From collection to disposition we witness the life of a specimen sample. What we often fail to witness are the errors and miscalculations that take place at each turn. Not every specimen is perfect, some get lost while others are mislabeled or forgotten about. It’s our job to take care of each specimen to ensure a proper life cycle. When specimen accessioning and processing is overlooked or errors are made, this creates an intense effect which can heavily impact hospitals and their patients. It is insane how common medical errors are today and it slows down healthcare progression by creating negative experiences and adding unnecessary costs.

The question that arises is, how do we protect ourselves from the inevitable loss or error of a specimen in it’s life cycle? To do this, we need to create a fresh system and step away from old processes with the perspective that new is better. Sometimes it’s impossible to see the impact errors make until we stop making them. Fear of the unknown can prevent adoption of new processes but with the teamwork of several medical institutions, Quake Global developed a proven solution to our above question. You could view this solution as insurance and the cost is often only $0.20 per specimen. Using RFID technology, the system provides real-time tracking, a live dashboard, elimination of manual tracking logs, dispatch management, courier tracking and even temperature tracking. $0.20 to insure one specimen with all these benefits to reduce the possibility of over a million in damage and risk to another human’s life.

When a specimen is lost along the life cycle Quake’s system is trained to automatically alert the hospital and provides the last known location. With the elimination of manual tracking logs, efficiency is increased, and human error is also reduced greatly. Quake’s three main benefits to healthcare are reduced costs, improved efficiency and patient safety. To improve value even further Quake also provides further support for equipment, patients, staff and accessory tracking using the same RFID system for enterprise support. To learn more Contact Quake Global or visit our Healthcare Solutions Page.

Tanner Immonen

Marketing Coordinator

Quake Global, Inc.

Previous Blog Post: How Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) Improve Healthcare