Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the Association of Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) annual conference and exhibition. This year’s event will be held in San Antonio, amidst the history and ambiance of the southwest.
Now, you may be wondering what AHRMM is and why anyone would want to attend this conference.
Well, we have the answers right here for you!
AHRMM is one of the world’s largest organizations for healthcare supply chain professionals. When we think of healthcare, we generally think about doctors and nurses and the actual cost of personal healthcare. We may think of (or complain about) the billed cost of an aspirin, when reminded of healthcare supplies, but it's about more than just a single pill. There's a system of management that ensures supplies are available when needed. It’s an entire industry – one that has thankfully been overhauled by lean initiatives. As we venture into doing more with less, hospitals are also looking for ways to become lean without sacrificing patient care.
LEARN NEW THINGS!
Materials managers and other healthcare professionals can partake in eight different educational tracks at this year’s conference, including clinical resource management, finance, logistics, professional development, procurement, evidence-based management, strategic planning and technology solutions. One can also earn a Certified Materials & Resource Professional (CMRP) Certification at AHRMM 2012, if they so desire.
MEET PEOPLE!
What would a conference be without mingling with colleagues? With thousands attending each year, there is ample opportunity for networking.AHRMM is dedicated to helping materials managers advance their expertise, profitability and credibility to shape the future of the industry.
GET FREE STUFF!
The exhibit hall will be open and ready for conference attendees to experience the latest and greatest in materials management. Attendees will be able to see products and services geared towards improving all areas of materials management.
Visit Spacesaver at booth #816 and learn to how to improve efficiency in materials management with Spacesaver’s most recent product introduction, the StockBox. Featured at this year’s conference will be Spacesaver and LogiTag’s StockBox, a patent-pending RFID materials management system that triggers calls for material replenishment, using Kanban methodology. StockBox will be shown with FrameWRX, a modular, adjustable shelving system that requires no tools or fasteners to assemble.
Attendees who stop by the Spacesaver booth can watch floor demonstrations on the latest lean inventory management solutions using StockBox in combination with Kanban methods and FrameWRX storage bin system. Visitors can also pick up a FREE infographic poster on the advantages of lean healthcare materials management and register for a Kanban demo kit. The FREE demo kit is designed to educate staff and management on the benefits of lean Kanban methods while incorporating it with StockBox RFID technology. An instructional users guide, worksheet examples and bin systems provide how simple it is to reduce inventory waste and streamline the materials management processes.
Spacesaver is a proud member of the Association of Healthcare Resource & Materials Management.
Come visit the Spacesaver at booth #816 at AHRMM 2012.
Hope to see YOU in San Antonio!
Many of you might instantly associate the word
Inception as a dream within a dream, with Leonardo DiCaprio running around in upside down buildings trying not to fall into limbo.
Definition: Inception - The establishment or starting point
of something; the beginning.
While looking at the definition, an antonym of “inception” caught our eye, “goal”. Goals are set during inception and if they are met remains to be seen until completion of the project. One of the most challenging aspects of goal setting is clearly defining the goals and making sure everyone involved is on the same page.
Seamless collaboration becomes inconceivable when given the task of constructing and opening a hospital, on deadline, with precise codes and specifications.
Enter Attainia…
The process of planning, budgeting, and monitoring projects in the healthcare industry can be very strenuous. Involved is an enormous amount of teamwork needed from numerous companies, from inception to completion and beyond.
Today we are all connected by the click of a button or the touch of a screen. Attainia takes advantage of this connection by creating a community consisting of hospital and health system providers, manufacturing/distribution suppliers, and architects/equipment planning facilitators. Proper use of the program is invaluable, with real-time updates and additions that can be made from within, productivity increases from streamlining the process.
Check out this quote from an Attainia user:
“A quality Equipment Planner works in close conjunction with the Provider; the Equipment Manufacturer and Supplier; the Construction Firm; and, the Architect. Early, timely, and productive interaction between all these people and the equipment planner can mean the difference between opening a facility on-time and under-budget, and the exact opposite.” - Awni Kopty of Universal Hospital Services, an International Equipment Planner
Attainia is the most widely used, customized equipment planning, budgeting, and tracking software available since it was launched in 2001. They currently have over $41 billion worth of active projects being planned and tracked within the software, and $63 million specifically in storage. The industry has responded strongly to the software and is a reason Spacesaver has joined Attainia, resulting in increased availability to our customers, current and prospective.
FrameWRX ™
FrameWRX™ is one of Spacesaver’s most adjustable healthcare product solution lines, and now it is available to be specified in Attainia.
FrameWRX systems are endlessly customizable, and relocation is effortless to cater to a healthcare organization’s ever-evolving storage needs. How a Spacesaver FrameWRX system can be used--is only limited to what the user can dream up. (Notice the reference back to Inception!)
