TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. and DAYTON, Ohio, August 30, 2017 — McLaren Flint, in Flint, Mich., saved $1 million on a planned capital expense of new IV pumps by implementing the Versus Advantages™ Asset Management solution in late 2016. Advantages uses real-time locating system (RTLS) technology to track assets, proactively manage inventory and improve asset utilization.
“Although initial desire was to purchase 1,000+ new pumps,” says Brent Wheeler, Vice President of Operations, “internal studies confirmed that our existing 900 pumps had a 30% pump-in-use rate. Industry standards put most hospital utilization rates at 30-40%, so we weren’t completely surprised.”
“When we factored usage rates and maintaining enough idle pumps to support the emergency and surgical areas, we decided reducing our purchase to 600 smart pumps would still give us enough for critical care areas, with a buffer for pumps that went out for repair. We used that 600-pump target to validate the purchase of RTLS as part of our capital expense reduction.”
The Advantages Asset Management solution provides in-depth real-time and historical asset tracking and utilization visibility. Each pump is affixed with an asset tag that automatically updates the Versus software. Staff can see exactly where a pump is located, as well as how often it is utilized. For proactive fleet management, Advantages offers PAR-leveling features, enabling staff to establish and receive alerts on periodic automatic replenishment (PAR) levels for each care area to ensure a minimum number of pumps are always available for patient use.
McLaren’s transportation team uses this real-time data to routinely redistribute pumps, allowing the busiest areas to always have an adequate supply. This includes high-utilization areas such as surgery, the emergency department and the heart and vascular center.
“We knew having RTLS would enable us to find the pumps more easily and save time on labor,” says Wheeler, “but our focus was on reducing the capital expense while creating an RTLS infrastructure. We held true to purchasing 600 pumps instead of the requested 1,000. Even after investing in the Versus RTLS solution and infrastructure, we still saved over one million dollars from that original 1,000 pump purchase request.”
McLaren Flint is also the first hospital to launch an RTLS-smart pump interface between Versus and B. Braun, adding pump status to the asset information already available through the Versus software. “While Versus shows us the location of a pump and helps us manage inventory, we also wanted to see the status of a pump,” Wheeler explains. “Is the pump running? If it is in use by a patient, the transportation team can easily see that the pump isn’t ready for retrieval and they don’t have to disturb the patient.”
The hospital won’t stop there to leverage its RTLS investment. Wheeler adds, “Although we started with pumps, we now have the infrastructure to take it to the next level with patient flow, staff assistance and process improvement. We’re looking at future standardization of the technology across our other hospitals.”
McLaren Flint is serviced locally by SoundCom, a certified Versus System Integrator with offices across Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, including Flint, Michigan.
PAR-level asset management and patient flow require highly accurate location data. In a 2016 report from the healthcare research firm KLAS, Versus received the highest rating among RTLS vendors that provide both hardware and software. Versus also received the highest rating for location accuracy, as well as for many other categories.1 For more on the KLAS report, visit versustech.com/KLAS.
Midmark Corporation acquired Versus Technology, Inc. in May 2016, creating a unique offering of clinical workflow solutions that encompass clinical workflow services, RTLS technology, medical equipment, diagnostic devices and design assistance for improved efficiency within health systems.
1 Source: “Real-time Location Systems (RTLS) 2016,” July 2016. © 2016 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. www.KLASresearch.com.
About McLaren Health
McLaren Health Care Corporation, headquartered in Flint, MI, is a fully integrated health network, committed to quality, evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 12 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, the state's only proton therapy center, an employed primary care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering over 250,000 lives, home health care and hospice, durable medical equipment, retail pharmacy services, and a wholly-owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates the state's largest network of cancer centers and providers anchored by Karmanos Cancer Institute - one of only two NCI-designated cancer centers in the state. McLaren has 22,000 employees and more than 47,000 individual providers in its state-wide provider network. Learn more at www.mclaren.org.
About SoundCom
For nearly 40 years, SoundCom has been providing cutting-edge sound, video, and communications solutions for businesses and institutions of nearly every size. Headquartered in Northeast Ohio, SoundCom is ranked among the top 25 systems integration firms in the U.S. by Systems Contractor News, and has ranked among the top 50 since 2004. With offices in Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati, Flint and Lansing SoundCom has the knowledge, experience, and scalability to meet virtually any project scope and deadline with an attention to detail and focus on quality that is unrivaled in the industry. From initial project conception through turn-key installation, SoundCom provides a comprehensive suite of services with on-going, post installation support and training helping our customers reach higher...everything else is just noise. For more information, visit www.soundcom.net.
About Versus Technology, Inc.
Versus Technology, Inc., a Midmark company, provides healthcare facilities with operational and clinical workflow intelligence using real-time locating system (RTLS) technology. Since its inception in 1988, more than 850 hospitals, clinics and senior care facilities have used Versus solutions to support healthcare’s ultimate goals: enhancing the patient experience while providing high-quality care at lower costs. With enterprise solutions for patient tracking, workflow automation, staff safety, hand hygiene and asset tracking, Versus improves patient flow, communication, and productivity to ultimately increase capacity. To learn more about Versus Technology, Inc., our technology and client successes, visit versustech.com.
About Midmark
Midmark Corporation, a privately held company founded in 1915, is a leading provider of medical, dental and veterinary equipment and technologies. Our more than 1,700 teammates worldwide are passionate, courageous leaders focused on making a positive difference in the lives we touch by improving the experience between patients and their caregivers. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, Midmark maintains production and administrative offices in Versailles, Ohio, as well as seven other locations in the United States and international subsidiaries in India, Italy and the United Kingdom. To learn more about Midmark, visit midmark.com.
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