Omnicell has launched a new automated inventory management system to process hospital supplies.
The new software builds upon Omnicell’s already successful open system and patient costing solutions and gives Trust’s a live dashboard of their entire supplies situation across all their sites. The data and intelligence can be accessed via a web based, unified dashboard and reporting tool. This is linked to the hospital’s reporting systems allowing Trust’s to control and report on all inventory transactional data, in real time at a per patient level. It is coupled with a handheld scanner for remote stock management and patient data capture.
The system improves the traceability of all medical supplies moving through hospitals and provides Trusts with real-time data at the touch of a button via something as simple as a mobile telephone. It eliminates unforeseen stock outs through re-orders based on current stock levels rather than weekly or monthly orders. It also ensures stock is rotated to reduce out-of-date waste including expiry tracking and automated supplier expiry alerts.
Patient GS1 compliant wristbands can be scanned by the system in a single action, minimising the risk of errors and providing positive patient identification, including name and date of birth, for comparison from the PAS or theatre management system. The GS1 patient identification number can be searched and referenced by the Trust in the event of a batch recall against any and all procedures that a patient may have had, saving staff the time of having to look through patient files manually.
Every individual store location’s GLN code is stored in the Omnicell database. Within each store and bin location are product barcodes which can be scanned to allow easy identification of the contents, allowing greater visibility of product location and utilisation.
One Trust already using the new system is University Hospital Southampton. Chris Meayers-Norkett, Head of Supply Chain at the hospital comments “Being able to view data on a handheld device means we can investigate everything on the move and that gives a different degree of confidence. This new system is absolutely the way forward and it’s going to be an increasingly useful tool as we continue to roll it out with Omnicell.”
