Cornwall tracks theatre products digitally

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust is deploying a new patient-level resource management system from COA Solutions to help keep track of product expenditure and stock levels in its operating theatres.

The system, which uses barcode scanning technology, will replace previous paper-based stock management processes, which had been considered costly and inefficient.

The Patient Resource Management (PRM) system will provide the trust with instant costing and usage information on up to 4000 product lines, which are used daily in their busy operating theatres. The new system was developed in partnership with clinicians at Royal Cornwall.

The system is currently being rolled-out across 20 of the trust’s theatres and once all theatres are live, it will be rolled-out to other high cost areas including the clinical imaging and intensive care departments.

Steve Renfree, clinical lead for procurement at the trust, told E-Health Insider: “We required a solution that integrated with our existing EROS eProcurement system and could quickly and easily provide product information at a patient-level as well as at a theatre and surgeon level.

“There was a frustration that the paper-based stock management was a little ‘hit and miss’ and nurses spent a lot of time doing this – now they can spend more time with patients.”

The trust went out to tender for an electronic system that could meet a set criteria, however this proved difficult and the trust decided to pilot a new approach with COA.

Renfree said: “It needed to produce stock reports, automatically replenish products when they were getting low, allow us to analyse ordering trends and importantly, enable us to determine how much each procedure and each surgeon is costing the trust to ensure we are cost effective.

“We couldn’t find a system on the market which fulfilled our criteria and so decided to work with COA Solutions, the provider of our EROS system, to develop a suitable solution from scratch. It took just six months from the initial specification of the system through to the June 2008 go-live and we’re delighted by the results.”

Using PRM’s barcode technology, the serial number and cost of every product used on and implanted into a patient during a surgical procedure is scanned and recorded. The information captured has helped to improve stock management, reduce wastage and allowed the trust to more effectively monitor spend per patient and procedure.

Renfree said: “Obtaining patient-level product information used to be time consuming. Using PRM, we can now quickly determine the exact cost of procedures so we can address areas where we are overspending. For the first time, we have an accurate view of stock levels across the trust.”

He said that the system allows staff to instantly see which products are located where to avoid duplication and cut waste. Eventually the trust hopes to integrate COA Solutions’ PRM system with its theatre system, which monitors factors such as each patient’s length of time in the operating theatre and recovery room. This will determine a true patient-level costing as well as an overall cost for each area of the trust.

Renfree said: “By using PRM with our theatre system and the introduction of the electronic patient record, we will be able to calculate exactly how much each patient and each hospital area is costing us at any given time. This is our ultimate goal, enabling us to run the trust as cost-effectively and as efficiently as possible.”

Peter Leigh from COA Solutions told EHI: “Stock management is an essential part of the NHS and efforts to address this should be welcomed. This electronic system will enable trusts to do this in a much faster, smoother and less labour-intensive manner.”

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