EFHSS Questions and Answers - Question Q00179

Hi, my name is George and I have recently taken charge of a cssd and was wondering if anybody could help me with a question. At present we use the meditrax system for traceability but are hoping to introduce a bar code computer system and I was wondering if anyone could recomend a system and could someone please tell me the requirements I need to comply to regarding the traceability of instruments from say patient -to- decontaim -to- autoclave -to- sterile storage -to- patient

kind regards
George

Dear George,

I can advice you to have a look at the website of our industrial partner: T-Doc. For the moment T-Doc refers you to www.getingeproducts.com/products. There, under products, Management control, you find a description of the possibilities of a traceability system for documentation and management.

Best regards and good luck,
Wim Renders

George,

Also our new Industrial Partner, ScanTrack UK, offers an instrument management system. Information here about you can find on their website: www.scantrackuk.com

Regards,
Wim

Dear George,

You can contact Rexam SPS that is a specialised company involved in sterilisation QA systems. Sterigest / CalivaC is a complete tracking system for : decontamination, packaging, sterilisation, distribution and patient informations. Important: that includes a load validation system in routine with an independant probe that measure temperature, pressure, time and steam quality for each cycle and any autoclave models, the same function is available for the waher / disinfectors.
Used over 35 countries in the world.

Contact:
Rexam SPS
5 rue de Montigny
77527 Coulommiers
France

00 33 1 64 75 60 00 or 00 33 6 71 58 21 40
00 33 1 64 75 60 07 fax

George,

There are a few factors which need to be considered when purchasing a barcode computer system regardless of standards. Firstly you should look for a system which is primarily user friendly. A Windows based system is a good option as the screen will be easy to use by those who are familiar with computers and also those who are not. It is worthwhile deciding what you need the system to record and how you would like that done. Will you be scanning the trays in all areas of your department or just when they enter and leave. To attain complete traceability you need to trace your trays at all parts of the process and of course at the theatre or department level where it is used on a patient. This last part can be done in the CSSD by recording the patients hospital number against a tray ID number or at Theatre level by their own personnel as an extension to your system.

There are some systems which maintain they can link into washer-disinfectors and autoclaves to give you better traceability of processes but I have yet to see them so in that case it is worthwhile finding out how you are going to match the cycle numbers of the washer-disinfectors and autoclaves with the trays. I am not so sure it is a good idea to link in the software of a washer-disinfector or autoclave with that of a barcode system as to me it is quite risky but there is no doubt that the information of what tray is put into which cycle needs recorded. As well as scanning trays CSSD personnel need to scan their name badges so there is a record of who dealt with what tray.

You may also want to decide what kind of reporting or costing you want the computer to produce. For instance it is no use recording all of your activity level if you cannot reproduce this information through simple reports. If you are to take on any outside contracts this part of the system will be critical and feedback from your finance department on what sort of reports will be needed is helpful.

Finally be assured that the crucial part of any system is the backup. You will not function properly especially during the early stages of using a system unless you have a constant source of backup so that problems can be resolved promptly. If your system goes down because of a problem your whole department will come to a standstill so it is good to have something in place to record by hand incase of an emergency. Also make sure if your system is linked into the main hospital IT network that there is a good anti-virus package installed as we were infected by a bad virus during our early stages and subsequently lost alot of our history files. These are now backed up onto a computer disc daily.

We are currently using the Fingerprint computer system which can be sourced through Health Edge Solutions Ltd. UK. and we find it to be quite a comprehensive system but easy to use. The backup so far has been very good.

Hope I given you food for thought.

Aisling Bonner
Manager HSDU
Altnagelvin Hospital
Derry City
Northern Ireland

3D Digital Design and Development Ltd, a London based company, supply a fully integrated barcode based surgical trays tracking and tracing system called CleanTrack which meet HSC 2000/0032 requirement. 3D provide a turnkey solution to meet your specific operation and suit your budget, please contact 3D for more information

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Kahtan Kibasi
3D Digital Design and Development Ltd