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 Centersgsullivan@AD.UCSD.EDU | 619-543-6516