whether virtual or in person, could be the right venue to learn how best to understand the acronyms and apply the technology in your healthcare setting. Or, subscribe to our blog and we'll push that info to you in a few weeks. Whichever conference format you prefer, be sure to confirm the session agenda and speaker panel will provide the depth and breadth of information you need.
- Session Topics: At the top of most medical technology conference agendas is patient safety. To justify the expense of technology, patient safety improvements should be easily recognizable. In addition to better care, improved clinical workflow, reduced inventory costs, increased revenues, and regulatory compliance round out the important session topics you'll want to consider attending.
- Featured Speakers: Look for a variety of speakers that can offer different perspectives on how RFID is being used in various departments within a hospital, healthcare setting, or medical device and equipment manufacturer. Unless the conference is strictly clinical, speakers at different levels within an organization and representing clinical as well as administrative areas should be invited.
To compile a list of conferences, consider a Google search: RFID in Healthcare conferences
Download a presentation given at last year's RFID in Healthcare conference.
Happy New Year!