An Automated System for Tracking, Recording, and Reminding for Medical Implants (TRACER)-a Pilot Study with Ureteral...

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Urology
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Transiently implanted medical devices require robust tracking systems to prevent patient morbidity from delayed removal.
• Current clinical systems often lack seamless tracking for temporary implants like ureteral stents.
• Manual logging and electronic records can be prone to omissions and inefficiencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel Automated System for Tracking, Recording, and Reminding of Implants (TRACER) for transiently deployed ureteral stents.
• To assess TRACER's efficacy in ensuring timely stent removal and reducing associated clinical risks.
• To determine the system's potential for seamless integration into existing hospital workflows.

Main Methods:

• Development of the TRACER system, incorporating a dual-trigger mechanism for implant association, automated data validation, timely clinician reminders, and cessation upon removal.
• Retrospective review and comparison of ureteral stent records from January 2022 to December 2023.
• Analysis of data from manual logs, electronic operative records, and the TRACER dataset.

Main Results:

• TRACER successfully identified 15 potentially untracked stents due to incomplete initial logging.
• The system flagged 5.9% of stents for delayed removal, leading to successful intervention in 3.9% of patients.
• All tracked stents, barring specific clinical exceptions (transfers, deaths, planned delays), were removed on time.

Conclusions:

• The TRACER system is an effective, safe, and viable solution for tracking transiently implanted devices.
• TRACER demonstrates significant manpower savings and high potential for scalability to other implantable devices.
• Implementation of TRACER can enhance patient safety by ensuring timely removal of temporary implants.