EBME Forums Forums Management Medical Equipment Management Tracking in the Community

Has anyone come up with a good idea for tracking items in the community like CME T34s, we have "lost" nearly 100 T34s in the last few years.
We looked at the Apple Airtag but you can only get 16 per account, we would need to track 200 item offsite.

Wow, shocking! ...."we have "lost" nearly 100 T34s in the last few years."

A few years ago, I put "TRACKED" labels on thermometers because so many went missing.
They were'nt actually tracked, but having the label on seemed to dramatically reduce the number that went 'missing'...

Yes, I like that idea, John.

I also like accounting for assets properly ... and this includes having folk sign for equipment loaned to them, and being billed for it if (when) they can't produce it later on.

It's a clever idea too John!!! Psychologically it would make some people think twice and likely to bring it back to the hospital.

Geoff - Did you mean 'fake' sign? 😂

Matt - How does your trust track/manage other equipment that go away with the patients in the community i.e. CPAPs, nebulisers. Perhaps that could be another way of tracking them. A previous trust I worked for stored patient details when issuing equipment that go with the patients which helped tracing them when required for PPM. There obviously are ID tags nowadays such as Scan for safety, RFID Discovery but that would be a bigger project and need considerable investment. And its probably not much help for community equipment.

Dipan

Good plan but I don't think they are being stolen, and with the nature of the device I think some funeral home probably has a box full or they are accidently being disposed of with the patients belongings.

Hi Dipan

Nebs are loaned out through the equipment library and they take note of a patient name, number and location but sometime instead of returning and requesting a new neb they will clean the neb and put it on a different patient which ruins any chance of tracking.

We have a meeting about Scan for Safety next week so hopefully that comes up with some good ideas.

Like I said if we could have 500 airtags on one account it would be perfect but they are restricted to 16 and there doesn't seem to be any alternatives.

it's not the first time I've come across, or noticed this, with T34's and it can be the same with negative pressure woundcare pumps, if a patient is on a T34 and they are discharged into the community, if they are put into the care of district nurse or care home teams, they are often not part of the same trust or organization. The T34 is essentially off the grid, this process often has no intermediary to ensure the return of the device, iv'e seen several trust use 'loan agreement forms' but how effective this is depend on multi disciplinary co operation. it can be quite effective, at least it gives you a lead

Hi Matt,
We've been hearing about the same challenges from other trusts, particularly where the T34's are ending up in community care. If you are still looking at solutions, we are just launching a specific lockbox for the T34/Bodyguard T syringe driver. The lockbox have a tracking tag built into it and it can provide real time tracking via Wi-Fi and GPS technology. Here is a link if you are interested in finding out a little more about it: https://www.idoxgroup.com/solutions/hospital-asset-tracking-records-management/

I would recommend that for anyone who is using T34 devices in the community and trying to keep track of them really should get in touch with Eitan Medical and request a demo of their device. It has tracking but can also show live data such as infusion rate, volumes, alarms and other features all from the patients residence back to the computer being used by nurse/engineer. Much longer battery life and multiple ways to connect fluids such as cassette, bags and soon syringe. Its a real game changer and a breath of fresh air that someone has finally resolved multiple problems (tracking and reliability) into one device.