The current state of the healthcare industry is inefficient. 140 billion dollars are lost every year in US hospitals due to inefficient management of operations. Nurses spend up to 30 percent of their time searching for assets. An average asset in a hospital remains underutilized for more than 50 percent of its lifespan. On the other hand, inventory counting methods can take weeks or even months. By the time you finish counting, the inventory has already changed, and the inventory result does not reflect reality. The result is extra labor costs and wrong decisions with an inaccurate inventory list. These are just a few problems that every hospital faces.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology enables you to complete your whole inventory counting process within a few days in the most accurate and fastest way. You do not even need to enter rooms to count your inventory. During the counting process, you can instantly identify misplaced and missing assets using your mobile application, reducing over-purchase and rentals.
Operationally-Aware Hospitals
Following the implementation of RFID-enabled Asset Inventory Management systems in the World’s Third Largest Hospital with 129K assets the counting duration was reduced from 6 weeks to 3 days with 1 staff. And asset misplacement has been reduced by 90 percent.
With asset inventory management, you can now access your most recent asset inventory list, but how well are these assets being used? You may believe that the number of assets of your particular type is insufficient. However, their placement and allocation within the hospital may be incorrect. On the other hand, the number may be adequate, but it is unavailable when needed for patient care.
Asset utilization systems and solutions using real-time asset tracking capability allow you to identify which assets are idle and which are heavily used. Actual asset usage rates allow you to reallocate assets to where they are most in demand, allowing you to make data-driven purchase decisions and avoid unnecessary purchases and rentals. Because you can access the assets’ instant locations, you can find the portable assets you need in seconds.
Asset tracking allows hospital staff to devote more time to patient care rather than asset operations. Furthermore, RTLS asset tracking systems enable you to set rules for your assets so that you receive alerts when they leave certain areas. So, you can be sure that your assets are always ready for patient care.
Assets in which you have invested thousands of dollars require preventative maintenance/calibration and assets get broken within time. Asset downtimes, manual maintenance/calibration, and breakdown processes are among the main challenges in the healthcare industry. Asset Maintenance Management (CMMS) healthcare systems enable the tracking and managing of end-to-end maintenance and breakdown processes without any paperwork.
You can view asset downtime history by brand and model, as well as track each operational cost, such as repair time, response time, and downtime costs. With a better understanding, you can accurately plan your future investments (repairing, replacing, and new purchases) and reduce asset lifetime costs. The system enables you to automate workflows, saving time and money. Furthermore, you can reduce patient safety risks by ensuring that your assets are maintained and calibrated prior to patient use.
While doing all these (Asset Inventory Management, Asset Utilization), you should ensure that your assets stay in your hospital and are ready for patient care at all times.
Hospitals lose their temperature monitors, glucometers, oximeters, and more. RFID-enabled asset safety solutions help to reduce the risk of asset loss by sending real-time alerts to security in the event of theft attempts, unauthorized movements, or unintentional leaves. These safety solutions can be integrated with a CCTV system, allowing you to conduct investigations using CCTV surveillance.
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