We’ve outlined the many benefits that true point-of-use scanning in operating rooms and procedure labs brings both healthcare providers and medical device companies. From true cost documentation and clean and complete data for hospital analytics to superior real time data for managing field inventory to end user data for targeted marketing, POU scanning in the OR and labs will simply revolutionize healthcare efficiency, as it has done for every other market where it is prevalent. One area we have not expounded on is the last leg of the three-legged stool, and perhaps the most important one: the patient.

On average, hundreds of medical devices are recalled yearly by the FDA. The notifications go to the device companies and to healthcare provider organizations, including surgery centers. Recalls are meant to “remove products” from the field, so that they will not be used in patients. How is the process generally managed?

Hunt and peck. For Class 1 devices that are put into the human body: I repeat, hunt and peck. Across many inventory locations at a typical hospital.

I don’t know about you, but that method doesn’t instill confidence in me.

Summate Technology’s Trakker system changes everything for patient safety.

Quite simply put, the Trakker can go a long way to eliminate outdated and recalled items from being used in surgery by scanning/imaging products before they are opened and used. The Trakker is situated at the edge of the sterile field, accommodating natural nurse workflows to “scan/image, open, and enter” the product into the field. As it captures full UDI with our Symmetric Healthcare Solutions handheld reader, the FDA recall list database can be queried to ensure the safety of the item being used. If there is a recall match, the ScanTrakker screen issues a warning to the nurse the item has been recalled (or is outdated).

The current workflow of opening and entering the product into the surgical field and subsequently manually recording the item into the EHR later is, quite frankly, a bad way to ensure patient safety. The Trakker provides insurance that improper items will never be used on patients.

It’s time to put “Scan in the Plan” for hospitals and ambulatory health centers. It’s a win-win-win for healthcare providers, device companies, and lastly and most importantly for patient safety.

For more information on the revolutionary Summate Trakker, please go to www.summate.net.

The Summate Trakker Scanning System and workflow revolutionizes Patient Safety in the O.R.