NY Hospital Queens automates medical devices and consumables in Radiology
Case Study highlights:
The mission:
Deploying Total Sense Smart Cabinet system to help the hospital manage its inventory of medical devices and consumables, including stents, catheters and filters used within its interventional radiology unit.
The challenge:
New York Hospital Queens is a 519-bed hospital that is part of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System. Its various departments, specifically the radiology unit, found that it was always in inventory excess or had expired stock on the shelf. The main reason was their inventory management system, which relied solely on manual counting.
The process:
IDENTI’s team evaluated the hospital’s procedures, inventory quantities, staff numbers, and other factors in order to prepare a full turnkey solution. The first step for the hospital was to install (and test) two Total Sense Cabinets and one Stock Box Kanban solution in the interventional radiology unit. The Total Sense Cabinet, intended for tracking their high-value and time-sensitive items – such as implants used during surgical procedures – automatically captures when products either enter or leave its shelves. The Stock Box Kanban is intended for consumables, such as surgical supplies, that are used only once.
The results:
The RFID solutions allow staff members to remove implants or other necessary items from a locked cabinet and automatically create a digital record of which items have been removed, and by whom. The system also enables the hospital to maintain a record of which items were actually used during a particular procedure, via bar-code scans, linked to existing management software, for the purpose of billing those products to the patient.
As one can see in the image below, the hospital has produced a special poster to showcase IDENTI’s case study and the many benefits it has brought to
the NYPQ hospital. Among them can be seen the inventory savings and the ROI calculation the hospital achieves from deploying IDENTI’s systems in the interventional radiology unit, in the first 3 years.
- 2016 Endoscopy Inventory- $305,000
- 2017 Endoscopy Inventory- $155,000
- 2018 Endoscopy Inventory- $160,000
Currently, throughout the hospital, 25 Total Sense Cabinets for managing high-value inventory and implant tracking are installed, and another 22 core storage rooms are connected to the Kanban system.
Interventional radiology team talk
“The system provides the added benefit of being able to automatically detect when an item is nearing its expiration date, so that the hospital can more easily ensure that inventory is not overlooked, thus reducing the likelihood of products expiring prior to use. There is great value in that since the hospital had to manually manage expiration dates prior to this installation”. Jed Golden, Director of Materials Manager
“Evidence in merchandise and manufacturing business alike suggest automation can improve inventory control and increase cost saving; thus, automation increases business efficiency. Quite the opposite of manual inventory management practices, the automated inventory management practices increase speed, improve reliability, recoup time savings benefits, and are easier to use.” Lukasz Szela, BSN, RN, CGRN
Full Case Study version:
Background:
Acute-care facility New York Hospital Queens, located in the Flushing section of New York City, is integrating radio frequency identification technology to help it manage its inventory of medical devices and consumables, including stents, catheters and filters used within its interventional radiology unit. The RFID solution, provided by IDENTI Medical, allows staff members to remove implants or other necessary items from a locked cabinet, and automatically creates a digital record of which items have been removed, and by whom. In addition, the system enables the hospital to maintain a record of which items were actually used during a particular procedure, via RFID scans. Jed Golden, New York Hospital Queens’ Director of Materials Management, and the Director of Project Implementation at the hospital, says that the real revolution occurs when consumption information is linked to hospital’s existing management software, for the purpose of billing those products to that patient.
The Solution: deploying IDENTI Medical’s Total Sense Cabinet and Stock Box Kanban unit solutions
New York Hospital Queens has deployed IDENTI Medical’s Total Sense Cabinet and Stock Box Kanban unit solutions, both incorporating a new UHF RFID technology compliant with the ISO updated standard for passive RFID tags. The Total Sense Cabinet, intended for tracking high-value and time-sensitive items such as implants used during surgical procedures, has a patent-protected built-in UHF RFID reader designed and manufactured by IDENTI Medical to capture when products enter and leave its shelves, and to provide access to authorized employees. The Stock Box Kanban units are intended for consumables, such as surgical supplies, that are used only once. When a predetermined amount of product is consumed, an RFID tag in the RFID-enabled box, is triggered sending a reorder request to the warehouse or stockroom., thereby triggering the reordering of that item from the warehouse or stockroom.
New York Hospital Queens installed two Total Sense Cabinets within its interventional radiology area for piloting the system, in order to test the technology, and added a Stock Box Kanban unit. But, very fast the system proved to be able to automate inventory management at the unit. Today, the hospital has 25 Total Sense Cabinets installed at other locations within its 519-bed facility, such as the interventional cardiology and operating rooms.
As products destined for the interventional radiology unit are received at the hospital, employees attach a passive high-frequency (UHF) RFID tag to each item. They then utilize a RFID scanner to read the product’s serial number and link that information to the number enrolled on the RFID tag, as well as the product’s make, model, size and expiration date, all of which are then stored in the IDENTIPlatform- the AI cloud-software, residing on the hospital’s back-end ERP and MMIS systems.
The Total Sense Cabinet is a locked receptacle containing five shelves (There are other options for interior configurations and they are at the request of the hospital), on which up to 350 implantable devices and other medical items are stored. If a hospital employee requires an implant or other items, they must first present an employee badge with a built-in RFID tag. The Total Sense Cabinet’s RFID reader captures the tag’s unique identifier and uses the IDENTIPlatform software to determine whether that individual is authorized to access that particular cabinet. If access is approved, the software sends instructions to release the lock, while simultaneously storing the ID number linked to that staff member’s identity.
