Using RTLS to OvercomeBusiness Management Challenges in Today's Hospital
Scott Sullivan, Business Officer, Perioperative Services
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About UCSD Medical Center• Thornton Hospital:
– 119-bed, 238,792 sq. foot general medical-surgical
• Hillcrest Hospital:– 386-bed, nearly 1,000,000 square feet general medical-surgical
• Moores UCSD Cancer Center– One of just 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive
Cancer Centers in the United States
• Shiley Eye Hospital– The only academic institution in San Diego area with comprehensive
programs for clinical care of patients with eye disorders
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What is RTLS?• RTLS is an acronym for Real-time Location
Systems• Used to track location of assets and people in
indoor environments• Effective for tracking mobile equipment assets in
hospitals • Also available: temperature monitoring tags,
autoclavable tags, and patient tags for use in workflow and throughput solutions
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Common Challenge in Today’s Operating Room
• On-time starts• Mitigate case delays and
cancellations• Manage mobile & changing
environment• Maintain equipment availability• Budget pressures• Staff, anesthesia, surgeon
satisfaction
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Today’s Hospital Administrator Must
• Manage multi-million-dollar budgets• Meet aggressive quality and safety
targets• Recruit and retain employees• Drive surgeon satisfaction
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Main Areas of Focus• Three Cost Centers
– Equipment / Personnel / Supplies
• Our Value Drivers for RTLS– Staff Productivity– Infusion Pump Rental Fees Reduced– Eliminated Budget Redundancies– Medical Device Preventive Maintenance and Recalls– Use During San Diego Fire Disaster– Temperature Monitoring
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How Our Solution Works
Tags to track & manage assets: Sensors that detect tags & wirelessly communicate location and status to web-based software
Software to search for assets and provide business intelligence reporting:
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Why We Chose our Solution Provider• Easy installation – plug and play wireless
network• Low cost to trial system due to no
construction costs• Room-level location accuracy• Fully managed quality service – no
maintenance requirements • Staff friendly interface
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Our Asset Tracking DetailsTotal Tags 5,000 | Top 10 Most Frequent Searches
343 Wheelchair
369 Advanced search (by specific category, type, location or other)
336 Search by asset of tag number (biomed preventive maintenance)
130 EKG Monitor GE 5000
97 Alaris IV Pump – Double
79 Wheelchair Bariatric
70 Venodyne (SCD)
68 Rentals
55 Crash Cart
809 All Others
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Finding Assets: Web-Based Application
Requires no additional third party software
Available via our Intranet
Unlimited user access / no license fees
Easy one-click access to find assets
FIND IT!EQUIPMENTTRACKING
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Location Search ResultsThe interface is
intuitive, offering simple, one-click
searching
Staff can see exactly where equipment is anywhere throughout the facility using any computer
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Results: Increased Staff Productivity
Monthly Searches October 09
Time per SearchBefore RTLS
Time per SearchAfter RTLS
2,311* 20 min 3 min
Total Staff Time Savings 655 hours/mo.
Additional Time Allocated to Direct Patient Care
*Total tags associated at this time were 2,570
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Alerts Used to Proactively ManageStationary Alerts:Turnaround time in clinical engineering, rentals no longer in use, owned equipment that has not moved
Exit Alerts: First floor, Main lobby, ED, Dock, Trash
Temperature Compliance: Freezer-Immunization, Pharmacy Refrigerators, etc
Missing Assets: All Assets
Par-Level Alerts: Soiled Utility, Wheelchair
Entry Alerts: Laundry, assets entering certain floors
Zone Alert: OR Equipment leaving the OR
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Results:Infusion Pump Rental Fees Reduced
• Rental expense down from ~$8,000 to ~$2,000 in 90 days
• Rental spending stabilized at $1,968 monthly average over last 22 months
• Perioperative Services total savings $72,000 - $90,000 annually
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Results:Eliminated Budget Redundancies• Utilization data identified excess inventory
and rentals• Staff could not readily find otherwise available
equipment• Elimination of these inefficiencies resulted in
budget savings for IV pumps alone of $450,000
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Added Benefit:FDA “Urgent Medical Device Recall”
• Recall notice required hospital to immediately locate and apply warning labels to nearly 200 IV pumps
• Such recalls often require enormous staff time and several weeks to completely satisfy
• With pumps tagged, located and labeled– Recall completed within 48 hours– Used1/2 the staff typically required
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Use During San Diego Fire Disaster
• Code Orange for 72 hours during San Diego’s 2007 fire disaster
• Burn Center cared for patients with both hospitals at capacity (over 350 inpatients a day)
• Command Center used RTLS to prep for evaluation and track location and status of mobile medical equipment
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Temperature Monitoring
• Able to monitoring 24/7/365 with preset alerts for all modalities to include warmers and/or refrigerators
• Currently reviewing the possibilities of replacing the log journal required for the joint commission being signed off by RN
• Looking to expand throughout the hospital
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Summary: RTLS Benefits in Healthcare
• Increases equipment utilization– Eliminates budget redundancies; decreases rentals;
reduces lost, stolen, misplaced• Automates manual processes
– Temperature monitoring – Equipment par level management
• Helps staff what they need when they need it– Imperative to patient care and safety – right
equipment, right time– Improves staff efficiency – allows more time for direct
patient care
Thank You!For questions, feel free to contact:Scott Sullivan, MBA | Dept. Business OfficerPerioperative Services, Imaging, and ProceduralsUCSD Medical [email protected] | 619-543-6516