SOURCE: EMS PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE - MARCH 2010
Visit any Fire Department or EMS Agency in the country and there is a good chance you will find very limited accountability and control over the agencies medical supplies and company assets. This is not without great effort as all agencies have processes in place to ensure they have ample supply on hand, that vehicles are ready for service and company assets are accounted for and in working condition. The problem agencies are finding are these processes are archaic, managed with paper check sheets and logs, and lack report tools to facilitate decision making. As a result, agencies have real problems managing their inventory and holding employees and volunteers accountable for their role in the process.
Realizing this growing need, EMS Technology Solutions has spent the last 3 years working with Fire Departments and EMS Agencies to develop the first inventory and asset management tool kit designed specifically for the Fire and EMS market. Ambutrak is now in use across the country helping agencies control their inventory costs, reduce service interruptions and drive accountability. It has been called “a god send” and the “best thing to hit EMS since the defibrillator”. With so many happy customers it is certainly noteworthy to see what makes Ambutrak different from retail and warehouse inventory tools and how it is helping Fire Departments and EMS Agencies make strides in their business.
To start with Ambutrak was designed from the beginning specifically around the processes in place at Fire Departments and EMS Agencies today. Therefore you can easily implement Ambutrak with minimal process change.
Supply Managers whether they are full time, or volunteer are saving time and reducing inventory costs by using Ambutrak. It helps them know how much inventory they have on their shelves, what the average usage is for a given period of time and what to order to maintain appropriate supply levels. Ambutrak even helps supply managers create purchase orders based on predetermined reorder points and PAR levels. These purchase orders can easily been sent to suppliers and used when receiving shipments for added accuracy. Ambutrak also gives the supply manager insight in to the inventory in outlying stations and on service vehicles. This allows them to identify expiring medications, locate equipment in need of service and fill supply requests to ensure the agency is ready for service.
EMTs and Paramedics use Ambutrak to perform station and vehicle inspections. The inspection process enables them to verify inventory levels and make supply requisitions to supply rooms for fulfillment. They can report on the maintenance condition of stations and vehicles while providing notification of areas that are in need of service directly to supervisors. For agencies using electronic patient care reporting, Ambutrak can also capture and report on the supplies used in administering care. Since all actions taken by crew members are recorded with a name and a time stamp Ambutrak provides unsurpassed accountability.
Operations Managers love the benefits that an electronic inventory and asset management tool provides. With Ambutrak’s reporting engine, managers can easily see how much inventory is currently on hand and review usage patterns down to the individual item or crew member. They can quickly identify service issues with vehicles, equipment and monitor the expiration dates on medications. Since Ambutrak provides for report scheduling they can do all their monitoring without having to login and retrieve their data. Once scheduled, key reports are conveniently delivered to their email inbox for review. This is also a great feature for agencies that want to repurpose data collected for other functions such as accounting or scheduling of service calls with third party vendors. All of which provides greater accountability and control while reducing ordering costs, inventory costs and service interruptions.
Since Ambutrak’s software is provided as a service, IT Managers are not burdened with the cost and maintenance of expensive servers. And since Ambutrak is web based they don’t have to install costly software on individual computers. It also makes the deployment scalable from a small Fire Department to a large EMS Agency with hundreds of ambulances.
If you are interested in learning more about Ambutrak you can schedule an online demonstration by going to www.ambutrak.com or calling 877-217-3707.
