Automated temperature monitoring module for health care facilities

Nov 4 2009

Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSLR), today announced the availability of its most advanced automated temperature monitoring module. In health care facilities, there are many temperature-sensitive items which require constant environmental monitoring with the assurance that they are stored safely and in regulatory compliance. Temperature monitoring typically requires a manual process of monitoring and recording the temperature of storage units throughout expansive departments followed by the maintenance of temperature logs. This process is time consuming, labor-intensive and error prone.

With the automated temperature monitoring module from PCTS, real-time monitoring can streamline workflow for nursing, lab and pharmacy staff through automatic 24/7 monitoring of temperature-sensitive inventories, real-time visibility of temperature status with dynamic watchlists, and configurable real-time notifications of temperature events to mobile staff through various notification options including e-mail, text messaging, and other communication-based decision rules.

The temperature monitoring module can be used as a stand-alone platform, or be integrated with PCTS's enterprise asset management solution, Amelior Tracker®. With the Amelior Tracker system and temperature monitoring module, health care facilities can comply with Joint Commission standards far more easily than by manually monitoring temperatures. The system is comprised of a network of probe-based wireless temperature sensors which send raw data to the web-based Amelior Tracker software. The module is interoperable with both standard probes -- which support the temperature ranges in common refrigerators, freezers and incubators, and specialty probes -- which can be used to monitor temperature in more extreme environments like cryogenic freezers, ultra-low freezers or to monitor other environmental factors like humidity. The temperature monitoring module is integrated within the software so when users need to access location and status information on non-temperature inventories, there is no need to open another program as all asset data across the enterprise is accessible within the same system. Use of the configurable reporting engine allows customers to generate customized reports that satisfy internal tracking and workflow needs for temperature monitoring as well as providing reports specifically formatted to meet strict regulatory guidelines from various governing bodies.

The Amelior Tracker solution is part of the Amelior Enterprise Visibility Suite™ which comprises department to facility-wide software solutions and services designed to more efficiently and safely orchestrate patient care through the real-time visualization of patient flow. Hospitals can scale their implementations by the entities they wish to track (movable medical equipment, patients, staff), purpose (asset management, patient flow, infection control) and by the scope of hospital workflow (acute care, inpatient floors, outpatient services, enterprise-wide).

"All our customers depend upon accurate and reliable workflow management and we are always looking for ways to make that possible," said Chad Sallee, Vice President of Development and Technology for PCTS. "Hospitals and health care facilities have many temperature-sensitive items which require constant environmental monitoring. The temperature monitoring module available allows us to continue with our best practice standards of providing a system capable of monitoring, calibrating, and maintaining temperatures of inventory such as medication and blood bags, as well as access status in any area or department in real time."