Number 80 - May 27, 2008

InnerSpace Launches System 100™ RFID Enabled Clinical Supply Management Solution

InnerSpace (www.innerspacecorp.com/rfidvideos) launches System 100™ for clinical supply management. System 100 uses embedded RFID technology and biometric security access to reliably and accurately track and account for high cost clinical supplies in real time. It’s an innovative solution to challenges faced by virtually every acute care hospital — how to maximize charge capture, reduce costs associated with expired items, optimize inventory, meet compliance mandates, and ultimately, to provide improved patient care.

System 100 uses RFID technology and biometric security access to reliably and accurately track high cost clinical supplies

System 100 is linked to a web-based information engine that provides on-going visibility of clinical inventory, expiration dates and related financial information.

System 100’s RFID technology automatically tracks items without the need for manual processes. By combining security and automated tracking, InnerSpace can assist hospitals in maximizing charge capture by insuring user compliance and accountability. System 100 is capable of interfacing with hospitals’ business systems thereby providing additional savings by streamlining processes and reducing errors.

On average, 65% of an acute care hospital’s supply costs are concentrated within three departments; Cardiology, Radiology, and Surgery. Five (5%) of the total number of items (in these departments) account for 50% of the total supply costs and 85% of the total chargeable value (of the supplies). What better reason to use advanced technology to track and manage high cost clinical supplies.

Implementing System 100 is as easy as rolling the intelligent cart in-place, plugging in the power cord and network connection (for internet access), applying RFID tags, and placing high cost clinical devices in the cart. The entire process is accomplished in less than a day. Tracking supplies is both seamless and automatic. There are no buttons to push or additional processes to follow, so staff compliance is not an issue.

System 100 constantly tracks and monitors cart access, supply movement and, the cart’s operating system and mechanical components. Inventory levels are automatically adjusted as supplies are removed from or added to the cart. Information is captured in real time, so customers always know what they have in inventory, the location and disposition of supplies, and the health of the cart.

Biometric access controls provide a simple and easy means for authorized users to access the cart. "Who" and "when" information is linked to the movement of supplies thereby creating 100% accountability. An additional benefit of System 100 is its flexibility. The cart’s shelves and trays can be reconfigured as needed to adapt to the continuous changes in package sizes and shapes.

System 100 is equipped with a backup battery allowing the cart to be moved from room to room without compromising security or losing data. Finally, System 100’s administrative functions allow greater visibility of inventory contained in one or more carts, within a single facility or across a network of facilities.

System 100 consists of a secure cart with embedded RFID technology and spaceTRAX, a web-based information and reporting engine. The cart is constantly communicating and synchronizing with the data contained in spaceTRAX.

System 100 can impact a hospital’s bottom line by delivering a powerful assortment of financial benefits: improved charge capture, reduced on-hand inventories, elimination of payments for non-used consignment inventory, and reduction in supply management labor.

Affordable Smart Shelf, the smartBlade™

Intellident’s smartBlade™ system
( www.intellident.co.uk/smartBlade) is designed to detect RFID tags affixed directly to individual products, informing users of the precise location of items on a shelf. Through the use of a patented antenna design smartBlade™ can determine the exact position of any tagged product within the vicinity. In addition, the system can recognise when new products are placed on shelf or removed from it.

Each blade is entirely modular and unobtrusive, with the option to fix directly to existing shelving or discretely clip on to merchandising equipment. The system comes with individual flashing LED detection, to highlight where on shelf the item is located or alert when stock is running low. Affordable and 100% accurate, the new smartBlade™ could prove a highly effective marketing and merchandising tool for companies operating within any sector.

Originally trialled within the library sector, smartBlade™ eliminates the need for staff to perform manual or hand-held stock checks, providing 100% accurate real-time inventory of what is on the shelf at the touch of a button. However, the library sector is not the only one who can benefit from this new and innovative product.

Following the successful pilot of smartBlade™ within a library environment, the current version can not only be used to provide immediate product location, but is a reliable means of assessing current stock levels, alerting of when product visibility is low and tracking customer behavior. smartBlade™ will be available toward the end of 2008.

AAID Security Solutions Provides Stand Alone Access Control for Slide, Swing, and Parking Gates

AAID Security Solutions (www.autoaccessid.com) — an OEM manufacturer and distributor of Ultra Long Range RFID readers and tags — introduces its low cost AA-CX100-R and AA-CX100-S Stand Alone Access Controllers for slide, swing, and parking gates as well as building entrance doors.

