St. Joseph’s Hospital Chooses WaveMark® to Track Cardiology Products for Process Improvement and Cost Savings
Point-of-use system manages inventory in Cath and EP Labs while ensuring product availability and improving patient safety.
Littleton, MA, and Atlanta, GA, October 29, 2009 — WaveMark, Inc., a leading provider of real-time inventory management (RTIM) solutions for high value medical products, and St. Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta, GA today announced the use of WaveMark’s hospital inventory management solution, WaveMark CIMS, by St. Joseph’s Hospital to manage its high value, specialty inventory. St. Joseph’s will use WaveMark’s point of use RTIM technology to track physician preference items in its Cardiac Cath and Electrophysiology (EP) labs.
Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1880, Saint Joseph’s facility is Atlanta’s oldest hospital. Today, the 410-bed, acute-care facility is recognized as one of the top specialty-referral hospitals in the Southeast. Saint Joseph’s Hospital, a member of Catholic Health East, is a leader among Georgia health-care providers, respected for its expertise, innovation in health-care delivery and quality of care. As a leader in cardiac, neurologic, vascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, orthopaedic and cancer care, among others, Saint Joseph’s is Georgia’s only hospital to have received the Top 50 Hospitals USA designation.
After an extensive review of other solutions, the Cardiac Program at St. Joseph’s will use WaveMark’s RFID-enabled hospital inventory management solution, WaveMark CIMS, to track — in real-time — over 3500 products valued at over $2M. WaveMark’s use of RFID enables highly accurate information in an automated manner, thus providing immediate opportunities for cost savings, with no additional work. The ability of WaveMark to interface with several hospital information systems already in use at St. Joseph’s will save valuable staff time and improve accuracy of information by eliminating manual keystroke errors.
“I am able to pull a report from WaveMark of products expiring on any given day, in a matter of minutes, and quickly circulate to the labs for all expired products to be removed expeditiously. Normally this would involve a product by product review of every stent and balloon on the shelf,” said Chuck Naylor, Inventory and Finance Manager, Cardiology. “This feature in WaveMark will make what was once a cumbersome, timely process, virtually painless. It will also reduce our chance of missing expired product to practically zero, obviously an important factor in maintaining the highest level of patient safety.”
About WaveMark CIMS
WaveMark CIMS uses RFID cabinets and Point of Service readers to collect information that enables real-time inventory management. The use of RFID in the process ensures accuracy and timeliness of information captured, with no time-consuming manual processes required. This streamlined workflow enables clinicians to spend more time on patient care and less time manually tracking inventory and product usage. With WaveMark CIMS, hospitals achieve optimized inventory levels, better management of product expirations and recalls, and improved charge capture.
“WaveMark is proud to have been chosen by St. Joseph’s Hospital and is excited that we met the challenge of providing a truly automated system to address key healthcare initiatives of cost containment and patient safety. St. Joseph’s is taking a leadership role in harmonizing existing systems to provide a more efficient system of care,” said John Wass, CEO of WaveMark. “We are honored to be part of that commitment to quality that has earned St. Joseph’s Hospital top rankings.”
About WaveMark
WaveMark, Inc. is a leading provider of real-time inventory management (RTIM) solutions for high value medical products. WaveMark leverages its proven expertise in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and network technology to help healthcare providers and medical device suppliers address key concerns in healthcare including cost containment, patient safety, and regulatory compliance. Committed to a more efficient healthcare supply chain, WaveMark’s RFID healthcare solutions are available on a subscription basis and eliminate manual processes, reduce costs and streamline workflows for hospitals and suppliers. WaveMark’s point of use clinical and field inventory solutions offer product-level visibility and highly effective inventory control, which support regulatory compliance and a rapid return on investment. WaveMark has been deployed in specialty areas such as Cardiovascular Labs, Electrophysiology Labs, Interventional Radiology Suites as well as Operating Rooms. For more information, please visit www.wavemark.net.
About St. Joseph’s Hospital
Saint Joseph’s, the regions premier provider of cardiac and vascular services and recognized as one of the 50 top hospitals in the country, is Atlanta’s oldest hospital. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1880, today Saint Joseph’s is a 410-bed, acute-care hospital recognized as one of the leading specialty-referral hospitals in the Southeast. As a leader in cardiac, neurologic, vascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, orthopedic and cancer care, among others, Saint Joseph’s offers its patients the latest procedures and treatments by providing its medical staff of more than 750 physicians with research services and the most advanced technology available. In addition to serving the metro-Atlanta area, patients come from all over Georgia, nearby states and internationally because of Saint Joseph’s specialized services, excellent reputation and unique patient experience.
Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Saint Joseph’s is a member of Catholic Health East. For more information, visit the website at www.saintjosephsatlanta.org.