Manufacturers of high-value medical devices have an obligation to promptly locate certain medical devices in commercial distribution. This could be for facilitating notifications and recalls related to serious patient health risks from these medical devices.
Additionally, revenue and time lost due to error-prone consignment inventory management are serious issues. Both in the US and the UK, manufacturers are expected to monitor and report any adverse events associated with the use of these products.
These medical device inventory losses can be offset by implementing an error-free and cost-effective remedy for more accurate stock control. Businesses need to keep track of devices at their point-of-storage, as well as their point-of-use. It has never been more critical to realize their full value to manufacturers in terms of revenue, and to medical staff and patients in ensuring safety and compliance.
By having a clear picture of where medical stock is and when it is used, manufacturers can:
- Successfully manage hard-pressed budgets
- Release highly trained staff from manually tracking efforts
- Replenish shelves that haven’t been restocked
- Ensure improved patient safety
Putting smart devices empowered with smart data capture technology into employees’ hands can help medical device manufacturers achieve these outcomes. Here we’ll explore how.
Medical device inventory traceability trials
The trials facing medical device inventory management are widespread and some of the statistics are staggering. In 2016, more than $50,000 of stolen equipment was found being resold online after disappearing from a single institution in New York.
From a medical device manufacturer’s perspective, sales representatives can spend as much as 30%-40% of their time on consignment tracking and administration, rather than promoting or selling.
As manufacturers know only too well, when mistakes are made and stock is lost, they don’t get paid. And as well as balancing budgets, medical organizations also have to consider their legal obligations regarding the traceability of medical devices. What is needed for both parties is a faster, more accurate method of consignment tracking which is not prohibitively priced.
Accurate medical device consignment stock tracking with smart data capture
With smartphone scanning you get error-free medical device tracking at the point-of-storage through to point-of-use – benefitting from a seamless trail, from consignment delivery to patient sheets. What’s more, by using Scandit Smart Data Capture technology all this data can be collected easily, reliably and efficiently with any smart device.
By making use of familiar smart device technology, Scandit Smart Data Capture transforms any mobile camera-enabled device into a powerful enterprise-grade scanner. Operation is simple and ergonomic, without the need for expensive, maintenance-heavy Bluetooth or RFID technology investments.
Assured performance in disparate environments
Currently, medical device manufacturers must include a unique device identifier (UDI) on the label of all implantable and life-supporting/life-sustaining medical devices. By September 2022, the UDI will also be required for lower-risk, non implantable devices. The UDI is meant to be readable by people and also scannable.
With the Scandit Smart Data Capture technology, you use a single smartphone rather than multiple devices to scan and parse medical device data with top performance. Accurately scan, read and parse UDI labels, GS1 or HIBC with any barcode symbology and even serialized non-barcoded products in diverse hospital and storage environments, including low light, glare or tightly packed shelves.
Working with a scanning range comparable to the best dedicated devices, a smartphone equipped with the Scandit Smart Data Capture technology can easily capture data from medical device products located on the top and bottom shelves – no need for stretching or bending. The addition of augmented reality overlays, visually displays critical information such as GTIN, LOT and expiry dates – ensuring that you never lose or waste a medical device again.
Save time and money with smartphone scanning
The fast-moving pace of a hospital environment requires multiple products to be stored in various different locations, making inventory management time consuming and costly.
With Scandit’s MatrixScan on smart devices, people can capture multiple UDI labels faster in a single scan, accurately recording the contents of a medical shelf or a patient sheet at once. In the same way as RFID, but more accurately and without the need for extra equipment.
By digitalizing patient sheets after surgery, clinicians save precious time compared to the tedium of inputting product codes manually. Stock is automatically replenished correctly and immediately preventing the risk of stock or revenue losses. As well as saving time, smartphone scanning is an ideal opportunity for medical device manufacturers to lower their total cost of operation with the same speed and convenience.
The management and maintenance of Bluetooth scanners and RFID equipment can be excessively costly. Investment required in the Scandit Smart Data Capture technology is far less, as it can be integrated easily on any smart device and on any existing system. Smartphones are less costly to maintain and/or replace, and with most staff familiar with their operation, usage training costs are minimal.
The proof is in the performance
Smartphone scanning helped eliminate errors and reduce costs associated with medical consignment tracking. For instance, Miami’s Veteran Affairs Medical Center saved between $5,000 and $10,000 each month reducing waste by simply prioritizing products whose barcodes indicated that they were close to their expiry dates.
Scandit offers a robust and accurate way of achieving the same result with everyday smartphones. Our smart data capture technology easily integrates with any system, adding high-performance barcode scanning, optical character or text recognition (OCR) and augmented reality (AR) to native apps on any smart device.
Keen to improve the efficiency and accuracy of your medical consignment tracking? Contact us to get started by integrating Scandit’s smart data capture technology platform into native apps or web apps.
