Healthcare Asset Management

Real-Time Asset Tracking Is the Ticket

One area that helps in accomplish the healthcare objective is real-time asset tracking. Given the potential return, it’s no wonder that numerous healthcare organizations are investigating or implementing improved asset tracking as a key component of their IT systems and infrastructure. This increased interest has come about due to continuing technology evolution that has made it possible and affordable to attack what has been a perennial headache – missing, lost, and inoperable equipment.

Expect More from Your IT Infrastructure

Healthcare facilities now typically include extensive IT infrastructures that allow distributed data access and reporting. Wired and wireless technologies exist to capture real-time information and make it immediately available to all who need it. Many organizations are extending their capabilities through the integration of mobile devices, such as hand-held computers and PDAs, to support real-time information capture. The developing standardization and lowering costs of RFID (radio frequency identification) integrated with the internal networks has now made real-time equipment tracking and management economically feasible.

It has been estimated that an average 200-bed hospital will lose between $400,000 and $600,000 in equipment annually. It may be lost, stolen, or even forgotten in a receiving area. A missing bed may mean the inability to accept a new patient. An infusion pump that can’t be located, or when found turns out to be inoperative, can result in increased risk to a patient and affect the quality of care that is provided. At the same time, medical staff ends up spending inordinate amounts of time trying to locate needed equipment rather than providing the highest quality patient care they should and want to be focused on.

Choosing the Right Vendor

On paper, the return on investing in implementing real-time asset tracking can be as quick as one to two years. However, given the number of technology components, hardware and software that is required, and the rapid pace of change, implementing real-time asset tracking is not easy. The potential risks were well outlined by Kenneth A. Adler in the May 2005 issue of “Healthcare Informatics Online”. “Implementation usually includes multiple components purchased from several manufacturers. Several contractors may be involved, and RFID implementation may be part of a multiple-technology solution. Who will bear the risk of the system does not function as it should?” Adler suggests one solution is “….to have a single supplier be the integrator and supply the various components and implementation for the entire system.”

CIBER’s Unique Healthcare Solution

CIBER is positioned to be that single point of delivery, integration and implementation. Our expertise spans all of the components required. Our knowledge, hardware and software partnerships span the complete hardware infrastructure including wired and wireless networking, RFID tags, readers and printers, servers, and mobile devices. Similarly, our software capabilities include all the major ERP business suites, RFID middleware, and both WiFi (wireless fidelity) and RFID driven business applications for real-time tracking and managing of mobile assets. CIBER can be the single source for a complete solution for healthcare mobile asset management.

What are the components of CIBER’s complete solution?

Project Conception and Rationalization

• Strategic Visioning
• Business Process Analysis
• Implementation Planning

Technical Site Surveys and Compatible Hardware

• Network Infrastructure
• Servers
• WiFi or RFID tags
• Readers
• Antennas
• Mobile Devices and Software

Implementation of the Best Solution

• Pre and Post Project Implementation Services
• Project Management
• Change Management Consulting
• Technical and End User Training

Asset Tracking Software for Real-Time Location

• Visual Location Mapping
• Locate Assets by Type/Class/ID
• View Assets by Location
• Integrated Event Messaging and Alarms
• Asset Tracking and Utilization reporting
• Maintenance Schedule Management

Integration with Financial Applications

• Asset Management
• General Ledger
• Accounts Payable
• Matching and Purchasing
• Mobility Solutions and Messaging

CIBER –Your Single Healthcare Service Provider

CIBER can provide the one-stop shop for all hardware, software and services needed to successfully implement a real-time asset location and tracking system, fully integrated with your existing IT infrastructure and ERP business applications.

Because we are a systems integrator, we are software and hardware agnostic. Our objective is to recommend the best hardware and software components for your specific requirements. Because we can handle all aspects of the solution, we help remove both the complexity and the risk otherwise associated with it. While we know and understand all of the technical components, we go far beyond technology. Our extensive experience and expertise in change management and knowledge transfer can help you ensure that the solution is fully integrated and accepted within the human side of the organization – a mandatory requirement too often overlooked.