What’s inside:
EMU Health modernized its ASC medication management and supply tracking by replacing paper workflows with AI-powered automation across medications, controlled substances, supplies, and instruments.
Implementing IDENTI Medical’s Automated Dispensing Cabinet and Snap&Go resulted in:
- Eliminated manual narcotic counts and paper logbooks
- Reduced expired medications to 0% since implementation
- Documented 7,093 additional supply items in six months
- Enabled same-day identification of missing instruments
Modernizing ASC Medication Management and Supply Tracking at EMU Health
EMU Health, a premier dual Diagnostic & Treatment Center and multi-specialty Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) in New York, set out to modernize its medication and supply management systems across the facility, including controlled substances, high-value surgical supplies, and instruments.
Leadership recognized an opportunity to move from paper-based tracking to complete digital visibility, increasing accuracy and efficiency through automation. Their goal was to create a safer, more reliable, and data-driven environment that optimized their clinical workflow while strengthening ASC medication and supply management without adding burden to staff.
Goals: Improving ASC Medication Management and Supply Tracking
The goal was to replace manual workflows with automation that would strengthen ASC medication management and supply tracking while improving visibility, compliance, and efficiency for clinical teams.
To support this shift, EMU Health partnered with IDENTI Medical to implement a combined solution: IDENTI’s AI-powered Automated Dispensing Cabinet (ADC) for medications and narcotics, along with the Snap&Go solution for point-of-use documentation.
These technologies enabled EMU to transition from paper-based routines to an integrated digital ecosystem, strengthening oversight and enhancing operational performance. For EMU Health, adopting digital systems was not simply an upgrade; it was a strategic decision to eliminate the variability and time burden of manual processes, enhance patient safety, and support high-quality care.
CHALLENGE: Manual Medication and Inventory Workflows in the ASC
The primary objective was to replace manual workflows with automated systems that would improve ASC medication and supply management, enhance visibility, and support compliance without slowing down clinical teams.
Medication Accountability and Manual Workflows
Before implementing IDENTI solutions, EMU Health managed controlled substances through a traditional paper logbook system. Two clinicians conducted manual narcotic counts twice daily, documented usage by hand, and reconciled inventory at the end of the day.
These labor-intensive routines consumed valuable clinical time, introduced opportunities for human error, and offered limited real-time visibility into medication usage or billing accuracy. Routine expiration checks created additional administrative workload and increased the potential for waste.
Key challenges significantly impacted the hospital, including:
- Twice-daily narcotic counts require two clinicians
- Fully handwritten documentation
- Limited billing and audit visibility
- Monthly expiration checks consume significant staff time
- Increased administrative burden
Leadership determined that these workflows were no longer sustainable for a high-performing ASC focused on patient safety and operational excellence.
Perioperative Supply and Instrument Tracking Gaps
In the perioperative environment, EMU Health relied on manual documentation for high-cost surgical supplies, including implants and other key items. While generally effective, this approach introduced the risk of missed documentation and incomplete patient association, particularly in fast-paced surgical settings. As a multi-specialty ASC committed to strong financial accuracy and supply oversight, EMU Health began looking for a more automated approach to help ensure these important items were consistently and efficiently documented.
Key contributing factors included:
- Heavy reliance on manual documentation
- Risk of missed charges or incomplete patient association
- Need for consistent, automated tracking of high-cost supplies
Leadership Objectives
Leadership aimed to strengthen accuracy and visibility across medication and surgical supply workflows throughout the ASC.
Solution: Automating ASC Medication Management and Supply Tracking
The combined IDENTI solution created a unified approach to ASC medication management and supply tracking, connecting medications, surgical supplies, and instruments into a single digital ecosystem.
One Platform, Two Systems, Complete Visibility
EMU Health implemented two IDENTI technologies: the Automated Dispensing Cabinet for managing narcotics and controlled substances, and Snap&Go for point-of-use documentation of surgical supplies. These systems automatically collect structured data and feed it into the AI-powered IDENTIPlatform, creating a seamless, end-to-end digital ecosystem to transform operational accuracy, financial visibility, and clinical efficiency.
Automated Dispensing Cabinet for Controlled Substances
As the first facility in the United States to install the medication cabinet, EMU Health transitioned seamlessly from paper-based narcotic tracking to fully digital, cloud-connected accountability. The ADC establishes a complete chain of custody, documenting every step in a medication’s lifecycle: from procurement and storage to dispensing, administration, and disposal. Staff adopted the system quickly, noting its simplicity, reliability, and the ease of incorporating it into their daily routines.
Key capabilities of the ADC include:
- Facial recognition for secure, user-specific access, ensuring that each interaction with controlled substances is tied to an identifiable clinician
- Automated, real-time inventory tracking that removes the need for handwritten logs and routine manual counts
- Instant visibility into usage data and automated expiration alerts, enabling proactive oversight
- Audit-ready digital records that ensure consistent, accurate documentation and strengthen billing integrity
- Full internal integration with EMU’s Surgical Information Systems (SIS), Active Directory (AD), and patient list
The ADC for medication also established a clear digital chain of custody for every controlled substance. Each access is automatically logged with user identity, time, medication type, and quantity, creating a continuous closed-loop process that provides a complete documentation trail, eliminating ambiguity, and reinforcing controlled substance stewardship.
