The Lifecycle of a Container

Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's podcast brought to you by Sensus Technologies. I'm your host, Tyler Kern. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the show. My guest today is Kelly Swales, and she is the senior clinical educator for Census Technology. Ken Kelly, welcome to the program. Thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. We're we're thrilled to have you on and to get to learn a little bit more from you today here on the podcast. So today, we're talking about documenting the life cycle of a container. As a clinical educator, you help medical facilities optimize their use of SensiTrak, which makes documenting processes easier and more efficient. But to start off, Kelly, will you go through the life cycle of a container and highlight which of these steps or processes that, are sometimes overlooked in documentation? Yeah. So you do think of that life cycle of a container, it's never ending. And so we'll start with DeakinTAM. So that's where they're, you know, they go in and they they get cleaned. And that would probably be the number one, area that I see where it's not documented. So the sets come through DeakinTAM. They go through a pre clean, go through the washers. And, you know, if you have a tracking system, wonderful. You then have that capability to with Sensitrack scan to that Decontam module. You've now documented that container history that that set was cleaned. However, if you don't have a tracking system, then you're, you know, you have to write it on paper. But even for those that do, many times I see that they're they're they're skipping that part, and that maybe due to lack of computers, lack of knowledge or education knowing that they should be doing this and that it should be documented, you know, in accordance with AAMI guidelines. It should be documented that it was cleaned. So the ones that's clean through the contaminant comes to assembly, that's, you know, a a really I do see good compliance there because they use that to, to the container assembly to assemble their containers, which then prepares them for sterilization. As you come to sterilization, here again, you're building your sterilizer loads. And we'll sometimes see that sets are missed. So when you are, you know, scanning your sets to that sterilizer load, really recommend that you scan like you're reading a book. So left to right, top to bottom. And then from there, count everything on that rack and compare it in such a track to that total scant. Those numbers should match. If they don't, you know, I recommend recounting. Maybe you missed something. Still don't match, you can either clear the screen, start over, or as I say, phone a friend. Have somebody go through your list if you're going through the items, figure out what was missed. After sterilization, then that set will go to sterile storage or it will go to a a clinic or an inpatient or an ED. It may go right to an OR. So there, it kinda goes towards it's gonna be stored and then point of use and then back to Deacon TAM. So that's that cycle that's that's never ending. And the two key areas that I see that are missed are Deacon TAM and then, sterilization. That's really interesting. Do do you have any theories as to why that is? So, with DeakinTamm, as I said, you know, I think sometimes it it's lack of computers. So lack of, having a computer or a handheld scanner or a tablet, you know, all of which you can use with SensorTrack. And then with sterilization, I think when you're scanning in SentraTrack, I mean, it's quick quick, you know, boom, boom, boom. You're going through. That's how fast our program goes. But what happens is sometimes people go too fast, and so then they miss something. They don't realize that there was a, you know, a peel pack in this rack, that they that they missed. Or if you have a lot of little containers, one of them can get missed because it's like maybe it's hidden behind a larger container. So, Kelly, you know, since this is, of course, always working to stay ahead of the curve and and bring new enhancements and features, can you go over maybe some of the most most used and least utilized features that that census, offers? Yeah. So, you know, think of the life cycle of a container, you know, they said, that container assembly, sterilization, that's probably our our most used that you'll see that along with the peel pack module because, you know, it's nice to just type in, you know, n l fourteen hundred and it pops up. It's an add some teeth, print my label, throw it on my, peel pack pouch. So a lot quicker than having to hand write that out, write out the date, write out my name. So those are the features I see used the most along with our scope module processing or HOD processing. See that being used by your endoscopy units. And, then when you come to the the the least amount used would probably be our patient care module. So if you're cleaning and reprocessing patient care equipment and then setting it off to the floor and the such, we do have a feature for that with that module that you can use. Excellent way to know where those assets are in your facility and then, keep track of those preventative maintenance, the cleaning, you know, how how am I supposed to clean it and then who cleaned it. And then, there's just a lot of different little features and functions that we have that, they're not always being utilized. So for example, out of sequence is a wonderful patient safety tool. It's probably one of my favorite, features of SensorTrak. And what that can do is it can help prevent an unsterile item from leaving your department and making its way to a patient. And so with that, if you miss one of those key scans, you're gonna get a pop up saying stop. This item hasn't been sterilized. I look at this in my hand and go, oh my goodness. The tape hasn't changed. I almost sent this to the