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Horses, Jockeys, Trainers, OR Med Management & HCP Spring 17

American Pharoah – 2015 Belmont Stakes by Mike Lizzi CC BY-SA 2.0

Most of you don’t know that my software career started at a racetrack where I created a solution to help a racetrack focus their customer loyalty efforts. As a result, I have an affinity for the sport and with the Kentucky Derby just around the corner, I couldn’t resist the temptation to draw an analogy between that and some of the work we are doing here at Kit Check.

Today, our fastest growing use case is customers using Kit Check in the OR in conjunction with a dispensing cabinet or for stand alone trays (general anesthesia, specialty kits, controlled substances, etc.). Our customers are challenging us to help solve more of the problems they face in that chaotic environment and, as a result, we have learned a ton about the nuances and variations in OR med management.

OR Med Management is a Team Sport

This is where the racing analogy comes in. The winners of the Kentucky Derby have three things in common:

  1. A horse that has been trained and tested to be the best it can be
  2. An experienced jockey that is expert at reading multiple inputs in the heat of the race and making spot decisions to optimize the outcome
  3. A knowledgeable trainer that knows everything about the horse and optimizes training schedules, diets, etc. pre and post race to ensure the horse not only peaks at the right time each year, but can also sustain that performance over multiple seasons

The same goes for well functioning ORs.

  1. The right drugs are available that have been rigorously developed and tested
  2. Experienced anesthesia providers are expert at reading the situation and making spot decisions to optimize the outcome
  3. Knowledgeable pharmacists provide pre and post procedure guidance to ensure each case is a success and that patient outcomes and med management costs are optimized over time

Pharmacists Need Better Visibility to Positively Impact Patient Care

The problem is that pharmacists lack visibility into what happens in the OR and are at a disadvantage when it comes time to do their job. Unlike on the nursing floor where an order is submitted and then gets reviewed by Pharmacy, OR providers just grab what they need in the heat of the moment. Over the last decade, hospitals have implemented tools such as anesthesia workstations and anesthesia information management systems to provide visibility but due to a variety of factors, they often fail to provide an accurate picture that pharmacy can rely on.

And this is where we spend all of our time here at Kit Check: providing more visibility to Pharmacy about the drug lifecycle throughout the hospital. This helps them reduce their drug spend, increase compliance and patient safety, and optimize their team’s productivity so that they can spend more time on patient care.

Learn More at HCP Spring 17

If you are attending HCP next week in Los Angeles, don’t miss my presentation on Monday at 4:15pm where I’ll share some of the work we’ve been doing in more detail. If you like what you see, make sure you connect with one of our representatives at the show (booth #202) or feel free to have us contact you directly.