Recently, news broke that a major hospital chain based in New Jersey was hit by a cyber-attack. The attack was so bad that they had to divert patients to other hospitals, and all surgeries were stopped as they were unable to use their systems. This is very serious as the attack not only exposes their documents, records, and HIPAA data; these facilities are also at a standstill, unable to operate, losing tens of thousands of dollars an hour...

Thanksgiving is a time for making lasting memories with loved ones, enjoying a delectable Thanksgiving menu of roasted turkey with scrumptious sides, and expressing an abundance of gratitude for the blessings we've received throughout the year. Each year at Case Medical, we have a Thanksgiving feast...

Recently, the FDA conducted a surprise audit of Case Medical. The FDA has the right to do this whenever they want, to any FDA regulated facility, and give no notice beforehand. While conducting the audit, the FDA may ask for any information that they want, from whatever date they want, and it is up to the organization being audited to produce that information to show they are in compliance with FDA regulations...

CaseTrak360 is a highly advanced instrument tracking program. It provides real time updates on the status and disposition of sets and items, provides instructions on how to clean and assemble them, tracks everything with scannable barcodes, provides detailed reports, tracks equipment and maintenance, and more. Case Medical, at the time, was looking to upgrade its ERP system to something more advanced and modern for its manufacturing operations in Bloomfield, NJ...

Being able to track your sets and instruments is extremely important to having a smooth and efficient OR. The ability to see where your instruments are, at a button press, gives you a game-changing level of control over your SPD. However, simply knowing where something is in your facility misses a lot of other information that managers and administrators need to know...

There are several companies out there that make instrument tracking software, and they all have hefty price tags. Worst of all, the price you are quoted for the license to use the software doesn’t include all of the other charges you will face...

This week, it was revealed that Microsoft Teams had been compromised by hackers. The hackers used the chat function built into teams to phish for user data to gain access to the accounts. Once access was obtained, the hackers were able to access the target’s physical computer...

Almost all of the tracking systems currently on the market were designed and built in the mid-2000’s. In the 20 years since then, not much has happened in the way of improvements or updates. User interfaces still look like outdated versions of Excel, systems still rely on expensive and vulnerable local hardware, and the code that runs the software is a patchwork of quick fixes, outdated languages, and slow processes...

Paper and pencils are cheap, and everyone knows how to use them. That is likely why so many SPDs still rely on them for their record keeping. This is doubly true if an SPD has older employes, where paper and pencil were the only options decades ago. However, there is a hidden cost to all of that paper, the largest of which becomes apparent whenever anyone needs access to the information that was recorded.

In 2021, a hospital in Illinois was hit by a cyber-attack. The attack crippled their computer systems for months, forcing them to delay procedures/care, prevented them for filing insurance claims and severely impacted other departments.