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Tracking Carts, Trays, Drugs, and Supplies During COVID-19

Photo courtesy of Kit Check

It seems that every day brings new information about COVID-19 treatment options, testing numbers, and supplies. In this time of uncertainty, it is more important than ever to know what is available in your hospital pharmacy inventory, and to be able to restock and deliver supplies as efficiently as possible.

Some of our customers are creating Kit Masters for COVID-19 trays. The contents of these trays vary, of course, but keeping track of your inventory of meds and PPE can give you some peace of mind that you have what you need on hand.

We are also seeing an increased need for tracking tray and cart locations. If a cart has been used in a room with a COVID-19 patient, a different cleaning and sterilization process will need to be used, so it is imperative to know where kits and trays are going in the hospital. This can also help make sure that meds and trays do not get thrown out unnecessarily when every dose counts.

Shortages of drugs needed for sedation, pain, and intubation procedures are being reported, specifically fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone. The DEA has been asked to allow manufactures and 503Bs to increase their quota allocation, but hospitals on the front lines today must find ways to deal with these shortages.

Here are some built-in Kit Check tools you can use to help streamline workflows and what drugs you have on hand, what is in danger of shortage or expiration, and where your kits and carts are located. Item Level Tracking ensures that you have an accurate view of your inventory and usage data, including kitted and shelved inventory.

Shortage Management

Kit Check can automatically scan your trays to show shortage details and make sure the inventory you have on hand is optimally distributed. Par level analytics can help minimize the impact of a shortage.

Shelved Inventory

The Shelved Inventory feature allows you to create RFID tags for inventory bins, so you can scan just like you do with your kits. Scanning a bin shows you a summary all the items contained therein, highlighting any expired, expiring soon, or recalled items. As items move from the shelf into Kit Check kits, the system automatically subtracts those items to compute the remaining quantity for each bin, ensuring inventory counts are always accurate and up to date.

Expiration Date Extension

With one click, you can change expiration dates for NDC lots, ensuring that viable medications don’t get thrown away before they need to be.

For a comprehensive overview of these features and more, check out this recorded webinar.

As always, if there is anything we can do to help you in doing the important work every day, please do not hesitate to contact us.