clinic. Or I look at it and say, well, the tape changed, and I took it out of the sterilizer. I know it was. Well, that tells me whoever created that load, they missed it in that scan. And so that's where, you know, it's kind of you gotta count, make sure everything's on there. And then I encourage everyone to enable that, that sequence tool just so that way you know that everything is, being done and you're keeping your patient safe. That's really interesting. And, you made some really interesting points there. And and from my perspective anyways, when I hear you describe this, I think, man, that really helps increase efficiencies and reduce mistakes and things along those lines. But how would you respond to someone who might say, that this makes things more complicated? What what would your response be? Yep. So I I do hear that from customers, you know, when I'm on the floor providing some training or asking questions. I mean, I have had customers say to me, you know, you're just giving us busy work. Why are you making us do this? And I said to them, you know, I'm not having you do anything. SensiTrak is not requiring you to do anything. What you're doing is you're complying with, you know, FDA, AAMI, ARN, etcetera. And what we do is we provide you the tool so that you can easily and efficiently do your job. So think of it as we're not setting the rules. We're not saying you have to do this. We're giving you the tools so you can do it better, you know, faster, and with success. And that sounds like a win win to me. Isn't that everyone's goal to be able to do the same things but quicker and with a higher rate of success? I mean, that that seems to me to be the goal of, of just about anything that people do these days. If you'd like to be able to do it as quickly as possible and you'd like to be able to do it with as few mistakes as possible. Correct. You know, think of when you're going to so if you were to do the do the self checkout, you know, at at your grocery store And as you're just scanning everything through, it's quick. Or even even if someone else if, you know, if you have a cashier checking you out, they're just scanning things through. Well, imagine having to handwrite out every single thing that's in that cart. And I know I mean, so much shopping I do, I'd I'd probably be there an hour, write everything down. And so having that capability to quickly scan is it's wonderful. And we've come a long ways with our shopping. Well, processing is kind of the same thing. We give you that tool so you can just scan, scan, scan. That's a that's a fantastic way of putting it. I I really like that comparison and that analogy. So, when it comes to talking to customers and talking people that that use SensiTrack, what are some of the more common questions that you get? What what are people asking you? Trying to think with my, because I go to hospitals all over the US, Canada, where we go and do assessments of how they utilize SensiTrack. And so, a lot of the questions I get would probably be more lately, I've been getting questions regarding, like, an integrity test. So for example, if you have a laparoscopic grasper and it's insulated, you have to do, insulation testing every time you assemble that. So we're getting a lot of questions from that from customers asking me, you know, how do we know that this requires a test, or how do we can we, you know, say that, yes, it was done? So then I show them in our products module, you can go in, check the box for integrity test required, and then along with that, it's free text. So you can type in, you know, you must do a installation test on this. Or if it's a arthroscopic shaver, you know, you can check the lumen with the borescope. So you can give them, you know, specific directions, and then they have to click the box that they've done it in order to be able to peel packet or in order to be able to add it to that container, to fulfill that container for sterilization. Interesting. I wonder if, you know, over the past eighteen months, two years or so, if hospitals haven't, maybe seen firsthand the importance of efficiency and seen the benefits that that something like SensiTrack could provide. Is that something that has been communicated to you at all? Just, that that more and more people have understood why it's important to be efficient and flexible and adaptable during this time. Yes. So, you know, I do feel, and what I see out in the in the field is that, many departments are short staffed. There is a demand for a store processing technicians. And so everyone is scrambling, everyone is hurrying and rushing, but yet, at the same time, you don't wanna rush rush because it's quality over quantity. And so as you're looking at how people are kind of having to make changes or adapt to this new world we live in with the pandemic with, you know, maybe you don't have all your staff because people are out sick. You can really see where SensorTract, you know, they're they're reaping the benefits of it, and they're thrilled that they have it because they do understand how it makes their job easier. Certainly. Certainly. So Kelly, earlier on in the in the show, I mentioned that that census is always working and striving to stay ahead of the curve and bring the latest and greatest and the newest, technology, to this industry. Are are there any other census products that you wanna highlight that you can talk about, that that might be coming in the future or any updates to SensiTrak? Anything along those lines, that that you wanna share with us? Yeah. So I think one of my favorite, products that we have that's outside of SensiTrak is Lonerlink. As I tell everyone, it's every SPD manager's dream come true. When I was an SPD manager, our loaner room would get to the point where, you know, we became a storage facility and whether it was just empty bins that they transported or shipped to us, with a local courier