Where is my infusion pump? Harnessing network dynamics for improved hospital equipment fleet management.

OBJECTIVE: Timely availability of intravenous infusion pumps is critical for high-quality care delivery. Pumps are shared among hospital units, often without central management of their distribution. This study seeks to characterize unit-to-unit pump sharing and its impact on shortages, and to evaluate a system-control tool that balances inventory across all care areas, enabling increased availability of pumps. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of 3832 pumps moving in a network of 5292 radiofrequency and infrared sensors from January to November 2017 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. We used network analysis to determine whether pump inventory in one unit was associated with inventory fluctuations in others. We used a quasi-experimental design and segmented regressions to evaluate the effect of the system-control tool on enabling safe inventory levels in all care areas. RESULTS: We found 93 care areas connected through 67,111 pump transactions and 4 discernible clusters of pump sharing. Up to 17% (95% confidence interval, 7%-27%) of a unit's pump inventory was explained by the inventory of other units within its cluster. The network analysis supported design and deployment of a hospital-wide inventory balancing system, which resulted in a 44% (95% confidence interval, 36%-53%) increase in the number of care areas above safe inventory levels. CONCLUSIONS: Network phenomena are essential inputs to hospital equipment fleet management. Consequently, benefits of improved inventory management in strategic unit(s) are capable of spreading safer inventory levels throughout the hospital.

A comparison of commercial and custom-made electronic tracking systems to measure patient flow through an ambulatory clinic.

BACKGROUND: Understanding how patients move through outpatient clinics is important for optimizing clinic processes. This study compares the costs, benefits, and challenges of two clinically important methods for measuring patient flow: (1) a commercial system using infrared (IR) technology that passively tracks patient movements and (2) a custom-built, low cost, networked radio frequency identification (RFID) system that requires active swiping by patients at proximity card readers. METHODS: Readers for both the IR and RFID systems were installed in the General Eye Service of the Wilmer Eye Institute. Participants were given both IR and RFID tags to measure the time they spent in various clinic stations. Simultaneously, investigators recorded the times at which patients moved between rooms. These measurements were considered the standard against which the other methods were compared. RESULTS: One hundred twelve patients generated a total of 252 events over the course of 6 days. The proportion of events successfully recorded by the RFID system (83.7%) was significantly greater than that obtained with the IR system (75.4%, p < 0.001). The cause of the missing events using the IR method was found to be a signal interruption between the patient tags and the check-in desk receiver. Excluding those data, the IR system successfully recorded 94.4% of events (p = 0.002; OR = 3.83 compared to the RFID system). There was no statistical difference between the IR, RFID, and manual time measurements (p > 0.05 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Both RFID and IR methods are effective at providing patient flow information. The custom-made RFID system was as accurate as IR and was installed at about 10% the cost. Given its significantly lower costs, the RFID option may be an appealing option for smaller clinics with more limited budgets.

Electronic Tracking of Patients in an Outpatient Ophthalmology Clinic to Improve Efficient Flow: A Feasibility Analysis and Benchmarking Study.

INTRODUCTION: Real-time location systems (RTLS) and Lean management approaches have been employed to improve patient flow in clinical settings. This study explored the feasibility of using these methodologies in an outpatient resident ophthalmology clinic. METHODS: Patients, providers, and staff in Wilmer Eye Institute General Eye Services Clinic were provided RTLS tags to track their movement throughout the clinic after observational studies modeling flow were conducted. Tracking data guided changes for clinic processes based on Lean management approaches, including reorganization of the reception desk, consolidation of forms, creation of task sheets to improve communication, installation of door flags on examination rooms, and training the staff in service excellence. Tracking was repeated after changes were implemented. A patient satisfaction survey was also conducted prior to and after the changes. RESULTS: After intervention, significant increases were measured in the average time patients spent in the clinic (99.3 minutes vs 112.8 minutes). Significant decreases were seen in the times patients spent with the optometrists (15.4 minutes vs 12.1 minutes), testing (24.7 minutes vs 23.0 minutes), and together with both the attending and the resident (8.3 minutes vs 5.8 minutes). The patient satisfaction survey indicated improvements in patients' perception of the helpfulness/friendliness of the staff, the length of time patients perceived they waited, and overall clinic experience. DISCUSSION: Both RTLS and Lean management approaches may be feasible ways to track and improve patient flow and satisfaction if certain limitations can be overcome. This is the first published report describing these approaches applied to an academic ophthalmology clinic in the United States.