Caritas Home Care has found the formula for improving healthcare quality and cutting costs. By porting its legacy mobile medical software to new handheld computers with enhanced communication and data collection capabilities, the Boston-area home healthcare agency saved its care providers an average of more than a half hour per day, lowered its operating expenses, and positioned itself to deliver more services and improved care.

Caritas Home Care has 150 mobile clinicians who provide a variety of medical and social services in the patient’s home, including nursing, post-hospitalization follow ups, physical therapy, counseling, geriatric services, respiratory therapy and more. The agency was one of the first to use mobile medical software to record the care given and take notes during patient visits. As an early adopter, Caritas Home Care learned several hard lessons about the most efficient ways to use mobile computers in healthcare settings, and about the best devices for the job. When the time came for Caritas to refresh its mobile computers, it sought to leverage its investment in legacy software and improve its operations by taking advantage of technology advances that occurred since it first deployed consumer-style PDAs a few years earlier.

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Overview

In recent years Rold Skov Sawmill has grown significantly and extended its wood processing capacity. Although this has led to an increase in revenue, the previous system for tracking inventory and controlling stock could no longer cope, so the IT team began to look for a new solution which could automate the process. The Rold Skov sawmills team chose to use Motorola barcode scanners in conjunction with a Motorola wireless network to record details of the timber stock.

“Going from using clipboards and paper to a computer-based solution has considerably improved our stock visibility and traceability. This has minimised the misplacement of products and the time spent trying to see the wood for the trees, and has really improved the relationship between what we produce and what we sell. Whatever the time of day or night, we can see precisely what we have produced and where it is.”

– Søren Krogstrup, acting production manager at Rold Skov Sawmill

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Challenge:
The world may know the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), or Mounties, by their traditional crimson uniforms, but the RCMP is responsible for much more than maintaining its legendary image. A world-class police force, the RCMP is unique; providing law enforcement services to federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. In the aftermath of 9/11, the RCMP decided to expedite the modernization of the information system infrastructure for its forensic laboratories, and Zebra thermal printers were an integral part of the solution.

The RCMP operates a Forensic Laboratory Service with six forensic sites across Canada, which used a homegrown case tracking system supported by Microsoft Foxpro databases. At that time, the laboratories operated somewhat independently and access to important case files was limited by location. The processing of crime scene evidence was sometimes slowed if the evidence reports and the experts who needed to review them were separated by geography. The system worked, but the RCMP wanted greater efficiency.

Solution:
The RCMP sought a Zebra Technologies partner, to provide a complete laboratory information management system (LIMS). They offered LIMS-plus, an off-the-shelf software application that mirrors best practices from forensic labs across North America. The RCMP wished to improve productivity, internal and external communications, reduce costs, leverage scientific talent across the country, enhance security, and introduce consistent scientific methodologies.

Joseph Buckle, Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP’s Forensic Laboratory Services, said there were two important considerations in selecting LIMS-plus. “The first was functionality. Could the system immediately provide us with the technical solutions we were looking for, and were they specific to forensic science work?”

“The second consideration was track record. I had to be certain that other forensic facilities in North America were using the system for interoperability purposes, and that the supplier had a good track record and reputation. ” said Mr. Buckle.

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The Challenge
After considering the use of a bar code system for many years, Hilti finally decided to take the plunge when the company introduced its new business system, SAP. Though there were many reasons for investing in this system, Lasse Liffner, Hilti’s service manager, stated, “the primary reason we wanted to introduce bar code technology is for the high level of accuracy, which is vital to our business.”

Bar code technology was the right answer for Hilti due to the sheer volume of service repairs the company completes annually. Hilti performs about 30,000 services/repairs per year and the entire repair process from receipt of complaint to customer delivery generally takes only three days. Therefore, it was critical for Hilti to utilize a bar code system that was capable of handling their fast pace and improve their processes.

The Solution
Hilti chose a Datalogic solution consisting of bar code readers and mobile computers. The bar code system would be used in the service center, where the system would track the product through its different phases of repair. They selected Datalogic scanning’s Powerscan PM8300 reader for its cordless capabilities and its display which indicates a Good Read confirmation. Lasse stated, “We also chose this particular scanner because of its durability. It is at home in rugged environments and has even fallen to the floor many times without breaking.”

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Challenge
ECHO parts and finished products—numbering more than 15,000—are housed in a 156,000-square-foot distribution center at the company’s Lake Zurich, Ill., headquarters. Over the years, ECHO’s distribution methods have evolved, increasingly becoming more efficient and customer-focused. ECHO has moved from picking products off a carousel and tagging them for shipping to picking with individual forklifts. Both approaches had their drawbacks in terms of efficiency and accuracy.

As the company’s volume increased, it needed a more precise and clear method of picking and labeling to improve internal efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Solution
In the mid-’90s, ECHO implemented bar code printing in every step of its process, from manufacturing to receiving to labeling to picking and shipping. Later, the move to a wireless mobile bar code solution transformed its distribution center.

The company brought in Zebra® QL 420 Plus direct thermal mobile printers, which work wirelessly with Motorola® MC9090 handheld computers. The QL 420 Plus printer is specifically designed for complex mobile printing applications and built to handle increased levels of wireless security and to process complex labels.

