Tracking Lot Information and Patient Information for Items Version

Contents

Overview

Through lot tracking, the system keeps records of lot numbers, serial numbers, and/or expiration dates for inventory items.

• A lot number identifies a group of pieces of inventory. For example, an inventory may have two lots of Item 334455 -- Latex Gloves: lot number 011 and lot number 022. Lot number tracking can be used alone, or in combination with serial number tracking and/or expiration date tracking.
• A serial number identifies one unique piece of inventory for a given item number and description. Serial numbers can be tracked alone, or in combination with lot numbers and/or expiration dates.
• An expiration date is a date by which an item must be used. You can record expiration dates alone for an item, with serial numbers and/or lot numbers.

Once you enter a lot number, serial number, or expiration date for an item into the system, you can associate the lot information with patient data such as patient ID, case number, and physician. The system maintains lot tracking data and patient data for an item permanently.

Lot tracking is enabled in the system by asset location and item number. For each asset location, lot tracking must be "switched on" and the type of lot information to be tracked must be specified. Items in an asset location use the lot tracking settings specified when the items were assigned, but you can override the settings, if you wish.

Lot tracking involves entering and associating lot and patient information.

• You enter lot and patient information into an item's inventory records.
  You can enter this information when an item is received, for example, and during several other activities, listed below. You can also edit the inventory record at any time to enter the information.
• You then associate a particular item lot, expiration date, and/or serial number with a particular patient when you issue the item. Once an item is issued, it is consumed -- used up, and no longer in inventory.

You can record lot/patient information during activities that change the on-hand quantity of an item. These activities include:

• confirming picks
• making quick issues
• recording quick credits
• creating receipts
• canceling receipts
• recording physical inventory counts
• transferring inventory
• manually adjusting inventory
• making department returns to inventory
• making returns to vendors.

Examples of using lot tracking during several of these activities are explained in sections below:

• Issuing a lot-tracked item.
• Receiving lot-tracked items.
• Performing a physical inventory using lot information.

Requisitions and purchase orders can include lot tracking information. For consignment purchase orders, this information is useful because it identifies the consumed item to the vendor. (A consumed item is gone from inventory.) Recording lot information when you open regular POs and requisitions is not usually needed, however, since the lot information may change when the item is received or issued.

Barcode Note: Lot tracking information on an item's barcode is scanned into the system along with other item data. If the information includes an expiration date, and no day of the month is present, the system uses the first day of the month (e.g., November 1).

Security

ePHI Records

Features are built into the system to ensure the privacy of electronic protected health information (ePHI), in compliance with HIPAA requirements. One applicable area is lot tracking.

• On a User Profile, the Hide ePHI Data field determines whether a user can access patient data. When Hide ePHI Data is checked, a detailed series of restrictions apply to the user's access to ePHI records. Patient information in the lot tracking feature is subject to restrictions governed by this User Profile field.
  
  In sum, if Hide ePHI Data is checked, the user cannot access patient-identifying information.
  The list of restrictions and examples is outlined in the ePHI documentation.

Note: All patient identifier fields in this document's figures contain fictional values, and are not associated with any actual individual.

Role Objects

• The role object "LotTrack" controls access to lot tracking in general. The minimal setting to display the Lot Tracking Details list is View.
  Details are in the next section.
• For the asset location enable step, the ability to edit asset locations is controlled by the role object "MMTables." To edit an asset location, the minimum setting is Modify.
• Displaying the item inventory list requires the "Inventory" role object to be set to View, minimally. To edit an inventory record, the setting must be Modify or higher.

Setting Up Lot Tracking

To use lot tracking, setup is needed for users, asset locations, and items. Also, you must import patient data from your admissions system if you plan to associate patient IDs with lot information, and enter physician and case records into the system's tables.

User Setup

Users entering lot information and patient data must have the Lot Track role object in their Role. The security setting should be Create, at a minimum, or All. (A role is part of a user profile. See Set Up and Maintain Users for details.)

