GE Healthcare integrates facility management software with AeroScout's Wi-Fi RFID system

17 Nov 2010

GE Healthcare in Europe and AeroScout have announced at Medica 2010 in Dusseldorf today that they have integrated GE's AssetPlus application with AeroScout's Wi-Fi RFID solution targeted for European markets.

The combined solution adds real-time asset location information to GE's Maintenance and Facility Management software and helps streamline key business processes.

Additionally, the integration enables hospitals to improve the management and maintenance of medical equipment, increase patient safety and help control costs.

GE Healthcare AssetPlus application is a computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) system that helps hospitals plan for and schedule recurring maintenance, repair and recall of critical medical equipment. More than 1,000 hospitals worldwide employ GE Healthcare's AssetPlus.

"Joint customers of GE Healthcare and AeroScout, such as Hospices Civils de Lyon in France, have requested an integrated system for the management, location and maintenance information needed for their equipment," said Christian Rapin, AssetPlus Marketing and Product Manager, GE Healthcare, Europe.

"Hospitals have a wide array of mobile assets, and it is critical that they know where these items are so that they can be used, cleaned and repaired efficiently. An additional benefit of the integration is that it provides real-time location information, which enables our consulting organization to assist customers with understanding, restructuring and monitoring business processes, further improving asset utilization, reducing CAPEX and minimizing asset shrinkage."

As a result of the integration, hospital staff are able to see the current location of their equipment from within GE Healthcare's AssetPlus application. Real-time location updates provided by AeroScout appear in the asset location field within AssetPlus.

By selecting the corresponding hyperlink, users are able to view the asset's current location and other information on a map. In addition, the asset management database from AssetPlus provides updated equipment information, such as hospital asset and serial numbers, to AeroScout to ensure that both systems make it easy to locate equipment using a common nomenclature.

In the event of a safety recall, clinical engineers are able to quickly locate and recover affected equipment. This type of visibility helps save staff time and improve hospitals' ability to quickly service equipment for patients.

"We are a large healthcare organization with many assets to track, manage and maintain, and we encouraged GE Healthcare Europe and AeroScout to work together to provide us even more benefits than we have already achieved with their separate solutions," said Alexandre Baffi, Senior IT Network Specialist, Hospices Civils de Lyon.

"The integration of AssetPlus with our AeroScout Wi-Fi RFID solution allows streamlined business processes and ensures that our staff can quickly find equipment when needed."

At Medica 2010 November 17-20, 2010
Visit GE Healthcare in Hall 10, Booth A56 and visit AeroScout in Hall 15, Booth C48 at the MEDICA 2010 conference in Dusseldorf, Germany.