How Accufix Surgical® Effectively Tracks Surgical Trays Using Asset Panda
Introduction
Accufix Surgical® Inc. is a specialty orthopedic device developer and distributor of the Accu-Joint® Hemi implant system: an FDA-approved treatment for metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint disorders that is designed to restore natural motion and preserve a patient's active lifestyle. With this implant system, Accufix Surgical® aims to anatomically restore joint function to patients with arthritic conditions and improve their quality of life.
When the Accu-Joint® Hemi implant is distributed to hospitals for use, it comes as part of a surgical tray that is worth between $45,000-65,000. Given the numerous steps between tray checkout and surgery, Accufix Surgical® needed a comprehensive solution to carefully track and manage each part of the process.
Initial Challenges
Accufix Surgical® primarily sought out an asset management solution when they determined they would need to sunset their previous solution in a short period of time. Even with their existing solution, though, they were still experiencing multiple challenges that they needed to address with a new platform, including:
- Lack of customizability
- Inability to report on their workflows
- Lack of customer support
The Solution
While Accufix Surgical® vetted a few asset management platforms during their search, Sales and Operations Facilitator Christine Lux ultimately chose Asset Panda for both its price-to-value ratio and its user-friendliness. "I very likely would have ended up going with Asset Panda even if you'd been more expensive because your program is so easy to use," Lux said.
Lux had a clear vision for Accufix's asset management program, for which she created a detailed document requesting:
- 12 custom reporting fields
- 43 custom fields across the Assets, Facilities, and Distributors groups
- 15+ active locations (distributors) and access to the history of archived locations
- The ability to update reservations after their initial creation with distributor and representative information
Upon partnering with Asset Panda's implementation team, Lux was able to get their Asset Panda account up and running in a record 48 hours. "[Kelly Donaldson, Manager of Organizational Development & Customer Training] had everything built the way I wanted that next business day, and I was able to then start checking trays out that next day for actual surgeries," Lux says.
With their robust, customized workflows and fields built in Asset Panda, the Accufix Surgical® team quickly solved their initial challenges in the following ways.
Customizable Fields and Workflows
When Accufix Surgical® initiates a workflow, there are various paths possible, depending on things like which representative will deliver the tray to the hospital or the status of the surgery. That said, it was imperative that the team could customize their fields and workflows to match the various processes involved. With Asset Panda, they were able to build their primary 4-5 groups to match their naming conventions and create the actions needed for each possible workflow.
The ability to edit fields after an action is completed was also a must for the Accufix Surgical® team, as something like a purchase order number to replenish a tray may not be available for days or even weeks after surgery. Lux said Asset Panda makes it easy to track every important document, such as purchase orders, packing slips, and more.
Ability to Track Every Step of the Process
Since Accufix Surgical® works with various distributors, and each distributor has multiple representatives that can deliver the surgical trays, it's essential that they reserve a specific distributor ahead of surgery. They do this using Asset Panda's reservation system, where they select the distributor and list the surgery information in the reservation details. Once the surgery is confirmed by the insurance company, they process the reservation to activate it. They then fulfill the reservation the day before surgery so the distributor can confirm which representative they'll send to the hospital and their tray number.
After the reservation successfully tracks the distribution process, the Accufix Surgical® team then completes a separate process of checking out the tray to the hospital. The checkout action includes the surgeon's name and the tray number and will track the tray through the numerous steps it may go through, whether it needs to be replenished or doesn't end up being used.
Fast Time to Value
When Accufix Surgical® found out they would lose access to their previous asset management system in just a few days, they worked alongside Asset Panda's implementation team to get up and running in just 2 business days. Lux had passed off a document outlining her assets, groups, and desired workflows on a Friday, and had everything built out by the following Monday. "It was well worth every single penny of the implementation cost," Lux said.
Detailed Reporting
Given the complexity of Accufix's asset management workflows, their primary 4-5 groups (e.g., distributor, representative, surgeon, etc.) often interact with each other in any given process. Being able to report on all these groups and their relationships with one another was a must for Accufix Surgical®, which is something they struggled with in their previous solution and one of the main reasons they chose Asset Panda. "I've been running very complex reports, and I'm able to do everything with just a few button clicks," Lux said.
Conclusion
In just a couple of months, Accufix Surgical® has seen success managing the movements of 30 surgical trays with their robust, custom-built asset management program. When asked what she would say to other organizations in search of an asset management platform, Lux said, "Definitely go with Asset Panda."
"[Asset Panda] is fully scalable," Lux said. "The user has total control over everything. As long as you have a basic idea of what you want, you can make it do that."