Toledo Hospital Aims for Greater Visibility

The Awarepoint software allows the hospital to access data regarding assets in several ways. Any hospital staff member can access an application in which he or she can search for a specific item, or see a map of all assets on a specific floor. Users can also type in their own location, such as the fourth floor, and the system will locate particular items the user is requesting, such as IV pumps, displaying where on that floor they are located. Authorized employees, with a password, can log into Infopoint, another portion of the Awarepoint software, to access other information, such as the number of asset searches conducted, or the number of assets moved. Infopoint also enables the hospital to set up alerts that notify staff members of important events, such as the removal of a tagged item from the facility, or the approaching expiration date on the lease of a rented device.

UTMC attached an Awarepoint tag, which beacons at a preset rate, to each of its permanent assets, and the item's description is permanently linked to the Awarepoint tag's unique ID number. The hospital also allocates a small number of tags for leased equipment. These are assigned to the rented items as they arrive, and data such as the lease expiration date is entered into the system. Then, when the leased items are sent back to the provider, UTMC's staff removes the tag from the item, and its "returned" status is entered into the system so the tag can be reused on another piece of equipment.

In 2010, the hospital plans to install approximately 50 Awarepoint tags with temperature sensors on refrigerators and freezers where pharmaceutical products are stored, thereby enabling the company to store and track temperature data, and configure the Awarepoint software to issue an alert via e-mail or mobile phone if the temperature threshold is exceeded.

According to Hanenkrath, the hospital is using the system for about 550 searches per month—a number that he believes will grow as the staff grows more accustomed to utilizing the software. "We've got room to grow," he states, indicating that the hospital could use the system in the future more frequently, and for additional purposes. "While we've got a long way to go to figuring out the system, the feedback from the nursing staff has been very positive."

The hospital does not own the Awarepoint system it uses; rather, it pays a monthly fee to Awarepoint. Hanenkrath says he lacks hard numbers quantifying the benefits UTMC derives from using the system, though he notes that ensuring rental equipment is returned on time, reducing the need for rental equipment (since assets can be located) and decreasing the amount of time spent searching for items all serve to save the hospital money.