As healthcare systems become smarter, complex medical and diagnostic equipment that provides vast amounts of data are moving closer to the patient. However, with new portable tests and imaging devices, equipment is often moved from a patient to decontamination and then to another patient, or shared among different departments, yet it is common for hospitals to lose track of these mobile assets. For example, a portable telemetry device used to record electrical activity of the heart can easily get lost in bed sheets and sent to the laundry, costing thousands of dollars to replace.

Saint Michael’s Medical Center is using IBM’s Real-Time Location Services (RTLS) software and ultrasound RTLS infrastructure from Sonitor Technologies to automatically track equipment, alert staff when the required level of equipment is running low, and to ensure compliance with patient safety regulations. The use of smart automatic tracking systems in hospitals helps eliminate inefficiency, improve patient safety and save hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost and under-utilized equipment. It also prevents the need for caregivers to spend valuable patient care time looking for the equipment they need.

The new system will initially track more than 2,000 pieces of equipment such as heart monitors, infusion pumps and ventilators across Saint Michael’s using ultrasound receivers and tagging technology from Sonitor Technologies. Ultrasound tags can be attached to equipment to broadcast a unique identification signal to receivers without the risk of electromagnetic interference with other electronic patient care equipment. The ultrasound identification data is used by IBM’s Real-Time Location Service software to not only track and visualize equipment with location accuracy to zone, room or sub-room levels, but to generate alerts and automate responses. For example, an alert can be generated when a heart monitor leaves an assigned area without authorization, or if a crash cart sits in the hallway too long.

Saint Michael’s is also using the system to improve patient safety. Business rules can be created to automatically trigger events — such as requesting additional infusion pumps when the number of clean pumps in the closet drops to only two. With this solution, IBM is leveraging its asset management expertise to ensure a constant supply of equipment without the need for staff intervention or the need for nurses to pick up the phone and place equipment orders manually.

Owned by Louise Pace, Pace Medical Equipment and Supplies is a provider of special chairs and beds, mobility aids, bath safety items and more, which have been accredited by The Joint Commission, a symbol of quality and safety that reflects a commitment to meeting performance standards, according to company officials. The business is located at 3573 Copley Road, at South Cleveland-Massillon Road.

“Our mission is to provide a better quality of life for our customers,” said Michael Pace, son of Louise Pace and general manager of the seven-year-old company. “Our products offer increased safety, freedom and participation in everyday life.”

Those products include one of the largest selections in stock in the Northeast Ohio area of lift chairs, according to company officials. Lift chairs can assist those who have difficulty coming to a stand from a sitting position.

“We specialize in custom petite, extra tall and bariatric lift chairs with up to 700 pounds weight capacity,” said Michael Pace.

The chairs are comfortable and stylish, come in a variety of colors and fabrics to match any décor, are quiet and operate smoothly, and include heat and massage options, according to company officials.

Other medical equipment available at Pace Medical includes manual and power wheelchairs, scooters, mobility aids such as walkers and canes, orthopedics, incontinence items and adjustable hospital beds.

In addition to medical equipment and products, Pace Medical services and sells parts for the equipment and does minor home modifications to ensure the safety of its clients, according to company officials.

The company’s service and parts department focuses on repairs to scooter and power wheelchairs, lift chairs and hospital beds, and battery replacement of motorized items. Customers can opt to bring an item in or ask for in-home service, according to company officials.

Mission Hospital is a 345-bed facility in Mission Viejo, California that includes specialized pediatric care through CHOC Children’s Mission Hospital (CHOC), and is the first and only designated regional trauma center in South Orange County. The integrated medical campus is part of the St. Joseph Health System and has over 700 affiliated physicians. VIXIA’s technology and services have been approved by the St. Joseph Health System.

Deployment is underway and expected to be fully complete in May. The VIXIA on-site team and technology will begin by tracking and managing the distribution of approximately 1700 equipment items with a goal to reduce rentals, future capital purchases and eliminate the need for nurse staff to take valuable time away from patient-care to search for and clean equipment.

Movable medical equipment such as Sequential Compression Devices (SCD’s), Infusion Pumps and Pulse Oximeter units are among the first assets to be part of their equipment distribution service.

It is fool’s game to speculate on which of the 50 companies that Berkshire Hathaway will acquire. Each company has to stand on its own investment merit regardless what Warren Buffett may or may not make a move on it.

GuruFocus dug into the list of companies and present information on company’s business, ownership of the Investment Gurus, and trade activity of insiders. The companies are grouped according to industries they operate in. This part we treat threee medical equipment companies: Covidien Ltd. (COV) , St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) , Zimmer Holdings Inc. (ZMH)

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