Healthcare asset tracking is a critical function of a healthcare facility. Whether you are a hospital or a large healthcare facility, valuable assets are worth millions—perhaps even billions- and deserve proper attention.
If you have a healthcare asset-tracking system, you can efficiently keep track of everything in your possession. Inventory Managers must recognize the importance of this function in maintaining business operations, insurance coverage, financial security, and patient safety.
Does your system need a tune-up, or are you setting up healthcare asset tracking for the first time? If so, this guide will give you an understanding of what you should do to ensure your tracking systems are correctly in place.
Implementing a Healthcare Inventory Management System
Healthcare facilities are like every other business in the sense that saving money matters. Like any business, you have an obligation to keep budgets in line and monitor spending.
Inventory tracking can be complex in an extensive healthcare system. Part of your responsibility includes:
- Obtaining resources
- Managing supplies
- Delivering goods and services
All of this is in the spirit of caring for patients and ensuring staff have what they need to execute the task.
The task might sound simple: keep track of your inventory, including equipment and supplies. In practice, it's highly complicated to determine how many departments and needs your hospital has at any given time.
Adopt an Automated System
The only way to keep track of everything in a large system is to use automation. This computerized system lets you monitor all aspects of your inventory and run the analytics to track it.
So, how do you get started? Let's take a closer look.
Take Inventory
First things first: conduct a thorough inventory of all equipment and supplies. All departments need to do this simultaneously so your inventory is accurate.
Gathering necessary information while doing this inventory also makes sense, especially for equipment. You need to:
- Categorize your assets by type
- If possible, document the asset value or do an estimate
- Years in service of the equipment
- Manufacturer information
- Parts vendors
- Other relevant information about each asset
Once you have this inventory information, it becomes the foundation for your automated system.
Use Unique Identification and Tag Assets
Once you've completed the inventory, tag all assets to account for all equipment and supplies.
Each piece of equipment and supply should have its unique identification number. Many large organizations use an automated system to execute this step.
Once all equipment is counted and tagged, you have the foundation for managing your inventory and assets going forward.
Asset Tags and Barcode Labels
Just by the nature of what you do at your hospital or healthcare facility, healthcare asset tracking presents a few unique challenges.
You need to ensure the asset tags and barcode labels withstand the cleaning and exposure they're likely to encounter in the hospital environment. For example, hospital equipment is regularly sanitized to ensure patient safety.
You want tags and labels manufactured to withstand cleaning.
You also want to ensure no one can remove the tags and labels you're using to prevent theft or tampering with the equipment.
Address Equipment Utilization
Once you have carefully labeled inventory and equipment, use the automated system's analytics to monitor utilization. This can be helpful when working on budgets and allocating funds for different departments.
Likewise, if you have equipment experiencing high utilization, you will know where you may need to add to equipment inventory in the future.
Your automated system should provide these important analytics to help you monitor utilization.
Work in Asset Lifecycle as Part of the Management System
An essential component of asset management is monitoring the lifecycle of your equipment.
If you monitor the lifecycle, you can monitor the following:
- Condition of assets
- Manage maintenance schedules for equipment
- Track the lifetime costs associated with assets
By monitoring use, condition, maintenance, and expected lifespan, you can also plan for the future. It will help you decide where and when to allocate funds for purchases.
Plan for Maintenance
Maintenance is also an essential part of any equipment. As with any business, if your hospital invests in expensive equipment, routine care and maintenance are the best ways to keep it functioning and extend its lifespan.
Your automated system may include guidance on when to plan maintenance, including manufacturer information for the different equipment.
Create a System for Check-In and Check-Out of Equipment
Finally, another vital component of an automated system involves the inventory tracking of healthcare equipment and supplies.
Your automated system should include a check-in and check-out system that allows you to account for all equipment at all times and know exactly where it's located.
Your unique asset tags and barcodes are essential here because they are used in your check-out and check-in system.
In this case, using scanners that connect directly to your automated system is also critical.
Get Your Healthcare Asset Management in Place Today
Healthcare inventory management is essential in any hospital and healthcare facility. Equipment is costly, and tracking its use helps you understand your future needs while protecting your assets.
By implementing an asset-tracking system, hospitals can track assets in real time and optimize inventory management. BlueQ SmartScan is a healthcare inventory management system that can replace aging, expensive ERP handhelds and provides the functionality that standard ERP handhelds lack, improving the efficiency of the supply chain management process in healthcare. Investing in healthcare asset tracking systems like BlueQ SmartScan saves hospitals time and money while improving patient care and safety. If you want to learn more about the merits of a healthcare inventory management system, contact us today.
