Operational Efficiency Matters: Why Knox Community Hospital Changed DSCSA Solutions

Not all DSCSA compliance solutions are created equally. That’s what Knox Community Hospital discovered the hard way. After struggling with management of T3 documentation and track and trace workflow with “an economical vendor” for five months, Knox Director of Pharmacy Robbi Jo Michell-Enderle and Office Data and Operations Specialist Felicia Adams “got exasperated,” Adams says. “We realized they just didn’t have all their ducks in a row.”

“Relieved to connect with TraceLink,” Adams says it didn’t take long for the Mount Vernon, Ohio-based not-for-profit hospital to “reconsider vendors and make the switch.” Read on and learn the reasons why TraceLink won Knox over.

Sharing knowledge

In the fall of 2015, when hospitals were facing a looming deadline to comply with federal track and trace requirements established under DSCSA, Knox needed to get up to speed. “We didn’t know the in’s and out’s of the law, and had to ask our suppliers how they’d be providing documentation to us,” Adams says, “but they were not forthcoming.”

Feeling they were “left with no choice,” Michelle-Enderle and Adams took on the task of researching third-party solutions for putting new operating procedures into place. With their first vendor, “We thought we were set up with what we needed,” Adams says. “Unfortunately, with them, it was still a confusing process.” Things became “a lot clearer when we came on with TraceLink,” she points out. “Right from the start, TraceLink explained things better.”

Creating operational efficiencies

Return on investment is not all about dollars and cents. With Knox’s first vendor, Adams says, “we had an economical solution, but one that cost us hours and peace of mind.” She notes, “Their system was unreliable, not all the bugs were worked out.” Time spent “trying to get into their website took away from other work obligations,” Adams says, “And half the time you couldn’t get access to what you needed.” She and the director of the pharmacy eventually came to a realization: “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Taking a big picture view of ROI that captures the total positive impact of their DSCSA compliance solution on the hospital, Adams and Michelle-Enderle saw that “TraceLink could help us boost efficiency, save time, and connect better with our vendors.” In fact, “a big selling point of TraceLink for us,” Adams notes, “was that all our supply chain vendors are in the TraceLink network.” For Knox, the better solution would ease their pain—not exacerbate it—and integrate seamlessly with their suppliers, deliver solid results, and add value. “It really hit home how much better the TraceLink solution is both for our operations and our bottom line,” Adams says.

Providing comprehensive training

When Knox first looked at what the hospital needed to do for compliance, “the whole thing seemed daunting,” Adams says. “We knew we had to get expert assistance,” she notes, “but working with our first vendor, it was frustrating.” Adams points out that the vendor “tried addressing things,” but because “a lot of their process was manual, something that should take 30 minutes took half a day.” Adams was expecting the solution provider to make her job easier, yet, she says, “Every day something was going wrong.”

“One of the best things about working with TraceLink,” Adams says, “is the training you get.” She notes that she didn’t start using the TraceLink solution until about a month after she and Michelle-Enderle went through training. When she was ready to dive in, she “printed the manuals off the website” and “everything we were instructed in training came back to me.” If Adams has any questions, “I email for help and get a quick response with clear instructions,” she notes. “TraceLink has been super helpful with education.”

Demonstrating staying power

“I’m hands on,” Adams notes, and says she finds the TraceLink solution “easy to use, easy for accessing data, and reliable.” Moreover, with TraceLink, she says, “you never mind if you’re in an audit, because you know you’re in good hands.”

Adams believes TraceLink is a partner Knox can continue to count on.

“We feel secure that TraceLink is with us for the long haul,” Adams says. “They’ve shown us that they’re willing and able to assist every step of the way for the implementation and ongoing support.”