Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008 - (Page 25)

the Wavemark inventory control system helps Chris Lucas, cath lab inventory coordinator at University health Care System in augusta, Ga., track high-dollar/high-turnover items, as well as high-dollar/low-turnover items. With Lucas are (left) Judy Blanco, rCiS, and mary ann rogers, rCiS. ment system from WaveMark. Product information is captured from the bar code and assigned to the WaveMark RFID tag. A continuous read-cycle captures inventory levels as products are removed or returned to the shelf. An item taken from a WaveMark cabinet is listed as “pending” until it is scanned at the point of care. Any item with an outstanding pending status must be manually tracked down to discern if it was used, misplaced or not returned to the shelf. Mike Brown, director of materials management at University Health Care System in Augusta, says that the Pyxis system did not work for the stents mainly because of the variety of sizes— one stent family could have 50 different product codes. “We could not afford to buy or consign enough stents to fully outfit each procedure room within the six cath labs,” he says. “So the hospital decided on a centralized location for these.” Keeping an accurate account of stents is particularly important because some have only a three-month lifecycle, says Chris Lucas, cath lab inventory coordinator. “With so many product codes and the possibility that some could not turn over before their expiration date, it’s critical to keep track of them,” Lucas says. Prior to installing WaveMark, inventory for expiring stock had to be done on a monthly basis. With the RFID system, reports can be generated daily. Lucas notes that another advantage of WaveMark is the ability to track high-dollar/low-turnover items such as peripheral debulking devices, rotablator burrs and beta-radiation therapy catheters—items that can sometimes “slip through the cracks” because of their infrequent use. The hospital conducted an ROI assessment before choosing WaveMark, looking at areas such as inventory reductions and charge capture. After a three-month trial, the cath lab saw a total savings of $101,000, which translated into an annual ROI of $55,000 after the annual WaveMark fee of $46,000 was deducted, according to Waters. but staff must then take care of subsequent incoming products. To overcome this drawback, the Knight Center for Interventional Cardiovascular Therapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Center in Boston opted for VueTrack from VueMed. The VueTrack system uses the existing manufacturer bar codes, which provide a description of the product, an expiration date and a lot number. Inventory in the six-room cath lab can be tracked as it enters or leaves a room and par levels can be created for each product. “As products come in, we scan them into the system,” says Rose M. Guanci, CV tech and inventory manager. “Each room has a scanner and as we scan the barcode, it is reflected in the patient’s chart.” Prior to going live with VueTrack, VueMed representatives input the current inventory into its database of barcodes, which the company updates as new products arrive or changes occur to existing products. Each time a product is added to the inventory, VueMed inputs that product into the database. The cost for the system is $6,000 a year, per station, as well as a one-time installation and training fee. Guanci adds that she can generate a daily consumption report on in-stock inventory, as well as inventory on consignment. “We were running out of stock or ending up with a lot of expired product,” she says. “Now, I can get our daily usage report, am able to set par levels, check on expiration dates and keep track of products borrowed from different departments or outside hospitals.” Staying on track CV administrators can tackle the dilemma of controlling costs within the cath lab supply chain while providing quality products by understanding what supplies are being used and when they are being used for each patient. With myriad ways to monitor and track inventory in the cath lab, many facilities are finding sophisticated methods, including RFID, barcode scanning and additional inventory management systems. As time wears on, the market for integrated inventory management systems within the cath lab is only sure to become populated with even more advanced technologies designed to keep track of high-dollar items and keep costs under control. Personalized inventory database While RFID has many benefits, one of the downsides is the special tags that must be purchased and affixed to each item. Oftentimes, vendors will perform this function to current inventory, CardiovascularBusiness.com Cardiovascular Business 25 http://CardiovascularBusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008

Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008 Table of Contents First Word Cover Story: Planning for the Ideal Cath Lab Requires the Multidisciplinary Approach Clinical Study Digest: Cell Phone Technology Speeds Ecgs As Real-Time 3d Echo Matures, It Finds a Clinical Niche Ecg Image Management Brings Increased Productivity and Confidence Overcoming Barriers to Cath Lab Inventory Control Maximizing Reimbursement, Minimizing Penalties News & Views Calendar Reader Resources The Back Page

Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008

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