One of the dangers in shopping for and purchasing carts, workstations and storage equipment is taking the 1980s Valley Girl stereotype approach.
It goes something like this: “The nurses are advising us that we need to upgrade our carts, workstations and storage equipment.”
“Oh. My. God. Was that like, so totally deep or something?”
“But what suppliers should we be sourcing? What product qualities should we be evaluating?”
“Whateverrrr. Puhleez.”
Be serious about it and don’t take it for granted. Like, totally.
That’s Ron Bennett’s story, for sure, and he’s sticking to it.
“Whether you’re involved in a new construction project, a remodel or renovation or just want to reorganize your facility, most people don’t think about storage as an issue beyond product type and placement,” Bennett told Healthcare Purchasing News. “It’s just storage. In fact, it’s usually the last thing they think about.” Bennett serves as President, QC Storage, LLC.
“To them, storage is storage, regardless of where it’s placed,” he continued. “People think shelving and storage are interchangeable. That’s wrong. They don’t realize that shelving and storage should be specialized for selected areas. They also don’t understand that this equipment will be in place for 15 to 20 years.”
For example, catheter carts should be dedicated to the cath lab and not used in another area for a different function.
“We see a lot of problems with equipment specs by all the people involved who fail to communicate with one another about their specific needs,” Bennett noted. “That’s why products on a part list may not match what’s on a spec list for a storage area. If it’s not right it compounds the lack of efficiency and efficacy over time. Time, space and money are three universal challenges that healthcare providers experience. There’s not enough of any to go around.
“Unfortunately, storage is an afterthought that affects all three of these challenges, he continued. “If you start with efficient storage you ensure efficiency and also save money and gain space. It’s a self-sustaining concept. You don’t just fill up a space with storage equipment and be done with it.”
Bennett acknowledges that carts, workstations and storage equipment may be considered a commodity but detours from that cavalier stereotype by insisting that specific models and types must relate to their function, which can be different for the OR, ER, anesthesia, cath lab, cardiovascular, supply chain storeroom.
Mobile and stationary storage equipment can encompass both analog/manual/mechanical and digital/electronic features to house both products and data. Options can include wire shelving, exchange carts-on-casters and electronic workstations as well as automated dispensing cabinetry and open shelving configurations equipped with electronic sensors.
Such equipment represents the framework — the skeleton — of Supply Chain’s inventory management role.
As a result, HPN asked some of the leading suppliers of carts, workstations and storage equipment to highlight the newest feature and benefit added to their product line this year and to spotlight why it should matter for end users in 2019.
Dave Salus, Healthcare Market Manager, Metro
“Metro has added two technology improvements that will aid in staff efficiency. Metro introduced wireless capabilities to its electronic lock offering. Managers can update their cart fleets without having to track down each individual cart, so adding and removing users can become an automated event rather than a day-long project. In addition, Metro introduced an improved power supply to its medical carts.
“Many procedures, treatments and processes require access to patient data. Whether it’s accessing the eMAR [electronic medication administration system] during a med pass, or pulling admission data in the ER, or the anesthesia record in the OR, many times the supplies and medications are in one cart and the data on another… or on the wall or at the nurse’s station. By having the ability to mount a computer directly on a Med Cart, Anesthesia Cart or general Supply Cart, nurses will have access to the meds and supplies, as well as the ability to access and/or update a patient’s record. They can do this real-time, without having to leave the patient’s bedside and without having to wheel in a computer cart/WOW [workstation on wheels] or have to reposition the medical cart to access a wall station. Metro’s new PowerPod provides power for the entire shift so the computer does not need to be rebooted between patients. Its open architecture design provides convenient upgradeability over the life of the cart.”
Rob Sobie, Worldwide Vice President & General Manager, Pyxis Supply Solutions, BD
“While our innovation pipeline is already humming along at capacity, I would focus more outwardly on the industry in two areas: Supply chain connectivity and the identification and adherence to the emerging specifications surrounding the Universal Device Identifier (UDI).
