Catheter Laboratories at Frenchay Hospital and the Avon Orthopedic Centre at Southmead Hospital, both part of North Bristol NHS Trust, are amongst the first hospitals to implement Sentient Health's MedTrac® Charge to Patient product to improve the visibility and traceability of its medical supplies.
"By using MedTrac®, we now have an accurate record captured of all the costs involved per procedure and can also monitor and track all the medical supplies used in those departments. It makes our lives far easier, as we now know we can make informed decisions based on true accurate data" explains Jacqueline Uzzell, North Bristol Trust.
MedTrac®, delivered by NHS Supply Chain, whose services are delivered through DHL in partnership with Sentient Health, streamlines operations by using barcodes to identify every item of stock used by each patient in care. A simple user interface in the form of a dashboard display, shows authorised staff the entire procedure item cost for each patient. MedTrac® not only tracks and manages the inventory, but the data is also now used to create greater visibility of cost per procedure at both hospitals, by feeding accurate information into both hospital PLC (Patient Level Costing) data warehouses.
The information captured by MedTrac® can be used to establish where costs exceed income and are ideal target areas for cost improvement programmes. It can create a true efficiency gain with the potential to realise potential cost savings too.
A recent survey from Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) identified that over half of UK trusts have yet to implement a PLICS system, but over a quarter say that they plan to roll out PLICS within the next six months. 86% of trusts identified the driving motivator behind such an implementation "to get clinician involvement/ engagement", a further 80% confirmed it was to improve profitability/efficiency.
About Sentient Health
Established in 2000, Sentient Health is a pioneer in providing a leading inventory management and spend analytics solution to hospitals and suppliers. The Company's solution is delivered as Software-as-a-Service along with consulting services to ensure clients achieve success in reducing costs, enhancing operational efficiency and providing greater visibility into inventory stock. Sentient Health solutions are used throughout the healthcare supply chain, in the hospital at a ward level, at the distributor's warehouse, in transit and in the field.
Sentient Health is a recognised thought leader, being amongst the most innovative companies in its field and constantly works with clients to develop even more effective ways to manage their supply chains.
The MedTrac® product family is delivered as a software-as-a-service that has three primary solutions that can be utilized together or independently: MedTrac® Manager; MedTrac® Mobile and MedTrac® Analyzer. MedTrac® enables the management of medical supplies throughout the supply chain down to the hospital ward and tracks product consumption by patient, procedure and doctor. Customers using MedTrac® improve their financial performance through improved inventory performance and reduced write-offs. The service model allows for limited up-front investment with immediate gains; ROI has historically been less than one year.