Versus Advantages™ RTLS Live at The Johns Hopkins Hospital's New Sheikh Zayed Tower and The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children's Center

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Versus Technology, Inc. is pleased to announce that its Versus Advantages^™ Real-time Locating System (RTLS) is live and in production at The Johns Hopkins Hospital's New Sheikh Zayed Tower and at The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children's Center, which opened yesterday. The Versus RTLS supports Asset Tracking and Fleet Management, nurse call automation, and the first real-time food cart tracking application. The Versus Advantages solution is in place to provide greater awareness of equipment and staff resource locations, their availability and utilization.

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Versus' dual Infrared and RFID real-time locating platform provides the bed-level accuracy required for use with life safety systems and for operational analysis of clinical workflow data. Between the two towers, the RTLS implementation includes over 3,100 sensors covering all areas of the 12-story, 1.6 million square foot addition. Versus provided 133 list views optimized for users based on their interests in asset locations or clinical activities and 53 custom-built floor plans representing the facility layout and providing accurate location of staff and equipment. At go-live, the deployment at The Johns Hopkins Hospital included Clearview badges for 3,500 The Johns Hopkins Hospital staff members and over 5,500 tagged assets.

The Versus Advantages solution at the Sheikh Zayed Tower and The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children's Center are based on previous RTLS pilots conducted in the Johns Hopkins' Weinberg OR and in the Nelson building. Some functionality demonstrated during the pilots carries over to the larger implementation in the new facilities. For example, throughout the Bloomberg Children's Center and the Sheikh Zayed Tower, the Versus Advantages solution is integrated to the GE Telligence nurse call system provided by Versus' partner, Life Safety Systems, Inc. However, Versus is also providing advanced functionality through its Nurse Companion and Fleet Management software applications.  

The Versus Advantages Nurse Companion application improves user experience for customers with RTLS functionality added to their nurse call systems. Typical RTLS-automated nurse call systems show staff presence in patient rooms (usually through dome light systems and on screens at the nurses' station) to support automated call cancellation and passive nurse registry. Versus' Nurse Companion application supplements this much needed functionality with additional information related to the locations of other staff, patients and equipment—all on a single screen or workstation. When customers choose to add Versus' Reports Plus™ Analytics application, as Johns Hopkins Hospital has, they can measure metrics such as "Time with Patient" or run hourly "Room Rounding" reports to validate patient care activities. By enhancing staff efficiency and enabling staff to spend more time on direct patient care, the Versus Advantages RTLS helps drive patient satisfaction and related HCAHPS scores.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital chose to adopt Versus' Asset Tracking and Fleet Management application which provides greater visibility into complex equipment operations along with customized viewing options for unique users. With this application, staff at the Sheikh Zayed Tower and at Bloomberg Children's Center have ubiquitous access to the real-time locations of all tagged assets—complete with unique iconography displays to help staff quickly and visually distinguish between equipment, and historical reports to monitor equipment utilization. However, the Materials Management, Clinical Engineering and Service Transport groups have additional Fleet Management capabilities tailored to support their unique needs. For example, the Materials Management group has views, alerts, and administrative responsibilities related to six different pump types (PCA Pumps, PCU Pumps, LVP Pumps, SCD Pumps, Kangaroo Pumps) and their Par Levels in four key areas of the facility (Pediatric PACU, Labor and Delivery, Pediatric ED, and PACU 3). In turn, Service Transport staff has similar views and responsibilities related to wheelchairs and stretchers, but they focus on entirely different areas as equipment moves around and between the hospitals.

Coupled with the Asset Tracking and Fleet Management application is the industry's first-ever RTLS monitored towline. The towline carries food carts from the kitchen to their final destinations. Versus applies business rules to the amount of time these food carts are in transit and waiting for delivery or return. "Healthcare is a people-driven process," says Susan Pouzar, Vice President of Sales, Versus, "but it doesn't make sense to apply time, money or skilled staff members' time to manual tasks when they can be automated. The automation the RTLS provides helps standardize processes and sets delivery expectations that help hospitals and clinics maintain consistency from day-to-day."

Versus provides alerts to appropriate staff members indicating when the food cart arrives at its final towline destination and then again when it arrives at its final floor destination. The system can alert staff if there are back-ups in a certain area or if the food cart has been out for delivery beyond the recommended timeframe. This saves staff time and eliminates the need for staff to constantly check to see if food carts have arrived. Meals get to patients quickly and with less waste.

For over 20 years now, Versus has been promoting the value of an accurate RTLS and choosing well the first time. It's important to have a clinical-grade RTLS solution that covers the basics like asset tracking, but that also positions your facility for more advanced patient workflow applications. "This isn't going to change," Pouzar says. "In fact, it's going to become more important as hospitals are asked to see more patients with declining reimbursement."

About Versus Technology, Inc.

Established in 1988, Versus Technology, Inc. specializes in real-time location systems (RTLS) for healthcare. Used for enterprise patient tracking, bed management, asset tracking, and nurse call automation, Versus Advantages™ improves patient flow and documentation of caregiver and patient interactions, while enhancing communication and efficiency. Exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association, the Versus Advantages infrared (IR) and Active RFID solution is responsible for clinical-grade location and automation at a number of hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities worldwide. To learn more about Versus Technology, Inc. (Pink Sheets: VSTI.PK), our technology and client successes, visit www.versustech.com and take the Advantages Tour.

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SOURCE Versus Technology, Inc.