MEPS Real-Time, a provider of RFID solutions for pharmacy automation and inventory management, is now offering the Intelliguard Linked Visibility Inventory System (LVIS), a medication inventory optimization solution specifically designed with anesthesia workflows in mind. The system is designed to provide real-time visibility into inventory usage in the operating room, the company reports, and to assure anesthesia teams that every OR is fully stocked, with nothing missing, expired or recalled. LVIS features an RFID-enabled drug-management system that is deployed in the OR to track the anesthesia drugs used during a surgical procedure.

LVIS is an extension of the Intelliguard Kit and Tray Management System, an RFID-based drug-management solution that employs EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) passive RFID tags and Impinj readers. These include a tabletop reader that hospital pharmacists can use to commission a tag attached to each drug's packaging, as well as RFID-enabled drug-dispensing cabinets and bedside patient trays, to automate medication inventory management and replenishment (see MEPS Real-Time Updates System for Pharmacy Automation, Inventory Management). LVIS is designed to provide a hospital's pharmacy with real-time inventory visibility regarding the medications dispensed in each operating room.

LVIS utilizes small RFID tags (made with Impinj Monza chips) to track each drug vial, syringe, bag, tube, ampoule or other container in anesthesia medication kits and trays. Using the Intelliguard RFID Encoding Workstation, pharmacy technicians can utilize a simple, patent-pending process to associate an RFID tag's unique serial number with a medication's details in a local database, including the drug's name, National Drug Code (NDC) number, lot number and expiration date. With a single encoding step at the pharmacy, this RFID tag data is used throughout LVIS. According to the company, the system also features an RFID-enabled Intelliguard LVIS Station for secure medication storage and access within the operating room, and automatically relays utilization data to the pharmacy via a browser-based portal. In this way, the technology improves visibility into inventory, especially with regard to controlled substances. Drugs can be securely stored in each OR, MEPS Real-Time explains, and the RFID technology streamlines and simplifies access for anesthesiologists.

According to the company, when an anesthesiologist opens the LVIS station's drawer, removes what is requires and then closes the drawer, inventory details are automatically relayed back to the pharmacy, thereby providing real-time information regarding inventory usage and availability. The process is designed not to disrupt anesthesia team workflows, and offers real-time alerts and notifications directly to the pharmacy throughout the day in the event that restocking is needed to support unexpected usage fluctuations while avoiding stock-outs. The Intelliguard LVIS Station is also designed to provide a non-intrusive footprint in the OR, as there is no monitor or screen that adds bulk and may distract from patient care, according to MEPS Real-Time.

In the background, inventory details for each LVIS station are relayed in real time to the Intelliguard Client Intelligence Portal, a notification and reporting software application that provides remote inventory status to pharmacy teams.