Healthcare IT News - December 2008 - (Page 43)

www.HealthcareITNews.com management solutions December 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 43 Digital asset tracking targets patient safety t By John Andrews, Contributing Editor HE ASSET-TRACKING ENVIRONMENT in hospitals has become a sci-fi world of radio waves, scanning lasers and Wi-Fi signals, all designed to let staff know the whereabouts of people and property within the facility. Yet while automated logistics has netted benefits for individual facilities, the different formats in use has caused the supply chain to be a convoluted, inefficient and even unsafe process. As national hospital group purchasing organization Premier describes: “The majority of products in America, from peanut butter to bolts and screws, having numbering systems that enable bar codes or radio-frequency identification for tracking purposes, no such uniform system exists for medical devices. This means that patients today face a significant risk that a recalled medical device could be inadvertently used in their treatment because of the inability to rapidly locate it in the hospital.” San Diego-based Premier is one of several healthcare alliances spearheading a standardization drive that will require all tracking systems to use the same global location numbers, global trade item numbers and global data synchronization network. Congress last year passed legislation requiring the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to put in place a mandatory national unique device identification system. In July, Premier became the first group purchasing organization to endorse the GS1 supply chain standard, which will be required for its supplier contracts. Use of the standards will allow for definitive identification of medical products and devices, tracking them through the healthcare system and placing them within a standardized product database, enabling rapid communication about any potential issues. Full adoption of the GS1 standards within contracting and operations at Premier will be implemented over the next five years. The plan is to have all supply chain parties adhering to the global location numbers by 2010 and GS1 standards by 2012. “it will be a key enabler for patient safety, ehrs and product characteristics to maKe sure the right Patient gets the right ProduCt.” – Dennis Black accurate pricing, shipping, billing and contract data. “Clean data will help generate clean orders, helping the entire purchasing process,” he said. “It will be a key enabler for patient safety, EHRs and product characteristics to make sure the right patient gets the right product.” rise of rfid In the asset-tracking domain, demand for active radio frequency identification is growing for U.S. hospitals, say representatives from Redwood City, Calif.-based AeroScout. “We’ve seen a real uptick the past couple of years,” said Joel Cook, director of healthcare solutions marketing. “During the last quarter alone we had more than 25 hospitals sign up and demand keeps climbing.” Active RFID, used for finding people and property, is fundamentally different from passive RFID, which is used mainly for security purposes. While passive RFID systems read chips that come in close proximity to its sensors, an active RFID chip is like an electronic beacon, sending out signals so the system can find it. “In the U.S., asset management is definitely what we have the most demand for,” Cook said. “Usually it’s high value, highly mobile assets, such as IV pumps, specialty beds, wheelchairs and transport gurneys.” The AeroScout active RFID system also performs other tasks, such as temperature monitoring of refrigerators, sending out alerts if temperatures get too warm or cold. Given the importance of storing vaccines and blood within a suitable temperature range, the system provides a valuable service, said Steffan Haithcox, senior director of marketing. “The technology is proving itself,” he said. “Right now we’re driving real business benefits with asset management and patient safety. Once you know the status of a person or property, the sky’s the limit for adding capabilities.” ■ More at healthcareITnews.com e Connect: trackiNg 1208 AeroScout’s RFID tags are used to keep track of valuable equipment in a healthcare setting. Banding together Premier CIO Joe Pleasant believes the reason healthcare has lagged in following the retail sector’s lead for data standards is that no organization stepped up to be a champion for it. “It requires a fairly large organization to say ‘we’re not putting up with it anymore,’” he said. “It hasn’t happened in healthcare because there hasn’t been a Wal-Mart or large grocery chain to band together to do that. That is why Premier is working with other GPOs and IDNs. Hopefully this will do for healthcare what it did for retail.” Healthcare’s effort to standardize has actually been in the works a long time, adds Dennis Black, director of e-commerce for Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Becton Dickinson. “However, in the past, these efforts have fallen short because of competing standards and different visions on implementation,” he said. “Now, there appears to be growing support for the GS1 standard.” Some countries are already getting ready for implementation, with Japan looking to start in March 2009 and Spain setting standards for portions of the country. In response, Black said global manufacturers are working to meet those requirements. Once the standards are in place, the healthcare supply chain should realize substantial dividends, Black said, such as more ● surfACe Continued from page 12 Texas Health Resources takes innovating seriously, and has an arm of the organization dedicated to doing might go over an electrocardiogram with his patient just that – The Research and Education Institute for and perhaps compare it to a normal EKG, said Texas Health Resources, or TREI. The Texas Health Resources team and Microsoft Velasco. Instead of verbal communication alone and perhaps unveiled a proof of concept for the use of Microsoft providing a few brochures, the exchange between patient Surface in healthcare at the Gartner Healthcare and doctor could be much more engaging, meaningful Summit in November. They demonstrated the use and easier to remember, Velasco suggested. “The patient of both static and active media elements, including visual anatomic views along with comes away with a visual image,” he said, “and it’s a way to engage physicians more “We are not trying patients’ HealthVault information, Xrays and other visual clinical reports, concretely.” to develop a to assist doctors in relaying educa“With a natural user interface and proprietary tional and prescriptive information multi-user, multi-touch capability, application. We’re about complex medical procedures or Microsoft Surface will enhance how conditions to their patients. care is received, how education is given building in Robert M. Kolodner, MD, was among and how information can be shared in interoperability.” those to see a demonstration. “He reala visual, interactive way,” said Randy – Ferdinand Velasco, MD ly saw the benefit,” said Velasco, and Fusco, chief technology officer and the validation was gratifying. strategist for Microsoft’s U.S. healthThe goal, Velasco said, is to put the patient at the care provider industry. “This was an opportunity for us to be at the fore- center, to transition from healthcare to health.” “We are not trying to develop a proprietary applicafront,” said Edward Marx, Texas Health Resources’ tion,” he said. “We’re building in interoperability.” CIO and senior vice president. The demonstration at the Gartner summit generated The challenge for any healthcare organization, he said, is to grow the business, run the business – and more ideas for the use of Microsoft Surface in healthcare, Marx and Velasco said. transform the business. The Texas Health Resources team is headed back to Texas Health Resources has 12 acute-care hospitals and one long-term care hospital that total 3,100 the drawing table to discuss usability assessment. “We’re still very early in this process,” Velasco said. ■ licensed hospital beds. It employs more than 18,000 people, and counts more than 3,600 physicians with More at healthcareITnews.com active staff privileges at its hospitals. e ●Connect: surface 1208 Adjustable Screen Positioning View all 14 key reasons Omnicell mobile carts are the smart choice. 800.850.6664 ext 6414 omnicell.com/cart-hitn o Publication: HIT News Issue Date: December Trim Size: 3.375 x 4.875 e ● Connect: oMNicell 1208 1085 Omnicell HIT News Ad FINAL 10/27/08 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10519 http://www.omnicell.com/cart-hitn http://www.omnicell.com/cart-hitn http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10525 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=10570

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare IT News - December 2008

Healthcare IT News - December 2008 Contents AHIC 2.0 Debuts See How It Works Monitored to Health Right Decisions Neurologist Needed HiMSS Insider: Four to the Board Heartened Generation Next Clinical Toolkit: Inpatient EMRs Management Solutions: Asset Tracking

Healthcare IT News - December 2008

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