To set up lot tracking at an asset location, the field Allow Changes to Asset Location and Inventory on the Data Profile Asset Location panel must be selected. This field controls permission to edit asset location records and edit item inventory records at the asset location. The topic Restrict Users from Editing Asset Location Records and Item Inventory Records outlines how to access and use the Allow Changes to Asset Location and Inventory field.

Note: You must have system administrator privileges to be able to change user settings.

• Ensure that a role containing the Lot Track role object is assigned to users who will enter lot information and that the security setting for Lot Track is correct.
  1. From the Work in Administration menu, select Users to view the list of system users.
  2. Locate each user who will need to create lot information and click the pen icon ( ) to view the user profile.
  3. On the User Roles tab of the user profile, note the Role assigned to each user.
  4. Go back to the Administration menu and click Roles to view the list of roles.
  5. Find each role that you noted, and click Role Objects. The Role Objects list appears.
  6. Locate the Lot Track role object. Click Edit to change the security level of the role object. Set the security level to Create or All.

  Note: Lot tracking menu options will not appear for users whose security level on the Lot Track role object is None.

Asset Locations

Asset locations must have lot tracking enabled. Also, the lot information fields (lot number, serial number, expiration date) tracked for items at the asset location must be specified.

• Edit an asset location record to switch on lot tracking and to specify the lot tracking fields.
  1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Tables > Asset Locations.
  2. Locate the asset location of interest, and click the pen icon () to edit it. The Asset Location edit panel appears.
  3. Select the Lot Tracking tab. The Lot Tracking panel appears (Figure 1).
     
     

  

  Figure 1 - Asset Location Lot Tracking Panel

  4. Select Tracking Enabled to switch on lot tracking for the asset location.
  5. Select the default lot information fields that you wish to track. You can select Lot Number Tracking, Expiration Date Tracking, or Serial Number Tracking individually; you can select two of the three; or you can select all three.
     - These fields are only defaults for the asset location. You can set different fields at the item level as long as Tracking Enabled is set for the asset location.

Patient Information

Patient ID tables are imported into the system using ADT Patient Import. Case and physician data can be entered directly into the system's tables.

To be able to view patient information, the field Hide ePHI Data on the user's User Profile must be unchecked. See the previous discussion.

• Import patient record data so that you have a list of patient IDs to associate with lot tracking information.
  1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Imports/Exports & Financials > ADT Patient Import.
  2. Select New to identify a file of patient data to upload.
     See Import Admission, Discharge, and Transfer Patient Data for details on the process.
• Populate the Cases list.
  1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Tables > Cases.
  2. Select New to enter case information.
• Populate the Physician list.
  1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Tables > Physicians.
  2. Select New to enter physician data.

Editing an Item's Lot Tracking Settings

An asset location has default lot tracking settings for all its items. You can enable or disable lot tracking fields for individual items if you do not wish to accept the asset location's defaults. You can turn lot tracking off for an item, or track fewer or more fields than specified for the asset location. You can change the defaults, if you wish, when you create a new item, when you assign an item to an asset location, or when you edit an item inventory record. The discussion below shows the item inventory record.

To edit an item's lot tracking fields:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Inventory > Item Inventory.
   The list of items appears.
2. Locate the item of interest by entering the item number in the Item No box next to Position To.
   
   • Click Go.
3. Next to the item, click Menu > Edit or click the edit icon .
   The Item Inventory edit panel appears.
4. Click the Lot Tracking tab to view the Lot Tracking panel. (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - Item Inventory Lot Tracking Edit Panel

5. Select the type of tracking that you wish. You can select Lot Number Tracking, Expiration Date Tracking, Serial Number Tracking, any combination, or all three.
   - If you want to turn lot tracking off for an item, click Tracking Enabled to remove the check from the box.
   
6. Click Save.
7. Click Submit. The Item Inventory list is displayed.

Note: The Lot Tracking tab does not appear if the asset location is not enabled for lot tracking.

Entering Lot and Patient Information for an Item

The system gives you the opportunity to record lot information and patient information that you associate with individual items when the items are issued. The procedure below shows you how to enter lot tracking information from the item inventory. Other activities, such as opening a requisition or purchase order, or confirming a pick, allow you to enter data as well. The panels for entering this data, as discussed below, are fairly uniform from activity to activity.

