Pentalym and Medtronic: improving inventory management in hospitals

“A true test for any technology is its application in the real world – and there’s nothing quite as real as racing to save a human life.”

Matt Shields, Pentalym Founder and CEO

On-site stock control: it’s life-changing

In a hospital, you need every medical device and every component to be exactly where you need it. There is no room for error. There is no time for inaccuracy.

A person is suffering a sudden heart attack. You need to locate a defibrillator and/or coronary artery stent in real-time. Pentalym can help.

A breast implant model that has been implanted in thousands of patients has been recalled due to safety concerns. All impacted patients need to be located and contacted. Pentalym can help.

Surgeons want to have their preferred medical products and devices, on-hand, for every individual patient case on their list. Pentalym can help.

Supply chain disruptions: here to stay?

It’s clear that recent disruptions in supply chains have been wide-ranging.

Some businesses can’t get hold of the ingredients they need to make their staple offerings, resulting in lost revenue, disgruntled customers and unhappy staff. Yet the loss to business reputation can’t really compare to the catastrophe that can occur when a healthcare organisation can’t get hold of life-saving medical components.?

"COVID-19 has highlighted structural weaknesses in the healthcare system and, most notably, a persistent issue with the capacity and resilience of healthcare supply chains. Between 59-83% of organisations have reported delays or increased lead times in acquiring supplies since the onset of the pandemic."

IBM Supply Chain blog, February 2021

As well as on-site traceability (as mentioned above), transparency across the entire supply chain makes the world of difference to stock management in a hospital.?

“According to a recent survey of 138 hospital leaders by Sage Growth Partners in early April 2020 as the United States approached the peak of the COVID-19 curve, supply chain management is now hospital leaders’ second most important priority (outranked only by patient safety)."

Health IT Outcomes

Pentalym and Medtronic: a healthy partnership

With Medtronic, Abbott Vascular and Boston Scientific, Pentalym ran a pilot program in three private hospitals in the Illawarra, NSW, Australia. Utilising our RFID tracking technology, we designed the trial to achieve measurable outcomes for hospitals with large inventories, complex projects and time-sensitive deliverables.

At project completion in May 2021, Medtronic confirmed:?

• Inventory tracking accuracy increased by 79%.
• Replenishment lead-time reduced by an average 2.5 days.

We’re continuing to work with Medtronic - a global healthcare technology leader boldly attacking the most challenging health problems facing humanity with innovations that transform lives. A global producer of medical devices and therapies, such as insulin pumps, pacemakers and diabetes therapies, Medtronic has 90,000 staff in 150 countries. It develops cutting-edge medical devices, as well as technology solutions.

More great results from our trial:

• Up to a 70% reduction in losses.
• Stock availability increases of 10-20%.

Based on our trial and further research, we ran some cost-savings projections, which you can check out in the graph below. We based these on the assumption that a hospital holds $1 million worth of surgical stock and is currently dealing with inventory losses of 5% year on year. By implementing the Pentalym solution, this hospital reduces stock losses by 79% - a cost saving of $4 million each year. Over 30 years, that cost saving is life-changing.

Prevention of stock losses results in lower costs and less time lost - ultimately, an improved bottom line for your hospital. Further, the cost savings free up resources to improve processes and empower hospital staff to do what they do best: improving patient outcomes.?

“The key advantage with working with the Pentalym team is that they are agile and the technology they use is able to be scaled quickly to meet demand. We are pleased with the results that we are achieving so far, and looking to rapidly expand the footprint.”?

Ashley Jones, Senior Manager Functional Excellence, ANZ Supply Chain, Medtronic

Pentalym success is contagious

Pentalym and Medtronic continue to collaborate by rolling out pilot programs at numerous hospital sites, along with specialist medical provider facilities - including a leading group of interventional cardiology clinics in Sydney, Australia.

A complete solution for hospitals

The Pentalym app suite is designed as a comprehensive solution for total visibility and traceability - across the supply chain and on-site at your hospital.

• Connect App: Connect using supported tags gives every device a unique digital identity paired to the product barcode.
• Scan App: The easy way to keep track of your products anywhere – turning your mobile phone into a scanner.
• Track App: Save time and streamline traditional workflow processes with Track – keeping track of all the moving pieces within your ecosystem.
• Charge App: Charge is a smart, user-friendly app that lets you see every detail of every item used in a procedure, the moment ‘end case’ is called.

To learn more about how the Pentalym suite of apps works together, check out the video above showing our Founder and CEO Matt Shields talking it over. There's more great video content over on Pentalym's YouTube channel.

Automated smartShelves for instant data

But wait, there’s more? You bet.

Pentalym’s smartShelves are revolutionising stock control in hospitals.

With our automated smartShelves, the hospital’s inventory database is instantly updated - the moment an item is removed from the shelf.

Powered by RFID technology and our unique Pentalym smartTags, smartShelves are incredibly simple to set up and to use. Here’s how:

1. Attach Pentalym smartTags to each of your items and set them up in the Pentalym Connect app.
2. Add your smartTagged item onto a Pentalym smartShelf.
3. As items are added to the smartShelf, Pentalym’s software suite will automatically update the database, instantly. The same thing will happen when items are removed from the smartShelf.?

Simple. Smart. Life-changing.

Let’s get started

Digital inventory management isn’t the way of the future; it’s here now.?

Built on Salesforce, the Pentalym solution integrates easily into your existing hospital systems, with very little interruption to operations.

Hospitals are already getting on board to benefit from Pentalym’s real-time inventory solution.

To learn more, visit our website, contact our Sales Team today.