At the last edition of the ISPOR Europe Congress, Derek O’Boyle and Xavier Bergés from Alcon Ireland and Spain, respectively, presented an interesting poster on the impact of installing Palex RFID cabinets for the inventory management of intraocular lenses for cataract surgery in a Spanish public hospital.
The objective of the posters’ authors was to estimate the time-related inefficiencies associated with the current intraocular lens inventory process and to forecast the impact following the implementation of the RFID system. To do this, they built an interactive analytical model that collected qualitative and quantitative data from the people involved in the hospital’s intraocular lens management process.
The use of RFID technology is widespread in hospital logistics, but it is not common in the management of the intraocular lens inventory process, despite its enormous potential. It provides real-time, remote visibility of stock and consumption to automate replenishment orders, improving forecasting and preventing stock-outs. In addition, automated traceability makes it possible to digitise records to ensure patient safety and relieve care professionals of administrative tasks and dedicate time to patient care.
The results presented in the poster demonstrate the potential of Palex’s Dyane SmartCabinet RFID solution to improve efficiency in the ophthalmology workflow.
According to the study, this technology demonstrates considerable savings in time, money and efficiency. Here are some facts and figures:
- 2.5 minutes saved per surgery in manual data entry in ERM.
- 8.6 minutes saved per week in the management of expired lenses.
- 7.4 minutes saved per day in the verification of products received.
- 5.2 minutes saved per day in the ordering of intraocular lenses.
- Up to 217 hours less in nursing workload.
- Up to €11,242 saved per year on 2,000 cataract surgeries.
It was also estimated that the RFID cabinet may also reduce the number surgeries cancelled due to lens stock-outs (10 surgeries) and due to manual data entry errors (7 surgeries),
Ultimately, this study demonstrates that Palex RFID cabinets have significant potential as evidenced by the time savings and improved efficiency through the elimination of the need to verify incoming products, manually record data and manage expired lenses.
