EMS Organizations Benefit from UCapIt

All across the United States, EMS organizations are benefitting from the use of IDS EMS supply vending machines and supply lockers. From access to reports to saving time and money to complying with state regulations, UCapIt has taken the world of emergency services by storm. Hear from EMS organizations across the country why UCapIt is their new go-to system for organization and inventory control.

Bill Dolby, Fire Captain at Jackson Township, has found that UCapIt is saving them money every year. “We have to be creative. years ago, we were throwing away $3,000 worth of drugs when they expired at the end of the month. We only throw away a couple of hundred dollars worth of drugs now.”

Real-time alerts have been crucial for the Tulsa Fire Department. Captain Michael Bake, Director of EMS, said, “I have a limited supply and equipment budget and the supply monster was just eating our operations. We found, when we analyzed the system, that we had a lot of inconsistencies and weren’t compliant with state regulations,” Blake said. “Our old system to determine what we had in the field that was going to expire was a phone tree, and now, with UCapIt, we can pull it up in real-time and understand what we have to order or not.” 

Reports are another asset that UCapIt users have found to be beneficial. Captain Beth Hines of Onslow County EMS said, “The report tells me what I need to know, how many are expiring, where they are located and the name of the medication.” Continues Hines, “I really like that I can run the report for 90 or more days because I order replacement medications 3-4 months in advance, plus my regular stock…so I know I won’t run out.”

UCapIt has taken the EMS world by storm and there is no sign of slowing down. To get started with UCapIt, or to learn more about its features, give IDS a call at 1-877-771-4446.

Robot Inventory Drug Control at University Health Services

The pharmacy at Penn State University’s Student Health Center has employed a robot lovingly named “Rex” to do everything from count pills to fill prescription bottles by way of automated pharmaceutical inventory control.

Rex is officially known as a “collating control center robotic prescription-dispensing machine,” which is essentially an automated medical vending machine on a much larger scale. Doris Guanowsky, the senior associate director at University Health Services at Penn State, says that this is exactly the type of technological innovation that is allowing them to serve and care for a greater number of people with each passing day. Rex is currently being used to fill the prescriptions of employees, students, retirees and everyone in between.

Guanowsky indicated that it is not common for a university to have this type of technology at all, let alone working in the Student Health Center. However, the huge volume of patients and prescriptions that the Center is responsible necessitated this emphasis on the best that modern technology has to offer. Over the 2013 to 2014 season alone, University Health Services filled more than 163,000 prescriptions. To put that into slightly different terms, that equates to between 600 and 1,000 prescriptions each and every day.

Filling a prescription is a lot more than just putting pills into a bottle. Patients have to be communicated with, insurance claims need to be properly filed, labels need to be printed en masse and more. By automating a large portion of these processes and delegating that responsibility to Rex, the Center is not only able to keep costs down but can also turn over a higher number of prescriptions per day.

In many ways, a college pharmacy vending machine solution like Rex is powered on similar technology to the type that UCapIt has been incorporating into its solutions for over 80 years. UCapIt provides a wide range of different technological solutions that healthcare providers depend on daily. The CAP 5, for example, allows healthcare professionals to have complete control over the dispensing of the widest variety of products and medical supplies. The CAP 5 Refrigerated adds in the ability to control an environment’s climate, increasing the total number of items that can be stored based on those conditions.

One thing is for sure: between the solutions that UCapIt provides and the ways in which medical centers like the one at Penn State are embracing modern technology, everyone is benefiting – from patients to healthcare practitioners and everyone in between.

EMS Medical Supply Shortages: A Solution

Within the medical industry, pharmacy inventory is in a high-stakes gamble with supply shortages. A medical vending machine is important for local paramedics, and several townships have installed machines capable of dispensing drugs and equipment—rather than the traditional snack food and beverages.

The Columbus Dispatch has featured such inclusions within their depiction of a pharmaceutical vending machine providing innovative solutions for emergency medical supplies, combating cost increases with locally provided medication and pharmaceuticals.

Instant Supply and Quick Medical Inventory Solutions

Each EMS medical vending machine provides a variety of solutions for ailments acknowledged by the Food and Drug Administration, alerting paramedics when stocked equipment or drugs are in low supply. Additionally, soon-to-expire substances are returned to distributors—exchanged for credit.

Revolutionary Design

Controlled Access Pharmaceutical Dispensers utilize updated tracking and inventory tracking technology. This technology delivers a number of processes, optimizing the machine for use and substance maintenance:

  •         EMS supply tracking
  •         Instant medication expense recording
  •         Control and monitoring of inventory
  •         Usage transparency

Each Controlled Access Pharmaceutical Dispenser enables and empowers EMS professionals—granting them instant access of units on a 24/7 basis. Intensive identification protocols are utilized, securing the unit through several mechanisms:

  •         Proximity card reader
  •         Pin number
  •         Bar code identification scanner
  •         Biometric fingerprint reader
  •         Combination lock mechanism

Regulation and Industry Security

Every system withdraw is cataloged, regulated and time stamped through individual use. Authority level clearance is always tight, so industry regulations are kept intact throughout servicing. Additionally, every Controlled Access Pharmaceutical Dispenser may be streamlined to access email notifications—contacting management when controlled substances are dispensed.

Such boundaries are available with simple inclusions: internet access and a laptop. Managers across the world can access, manage and utilize a variety of Controlled Access Pharmaceutical Dispenser items, each located within a variety of locations.

Restock Awareness and Recording

Within the industry, up-to-date inventories are vital, and expenses within pharmaceutical realms have been reduced to mere hundreds of dollars where CAP machines are utilized—replacing the previous multiple-thousand-dollar expenses ambulances and hospitals normally incurred.

When authorized staff identification has been established, CAP machines may be programmed to provide a number of functions, including:

  •         Vehicle-specified access
  •         Incident-specific access
  •         Witness identification approval

Often, an EMS Manager is required during unlocking and dispensing, ensuring control over narcotic kits, oxygen, laptops and back boards. Where storeroom security and accountability are concerned, CAP machines effectively regulate usage, expiration rates and location.

A Future of Consistency

Pharmaceutical and emergency providers have thrived where Controlled Access Pharmaceutical Dispensers are provided—making alerts simple while managing administrative tasks. Individuals obtain customized usage reports, facilitating growth within each unit-equipped sector. Management and billing purposes are well-maintained, and reports are delivered daily, weekly or during custom timeframes.

Where inventory managers are considered, automatic tracking optimizes inventory logging, making instant recording much more than a primary function. The Controlled Access Pharmaceutical Dispenser will likely become an industry constant within the future, redefining EMS services while assisting patients on-site, with complete accessibility, regulation and ease-of-use for industry professionals. The medical industry appears bright, and the CAP Dispenser is paving the way.

Source:

https://www.boundtree.com/ucapit.aspx