Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital Closes Open Loopholes on Safety and Security

Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital belongs to the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is a national 3A, first-class hospital specializing in cardiovascular diseases. The institution houses 34 wards, 20 operating theaters, 15 catheterization labs, with an capacity of 1,238.

It is well known internationally for treatment of all kinds of complex, difficult, and severe cardiovascular diseases, and has become the Henan's biggest cardiovascular center, as well as a center for clinical healthcare, medical research, disease prevention and education.

As a new branch of the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital was undergoing construction from the original single system setup to a complete intelligent system layout.

On its way to becoming a smart hospital, Fuwai has higher requirements on providers in order to procure the most comprehensive intelligent systems there is at the beginning of its construction. Facing the pressure from healthcare reform and supervision, the construction of the hospital not only need to realize hospital innovation, but also ensure the security of its system and data.

The key concern was to find a provider of intelligent management solutions who can offers end-to end intelligence, automation, and technology-enabled services from design to implementation.

To prepare for the construction with the latest generation of technology, Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital partnered with NuboMed who provided a roadmap designed to move toward a fully automated medication & medical supply management infrastructure. After detailed assessment of patient’s needs across different departments, different solutions were adopted to enhance efficiency, control, and safety.

As an essential part of the hospital, pharmacists do more than just dispensing medication. With overwhelming manual and administrative tasks, it was easy to commit medication dispensing errors and diversion which leads to patient safety concerns, inventory waste and discrepancies.

After realizing the pharmacy’s space limitation and workflow from warehousing to dispensing, NuboMed provided a customized solution with a combination of Automated Dispensing Cabinet & Intelligent Shelf. Before installing the terminals, pharmacist had to manage all phases of the workflow manually – from inventory to prescription verification all the way till dispensing. NuboMed helped digitalize the process with 100 percent barcode scanning which allows data transfer and storage within the intelligent management software system. By scanning the barcode on the package, pharmacists can easily track the 5 key information of any drugs (Dose, Drug, Patient, Time, Route) more efficiently than ever.

The pharmacy is not the only department to benefit from such smart tech. The hospital also installed the Intelligent Closed-loop Medication Management System (ICMMS) and Intelligent Closed-loop Medical Supply Management System (ICMSMS) across all wards.

As the terminals were being installed in inpatient wards, the upgrade required careful project planning and communication to all the wards, to ensure patient safety and continuation of service throughout the process. In fact, NuboMed went “the extra mile” by conducting all the clinical testing, configuration and upgrading of the terminals in just a few weeks.

The trust had evolved from purchasing just a few devices, on an ad hoc basis, to implementing a large quantity of terminals included AGV, medical carts, automatic dispensing cabinets and intelligent medical supply cabinets within a unified management system.

The operating room is where emergencies always happen in a hospital. A patient’s condition can change in a moment’s notice. Clinical staff demands fast and convenient access to medications, so they can respond at every critical moment without sacrificing security. The more patient information they can access in a limited time, the better they can make clinical decisions with confidence.

Having learned the challenges, NuboMed strokes the right balance with medication and medical supply management system for operating room, which ensured convenient access while safeguarding controlled substances and high-value supplies. Thanks to integration with the hospital’s Anesthesia information systems (AIS), all kinds of medication activities are recorded in the software system.

By displaying all the analytical reports, the closed-loop data platform empowers the users in gaining a full view of the inventory with a dashboard view into the automated dispensing cabinets and other intelligent IoT terminals across each point of care.

Spurred by the success of the first introduction, the hospital leaders have increased NuboMed’s products up to 208 units. "NuboMed’s intelligent solution not only met the safety and security needs, the lower cost and smaller size of the devices offered more flexibility." said a nurse in ICU. Key outcomes include:  Achieved automated dispensing to 99%  Improved automation capacity by 80%  Reduce medication waste by 90%  Improved inventory management efficiency by 80%

“Intelligent closed-loop system brings us improvement to patient safety measures and increased efficiency for both the doctors and the nursing staff, making us feel more confident in our daily work.”