The healthcare market during the pandemic has learned that investment in clinical innovation alone is not enough — quick, efficient logistics processes also play a crucial role in saving lives.
Public demand for better healthcare has increased competitiveness between hospitals that strive to deliver better outcomes, especially in the era of COVID-19. Superior patient outcomes can be obtained by employing new technologies to improve operational efficacy. Innovations based on artificial intelligence and machine learning are replacing “simple” computer capabilities and advancing healthcare services.
Improvements healthcare providers can achieve using advanced digital technologies include:
The primary goal of investing in new technologies should always be to support the medical staff in their primary task: more time and focus on actual caregiving which, in turn, leads to improved patient outcomes. There are several ways that inventive logistic processes can help.
An integrated platform for all links in the chain
With a shared platform across the entire supply chain, healthcare organizations, vendors and other stakeholders are instantly notified when an item is consumed. When all necessary assets are in place and properly maintained, we see significantly better patient results.
Remote control for vendor reps
Due to COVID-19, vendor reps are no longer allowed to enter operating and procedure rooms, but control and access are still required. This is where technology can complement the teams, enable remote access, and continue the ongoing activities without interruption.
Turn operational data into value
Complete integration and visibility of clinical, operational, and financial data are essential, enabling hospitals to turn data into intelligence that can be used to identify inefficiencies and revamp processes to reduce expenses.
Use technology to close gaps
Autonomous tools are capable of tracking the complete information set for each item in stock. Staff members no longer need to manually account for recall tracking or search for expired products, leaving more time for quality patient care.
Patient information
Clinical efficiency is achieved through digital consolidation, making all pertinent information — both clinical and administrative — accessible from one place with remote access from home.
Personal attention
Automating more administrative and logistical tasks frees up the nursing staff, leaving them more time to do what they were trained to do: medical caregiving.
One example is the adoption of advanced medical implant tracking management systems with data-capture stations for usage reporting in operating rooms. When implemented, OR nurses can spend significantly less time on item-related administration and documentation.
IDENTI Medical proposes the use of RFID Smart Cabinet and Snap & Go.
Smart Cabinet enables hospitals and surgery centers to gain access to advanced cloud-based medical supply management software, thus providing the entire supply chain with an accurate view of hospital inventory levels, usage and status of all items and devices removed and returned to the cabinets. Stock-outs of critical supplies and the tediousness of manual counting are effectively eliminated. In addition, Smart Cabinets provide detailed reports (accessible from any Web-enabled device) that improve healthcare inventory management projections and lead to more efficient cost management over time.
Smart Cabinet is accompanied by Snap & Go, a new image-capture device for charge capture and management of all consumables used in operating rooms. By using image recognition technology powered by sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI), Snap & Go captures, records and bills medical implants used during surgery. A staff member simply places the consumed item under the camera and within seconds an image is captured, identified and routed through a global database and an advanced AI algorithm into the hospital’s EHR and ERP systems for accurate insurance reimbursement and recall tracking. Unrecognized items are identified by IDENTI’s back-office team to maintain a consolidated, up-to-date hospital item-master.
When efficient tracking and documenting methods, enabled by advanced technologies, are in place, we can relieve the nursing staff of mundane duties and leave them more time to focus on patient care.
