How Qwantify is Using Digital Processes to Enhance Patient Safety and More
In 2019, Ontario Health announced the new Digital First for Health strategy in an effort to transform the health care system so that it is integrated, sustainable and patient centred.
That same year, Mohawk Medbuy introduced Qwantify™, a cloud-based, order automation and inventory system. This digital platform replaces the abundance of paper-based processes used in many hospitals to manage everything from product requisitions to purchase orders to the tracking and tracing of surgical implants. It also provides access to real-time data to manage inventory, enable analytics and support decision making.
Qwantify™ uses barcode scanning to simplify, standardize and automate replenishment and ordering, while providing greater control and visibility of inventory. Its origins date back several years, when Brant Community Healthcare System piloted and implemented the base Qwantify™ system into the OR. Since then, it has been further enhanced to be leveraged by Mohawk Medbuy Member hospitals’ logistics and patient care teams.
In the Operating Room, Qwantify™ tracks and traces costly surgical implants, such as hip and knee joints, plates and other related hardware. The OR nurse scans the barcodes of all implants used in the surgical procedure, and securely links items used to the patient’s record - including lot and expiry information - with the patient visit. If a recall or adverse event occurs with a particular surgical implant, Qwantify™ can instantly determine which patients are affected.
“Qwantify, at its core and purpose, is an integrated end-to-end digital logistics, product management and data capture solution. We’re modernizing and digitizing the supply chain of health care,” said Bartek Lasota, Director of Supply Chain Optimization at Mohawk Medbuy. “Qwantify is a digital tool, capturing all the richness of associated data and driving efficiency in both logistics operations and the OR. We can identify variations and inconsistencies, inform physician product preferences, and determine best practices – all while simultaneously streamlining inventory control and ordering.”
Originally trained as a CPA, Lasota also appreciates the value-added benefit provided to accountants and analytics teams to be able to accurately provide patient case costing among Member users.
Mohawk Medbuy continues to invest in innovative technological advances that help support our Members and the health system. We are constantly seeking out new initiatives that deliver efficient and effective solutions to support the delivery of better patient care. MMC is currently in the process of expanding Qwantify™ into a full procure-to-pay system, which will integrate and digitize the entire hospital supply chain cycle.