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Challenge
For resource-constrained police departments, time is money. The faster they can issue citations, the more revenue they bring in to fund the department. Moreover, completing each citation more quickly minimizes safety risks for officers.

With a traditional approach to citations, MSP airport officers spent five to seven minutes handwriting each one and then had to re-enter that data into an office system when their shifts were over. In addition to the redundant data entry, as many as 30 percent of the handwritten paper tickets were subject to typos, illegibility or the elements of Minnesota weather—reducing the department’s ability to collect on citations.

“We always had problems being able to read names and numbers or ink would wash away in the rain,” said Officer Jeff Mademann, MSP International Airport PD. “We needed something that was easy to use and would allow officers to pay more attention to offenders and less on paperwork.”

Solution
After years of looking for a better approach, the MSP airport police department found a solution.

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Challenge
On average, medication administration accounts for 26 to 32 percent of adult patient medication errors in hospitals, according to the Institute of Medicine. To reduce incidents, hospitals are increasingly moving toward bar code medication administration (BCMA) systems to electronically scan patient wristbands for positive patient identification to reduce preventable adverse drug events.

Before implementing BCMA, The Nebraska Medical Center manually created patient wristbands. The only means a nurse had to positively identify a patient was to verbally confirm the patient’s name and date of birth, and visually compare their responses to the information printed on the wristband. For incoherent patients (critical care, infants, etc.) this manual validation was not even possible, increasing the risk for a preventable adverse drug event to occur.

The hospital realized that BCMA could add a layer of patient safety by leveraging technology to verify and validate patient-specific information. But in order to fully leverage the BCMA system, The Nebraska Medical Center needed a printing solution that could simultaneously produce both two-dimensional bar codes as well as linear bar codes—a capability that existing laser printers lacked. It also needed to print two bar code types on each band; one for positive patient ID and the other to facilitate glucometer device readings.

Solution
With the BCMA go-live date soon approaching, the hospital had to select and implement new printers quickly. Considering the hospital’s two-dimensional requirements, they went with Zebra Technologies.

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Hands-free scanning technology has helped to double output for a leading UK shoe retailer, Shoe Zone. Its warehouse now handles 1,000,000 pairs of footwear per week and delivers to the company’s 400 shoe stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Challenge:
• Lengthy manual data-entry process of product codes for warehouse stock items

• Heavy reliance on printed packing lists which can get lost

• Short implementation time

Solution:
• Equipping warehouse workers with a mobile solution

• Zebra mobile QL 320 bar code printers (for printing labels on demand for each filled warehouse carton)

• Motorola wrist-mounted computer and ring scanner

• All scanners, computers and printers link to Shoe Zone’s host system

• The scanning software is integrated in real time to the company’s stock- replenishment system

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The Challenge
Errors in pharmaceutical reordering are documented sources of negligence in the healthcare industry and can lead to patient endangerment and malpractice suits for healthcare facilities, physicians, and pharmaceutical companies. Despite this reality, many healthcare environments still use a traditional reordering system. Traditional reordering occurs when a nurse discovers a patient’s medication is below a specific level, pulls off the reorder sticker and then faxes the sticker to a pharmacy. These stickers not only ‘gum up’ the customer’s fax machine, but transmit unclear information to the Medicine Centre’s pharmaceutical staff.

The inherent problems of using this traditional method are clear; not only are there substantial opportunities for data capture and transmission errors, but an inefficient use of valuable resources. According to Justin Funk, the Medicine Centre’s Vice President of Information Technology, “We wanted a solution to completely eliminate opportunities for error and to save customers time on the ordering process by reducing inefficiencies on both ends that come from a traditional reordering system.”

The Solution
Funk determined that a wireless bar code system and a tailored software application in concert would facilitate a quick, error-free reordering process. In order to be successful, the Medicine Centre needed to find a barcode scanner that met the following criteria:

• Cordless with long range capabilities
• Highly durable and capable of surviving drops to floor surfaces
• Reliable and intuitive for any nurse to use
• Centralized, 99.9% up time (regardless of power and internet outages)

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Challenge
No one enjoys getting a traffic ticket. But at least the experience should be as quick and painless as possible for officers, citizens and administrative staff.

That’s the driving force behind an initiative in six greater Chicago area counties. Circuit court clerks from the counties of Kane, Will, DuPage, McHenry, Cook and DeKalb are switching to electronic citation systems to nearly eliminate data entry throughout the public safety and court systems.

As the counties move from traditional handwritten tickets to generating tickets from mobile laptops, they need a way to print tickets legibly and without consuming too much space in squad cars. When one county tried an impact printer with pre-printed forms, the units required too much cab space and were nearly impossible to load straight, making them print illegibly.

“The biggest complaint with the old printers was that they were constantly jamming or printed in the wrong spaces,” said Tim Bosshart, Commander, Carpentersville Police Department.

Solution
In order to address these concerns, Kane County has turned to Zebra Technologies. For the citation software, the counties use QuickTicket from APS. With it, officers issue citations via laptops, auto-populating an electronic version of the state’s citation form. They can obtain data from motor vehicle queries, or from a swipe or scan of the offender’s driver’s license.

That system reduces the time for officers to issue citations and eliminates the need for law enforcement to re-key data back at their office—replacing a time-consuming, error-prone process.

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