Airclic in The News
New mobility solutions are improving specimen and equipment tracking in the healthcare setting
According to an iGroup survey of information technology decision makers, enterprise mobility solutions are set to increase in 2010, and the healthcare industry is leading the growth in mobility solution adoption.
Just what are mobility solutions, and what do they help organizations accomplish? “The overarching issue is increasing the experience of the customer or improving the experience of the customer,” noted Tim Bradley, chief executive officer, of AirClic, Trevose, PA. For healthcare, this means increased care or higher quality care for patients.
AirClic, a company offering mobility solutions and real-time tracking, has found mobility technology can make the biggest impact in medical specimen tracking and in equipment tracking when it comes to the healthcare arena. The company works with a number of healthcare organizations, including the Mayo Clinic, LabCorp, Montefiore Medical Center and Bio-Reference Labs, for specimen tracking.
“In working with the medical specimen community, we’ve garnered a lot of expertise, and have developed a specific solution for them–a customizable combination of software and hardware, configured specifically to track specimens and develop an accurate chain of custody throughout the courier network–whether that be outsourced or company employees,” Bradley told ADVANCE.
Real-Time Data
The motivation behind hospitals and health systems turning to mobility specialists for specimen tracking is two-fold: to provide real-time data and to protect specimen viability.
Patients and physicians want real-time information on the status of specimens at each step of the testing process. Tracking systems provide an accurate, accountable way to know when a patient sample has arrived at a reference lab, been picked up in the field or collected by an intermediary vehicle. Any errors or delays can be immediately identified and rectified. These solutions can be custom configured to each health system’s needs, and rely on a low-cost cell phone and barcode technology, according to AirClic data.
In reality, about 80 percent of the data you need happens outside the four walls of the laboratory and facility, Bradley stressed. Without real-time tracking capabilities, healthcare professionals are making decisions without the benefit of that information.
Specimen Integrity
Error reduction and retesting are huge areas for improvement and cutting costs for many health systems. “The goal is to provide testing and results back to the patient as soon as possible, in many places within 24 hours,” Bradley said. “Gathering, packing and delivering specimens to the right facility quickly is a critical part of the process.”
Capturing data and improving decision making is critical, he noted. “The faster you can get the data, the faster you can eliminate inaccuracy and shrink the time–we see it as improving patient care.
Barcode technology also frees laboratory staff up to spend more time on specimen processing and testing, rather than spending the majority of their time on manual data collection and record keeping, which can improve timeliness and accuracy. “It’s easy, it’s fast, and it eliminates paperwork,” Bradley stressed.
Cost Benefits
With companies like the Mayo Clinic, administrators are committed to the highest quality, and employed the AirClic system because they felt they couldn’t afford to lose even one specimen, Bradley noted. Brand protection and cultivation can mean endless revenues for a strong healthcare organization. Other organizations are employing mobility solutions to drive productivity and improve turnaround times to compete, become more efficient and reduce costs in the process so the solution pays for itself, he explained.
While the cost of hardware devices has been prohibitive in the past, AirClic has developed devices which integrate scanner pads with cellular phones and a barcode attachment signature pad to scan specimens for delivery. Combined with a camera to capture images of the specimen deliveries and GPS technology, the system provides great visibility of who is doing what down the chain of custody, Bradley explained. “We have gotten the price points down now to where it is a really low risk to purchase and use these systems,” he said.
And the software capabilities go beyond just tracking, Bradley pointed out. The AirClic system allows you to interface this data with your laboratory information system, integrating it into a sound enterprise resource planning system. In an industry where Lean is a common buzzword, think of the possibilities when it comes to streamlining equipment and supply inventories, not to mention routing couriers in the most efficient way to maximize resources through fuel and route optimization.
“We are presenting capability now to help people meet their goals of producing timely, accurate turnaround of results, eliminating missteps, improving quality and moving outside the four walls with an extended chain of custody,” Bradley reported.
As the price points for mobility solutions fall to an affordable, low-risk price, it’s inevitable healthcare facilities will be adopting them, Bradley said. “The need for real time data is insatiable; the expectation is clearly out there today that if you don’t know about any operational event happening in the field, you should.”
Kerri Penno (kpenno@advanceweb.com) is managing editor of ADVANCE.
