Derive Blogs

Now more than ever, cold storage is the key to safeguarding vaccine efficacy.

Temperature-sensitive medications like the top COVID-19 vaccines require careful tracking since even the smallest deviation above approved storage temperatures can compromise their efficacy.

However, even before the viral outbreak, labs struggled with the following cold storage tracking challenges:

• Technology uniformity – Regular medical-grade devices may or may not be able to handle sub-zero temperatures.
• Changing regulations – As medications are approved, enhanced, or even recalled, information must be communicated efficiently across the supply chain to prevent confusion and wasted effort. Supply chain breakdowns such as delivery truck failures can also harm medication performance if teams aren’t readily notified.
• Manual data processing – When inventory transitions from freezers to delivery trucks or from delivery trucks to pharmacies, manual handling is vulnerable to human error such as improper storage, inaccurate inventory counts, and missed compliance standards.

As the demand for efficient cold storage continues to increase, tracking solutions must be simplified, adaptable, and scalable.

Three Technologies to Consider:

1. Glove-friendly touchscreens made for the freezer – Team members traveling in and out of freezers may not have time to take off their gloves to access information on their mobile devices. That’s why technologies like Zebra’s Android Rugged Tablets combine durability with expanded visibility by providing several key applications within a glove-friendly and freezer-ready device.
   
   
2. Consolidated data capture and processing – To further simplify inventory management and tracking, we recommend streamlining vital tasks such as scanning and data processing through one freezer-grade device such as the MC9300 . This reduces the number of deployed devices while creating a scalable mobility solution that adapts to changes in the workforce since workers can now do more with less.
   
   
3. Long-range electronic temperature sensing – Illustrating the concept of future-forward simplicity, Zebra’s new electronic temperature sensors use Bluetooth beacons to record inventory temperature in real time as it moves down the supply chain. Track temperature-sensitive inventory anywhere in the world via your preferred handheld device to mitigate spoilage through a user-friendly interface.
   
   

When it comes to medication tracking, visibility and simplicity are indispensable. To see how you can create a scalable tracking solution that fits your facility’s needs, contact Derive Technologies today for a thorough assessment of your current cold chain management strategy.