TERSO: Tracking Heart Valves with RFID

Business Challenge

• Reduce the time spent by nurses to record and track the movement of heart valves.
• Provide traceability for each heart valve.
• Reduce the number of heart valves lost.

Solution

The hospital selected Terso’s TS032 RFID cabinet to store, track, and manage the utilization of high cost heart valves. The goal was to improve workflow by eliminating manual transactions for heart valve inventory, reduce operating costs and improve patient safety. Terso Solutions became critical to this healthcare organization in achieving these goals.

Terso’s RFID storage solution integrates the TS032 RFID cabinet with hosted inventory management software, which allows the hospital to effectively monitor product inventory any time of the day or night. In addition, the cabinet is monitored 24/7 by the Terso support staff to identify issues such as items nearing expiration date or doors left open.

The Benefits

Terso’s solution provides complete visibility to the heart valves that are on location at any time with the added benefit of ensuring patient safety by providing notice of products that are near their expiration date.

Today, an RFID tag is attached to the inventory at time of receipt and stored in the cabinet until removed for surgery. By using RFID, all products are acknowledged without requiring a direct line of sight. This perpetual visibility allows the nurses and doctors to see what is on hand (in the cabinet) at all times so they can be prepared for scheduled cases.

Because of the solution that is now in place, secure access provides information as to who handled the product(s) and which products were handled. Finally, this new system helps ensure patients are properly charged for items consumed.