Obtaining top notch EMS tracking software is an essential part of good management. If you’re an EMS manager, you know that keeping track of equipment and supplies can be a daunting task. With budgets growing scarcer all the time, you can’t afford to lose valuable resources. It pays to have a powerful tracking system to keep an accurate accounting of things like first aid kits, disinfectants, syringes, oxygen regulators, walkie-talkies and stretchers. A lost or stolen defibrillator can cost your department as much as $3,000. Even missing low cost supplies like penlights and shears add up to thousands of dollars over time.
Using EMS tracking software saves your department funds that can be used for more and better equipment, raises and bonuses, plus it can make your life and your job a thousand times easier than inventorying supplies manually.
There are a number of companies that make EMS tracking software for managers. Some programs install barcodes on supplies and equipment that allow them to be tracked from the day they’re purchased through their entire cycle of use in your department.
The way it works is that every item – even ambulances – are tagged with a barcode as soon as they’re purchased. Every piece of equipment and everything in your store room – essentially your entire inventory – is tagged with its own unique bar code. Each bar code in the EMS tracking software is assigned a description which you enter into the program. This allows you to monitor the age and location of all equipment and even lets you calculate depreciation over time.
You can also use EMS tracking software to inventory consumables like first aid kits and disinfectants to keep track of reordering and allotment. You can keep track of who’s using what and correct waste or overuse.
Other EMS tracking software lets you track shared EMS equipment such as PDAs and radios by maintaining an accurate computerized record of who’s checked out what equipment. This is a great way to enforce accountability and manage equipment maintenance. You can run customized tracking reports using whatever criteria you choose, from departments to categories to employees.
EMS tracking software can also help managers organize patient information, billing, accounts payable, accounts receivable and budgeting. All in all, there are an abundance of fantastic tracking resources to help EMS departments streamline all of their managerial functions to keep things running efficiently and smoothly.
References:
http://www.intellitrack.net/tracking-software/EMS-Emergency-Services.asp