To be able to view and work with patient information, the field Hide ePHI Data on the user's User Profile must be unchecked. See the previous discussion.

To enter lot tracking and patient information:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Inventory > Item Inventory.
   The list of items appears.
2. Locate the item of interest by entering the item number in the Item No box next to Position To.
   
   • Click Go.
     Note: You can filter the Inventory List for all lot-tracked items by clicking Search (instead of using Position To) and selecting Lot Tracking - Yes on the Search panel.
3. Next to the item, click Menu > Lot Tracking.
   The Lot Tracking panel appears. (If lot tracking is not enabled for the item, only part of the panel with the Consumed field appears.)
   Figure 3 is a Lot Tracking panel with lot information recorded for an item, and a record in progress for another item.
   
   Note: For some activities, such as requisitioning, that allow (but do not require) you to enter lot information, an OK button appears. In requisitioning, for example, the system displays the Lot Tracking panel for you to enter information if you wish. You can click OK to close the panel without entering information.

Figure 3 - Enter Lot Tracking Information

4. To enter patient data with an item's lot information, on the Lot Tracking Details panel, click Menu in a row containing the lot information (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - Patient / Physician / Case Menu

5. Select Patient/Physician/Case from the menu.
   The Patient/Physician/Case panel appears (Figure 5). If no patient information exists for the item, the lower part of the panel contains "No Data." Also, if you are not authorized to work with patient information, you will not be able to enter (or display) patient information. (See Securing Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) for details.)
   

Figure 5 - Enter Patient / Physician / Case Data

Note: All patient identifier fields in Figure 5 and in other figures contain fictional values. The values are not associated with any actual individual.

6. Enter the Patient ID in the center of the panel under the Enter Patient/Physician/Case tab.
7. Similarly, enter the Physician Number and Case Number, if applicable. (The system completes the Patient Account Number field.)
8. Click Save.
9. The patient/physician/case information is displayed in the lower part of the panel.
10. Click Save.
    The patient information is saved for you to select later when the item is issued.
    
11. To leave the panel, click Finish Now.
    You are returned to the Lot Tracking panel.

Issuing a Lot-Tracked Item

When you issue a lot-tracked item, you associate the lot information recorded for the item with patient data. The paragraphs below explain how to both enter and associate lot and patient records with an item during the confirm step of a pick. (Performing a Confirm Pick issues items.)

Entering and Associating Lot Information with Patient Data when Confirming a Pick

When you have created and run a pick, and picked the requested items, the system asks you to confirm that the pick is complete. In confirming a pick, the system gives you the chance to enter lot and patient information and associate the information for each item being issued.

To associate lot information with patient data during a pick confirm:

1. From the Materials Management menu, select Warehousing > Pick List.
2. Locate the pick that you have finished and click Pick Confirm.
   The Pick Confirmation panel appears (Figure 6). On the lower part of the panel (Requisitions in Pick), each line shows a requisition with items in the pick list.

Figure 6 - Pick Confirmation Panel

3. Next to a requisition, select Adjust Quantity/UOM Issued.
   Note: Permission must be set in your user profile for this activity.
   The Adjust Quantity/UOM Issued panel is displayed (Figure 7). This panel lists items in the requisition that are on the pick list.

Figure 7 - Pick List Adjust Quantity/UOM Issued

4. Next to any item, select Menu. The system displays the pull-down menu for the item.
   - If the item is set up for lot tracking, Lot Tracking Selection is available from the menu.
   - Otherwise, Lot Tracking Selection appears in light gray.
   Note: To enter lot tracking information, the "LotTrack" role object in your user role must be set to Modify or higher.
5. Click Lot Tracking Selection.
   The lot tracking panel appears (Figure 8).
   - The center part of the panel contains fields for entering lot information.
   - The lower part of the panel lists lot tracking data that has been entered, if any. (Otherwise, No Data appears.)
   Items can track expiration date, serial number, or lot number, any combination, or all three.

