Mobile Technology Helps Hospitals Combat Nursing Shortage

Hospitals see dramatic reduction in on hand inventory costs and achieve significant workflow efficiencies.

West Lebanon, NH, 2003 – The nationwide shortage of nurses has affected most of the healthcare institutions. As healthcare institutions scramble to address this situation, some hospitals are using emerging technology to help ease the situation. Numbers Only, Inc. a leading wireless applications company based in North Brunswick, NJ is helping hospitals implement innovative Mobile applications to combat this situation.

“Our nurses were devoting too much of their valuable time to tasks outside of their core competency – tasking such as ordering supplies” said Bill Grimes MMIS Manager at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a 396-bed hospital based in Lebanon, NH. In addition to being an inefficient use of their skills, having nurses handle ordering led to numerous inventory management problems, the common being over stocking and panic orders. Charged with removing the burden of inventory ordering and management from the nursing staff and reducing on-hand inventory on the floors without making significant increase in materials management staff, Bill Grimes turned to Numbers Only, Inc.

Dartmouth implemented the @Par Mobile Supply Chain Execution suite and achieved significant reduction in on-hand inventories. “We cut on-hand (costs) in some instances by over 50%…” said Bill Grimes. “The savings we have realized has already offset our entire investment in the solution — handheld devices and software included.” With @Par the department is able to take up responsibility for more inventory locations with the same existing staff as a result of more than 400% productivity improvement.

“In terms of the solution’s impact on the organization as a whole, we now receive a more accurate, real-time look at usage reports, which is helping drive savings through contract compliance and product standardization. And, most importantly, our nurses are able to devote more time to patient care, secure in the knowledge that the supplies they need will be in the right place at the right time.”

Numbers Only also announced that two new hospitals have recently signed an agreement to implement @Par Suite. Partners Healthcare System and Scott & White Hospital are implementing @Par to streamline processes, reduce material handling errors, reduce inventory costs, improve workflow efficiencies and provide accurate real-time data needed to make critical business decisions.

Scott & White Clinic and Hospital, combined with the Scott & White Health Plan, form one of the largest multi-specialty group practices in the United States of America. Partners HealthCare System, an integrated health care delivery system, was formed in 1994 when Massachusetts General Hospital joined with Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Numbers Only, Inc. is a Wireless Applications Company headquartered in North Brunswick, NJ with operations in North America, Asia, and Africa. Numbers Only offers @Par, a product that mobile enables enterprise systems and helps businesses mobile enable their staff.