Transporting Trust: The Importance of Medication and Material Tracking in Hospital Systems

Intrahospital Material Transport Is A Complex Operation

Most hospitals use pneumatic tube systems, an efficient and effective way to move materials from one area to another. For hospitals seeking to optimize chain of custody visibility, however, transport automation, no matter how secure, may not be sufficient. They must also keep accurate track of each carrier moving through the network. And they must also ensure that handling of these materials adheres to industry standards and best practices. This includes regulations such as those issued by the DSCSA.

Lacking clear chain of custody visibility can expose a hospital to serious quality control issues.

Transportation of medications and other sensitive materials throughout the hospital is particularly challenging for those hospitals using older systems or, worse yet, outdated paper-based tracking. While a pneumatic tube system is extremely effective in transporting materials, without a method of tracking carrier contents and visibility through each stage of the transport, materials are more vulnerable to being mishandled or getting lost. And there is less likelihood of identifying where the issues occurred and who was responsible.

Another example of the need for accurate tracking can be found in hospital blood banks. A blood bank audit will require an electronic record that shows the blood chain of custody. Paper based tracking or only semi-automated processes will make this difficult to impossible to provide.

Lacking this important chain of custody information can result in serious quality control issues that impact patient safety.

The healthcare industry supports and encourages more aggressive tracking of medications and other sensitive materials in hospitals and other healthcare environments. New, more stringent guidelines on transport of hospital medications continue to emerge, including FDA requirements governing the handling and transport of blood. Hospitals must comply by updating their transport infrastructure to enable more accurate tracking and minimize unnecessary risks.

New Technologies Are Automating Hospital Medication Tracking 

Technologies exist today which automate the process of tracking hospital materials across each stage of transport and delivery, adding much needed visibility, clarity and accountability to each transport.

Hospitals seeking to install tracking software for their medications transport or to upgrade from outdated applications should look for these features:

• Comprehensive tracking. In addition to tracking within pneumatic tube systems, the software should extend to include manual medications transported by tracking courier totes. It should also be able to track other automated transport systems. This provides a full chain of custody visibility by ensuring that all orders are traceable from the time they are received until they are delivered to the intended recipient.
• Real-time information. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology is an effective way to enable automatic carrier tracking, monitoring, and inventory management. The software should use RFID to provide real-time verification that transactions have arrived at the right station at the right time. It should enable the user to instantly be able to view the status of any order being dispatched with real time updates to eliminate information gaps.
• Central control. The system should provide a single point of control, accountability, and traceability for patient order delivery. It should integrate and connect the medication distribution process, which will improve the chain of custody. This not only enhances the efficiency of the tracking process but also reduces the risk of medication errors.
  
  

Effective tracking and chain of custody visibility over medications and materials transport is critical to ensuring efficient workflows throughout the hospital. Continuing to use old systems or manual processes not only disrupts those workflows but risks compliance violations by exposing hospitals to serious errors and other issues that can impact patient care.

Hospitals should include in their budgets comprehensive, real-time tracking solutions for medications, blood samples, and other critical materials. Taking steps to do so will not only enhance the efficiency and safety of its delivery processes, but also help protect the health of their patients.