From RTLS pilots to Enterprise-Wide Implementation: Some Lessons Learned

1. From RTLS pilots to Enterprise-Wide Implementation: Some Lessons Learned

2. Veterans Health Administration (VHA)Enterprise-Wide Deployment of RTLS Patients • 9 Million Veterans Facilities • 21 VISNs • 152 Hospitals • 1400 Ancillary: CBOCs, CLCs, Doms, Vet Centers • 7 CMOPs (Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacies) • Over 120 million square feet Equipment • More than 3 million assets to be tracked • Managing over $5.6 Billion Dollars of Medical Technology …the largest direct health care system in America

3. VA RTLS Organization National • VHA RTLS Project Management Office • VA RTLS IT Team • Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) • VHA RTLS Committee and Workgroups VISN • VISN RTLS Manager • Steering Committees and Workgroups Facility • Facility POC • Steering Committees and Workgroups

4. VA RTLSPutting infrastructure in place to enable improved quality and efficiencies • Veterans Affairs Initial Applications

5. Lessons Learned

6. Lessons LearnedPeople – Steering Committees • Strong Steering Committees are Essential • Executive Leadership – Co-Chairs VISN execs • Representative from each facility • Multidisciplinary Review and Input • Steer is an action verb • Charter should reflect the actions of the Committee • Agenda should include votes for decision, e.g., level of standardization, funding approval, etc. • May need to interact via email in order to provide timely oversight of the project • Experiment with the meeting content until you find the right level of detail to keep the Steering Committee engaged

7. Lessons Learned People – Communication & Education • Education of Key Stakeholders • Clarify Objectives • Demystify Technology • Document Processes / Map Workflows • Focus on Optimization and Removing Waste • Ask Partners for Demonstrations • Encourage Communication from Existing Implementations

8. Lessons LearnedPeople - Sites • Site Champion necessary • Designate a Facility Point of Contact responsible for coordinating all installation activities • Every facility has its own culture • Will organize accordingly • Ensure the facility leadership knows what needs to happen • Steering Committee periodically reports to the Executive Leadership Council

9. Lessons LearnedTechnology • Adherence to proper location and method for attaching tags • Planning / funding for infrastructure enhancements • Ensure use case critical areas are included in implementation (ex. Biomedical Engineering, Warehouse) • Wiring (power drops) and Wi-Fi must be planned

10. Lessons LearnedTechnology • Surprisingly large number of refrigerators are difficult to find for clinical users – locating adds value • Temperature standardization can be difficult • Value of monitoring often not seen by clinical user • Fully integrated, single system is needed • More intertwined functionality between end user and administrators than Asset Tracking • Data model compatibility

11. Lessons LearnedProcess (Cath Lab) • Accurate Inventory Needed for Configuration Planning • Construction May Be Needed • Hanging Tag Design Improvements • Optimized Supply Inventory Preparation • Reduction in Required Inventory

12. Lessons LearnedProcess (SPW) • Medical Center needs to provide expertise for properly identifying the Instruments • Marking Locations Must Be Standardized • Importance of Quality Control in Marking Process • Significant learning curve for new tray assembly process

13. LessonsLearnedData AEMS/MERSEngSpace Physical Space = CAD Drawings = = RTLSSpace • Accurate/up-to-date CAD drawings • Clean Engineering Space File early • Data Standardization required for analytics • Tools being developed jointly between VA and HP to aid in cleaning up data

14. Thank You – Questions?