RFID: Helping Hospitals Improve Efficiencies, Save Time and Enhance Patient Care

While hospitals operate as businesses, their business “model” is focused on saving life and enhancing wellness. This makes their challenges different and more compelling. Being out-of-stock on an item for example, can be critical if it is for a medication, specific dressing material or piece of specialty equipment that is needed for emergency treatment. To prevent out-of-stock situations, healthcare facilities tend to over order, exceeding inventory requirements by as much as 30%. This ties up large amounts of money, yet often fails to improve efficiencies. Hospitals must stock and manage a vast and varied amount of inventory, and according to a recent brief by our hardware partner Motorola Solutions, nurses and staff spend 10% to 30% of their time searching for portable medical supplies such as IV pumps, wheelchairs, blood pressure cuffs, portable oxygen cylinders and other equipment. Over the course of a week, for example, hospital staff might waste thousands of dollars in clinical time chasing after one $200 wheelchair or IV pump.
Higher visibility for supplies; greater staff efficiency and an enhanced care experience for patients are just a few of the many factors that make RFID a valuable tool for the healthcare industry, and one of the reasons we are considering extending our focus and bringing our RFID expertise into this compelling arena.

Within a hospital, rapid response to patient or staff needs improves patient safety, can increase the chances for a positive medical outcome or even save a life. Minutes count. At Truecount, we have seen firsthand how RFID speeds up all aspects of patient care and takes pressure off of staff, improving productivity throughout the facility; from the emergency room and testing areas to caregiving stations and patient rooms.

RFID ensures assets are tracked and accounted for at all times, saving valuable staff time and reducing operational expense. AMR Research estimates that from 10% to 20% of a hospital’s mobile inventory is lost or stolen each year. Some is misplaced or accidentally taken off premises. Some even gets trapped in bed linens and thrown down the laundry chute. With an average replacement cost of about $3,000 per item, losing track of inventory can severely erode bottom line profits. Add to this, regular maintenance, which is required on much of this equipment. We were surprised to learn that roughly 75% of a hospital’s allotted maintenance time is spent searching for the item.

The complexity of hospital processes increases the opportunity for mistakes. RFID can simplify these life-critical processes, making it one of the most important enabling technologies within healthcare today.

Is your healthcare facility utilizing RFID? If so, how? If you want to learn more, contact Truecount, Success@truecount.com.