With the constant need for urgent communications, many hospitals have implemented the Vocera platform to improve connectivity among staff. A common source of frustration for department managers has been the inability to track Vocera badge batteries to users, resulting in an excess of loss and replacements. The extra costs for replacement batteries can amount to tens of thousands of dollars per year for many hospitals.
Because of the small footprint and lightweight nature of Vocera badge batteries, many staff members often misplace or lose the batteries. In order to combat this waste, one major academic hospital in the Northeast implemented a software-based system to track every battery used to a specific employee. Because of this improved chain of custody, the hospital hopes to drastically reduce its spend on replacement batteries and save a lot of time and money in the process.
This Vocera battery tracking system, developed by Mobile Aspects, allows hospitals to effectively track the movement of Vocera badge batteries while providing a convenient charging station for employees. The system uses RFID-enabled cabinets that automatically detect when batteries are loaded or removed from the cabinets. Employees can only access the batteries after logging in to the cabinet using their badge, so all batteries they remove are associated with them. This allows hospitals to monitor which employees are misplacing the most batteries for accountability purposes. The cabinets are also outfitted with battery chargers so the batteries can recharge while being stored.
The hospital deployed the first-of-its-kind system with the hopes of reducing or eliminating its $60,000 annual spend on replacement batteries. Employees will also benefit from having a convenient, central location to charge their batteries and swap them out when needed. For more information visit www.mobileaspects.com