From RTLS pilots to Enterprise-Wide Implementation: Some Lessons Learned

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Enterprise-Wide Deployment of RTLS Patients 9 Million Veterans Facilities 21 VISNs –152 Hospitals –1400 Ancillary: CBOCs, CLCs, Doms, Vet Centers 7 CMOPs (Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacies) Over 120 million square feet Equipment More than 3 million assets to be tracked Managing over $5.6 Billion Dollars of Medical Technology …the largest direct health care system in America

VA RTLS Organization National VHA RTLS Project Management Office VA RTLS IT Team Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) VHA RTLS Committee and Workgroups VISN VISN RTLS Manager Steering Committees and Workgroups Facility Facility POC Steering Committees and Workgroups

VA RTLS Putting infrastructure in place to enable improved quality and efficiencies Veterans Affairs Initial Applications BaseAsset Tracking (AT) Cath Lab Supply Management (CL) Temperature Monitoring (TM) Sterile Processing Workflow (SPW) Instrument Tracking System (ITS)

Lessons Learned

Strong Steering Committees are Essential Executive Leadership – Co-Chairs VISN execs Representative from each facility Multidisciplinary Review and Input Steer is an action verb Charter should reflect the actions of the Committee Agenda should include votes for decision, e.g., level of standardization, funding approval, etc. May need to interact via in order to provide timely oversight of the project Experiment with the meeting content until you find the right level of detail to keep the Steering Committee engaged Lessons Learned People – Steering Committees

Education of Key Stakeholders Clarify Objectives Demystify Technology Document Processes / Map Workflows Focus on Optimization and Removing Waste Ask Partners for Demonstrations Encourage Communication from Existing Implementations Lessons Learned People – Communication & Education

Lessons Learned People - Sites Site Champion necessary Designate a Facility Point of Contact responsible for coordinating all installation activities Every facility has its own culture Will organize accordingly Ensure the facility leadership knows what needs to happen Steering Committee periodically reports to the Executive Leadership Council

Lessons Learned Technology Adherence to proper location and method for attaching tags Planning / funding for infrastructure enhancements Ensure use case critical areas are included in implementation (ex. Biomedical Engineering, Warehouse) Wiring (power drops) and Wi-Fi must be planned

Lessons Learned Technology Surprisingly large number of refrigerators are difficult to find for clinical users – locating adds value Temperature standardization can be difficult Value of monitoring often not seen by clinical user Fully integrated, single system is needed –More intertwined functionality between end user and administrators than Asset Tracking –Data model compatibility

Accurate Inventory Needed for Configuration Planning Construction May Be Needed Hanging Tag Design Improvements Optimized Supply Inventory Preparation Reduction in Required Inventory Lessons Learned Process (Cath Lab)

Lessons Learned Process (SPW) Medical Center needs to provide expertise for properly identifying the Instruments Marking Locations Must Be Standardized Importance of Quality Control in Marking Process Significant learning curve for new tray assembly process

Lessons Learned Data Accurate/up-to-date CAD drawings Clean Engineering Space File early Data Standardization required for analytics Tools being developed jointly between VA and HP to aid in cleaning up data AEMS/MERS Eng Space Physical SpaceCAD Drawings RTLS Space===

Thank You – Questions?