THE CHALLENGES OF TEMPERATURE CONTROL
The problem of temperature-controlled transportation and storage is not new in the
medical industry, however in recent years, particularly with the advent of biologic
medications, the medical cold chain has become a critical and central component in
the healthcare industry with manufacturers and health systems spending millions of
dollars each year to produce, transport, and store temperature sensitive medications,
vaccines, and other necessary patient care material.
Improper temperature storage can have potentially dangerous health risks to
patients. Improper storage can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, medications,
and diagnostic tools. Exposure to improper storage can render some vaccines
inert and can lead to a false sense of security with patients believing that they are
protected from certain ailments, when they are not. Improper storage can also reduce
the potency of medications, resulting in poor patient outcomes, and reagents and
samples stored at improper temperatures can create testing inaccuracies that can
lead to misdiagnosis.
Surprisingly, until recently, regulations on refrigerators for use in healthcare settings
were relatively lax. Many patient care settings relied on food-grade refrigerators
to store medications. However, recognizing the potential risk to patients, the CDC
released the Vaccine Handling Toolkit with recommendations that vaccines be stored
in purpose-built units both to protect temperature sensitive materials and to reduce
the burden on staff for manual monitoring and adjustment.
THE SOLUTION
Constant monitoring and adjustment of eighty-fve refrigerators and freezers, many
of which were non-medical-grade units, spread across the central pharmacy and
throughout the nursing foors was an unsustainable arrangement for this respected
hospital.
Every minute spent outside of proper storage temperature, hospital resources and
patient health were at risk, and the overloaded staff struggled to keep up with the
necessary adjustments each time a unit fell out of the acceptable temperature range.
It was clear that standardizing to medical-grade cold-storage would be imperative for
this health system to maintain their commitment to delivering the best outcomes for
patients and the best experiences for staff.
THE BENEFITS
While standardization required signifcant upfront investment, the benefts were clear.
•
Reduced clinical staff-hours spent adjusting out-of-range units
•
Reduced biomedical staff-hours spent repairing low-quality units
•
Reduced risk of material and reputation loss to the hospital
•
Reduced health risk to the patient
“These units are
reliable and
consistent, which is
a huge relief for me
and my team, as
the previous units
were a big point of
stress and difÏcult
to manage.”
Case Study -Health System Standardizes on Helmer Cold Storage .indd 2
Case Study -Health System Standardizes on Helmer Cold Storage .indd 2
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10/8/2024 11:12:01 AM
CASE STUDY