STRATEGIC SOURCING & LOGISTICS “It’s hugely beneficial to optimizing


your staff supply chain and optimizing your product and supplies inventory tracking with real-time status updates,” he said. “FID also supports clinician documentation at the point of care by automatically recording product details used on a patient into their record and ensuring the appropriate documentation steps are taken during a surgical proce- dure. Because FID provides visibility to a product throughout its lifecycle within the health system, FID can also help alert management to issues with staff workflow compliance. For instance, if a product isn’t being documented as used’ at the point of care but has gone missing’ from inventory, you can identify the last place the product was seen’ and what case it should have been associated with. This visibility allows you to mitigate when human error occurs and document appropriately.”


Big picture Joe Pleshek, President and CEO, Terso Solutions Inc., views the options more comprehensively. “At Terso we see FID-enabled inven-


tory management, TLS, patient tracking and the numerous automation opportunities to be part of a broader digital transfor- mation called the eal- Time Healthcare System (THS).” Pleshek describes this


awareness because they are able to deter- mine the geographical position of a person or thing. “Aside from being able to track the


Joe Pleshek


THS vision as arising from the funda- mental need to improve access to care, patient safety, efficiencies and lower costs. He sees it as enabled by Internet of Things (IOT) technologies as well as an increasingly mobile, connected, collabora- tive and remote workforce. “THS disrupts the classic care delivery


model by using real-time information and communications to be more proactive and less reactive,” he said. “The key aspect to the THS is situational awareness  knowing the location of people (patients, clinicians, and care team members) and resources, such as medical devices and equipment, at all times during the patient experience. The concept of situational awareness involves sensing, collecting, analyzing and using state and event data to proactively reduce response times, introduce efficiencies, adjust priorities and match resources with demand to improve service levels.” Pleshek labels location-aware tech- nologies, such as FID, TLS and PS, coupled with cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, vital to achieving situational


exact location of a patient, a doctor, or an asset such as a ventilator, many of these same technologies can be used to monitor temperature, humidity, light, movement, low-battery situations and hygiene com- plaint areas within hospitals,” Pleshek continued. “The THS uses up-to-date information from these technologies to remove delays in the management and execution of critical business processes including inventory management, asset tracking, patient and staff tracking, facility utilization and scheduling to name a few.” Terso leverages AIN FID passive technology to help healthcare providers track products and assets throughout their facilities by creating situational awareness about each item, according to Pleshek. This includes location, condition (e.g., temperature), clinician usage and expira- tion date alerting. “FID provides a standards-based and proven technology solution for many items especially high-cost inventory and assets,” he said. “While FID is a great fit for many applications, we believe addi- tional best of breed’ sensor technologies play an important role in realizing the benefits of the THS.” In context of the THS, Pleshek recom- mends that healthcare providers develop a clear and comprehensive understanding of the most important requirements and use cases that contribute to operational effi- ciency, care quality and a positive patient experience as they make their decisions. Once these requirements and use cases are understood and prioritized a road map for the deployment of location and condition sensing technologies, like FID, can be established and implemented, he adds.


Assessing possibilities FID may be a clear and popular choice for TLS applications, track-and-trace technology experts also provide insights to other options in the electronic toolbox. “When tracking pro-


cesses and products, FID is one of the best and most cost-efficient applications,” indicated McLeod Williamson, Intelligent Edge Solutions (IES) Specialist for the  overnment and Healthcare teams in North America, ebra Technologies Inc. “Passive FID can track patients, staff and even visitors  and can even provide room-level visibility. Tag costs are low, and there are no batteries


McLeod Williamson


in the tags that require monitoring and replacement. eader infrastructure can be varied to meet the needs of each workflow though cost of infrastructure can exceed that of other technologies when room-level visibility is needed in larger facilities.” Williamson sees Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as a viable option, too. “When comparing it to passive FID, the


tag cost is higher, but the infrastructure needed to grow is much lower,” he noted. “BLE also offers the advantage of covering more area if proximity is a concern. That being said, highly accurate, room-level vis- ibility is more of a challenge when using BLE over FID, although developments are being made to improve this.” For tracking processes, products and


workflow, however, Williamson still favors FID. “It can help support motion tracking through transition points and is ideal for processes that move through the same choke points or are limited to a smaller area where fixed infrastructure or mobile readers are being deployed,” he said. “The same can be said of FID being used to track products, especially when tag cost and lifespan is considered. Long-term assets or disposable inventory both benefit from the use of FID tags when compared to more expensive tagging solutions that only last 1-2 years. Additionally, room- level visibility is rarely essential when tracking assets. This allows for a smaller deployment of fixed FID readers supple- mented by mobile handheld readers, reducing the cost of infrastructure while enabling hospitals to optimize their asset management efforts.” HT Snowday, Vice President, Innovation and Technology Development, Midmark TLS Solutions Inc., expresses support for FID and infrared (I) as useful for tracking people, processes, products and equipment. Snowday indicates that FID represents


HT Snowday


a broad term that encompasses several technologies with a wide range of suit- ability for locating people. “WiFi TLS, for example, is only accu-


rate at the zone level,” he noted. “Without adding supplemental technology, such as I or ultrasound, it is typically not used for people. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), however, is a newer FID technology that shows promise in this regard. While BLE is still considered an emerging technology as it relates to TLS, advancements are being made to broaden its applicability for the workflow applications typically used when locating people. Although


hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • March 2022 53


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