Sphere3® Introduces Trackit!™

Mismanagement of Assets utilization can cost hospital’s millions each year.

Sphere3®, the industry leader in medical device alarm and alert analytics and hospital alignment of medical device strategy, has partnered with TriVestige Consulting to provide Trackit!™ consulting services for RTLS selection, asset management, utilization, and staff workload.

Trackit!™ employs the core principles Sphere3 has used to help hospitals leverage existing technology, plan for new, and identify how to manage the data associated with the purchase. This vendor agnostic approach to market provides greater insight for hospitals in both the selection and application of best of bread products, and best practices processes.

"Our partnership with TriVestige brings cross industry expertise to our growing client base. Our focus is making the patient stay better. Providing the things they need in a timely manner not only improves patient perception but enhances their ability to heal faster. There are great products out there in both the software and hardware - our job is to make the process easier for the hospital" CEO, Kourtney Govro

TriVestige consulting has depth of knowledge into best practices in the distribution and logistics industry. Their expertise is in process optimization, automation, software, and robotics. They provide better throughput results, reduce staff workload, and decrease spending, resulting in millions saved.

"TriVestige is focused on building solid content with replicable processes and enhanced delivery of existing services. We are excited to bring these proven techniques to the healthcare market."

Contact us info@sphere3consulting.com

The Future of Nurse Call

I grew up the daughter of an integrator – for those of you who don’t know what that is in the 1970s and 1980s an integrator was a person who made two hardware systems talk to each other.  The 1990s brought more integration via software and now the software controls the hardware and integration is becoming interfacing.   As with other “trades” my siblings and I were immersed in technology and projects from a young age.  While Dad did everything from sound to security, fire to paging, intercom to burglar – our specialty was always nurse call.

I believe an era is coming where there will be no nurse call as we know it.  The integrator will again be asked to shift their model as the hardware will become as simple as a light switch and the software will be interchangeable.  Kind of like a computer – they all run Microsoft Word.  

I had the opportunity to talk to Brian Yarnell, CEO of Starling Health.  Brian is one of the many “non-healthcare” folks to enter the space.  His background is in business intelligence for the retail industry.   His focus is creating a methodology to capture data to truly evaluate performance management by allowing patients the opportunity to direct their own care in any language they speak.  

Starling has developed a “Ap” (for lack of better terms because it runs on any tablet OS) that not only allows the patient to “have it their way” but allows the hospital to capture data about specific performance improvement.   With the simple touch of an icon the patient can request a number of items and the workflow can be transitionally tracked in the database.  Did I mention that it can automatically change to any language.  It’s a really patient centric tool for patient request.

For most standard nurse call systems decentralized modeling is a challenge (mostly because few hospitals look at the request quantities prior to design and implementation) so many hospitals have started to look at the war room model to better triage the need of the patient.   While it’s clearly not a “nurse call” product - it would not, by itself meet, most regulatory standards.  However, today with simple integration (the old school way) it could compliment a UL1069 listed system – making an inexpensive featureless system very feature rich.   There is even greater opportunity in the future through interfacing with a higher quality more software centric platform to really create amazing workflow.

Starling is certainly the most interesting product I have seen in a long time.  Brian’s vision will allow patient the opportunity to direct their own care in any language they speak.    Check out their website www.starlinghealth.com

The revolution of the IP based nurse call was challenging to many integration firms and another shift is on the horizon.   It used to be the major argument was who “owned” the assignment process - now it’s who is the “hub” – what if there were no “hub”.   Systems with strategies of open infrastructure – well written API will be the winner in the battle – those who don’t want to leave the old school proprietary mindset will be left behind.   You have to be flexible to integrate to innovation and accept the fact that your company may not be able to innovate everything.