Multiple items may often be removed, though they may not all be used. For example, several sizes of an implant would need to be on hand during a procedure, to be used as needed. Once the surgery has concluded, an authorized staff member can return unused items to the Total Sense Cabinet thereby triggering the system to automatically indicate that those products were unused. It is important to note that this action was traditionally recorded manually by having a staff member manually write down the items’ ID numbers or scan bar codes. It is a tremendous digital transformation that the entire above process has previously been done manually or through problematic barcode scanning. The Total Sense Cabinet automatically sends data to the back-end system indicating what has been removed and what has been returned, according to the tag ID numbers no longer being read.
Level up the process with hospital inventory management software:
At the end of the day, the IDENTIPlatfom, cloud-based medical inventory management software, provides a report that informs management regarding which items were removed and returned to the cabinet, and by whom, as well as which were supplied to a patient or may be missing. In that way, the risk of high-value medical products being lost or discarded can be greatly reduced.
New York Hospital Queens is using the Stock Box Kanban system in conjunction with its existing shelves for storing consumable items. The hospital has set up a system with predetermined reorder points, whereby, when a specific quantity of items stored in a particular row on a shelf are used, the product must be replenished. With the Stock Box Kanban solution, an employee places an RFID tag at each reorder point on the shelf. When the quantity of a particular product on the shelf reaches the designated reorder point, a staff member removes the tag and inserts it into the Stock Box Kanban unit installed near the shelves.
The Stock Box Kanban unit’s built-in RFID hardware reads the tag’s ID number and forwards that information to the Stock Box Kanban unit’s software via a cabled connection. In response, the software issues a notice to authorized staff members to replenish that item. When additional supplies arrive, an authorized employee unlocks the Stock Box Kanban unit, removes the RFID tag and places it back at the appropriate reorder point on the shelf, signaling that inventory is now up to date in the software.
The Total Sense Cabinet and Stock Box Kanban units have enabled New York Hospital Queens to reduce excess inventory, Golden notes that the system provides the added benefit of being able to automatically detect when an item is nearing its expiration date, so that the hospital can more easily ensure that inventory is not overlooked, thus reducing the likelihood of products expiring prior to use. “There is great value in that,” he states, since the hospital had to manually manage expiration dates prior to this installation. And of course, can pose a risk to the patient.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital
New York-Presbyterian Hospital is a world-class academic medical center committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. Based in New York City, it is one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive hospitals and a leading provider of inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine. With some 2,600 beds and more than 6,500 affiliated physicians and 20,000 employees, New York-Presbyterian sees more than 2 million visits annually, including close to 15,000 infant deliveries and more than 310,000 emergency department visits.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York and No. 7 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. This is the 21st consecutive year New York-Presbyterian Hospital is the top-ranked hospital in New York and repeatedly named to the Honor Roll of “America’s Best Hospitals.”
The Hospital, one of the largest and most comprehensive healthcare delivery systems in the country, was ranked in the top five nationwide in five specialties: cardiology and heart surgery (No. 4), neurology/neurosurgery (No. 2), psychiatry (No. 4), diabetes/endocrinology (No. 5), and rheumatology (No. 4), a collaborative program with the Hospital for Special Surgery. New York-Presbyterian Hospital ranks in the top 50 in 14 of 15 specialties this year.
Total Sense Smart Cabinet Solution line
A comprehensive, automated, cloud-based platform for managing essential medical devices, perpetual inventory and consignment stock in the OR and procedural rooms.
The automatic hospital inventory management system integrates smart tracking tools with RFID technology and cloud software so that all supply chain challenges can be solved. The health organization has two options: install Total Sense Smart Cabinets to store inventory or use the inventory management app on the shelf – The Total Sense Mobile is an inventory management solution in a simple to use app, installed on your mobile device connected via Bluetooth to the RFID Mobile Reader. Each method combines with IDENTIPlatfrom management software powered by artificial intelligence, to create an optimal solution for the supply chain management.
Total Sense’s AI software provides active and digital alerts to help manage remote and on-the-spot inventory. The alerting system prevents risk to patients by providing real-time safety alerts for expired and recalled products.
The system is optimal for purchase to stock inventory and consignment items, inventory reports are sent daily to all supply chain stakeholders to streamline efficiency, avoid waste and ensure inventory is always on-hand.
Main benefits:
- Managing core inventory and consumption automatically
- Highest patient safety with implant recall and expiration date alerts
- Reduce clinical staff time spent on supply management
- Advanced reports and a friendly dashboard
- Automatic count inventory of products in and out of the cabinet, all information is synchronized on one platform.
- Quickly locate a specific product in the storage space.
How it works:
Each item is marked with an RFID tag. From the moment the item is stored in the smart cabinet the system tracks all item information – expiration dates, inventory levels, and batch # for recall management. For tagged items in other storage locations, use the scanner and app to quickly receive inventory status.
The Total Sense Cabinet autonomously tracks each item’s removal or return, and by whom. Nurse reports all items used via RFID reporting station. Real-time consumption information is now updated and analyzed in the IDENTIPlatform AI management software.
IDENTIPlatform drives relevant information to the hospital EHR/ERP and supplier ERP systems. Full consignment is possible with a direct link between manufacturers’ warehouses and point-of-use.