AAID’s AA-CX100-R controller is designed to store 1,600 random Wiegand card numbers and the AA-CX100-S can store 10,000 card users. This allows for individual cards to be validated or voided when necessary by using on-board push buttons and a LCD screen. Access cards or tags may be programmed into the AA-CX100 controllers for any Wiegand or Clock Data type of readers, including AAID’s Ultra Long Range RFID readers.

Checkpoint Systems and Sealed Air Cryovac Present First Integrated and Automated Anti-Theft Label and Source Tagging System for Direct Contact with Fresh Food Products

Checkpoint Systems (www.checkpointeurope.com) — a manufacturer and marketer of identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions to the retail industry and its supply chains — and Sealed Air Cryovac (www.sealedair-emea.com) — a leading global manufacturer of a wide range of food and protective packaging materials and systems — announce the launch of an innovative anti-theft tagging solution for food products. The solution targets frequently stolen products. In particular, Cryovac is using the system to protect supplies of the cheeses Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano.

Checkpoint's collaboration with Sealed Air Cryovac in Italy began in early 2007. The companies initiated a label and source tagging program designed to protect food, such as meat and dairy products. Checkpoint's research and development laboratories produced the first RF-EAS Food-Safe label — the only label to date that has received European authorization and ISEGA certification — for direct contact with dry, moist, and fatty food products. The distinctive feature of the label is its conformity with European health and safety legislation to control the direct contact with fresh and dry foodstuffs; the label also meets all FDA guidelines for direct food contact. The label complies with Checkpoint's standards for deactivation and detection by EAS systems.

The Food-Safe label enables the fresh food sector to gain all the benefits of source tagging. These include time savings due to the elimination of manual label applications.

Sealed Air Cryovac, known for continuous technological research that has made the company a global leader in packaging, then set up a manufacturing system to integrate Checkpoint's Food-Safe anti-theft label inside its Cryovac® vacuum shrink bags. The integration makes it difficult to tamper with product packaging and defeat the anti-theft label.

The first tests were conducted with Parmigiano Reggiano in Italy for a six-month period to determine the effectiveness of Checkpoint's label source tagged and integrated into Cryovac® vacuum shrink bags. The first market request to Sealed Air Cryovac was for two million packs for the protection of Parmigiano Reggiano alone. However, the system is expected in the near future to be applied to other types of “softer” cheeses and to packaged cold meats. These products represent a significant percentage of those displayed in supermarkets' refrigerated food cabinets. They are also significant in terms of both sales and inventory shrinkage. Initial studies have shown that this RF-EAS source tagging program may cut down inventory shrinkage of dairy products from 9% to 1%.

U.S. Air Force Medical Service Selects Shipcom Wireless for Major Healthcare RFID Contract

Shipcom Wireless, Inc. (www.shipcomwireless.com), a global provider of enterprise and healthcare solutions, has been selected by the Air Force Surgeon General's Office to review the current uses of RFID technology across the Air Force Medical Service and then pilot RFID systems to improve clinical operations at the Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi.

Mr. David Baker, a clinical engineer with the Air Force Surgeon General's office notes that this project: "expands from just asset tracking to tracking lab specimens, medications, and possibly patients. When we first presented the concept and potential applications of RFID technology to the Air Force Surgeon General, he quickly saw potential value on the clinical side. The biggest shortfall to this point is the lack of a well defined business case that clearly shows the technology saves bottom line dollars."

The project will involve a baseline assessment of the existing implementations of RFID at Air Force medical centers, using Shipcom's HOCAM™ (Hospital Operational & Clinical Assessment Model). This assessment will be followed by recommendations on how the Air Force can most effectively utilize RFID and related technologies to improve patient care and make clinical processes more efficient. Finally, Shipcom will model and implement specific RFID solutions at Keesler Medical Center using Shipcom's x/Care™ suite of healthcare applications, including the patient care module p/Care™ and the Asset Management module a/Care™.

"Like the rest of the healthcare industry, our military's care system is in the process of modernizing its IT infrastructure and they are taking all possible steps to ensure patient safety and improve hospital management," says John Shoemaker, President of Shipcom. "Shipcom's healthcare solution is a core component of that objective. We are extremely proud to be selected by the Air Force and to be a part of this defining program for all the military services."

The initial phase of this multi-year project will begin with Shipcom doing an extensive study across numerous military hospitals, including the Keesler Medical Center, to analyze process bottlenecks and technology challenges. This innovative and far reaching contract will enable Shipcom to produce model applications that can be replicated across military hospitals and other healthcare establishments supported by sound business cases.