“As our recent acquisition of Bard confirmed, we recognize the inherent benefits that a more connected supply chain, start to finish, affords for everyone involved in healthcare; manufacturers, distributors, purchasing groups, IDNs, standalones, etc., The recent Navigant analysis indicated that over $25 billion could be saved essentially through better supply chain management. We believe that one of the most discernable ways to accomplish this is by enhancing our systems to further drive out the inefficiencies that are the catalyst to that wasted spending. The best way to accomplish this is through a better-connected supply chain driven by more actionable information, not just data. By harmonizing, better connecting and sharing critical information with the global systems that serve healthcare, new efficiency can assuredly be realized. Automation and AI help ensure that.
“Lastly, some unanswered questions regarding the UDI remain that we want to continue to help the industry answer. By working with partners like Memorial Hermann Health System, Houston, and University Health Network, Toronto, we’ve been at the forefront of ongoing system developments to ensure UDI compliance through better functionality. While our systems can effectively manage UDI today, we believe that additional specifications will continue to emerge that we can help shape and answer, not only with the industry but with systems to help drive it.”
Liz Delp, Senior Marketing Manager, Capsa Healthcare
“There are several new features recently added to Capsa’s N-Sight Fleet Management, a cloud-based system that enables hospital IT to remotely manage and monitor CareLink point-of-care carts used by clinicians.A new easy-to-use Pin Code Interface provides better security and more value from fleet management. Users no longer have to enter and remember pin codes. Simply log in and unlock bins or drawers using ‘Tap and Go’ badge readers or proximity sensors, single sign-on or EMR, including scanning a patient’s wrist band to unlock a bin.
“Secondly, a new Active Directory Service for N-Sight enables facilities to administer cart users directly from Microsoft Active Directory (AD). The simple utility maps attributes from AD to N-Sight providing easier user management, centralized management of security and improved asset utilization analysis.
“With these added features, N-Sight offers a more comprehensive platform that streamlines remote fleet management, improves secure cart access, and facilitates the administration of users of CareLink carts across multiple locations or facilities.”
Kylen Cieslak, Associate Director of Marketing, Carstens, Inc.
“Carstens’ mobile carts have always been designed to be a seamless part of a facility’s workflow. Carstens’ LinkT cart is no exception. Like other Carstens carts it is designed to fit into tight spaces, to be easy to maneuver, and if electronics are used on the cart, to offer security and adjustability by added laptop locks and adjustable mounts. Users have the freedom to adjust the cart, monitor and tablet height. The LinkT cart comes with an integrated ergonomically adjustable seat that rotates almost 360 degrees around the work surface, and locks into place under the work surface when not in use or while the user is standing. This allows the caregiver to use the LinkT as a standing cart or as a sit-down desk at the point-of-care.
“Carstens recently added a new economically-priced wall-mounted workstation to their product line that will provide clinicians with an efficient, convenient place to access electronic health records at the point-of-care. Carstens’ new WALLAroo PC-Ready Workstation is priced under $1,000 and comes ready to install. It includes a monitor mount, mouse house, keyboard mounting kit, ventilation and cord access provisions and a separate locker cabinet in which to store the CPU. Recognizing that many facilities have space constraints, this unit is designed to be either surface-mounted or recessed. The PC-Ready Workstations’ four-inch depth meets the necessary requirements for corridor mounting. Cost effective, complete, and easy installation make this product an ideal solution for all treatment areas, large and small.
