How does X-Tracking™ work and how will it improve your hospital asset tracking?

For busy hospitals in the current climate, logistics is more critical than ever to ensure they can deliver a more efficient and, most importantly, safe service for patients. Not being able to locate the correct medical device at the point of need, be it an infusion pump, syringe driver, patient hoist or dynamic mattress, can have a profoundly negative impact – not only on the medical staff and patient with the immediate requirement, but also on the wider operations of the entire hospital.

The first issue – medical staff must spend valuable time searching for the required item if it can’t be found at the point of need. This impacts time and, in turn, cost. Then comes the effects it may have on patient care and safety. Not having the correct tools for the job runs the risk of the cancellation of appointments and treatments, and could be, at worst, life threatening.

Add to this the inability to maintain an asset if you don’t know where it is – some devices may miss their scheduled maintenance dates and risk being used when faulty, causing further threats to patient safety. The challenges don’t stop there. Think about time-consuming procurement processes to replace medical devices that already exist but are simply lost, growing patient wait times and the impact on patient flow – the problems start to become a black hole of inefficiency and risk.

Now let’s consider some of these core challenges with real-world examples. Nursing staff on average spend 21 minutes locating equipment during every shift, hospitals generally spend 25% more on equipment than required due to poor location data and NHS Trusts have had hundreds of mattresses missing at any one time.* There must be a solution to help mitigate some of these challenges.