Rady Children’s Hospital Tracks Controlled Substances with RAIN RFID
Rady Children’s Hospital tracks controlled substances from the pharmacy to the operating room for better regulatory compliance, patient safety, stock accuracy, inventory visibility, and more.
Preventing loss and protecting patients
Fentanyl is a medication commonly administered by anesthesiologists to relieve severe pain for their patients during and after surgery. However, it is also one of the most commonly “diverted”, or stolen drugs, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, as well as the opioid that causes the most deaths due to overdoses. As the largest children’s hospital in the state of California, Rady Children’s Hospital must keep a close eye on a large volume of controlled substances like Fentanyl, while ensuring they are available and ready for surgeries.
Following a diversion event, which triggered the need for better management of controlled substances in the operating room, Rady Children’s Hospital invested in a RAIN RFID solution from IntelliGuard® Intelligent Inventory Solutions to increase visibility into controlled substance management from the pharmacy to the operating room, including how they were used or disposed of, with closed-loop accountability. IntelliGuard® Anesthesia stores all medications, including controlled substances, in locked drawers with secured access. These locked drawers are placed in all locations where anesthesia medications are administered to patients, with Impinj RAIN RFID readers capturing information when medication is removed, and by whom.
In addition to mitigating the potential for future diversion events, IntelliGuard® Anesthesia helps Rady Children’s Hospital:
- optimize inventory levels while maintaining 99.99% inventory accuracy
- gain end-to-end visibility of usable and end-of-lifecycle medications and controlled substances
- tracks medication usage, dispensing, returns, and medication waste events automatically in real time
- improve patient safety through improved accuracy and controls
- integrate patient medication usage and more into the hospital’s electronic health records
- eliminate hard-copy billing, helping reduce lost charges in the operating room
- achieve a 40% increase in overall charge capture rates for anesthesia medications
Automatically closing the accountability loop
Rady Children’s Hospital was already using IntelliGuard® Pharmacy to manage their medication kits and trays with RAIN RFID. This solution provided visibility and aided in the investigation of the diversion event, which made hospital administration reevaluate how they managed all medications, including controlled substances, in the operating room. They decided to expand their RAIN RFID solution to include IntelliGuard® Anesthesia, gaining visibility of controlled substances as they moved from the pharmacy to the operating room.
Easier for healthcare workers, safer for patients, better for everyone
Protecting patients through automation
The system seamlessly integrates with electronic health records, automatically sending dispense, return, and waste transactions. This can help ensure patients receive the medications they need while being protected from receiving expired or recalled medication. Additionally, it makes billing easier and more accurate, ensuring that patients are only billed for the medications they received.
Real-time inventory visibility
Pharmacy has access to both real-time and historical data on medication usage and status in the Anesthesia Station, giving them more lead time to restock needed medications. This helps ensure that operating and procedure rooms avoid running out of essential medications.
Automatic compliance and paper trail
The Anesthesia Station cannot be opened without providing two-factor authentication, through fingerprint, ID badge, and/or PIN. Every action, whether it’s providing medications for a patient or removing expired medications, is recorded and available to download as a report. This makes compliance with audits easier and reduces the potential for diversion.
Designed for easy use
Designed by anesthesiologists to match operating room workflows, the Anesthesia Station requires no barcode scanning, manual documentation, medication countbacks, or even a keyboard and mouse. Simply log into the station, remove the medications you need for the case, and treat your patient. The system also integrates with electronic health records, making it easy for healthcare workers to view and select their case directly from the Anesthesia Station.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2022
ABOUT THE CUSTOMER
Rady Children’s Hospital
Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego is the largest children's hospital in California and the sixth largest in the United States, providing care to nearly 200,000 children annually.
ABOUT THE PARTNER
IntelliGuard
IntelliGuard is a company of experienced healthcare veterans and technology pioneers who are dedicated to eradicating risks to patient safety—and to health system viability. They are often referred to as the guardians of medications, and patients.
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