THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND THE BROWARD ADDICTION RECOVERY DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board's Value of, "Approaching human services collaboratively and compassionately with special emphasis on persons and families experiencing homelessness," and Goal to, "Deliver evidence-based services to the most vulnerable, many of whom are ineligible through other systems of care, and connect those customers to sustainable support." This project promotes efficient and cost effective provision of behavioral health services to Broward County residents served by the Broward Addiction Recovery Division (BARC).
BARC’s Bed Tracking and Utilization System project is based on the procurement of Real-Time Location technology. In health care, a Real-Time Location System (RTLS) is used to provide immediate or real-time tracking and management of staff, patients, and other assets within the patient care environment. RTLS technology collects location and time data that when analyzed and properly acted on, allows facilities to improve work flow, reduce costs and increase clinical quality. RTLS utilizes location sensors that are attached to facility assets, be it a patient, a staff member or a piece of equipment and utilizing a unique ID, can locate the tags and give real-time information about its positioning within the facility. Options available with the software include analytical reports, bed management, asset management, patient flow, patient tracking, and staff productivity.
The direct impact for BARC with RTLS implementation will be the ability to accurately and immediately determine, in real-time, the number of beds open and available for clients, thus reducing the number of individuals placed on waiting lists, reducing the number of days a client remains in a higher level of care prior to step down due to inefficient bed management, and increase effective use of costs and existing resources. This system is a vast step forward from BARC’s outdated processes of managing patient length of stay and tracking bed availability, replacing multiple hand written paper logs and dry-erase boards which lead to inconsistent data recording. RTLS will facilitate a 100% bed utilization rate.
Other functionality of RTLS will allow BARC to easily track and comply with hand hygiene and infection control compliance requirements of The Joint Commission with automatic tracking of hand washing rates; increase safety within BARC facilities by alerting staff when a client has entered restricted areas; and allow for improved process flow by tracking client wait times and where the longest times occur so administrators can reallocate resources to alleviate work flow congestion and manage capacity. At least one version of the software has the capability to interface with BARC’s current EHR (Electronic Health Record) which would allow some client data to be captured automatically, allowing clinicians more time to spend directly with the client.
RTLS will help reduce chances of Sentinel Events (unanticipated events resulting in death or serious injury) occurring due to lack of available beds at BARC and the immediate treatment that would be provided.
The request to appropriate funds is being made now so the procurement process may begin and conclude timely, as well as coincide with the construction phase and installation of the system at the new BARC Central Facility scheduled to be completed in March 2018.
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