Figure 8 - Lot Tracking: Entering Patient Information During a Pick Confirm

6. Look at the list under Lot Tracking Details. If lot tracking information exists for the item, locate the information that you wish and click the Select field. This step identifies the particular lot information that you wish to associate with patient data.
   • Go to Step 8.
7. If no lot data exists, enter new information in the center panel's fields.
   • Click Save.
The new lot tracking information appears in the Lot Tracking Details on the lower part of the panel. The Select field is checked.
8. In the Lot Tracking Details list, click Menu > Patient/Physician/Case in a row that you have selected. (You can access this menu item for any Selected row.)
   The Patient/Physician/Case panel appears (as in Figure 5).
   • Follow the previous instructions to complete and save this panel.
9. Click OK when you are finished entering patient information. The Lot Information panel is displayed.
   You can enter and/or select more lot information to associate with patients if several items are being issued.
   
10. Click OK when you are finished entering and associating lot/patient information for items on the pick list. The Adjust Quantity/UOM Issued panel is displayed.
11. Click Submit. The Pick Confirmation panel is displayed.
12. Click Pick Confirm to confirm the pick and issue the items.

Quick Issues of Lot Tracked Items

The procedure for entering lot tracked items is the same as any other quick issue, except for entering and selecting lot and patient information.

1. From the Materials Management main contents, select Warehousing > Quick Issues.
2. Create a new Inventory Quick Issue (or Inventory Quick Issue Charge Only). See the instructions. You can also edit an existing Quick Issue. The Inventory Quick Issue panel appears (Figure 9).

Figure 9 - Lot Tracking for Items in a Quick Issue

3. On the Inventory Quick Issue panel, next to the item that you wish to issue, select Menu > Lot Tracking Selection.
   The Lot Tracking Selection panel appears (see Figure 3). You can enter lot information and patient information as described in the previous section.
   • When you Submit an Inventory Quick Issue, the system creates a pick list. The pick confirm process associates the patient information with the lot tracking information.
   • When you Submit an Inventory Quick Issue, Charge Only job, since the item has already been picked, the system associates the lot and patient information with the item, and marks the item as consumed -- used and no longer available in inventory.

Viewing Consumed Items

Once you issue an item that has lot information and associated patient data, the item is no longer available in inventory. The item is consumed. For any item number, you can view individual consumed items from the Item Inventory.

To view consumed items:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Inventory > Item Inventory.
   The list of items appears.
2. Locate the item of interest by entering the item number in the Item No box next to Position To.
   
   • Click Go.
     Note: You can filter the Inventory list for all lot-tracked items by clicking Search (instead of using Position To) and selecting Lot Tracking - Yes on the Search panel.
3. Next to the item, click Menu > Lot Tracking.
   The Lot Tracking panel appears. At the bottom of the Lot Tracking panel is the Lot Tracking Details list.
   The Lot Tracking Details may contain no information (No Data appears) if no items have been assigned lot tracking information. Otherwise, as in Figure 2 and Figure 10 (below), lot information appears.
   

Figure 10 - Lot Tracking Details with Consumed Items

4. For each row of lot information in table, the Consumed column contains Yes if the item has been used.

Receiving Lot Tracked Items

You can associate patient and lot information with a receipt line when a purchase order is received.

Enter and Associating Lot Information with Patient Data when Creating a Receipt

To receive a purchase order, follow all the normal steps (see Handling Receipts for details):

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Receiving > Receive PO.
2. Locate the purchase order on the list of POs for receiving.
3. Click Receive PO. The Receiving panel appears with the PO lines at the bottom (Figure 11).

Figure 11 - Lot Tracking when Receiving a Purchase Order

4. Locate the PO line for a lot-tracked item. Next to the item, select Menu > Lot Tracking Selection.
   The Receive PO Line - Lot Tracking Selection panel appears (Figure 12).

Figure 12 - Lot Tracking Selection Panel for Receiving

5. Enter lot tracking information on the panel following the previous instructions. You can enter patient information as well.
6. Click Save.
7. Then click OK.
   The Receiving panel is displayed. You can continue receiving other items as needed.

Physical Inventory with Lot Tracked Items

You enter physical inventory counts through the physical inventory panels. When lot-tracked items are counted, any items with lot tracking information that are not selected for the count are considered consumed.

