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Patient Care Technology Systems selected Amelior Tracker system

Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSLR), announced that Aurora Health Care has selected the company’s Amelior Tracker system to automatically track and manage over 3100 hospital assets throughout their 538-bed, 1.65 million square foot Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center campus. Aurora will integrate a “plug and track” Real-time Location System (RTLS) from Skytron, powered by Awarepoint to provide automatic location data capture to the Amelior Tracker end-user software. Awarepoint serves its U.S. healthcare customers through its exclusive distribution partnership with Skytron.

Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center is located in Milwaukee and is one of 13 hospitals in the not-for-profit Aurora Health Care system which also includes more than 100 clinics and 30 rehabilitation centers. Internationally known for expertise in heart care, Aurora St. Luke’s ranks as a top 10 center in the world for minimally invasive, robotically-assisted heart surgery and has earned a reputation as one of Wisconsin’s leading medical centers. Aurora Health Care has been named one of the Most Wired health care providers six consecutive times.

The initial focus of the enterprise-wide asset management installation will be identifying and locating IV pumps to optimize utilization and eliminate unnecessary future replacement investments. Future plans include working with Patient Care Technology Systems to identify additional ways to enhance workflow efficiencies and increase supply utilization through the company’s solution suite.

The Amelior Tracker solution is part of the Amelior Enterprise Visibility Suite™ which comprises department to facility-wide RTLS –enabled software solutions and services designed to more efficiently and safely orchestrate patient care through the real-time visualization of patient flow. Hospitals can scale their implementations by the entities they wish to track (movable medical equipment, patients, staff), purpose (asset management, patient flow, infection control) and by the scope of hospital workflow (acute care, inpatient floors, outpatient services, enterprise-wide).

At St. Luke’s, Patient Care Technology Systems will implement an active-RFID locating network from business partner Awarepoint with whom Patient Care Technology Systems recently announced a strategic marketing agreement. Awarepoint provides location awareness through a ZigBee-based wireless sensor network utilizing sensors which are deployed in standard electrical outlets. This 100% wireless infrastructure enables quick installation without disrupting patient care throughout the entire enterprise. Awarepoint tags broadcast low power radio messages which enable users to quickly locate specific equipment or people and provide information about their movement and status. The installation will provide true hospital-wide awareness – not only room-level, but persistent accuracy across the entire hospital footprint. Skytron will manage and support the RTLS network as part of an expanded commitment to their existing client services to Aurora Health Care.

“Optimizing the utilization of our infusion pumps and other movable medical equipment is critical to our mission of providing a better way to deliver care,” said Alan Gresch, manager of corporate clinical engineering at Aurora Health Care. “The right equipment must always be ready for the right person at the right time. It is all about supporting our staff and patients. We determined that we needed an accurate, real-time visualization of our assets and after an extensive review of the RTLS marketplace, our team determined that the best solution for St. Luke’s needs is Patient Care Technology Systems with Skytron, powered by Awarepoint. They impressed us with their proven experience in implementing real-time visibility solutions in large, acute care facilities.”

“We look forward to working with our Skytron and Awarepoint partners to help Aurora achieve its asset management goals in support of its internationally-recognized commitment to innovation and quality care,” said Tony Marsico, president and CEO of Patient Care Technology Systems. “The return on investment from such an initiative spans significant financial, patient safety, throughput and satisfaction benefits.”

About Aurora Health Care

Established in 1984, Aurora Health Care is a not-for-profit Wisconsin health care provider and has become a nationally recognized leader in efforts to improve the quality of health care. Aurora has sites in more than 90 communities throughout eastern Wisconsin, including 13 hospitals, more than 100 clinics and over 120 community pharmacies.

About Awarepoint

Awarepoint's real-time location systems (RTLSs) include its real-time awareness platform, firmware, active RFID tags, sensors, and bridges. Awarepoint's technologies collect raw sensor data and transform that data into high-value positioning information that can be used to add location awareness to a variety of healthcare, manufacturing, security and other applications.

About Skytron

Skytron provides innovative and efficient medical equipment solutions for a variety of healthcare settings and hospital departments, and is recognized across North America for the highest quality products, extensive product menu and exceptional customer service. Skytron products include surgical lighting, tables, booms, integration, stainless steel, RTLS-RFID technology, and more.

About Patient Care Technology Systems

Patient Care Technology Systems, a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSLR), helps health care providers to improve patient flow, increase capacity and improve patient and staff safety by visualizing the real-time location and status of patients and equipment throughout their facility. Proven return on investment in high turnover, high acuity departments such as the emergency department and perioperative suite where Patient Care Technology Systems solutions have supported over 5 million patient visits with automatic tracking and emergency department documentation solutions. The Amelior Enterprise Visibility Suite is compatible with all leading locating technologies including active-RFID, infrared, ultrasound, ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi and ZigBee. Patient Care Technology Systems customers have been recognized nationally for improvements in efficiency and clinical excellence. For more information, visit www.pcts.com.

source: Patient Care Technology Systems