Snap&Go for Point-of-Use Supply and Instrument Tracking
Snap&Go was initially introduced to support accurate charge capture for high-cost surgical supplies. Its AI-powered computer vision enables clinicians to document supply usage with a simple photo taken at the point of use, ensuring items are properly captured, documented, and linked to the correct patient.
Shortly after implementation, EMU Health identified an additional tracking opportunity. The team realized the same workflow could help address a long-standing challenge: tracking the utilization and rotation of reusable surgical handpieces. This expanded use emerged organically as staff observed how naturally Snap&Go fit into existing routines.
The Sterile Processing Department (SPD) began conducting a single end-of-day scan of a count sheet listing usage of a specific high-speed dental drill. This one scan captured complete daily utilization, providing clear insight into how often it was used and whether any units were missing at the end of the day.
Through this extension of Snap&Go, EMU Health gained new actionable insights, which had been nearly impossible to obtain through manual workflows, making this organically discovered use case one of the most impactful outcomes of Snap&Go, including:
- First-ever traceability into instrument rotation, ensuring balanced use of high-value handpieces
- Identification of over- or under-utilized instruments that were previously difficult to track
- Improved awareness of wear patterns and maintenance needs for proactive care
- Same-day identification of missing instruments, strengthening accountability, and reducing loss
IDENTIPlatform for Real-Time Visibility and Reporting
All data captured by the ADC and Snap&Go flows into the IDENTIPlatform™, a cloud-based dashboard that consolidates data and transforms it into actionable insights. Through the platform, EMU Health can access real-time custom reports that summarize supply utilization by patient or procedure, highlight usage patterns, and flag inventory needing attention. Interactive dashboards reveal consumption trends and item availability, supporting operational planning, reducing waste, and ensuring critical items are always available.
The IDENTIPlatform serves as the analytical backbone of ASC medication management and supply tracking, consolidating data from medications, supplies, and instruments into a single actionable view.
Within the IDENTIPlatform, EMU relies on several core reports standard across ADC installations. The most frequently used are:
- Refill Pick Report displaying current cabinet inventory for efficient restocking
- All Events Report capturing complete cabinet activity, including fills, removals, returns, and adjustments
- Custom Inventory Daily Status report providing a consistent, time-stamped snapshot to support reconciliation and oversight
Together, the data collected from the ADC and Snap&Go, combined with the intelligence of the IDENTIPlatform, create a unified digital framework that significantly strengthens EMU Health’s operational visibility, oversight, and accountability.
Process: Implementing Automation Across Medication and Supply Workflows
IDENTI worked closely with EMU Health to implement automation that would support scalable ASC medication management and supply tracking with minimal disruption to daily operations. Implementation was efficient, and staff training was streamlined due to the intuitive design of both solutions.
For the ADC, IDENTI configured medication profiles, user permissions, and reporting while fully integrating the cabinet with EMU Health’s Surgical Information Systems (SIS), Active Directory (AD), and patient lists. This ensured every medication interaction was securely linked to the correct clinician and patient, supporting end-to-end accountability without requiring manual reconciliation.
Snap&Go was deployed rapidly without requiring integration into hospital information systems, enabling point-of-use capture to begin almost immediately. IDENTI supported EMU’s organic expansion of Snap&Go from supply documentation to instrument utilization tracking, demonstrating the flexibility of the solution.
Sterile Processing Department (SPD) staff incorporated a simple scanning step into their established routine without slowing down operations. At the end of each day, staff completed a count sheet documenting high-speed drill usage and scanned it once using Snap&Go. This single scan captured the full day’s utilization, instantly creating a reliable digital record without adding time or complexity, an essential consideration in a high-throughput ASC environment.
Throughout implementation and beyond, IDENTI remained responsive to EMU Health’s feedback, ensuring both systems continued to meet EMU Health’s operational expectations and adjusting configurations as their needs evolved. This collaborative approach ensured the solution not only launched successfully but also continued to deliver long-term value and trust across clinical and administrative teams.
Results: Measurable Improvements in ASC Medication Management and Supply Tracking
The transition from manual to automated workflows delivered measurable improvements across clinical operations, compliance, and financial performance, demonstrating the impact of modern ASC medication management and supply tracking.
Medication Management
- Complete elimination of manual narcotic counts and paper logbooks
- Automated tracking reduced expired medications to 0% since implementation
- Full clinician-level accountability with timestamped digital records
- Strengthened compliance and improved billing accuracy
- Approximately 7.5 staff hours saved per month by eliminating manual narcotic counts
- Reduced administrative burden, allowing clinicians to focus more on patient care
Instrument & Supply Management
- 100% documentation of previously untracked supplies, such as crowns and space maintainers
- 7,093 additional supply items documented over six months
- Same-day identification and resolution of missing instruments
- Data-driven maintenance and rotation practices to extend instrument life
- Streamlined workflows with no added staff burden
CONCLUSION
By deploying IDENTI’s Automated Dispensing Cabinet, Snap&Go platform, and AI-powered IDENTIPlatform, EMU Health transformed its ASC medication management and supply tracking, including medication storage, supply documentation, and instrument utilization. What began as an initiative to modernize narcotics management grew into a facility-wide enhancement of visibility, accuracy, and workflow efficiency. The combined benefits: enhanced compliance, strengthened patient safety, improved billing visibility, real-time reporting, and effortless digital documentation position EMU for continued operational growth and success. With interest in adopting additional IDENTI technologies, EMU continues to demonstrate its commitment to modern, data-driven care supported by intuitive, user-friendly solutions.