To count lot-tracked items:

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Warehousing > Physical Inventory.
2. From the list, next to a physical inventory that is In Progress, select Menu > Enter Counts.
   A list of items for the selected Physical Inventory appears with a space to enter the counts. (Figure 13).
   Yes in the Lot Tracking column indicates that lot tracking is enabled for the item in the row.

Figure 13 - Physical Inventory Count Entry Panel with Lot-Tracked Items

3. Click Lot Tracking Selection to identify the lot-tracked items that you wish to include in the count. The Lot Tracking Details panel appears (Figure 14).
   

Figure 14 - Lot Tracking Details Panel for a Physical Inventory

4. Use the panel, as described previously, to enter lot tracking and patient information for items, as needed.
5. Select the items with the lot tracking data that you wish to count for the inventory.

• Important: If the inventory count reduces the quantity of items, the system marks unselected lot-tracked items as consumed.
  On the other hand, if the inventory count increases the quantity of items, you can select items previously marked as consumed.
  The arrow in Figure 14 indicates an unselected item.

6. Save the lot tracking information and click OK.
7. Proceed with the physical inventory process as normal. Detailed procedures are in Perform a Physical Inventory.

Notes on the Consumed Indicator

For inventory adjustments that increase on-hand quantity, the system lets you identify lot-tracked items that are marked as consumed to add to inventory. The status of the items changes to unconsumed so that they are again available to issue.

For example, suppose a lot-tracked item is issued to a department, and then the department later returns the item to inventory. When the item is issued, it is marked as consumed since the on-hand quantity is reduced. However, when the department later returns the item, the lot tracking entry has the consumed indicator removed, since on-hand quantity is increased.

Only items with serial number tracking are automatically marked as consumed. When you issue an item with a serial number, the system sets the Consumed flag for you. For items with lot number or expiration date tracking, you must set the consumed field yourself.

Working with Lot Tracking Details

The Inventory Lot Tracking menu provides access to a list of lot tracking details for items. You can sort the Lot Tracking Details list by organization, asset location, item number, lot number, serial number, and/or expiration date. You can also sort items according to their consumed status.

For expiration date or lot-number tracked items, you need to set the Consumed indicator yourself when the item is issued. Using the Lot Tracking Details list menus, you can set the consumed indicator for items, or you can change consumed to unconsumed. The Consumed field is also audited. Viewing audited fields on the Lot Tracking Details list shows you which activities, such as confirming a pick list, caused a change in the consumed indicator for an item.

The Lot Tracking Details list menu also lets you enter patient data, view inventory transactions for items, and view general ledger transactions.

To access the Lot Tracking Details list menus:

You can work with lot tracking details from the Lot Tracking contents selection.

From the Materials Management main Contents, select Inventory > Lot Tracking.
The Lot Tracking Details list appears (Figure 15).
The list is originally filtered by Organization and Asset Location.

Figure 15 - Lot Tracking Details List

• To filter the list on another field, click the underlined name of the column that you wish to use as the filter. You can also specify a particular value that you wish to locate in a column; for example, a value of 01993 in the Lot Number column. Finally, you can click Search to specify sort criteria.
• To mark an item as consumed, locate the item on the list and click Menu > Mark as Consumed. (If the item is already marked, this menu selection is grayed out.)
• To mark an item as unconsumed, locate the item on the list and click Menu > Mark as Unconsumed. (If the item is already marked, this menu selection is grayed out.)
• To view inventory transactions for the lot tracked item, click Menu > Inventory Transactions. The list of inventory transactions appears.
  - From the list of inventory transactions, you can view GL Transactions or enter patient data by clicking Menu.
• To enter patient data to be associated with lot information, click Menu > Patient/Physician/Case. The patient information panels appear. See Entering Patient Information.

You can also view lot tracking details from the Inventory Transactions list.

1. From the Materials Management main Contents, select Item Inventory > File Transactions
   or select Item Inventory > Non-file Transactions.
   A list of transactions appears.
2. Click Menu > Lot Tracking on any list row.
   The list of lot tracking details appears. You can use the menu on any row of lot tracking details to enter patient/physician/case information, if needed.
   

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