“With increased awareness and stricter regulations surrounding medication accountability, drug diversion, and the opioid addiction crisis, Carstens recognized a need for a fully-integrated point-of-care medication distribution system that offers access control and an audit trail. Carstens WALLAroo wall-mounted cabinets for point-of-care medication and supply storage now feature a new RFID Lock. This lock allows administrators to control and monitor medication distribution from the pharmacy to patient room, nurse to patient, and patient room to disposal. Administrators can assign and deny access to medications in WALLAroo cabinets at any time using the lock’s control software. Authorized staff hold their ID badge to the RFID Lock on the WALLAroo cabinet and the door unlocks and records the user name and time, transmitting the data over Wi-Fi to the administrator. This audit trail feature encourages employee accountability, and investigating medication discrepancies can be accomplished quickly. Installing the cabinets is fast and easy, and no data cabling is required if a Wi-Fi network is available! This saves significant installation costs, and speeds implementation.”
Ian Loper, Vice President, DSI
“Storage equipment is frequently viewed as a commodity. It is common perception that storage systems are not a specialized tool that can enhance patient care or increase employee care even though storage systems (shelving, carts, workstations) play a large role in the staff’s daily operation while serving patients, working together as a team unit and managing the valuable inventory. The Supply Chain ecosystem within an acute-care setting is multifaceted, layered in legacy protocols and standards, and don’t want to think out of the box in order to make fundamental changes. This conventional mindset needs to change if the purpose is to increase patient care while keeping employees safe, happy, and productive. The mission should simply be to ‘provide the best care, tools, and resources for employees and patient care will happen.’
“As it relates to employee and patient care one usually thinks of sterility, safety and security. Are the instruments sterile? Are the supplies being used expired? Is this a safe and secure working environment for the staff? Are the high-valued supplies secure and managed properly? Are we operating at a high level to ensure maximum patient and employee care? The two biggest operating costs for a hospital are its resources (people) and the supplies (inventory), so the storage equipment is a very integral piece of the puzzle when looking at the overall body of work within a facility. Does the storage system help keep the instruments sterile? Is the storage system ergonomically designed to help eliminate on the job injuries? Does the system help reduce expired goods from being stored on the shelf and/or being used for a patient?
“DSI’s newly designed 2019 Modu-Cell exchange cart systems and our Modu-Max Container Tray System (CTS) plays an important role in achieving both patient care and employee care with ergonomics, sterility, safety, cost, time savings and security in mind. The two products are mostly implemented and adopted in the OR Core/Suites and the Sterile Processing departments, two of the most important departments within the hospital setting from a cost- and profit-center perspective. Our Modu-Cell carts are used throughout a hospital but most frequently utilized inside the OR suite for specialized services and exchange cart applications. The product includes electronic locks for security, glass doors for supply protection and sterilty, and has an integrated internal storage offering to include high-density baskets with adjustable compartments for tightly managing supplies, catheter hangers, adjustable low-profile flat shelves for bulk storage, and heavy-duty pull-out drawers for IV solutions for optimum ergonomic retrieval. Our Modu-Max CTS systems are implemented in the OR Core and Sterile Processing Departments to efficiently manage and store instruments sets in blue wraps, rigid containers, and peel packs. The system enables the staff to store more sets in less space, eliminate stacking of the blue wraps which helps reduce tears. The Modu-Max CTS system includes a variety of shelving options from stainless steel baskets and shelves, adjustable low profile shelves, and pull out drawers for optimum ergonomic retrieval of the heavier Ortho sets along with enhanced visual indicators for quicker identification.”
Kim Franklin, Category Director, Refuse, Material Handling, Foodservice, Newell Brands
“We’ve recently launched a few products that make our carts more efficient when used together. One in particular is the Maximizer Quick Change Tool system, designed to make routine cleaning faster by enabling users to switch between tools in less time. The storage tray fastens to a cleaning cart and accepts specialty tool heads that can be changed with the click of a button. With this system, one handle can be used with a microfiber frame, duster, squeegee, scrub brush, and floor prep tool. The time end users save switching between tools can be dedicated to offering more effective care to patients.”
Rick Dana Barlow | Senior Editor
Rick Dana Barlow is Senior Editor for Healthcare Purchasing News, an Endeavor Business Media publication. He can be reached at [email protected].