The system can meet user needs now and in the future. Accessories for storage on the FrameWRX system ranges from wire baskets, plastic bins, to metal pegs for robotic-ready medications. Adjustment of the placement of shelves, bins, and pegs happens without the use of tools or effort. Spacesaver provides customization in almost every aspect of the FrameWRX system to meet and exceed a user’s needs. You have your choice of texture and color for work surfaces, canopies, and our fully customizable end panels.
Wire Baskets
FrameWRX adapts to numerous unexpected situations, one being the addition of new operational standards and codes. Clean room requirements have been added to operational procedures for most hospitals and pharmacies. FrameWRX is available with customizable wire baskets that maintain aseptic standards as well as provide storage longevity. The baskets can be mounted at an even or sloped angle for easy access and visibility. The wire baskets adapt to their use, and dividers create endless storage separation and organization.
FrameWRX™ HD
FrameWRX™ HD systems are also customizable and aimed for high-density storage when space is scarce. FrameWRX HD has sliding rows of storage, which on Spacesaver’s EZ Rail® technology, allows for two rows of storage in one. The system slides effortlessly and provides great visibility and customization as any FrameWRX product would.
FrameWRX is a smart choice in an ever-changing environment. Storage needs change, operations change, technology changes, and industry codes change. FrameWRX evolves with the hospital. The effort and cost of updating you save can then be directed to new opportunities internally and externally.
If you are not using Attainia today for planning—check it out and make sure you remember Spacesaver when you are planning your storage phase of the project.
Dear CNO,
What if…..your already scarce nursing staff could spend two-and-a-half more hours every 12 hour shift, focusing on patients; instead of running around the fifth floor like a chicken with their head cut off looking for a gauze pad?
What if…..your floor, wing, or entire healthcare system could go a straight 270 days without a hospital acquired infection?
What if…..your storage process could reduce traffic in patient rooms by as much as 75 percent?
Guess what….. IT’S HAPPENING!
Just ask the hospital operated by ThedaCare in Appleton, Wis. They achieved the goals mentioned above by re-evaluating their current storage system and incorporated a new type of storage that puts 85 percent of the most frequently used supplies steps from the patient bedside.
The numbers don’t lie, and it certainly helps to look good when you have to report to the CFO every month. How much would you give to report statistics like ThedaCare did? While ThedaCare was creating their impressive stat sheet, they also achieved patient scores above 90 percent for overall satisfaction. The juice is proving it’s worth the squeeze as ThedaCare experiences huge returns on their investment. By combining a new approach to patient care and redesigning the patient floor with a few unique innovations, ThedaCare has:
- Lowered the cost of care by 21 percent
- Reduced the length of patient stays by 17 percent
- Produced 100 percent compliance in nearly all quality measures
With all the wasted efforts nurses are facing, Spacesaver saw an opportunity to try and help better the system and made it a priority to study how your staff can spend more time delivering direct patient care. The results of this study produced CoreSTOR™ patient server. Here are some of the specific problems that were solved by developing a new way of storing supplies:
1. Keep clean linens from being confused with soiled linens
2. Eliminate time spent “hunting and gathering” by nurses
3. Eliminate in room traffic and interruptions in patient rooms
4. Reduce hospital acquired infections
Within all of these problems lies one key solution: Decentralization. Think about it; all of your nurses probably have one centralized supply room that they use on the floor, which necessitates hunting and gathering. By eliminating centralization and incorporating supplies directly inside and outside each patient room, you are essentially solving all four of the aforementioned problems.
ThedaCare tested the CoreSTOR patient server in one wing of their hospital system and experienced tremendous returns both financially and in the delivery of patient care. They are now requesting additional installs into other parts of their hospital.
CoreSTOR has been designed to build a decentralized nurse station inside and outside of each patient room, reducing in-room traffic, optimizing floor plans and room design to best serve the patient. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jamie Dunham, a lead nurse on the pilot project, Transforming Care, at ThedaCare hospital in Appleton, states her point of view,"If they (nurses) have what they need, they don't have to leave the patient constantly and apologize." Dunham also said, "They are still tired at the end of a shift, because nursing is demanding work, but they have [more] satisfaction with the work that they do. In nurse surveys, the satisfaction rate has jumped 68 percent.”
Read more about what hospitals in Minnesota are doing to spend more time with patients...
As more healthcare systems implement this storage idea into their facilities, a streamlined process is created for a more comfortable work environment – and most importantly – improved patient outcomes.
Kacia Gillette - Storage Enthusiast
CoreSTOR Patient Server Hooks Attention From FOX News
Watch the full video below to learn what all of the buzz is about.
If you are unable to see this video click here.
Video Credit : Fox News - Collaborative Care, Primary Care 12:35
Read the full ThedaCare case study or download this Transforming Patient Care with Storage Kit here...
Learn more about how point-of-need healthcare storage can greatly increase efficiencies, minimize unnecessary in-room patient interruptions, and reduce hospital-acquired infections.