or if it was all their trays that you couldn't walk in there. And then I have to, you know, be emailing and calling all these reps to say, come get your stuff. Well, now with the loaner link, you can manage that and set it so that way, when you when the scheduling department creates a case and they say, you know, doctor Smith's gonna do a, total knee revision. And then, as they fill this out in the in one of the days, kinda click the box, then it pings that rep saying, hey. Doctor Smith's gonna do a, total knee revision on this date and time. That rep then goes in and selects what's what trace he's gonna bring in. Then it now loads into SentiTrack into our loaner module. And so then when they arrive, you go in, find it, check it in, print out your labels, you're good to go. Then as you're scanning it through, decontam, assembly, sterilization, etcetera, that rep can always be looking at his phone at at the app and seeing, you know, our where he sets in the process. Are they ready? Nice for that rep. He can look and go, okay. Good. They're on the case card. They'll say the OR. He knows there's no delays. There's no problems. He gets on-site for the case, and everything is beautiful. Then as they, finish the case, come back to Deakin Tam and scan those into Deakin Tam, he can then see, oh, good. They're in the washer. I'm in the neighborhood. I'm gonna stop by afterwards and and, you know, I'll go get some lunch and something, pick them up or something. But then he's also getting pings saying, you know, beforehand saying, hey. Your sets are due in twenty four hours. Or, you know, your sets are due or or your sets are overdue if you haven't dropped them off. And then even when they're ready to be picked up, he can get a ping saying, you're set to rate your pickup. Come get them. And then you can keep getting some ping saying, come get your stuff if they are there too long. So they're you're not becoming a storage facility. Exactly. Exactly. That's that's an excellent point. And I I think I really appreciated the the transparency that goes throughout that entire process. Right? That you could see where things are in the process so that you know exactly where you are, what's happening, and what's coming next. Right? Yes. Yeah. I mean, so it it's it's a win win. And then even with our scheduler, which is, your electronic medical records, so your EMR, you can link it with CentiTrac. Many departments, if not all departments that have an OR, you know, the morning you create a needs list, you know what's a priority. What are we turning over that day? You know, what do we need to make sure we keep moving? But the minute a surgery cancels, gets added, a time changes, that list is obsolete. So with our scheduler, it's all in real time, you know, or spend how what what EMR you have. You may have a, you know, a few minute delay, but even so, you know, five minute delay is nothing, when you're looking at your list there. And so with that, you can always look at your board and know the status of your of what's needed. And then if it's green, it's good to go. No worries. You know, if it's yellow, hey. It's in the sterilizer, but it's needed this evening. So we're good, but just keep on your radio and keep it moving. So stuff like that and then the nice thing is that it links that set to that procedure. So if you look at AAMI guidelines, I believe FDA too, they they mentioned that you know we need to know what set was used on which patient. So if little Johnny comes in for a tonsil and anoidectomy, nine out of ten, you're always only going to use that TNA tray. But we need to know that TNA tray number three was used on little Johnny. And this is an easy way to do it because as you're building that case card and scanning it in, it's linking it to that procedure. So if there's ever a tracer, root cause analysis, you can then also, you know, pull that up and look and see what set was used on that patient. You can pull up that, history. Yes. It was it went through DeakinCam, went through assembly, went through sterilization, and everything is marked with a, date and time stamp along with the user. So you've got all that pertinent information, right there easily accessible. Michele, you've provided a lot of fantastic information today. Just regarding, the the life cycle of a container and the role that SensiTrak plays in that process. Do you have any final thoughts? Anything you wanna leave our audience with here today, that you wanna make sure that they walk away with, especially regarding SensiTrak and and that life cycle of a container? You know, I'm a firm believer in you don't know what you don't know. And, you know, I always encourage everyone to really keep up on your AAMI guidelines, your ARN, see what they're recommending, what you should be doing. And then also then asking, you know, how can I do this in SensitiveTrak? And if you have questions, reach out to, our help desk, reach out to your client manager, and, you know, I was there I was willing to help. I was willing to provide assistance, or like I do where I go out and I do assessments. You know, I look at all that and see how are you using, all the modules. I look everything a to z. And then also, if there is something you're not using or or maybe not using to its full potential, then I can help with, arranging to have a trainer come out. The trainer comes on-site and then they work with your staff and train the staff so that way you can get, you can maximize your, SensitiveTrak usage. Excellent stuff. Excellent stuff. Kelly Swales, senior clinical educator for Census Technologies. Kelly, thank you once again for joining us here on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. And everyone, thank you for joining us for this episode of the podcast. Stay tuned for more from Census Technologies. But for my guest today, Kelly Swails, I've been your host, Tyler Kern. Thanks for joining us.