Terso Solutions
RFID Enabled Inventory Management for Total Visibility

Healthcare costs are rising at an alarming rate. According to projections from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare spending in the U.S. will reach $4.8 trillion by 2021. To combat this trend the healthcare industry is facing a major transformation across all major business processes and functions. For healthcare businesses, improving supply chain management plays a major role in controlling costs. With disconnected systems, silos of inventory from multiple suppliers and a critical need to ensure patient safety hospitals are not able to effectively track high value inventory. Healthcare providers and suppliers require a system to create better end-to-end visibility for these products. Whilst many solutions providers are still not able to provide adequate solutions, Terso Solutions has seemingly brewed the right concoction to tame inventory management, negate the consequences of supply chain mistakes, and quell the fear of non-compliance within the healthcare industry.

The visibility and manageability of inventory stock is an important criterion of supply chain. “The essence of inventory management systems is that they automate supply chain so each and every “transaction” within the pipeline is visible and manageable to even the busiest of staff,” says Joe Pleshek, President and CEO, Terso Solutions. Terso integrates Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies into cabinets, refrigerators, freezers and mobile cases to automatically track when an item is removed. These units offer access control as well which identifies who took what and when. The end-user simply presents their access control badge to the unit. If the card’s carrier is authorized to access the enclosure, the lock securing the enclosure is released. The employee may then open the enclosure and remove the required drugs, equipment, or other supplies stored within. Each item has a RFID tag attached to it and the unique serial number of the tag is associated to that specific product including lot number and expiry date. Once the door closes, a RFID scan identifies the products that have been removed or added. This “event” information is then used to generate replenishment orders, in order to maintain optimal inventory levels of the goods within the enclosure.

Terso’s RFID cloud platform, Jetstream, enables companies to collect and manage inventory data from distributed locations. “In many cases suppliers and healthcare providers do not have accurate, real time visibility as to what inventory is on the shelf,” says Pleshek. Terso’s Jetstream RFID Cloud platform is a major breakthrough in the healthcare inventory system. A software development kit (SDK) and a device simulator simplify and expedite development on Jetstream. “With Jetstream, our customers can quickly integrate the valuable RFID inventory data from our sensors into their business applications including ERP, CRM and BI systems,” says Pleshek.

Terso's RFID storage solutions integrate RFID enabled enclosures with global inventory visibility and 24/7 proactive support to effectively monitor product inventory

Highlighting a typical case, a leading dental implant company was in need of an implant-tracking module that enabled them to offer consignment inventory and records lot and serial number information for each implant in accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements. Working alongside Terso, the client integrated Terso’s RFID enabled cabinets with a robust web-based procurement application that automates and integrates the requisition and approval process, including purchase rules, approval gate-keeping solutions that are hospital specific.

As the pressure to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our healthcare system increases, the need for RFID technologies across the value chain between providers and suppliers is also on the rise. “Terso is investing heavily in new product innovations to lower RFID infrastructure costs and enable valuable inventory data to be used in a proactive way,” concludes Pleshek.