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RFID Asset Tracking Solution |
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Aurora Health
Care Selects Patient Care Technology Systems' Asset Tracking
Solution
Marketwire
July 21, 2009
Implementation Integrates 'Plug and Track' Locating From Awarepoint
and Support Services From Skytron
Highlighted Links
CHARLOTTE, NC and SAN DIEGO, CA and GRAND RAPIDS, MI- Patient Care
Technology Systems (PCTS), a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering,
Inc. (NASDAQ: CSLR), today announced that Aurora Health Care has
selected the company's Amelior Tracker® system to automatically
track and manage over 3100 hospital assets throughout their 538-bed,
1.65 million square foot Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center campus.
Aurora will integrate a "plug and track" Real-time Location System
(RTLS) from Skytron, powered by Awarepoint to provide automatic
location data capture to the Amelior Tracker end-user software.
Awarepoint serves its U.S. healthcare customers through its
exclusive distribution partnership with Skytron. |
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Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center is located in Milwaukee and is one
of 13 hospitals in the not-for-profit Aurora Health Care system
which also includes more than 100 clinics and 30 rehabilitation
centers. Internationally known for expertise in heart care, Aurora
St. Luke's ranks as a top 10 center in the world for minimally
invasive, robotically-assisted heart surgery and has earned a
reputation as one of Wisconsin's leading medical centers. Aurora
Health Care has been named one of the Most Wired health care
providers six consecutive times.
The initial focus of the enterprise-wide asset management
installation will be identifying and locating IV pumps to optimize
utilization and eliminate unnecessary future replacement
investments. Future plans include working with PCTS to identify
additional ways to enhance workflow efficiencies and increase supply
utilization through the company's solution suite.
The Amelior Tracker solution is part of the Amelior Enterprise
Visibility Suite™ which comprises department to facility-wide
RTLS-enabled software solutions and services designed to more
efficiently and safely orchestrate patient care through the
real-time visualization of patient flow. Hospitals can scale their
implementations by the entities they wish to track (movable medical
equipment, patients, staff), purpose (asset management, patient
flow, infection control) and by the scope of hospital workflow
(acute care, inpatient floors, outpatient services,
enterprise-wide).
At St. Luke's, PCTS will implement an active-RFID locating network
from business partner Awarepoint with whom PCTS recently announced a
strategic marketing agreement. Awarepoint provides location
awareness through a ZigBee-based wireless sensor network utilizing
sensors which are deployed in standard electrical outlets. This 100%
wireless infrastructure enables quick installation without
disrupting patient care throughout the entire enterprise. Awarepoint
tags broadcast low power radio messages which enable users to
quickly locate specific equipment or people and provide information
about their movement and status. The installation will provide true
hospital-wide awareness -- not only room-level, but persistent
accuracy across the entire hospital footprint. Skytron will manage
and support the RTLS network as part of an expanded commitment to
their existing client services to Aurora Health Care.
"Optimizing the utilization of our infusion pumps and other movable
medical equipment is critical to our mission of providing a better
way to deliver care," said Alan Gresch, manager of corporate
clinical engineering at Aurora Health Care. "The right equipment
must always be ready for the right person at the right time. It is
all about supporting our staff and patients. We determined that we
needed an accurate, real-time visualization of our assets and after
an extensive review of the RTLS marketplace, our team determined
that the best solution for St. Luke's needs is PCTS with Skytron,
powered by Awarepoint. They impressed us with their proven
experience in implementing real-time visibility solutions in large,
acute care facilities."
"We look forward to working with our Skytron and Awarepoint partners
to help Aurora achieve its asset management goals in support of its
internationally-recognized commitment to innovation and quality
care," said Tony Marsico, president and CEO of PCTS. "The return on
investment from such an initiative spans significant financial,
patient safety, throughput and satisfaction benefits."
About Aurora Health Care
Established in 1984, Aurora Health Care is a not-for-profit
Wisconsin health care provider and has become a nationally
recognized leader in efforts to improve the quality of health care.
Aurora has sites in more than 90 communities throughout eastern
Wisconsin, including 13 hospitals, more than 100 clinics and over
120 community pharmacies.
About Awarepoint
Awarepoint's real-time location systems (RTLSs) include its
real-time awareness platform, firmware, active RFID tags, sensors,
and bridges. Awarepoint's technologies collect raw sensor data and
transform that data into high-value positioning information that can
be used to add location awareness to a variety of healthcare,
manufacturing, security and other applications. Requiring no hard
wiring, Awarepoint's "plug and track" ZigBee-based wireless sensor
network is a fully managed service, including hardware, software,
remote monitoring and maintenance. The company is headquartered in
San Diego, California and serves its hospital customers across the
United States through a distribution agreement with Skytron. Track
us down at http://www.awarepoint.com or visit www.skytron.us
About Skytron
Skytron provides innovative and efficient medical equipment
solutions for a variety of healthcare settings and hospital
departments, and is recognized across North America for the highest
quality products, extensive product menu and exceptional customer
service. Skytron products include surgical lighting, tables, booms,
integration, stainless steel, RTLS-RFID technology, and more. Since
1972, Skytron has remained true to their commitment of "customer
service first, everything else will follow." For more information on
Skytron's quality products, visit www.skytron.us
Skytron has partnered with Awarepoint as the exclusive sales,
distribution and support partner for RFID RTLS in the U.S. Hospital
market. www.skytron.us
About Patient Care Technology Systems
Patient Care Technology Systems, a subsidiary of Consulier
Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSLR), helps health care providers to
improve patient flow, increase capacity and improve patient and
staff safety by visualizing the real-time location and status of
patients and equipment throughout their facility. Proven return on
investment in high turnover, high acuity departments such as the
emergency department and perioperative suite where PCTS solutions
have supported over 5 million patient visits with automatic tracking
and emergency department documentation solutions. The Amelior
Enterprise Visibility Suite™ is interoperable with all leading
locating technologies including active-RFID, infrared, ultrasound,
ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi and ZigBee. PCTS customers have been
recognized nationally for improvements in efficiency and clinical
excellence. For more information, visit www.pcts.com.
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