Summary Statement:

This custom designed web-based software combines mobile computing and connectivity to create a revolution in medical device supply and service chains by impacting speed, accuracy, and culture of medical records management.

Long Summary:

Crosslink Orthopedics is Stryker’s largest sales and distribution agency in the continental US, serving Georgia, South Carolina, and a portion of northern Florida. As an agency of Stryker, Crosslink provides orthopedic and spine prosthesis for every surgery performed using their product. In addition, providing support to the doctors and patients with a sales representative present during every surgical procedure.

Historically orthopedics sales and distribution agencies conducted all sales ,via manual methods such as phone, fax and forms. Crosslink was no exception, manually handling inventory of over 100,000 implants, and numerous sets of instruments for support of thousands of surgeries quarterly. Correct combinations had to be available for each surgical case while providing the best possible patient care. Manually accomplishing this volume of high pressure tasks exacted excessive cost on the ledger as well as undue stress on the people charged with unfailing support for surgical cases. It became apparent that this manual-analog tool box of business processes had long passed into obsolescence.

WebOps was developed in collaboration with Objectware, Inc., a custom software developer, to alleviate needless man-hours and increase cost efficiency. Objectware, Inc was given the task of building a custom enterprise application that required a web-based platform to integrate sales and operating processes with full spectrum connectivity via handheld devices that were not dependent on wireless hot spots. The priorities of WebOps were visibility and real-time speed across all functional teams.

Developers descended on the teams of users at Crosslink to chronicle each interconnected business process from when the sales representatives first learned of a surgical case, through fulfillment of the implants and instruments to the hospital, to the usage tracking for billing purposes. Technological options were considered to maximize the maneuverability of sales representatives and support personnel. Central to the success of the project was empowering the field sales force that worked in hospital and surgeons’ offices with a handheld device that did not depend on classic hot spot WiFi. From the revolution of cellular technology, an answer was found.

The PalmTreo 650 and 700P were evaluated and were found to offer the greatest full spectrum capability of the industry’s needs. The operating system of the Treo was more than robust enough to run the applications. Users could stay in contact with office staff and managers by utilizing Goodlink email server software and “push” email. The touch-screen delivered signature capture on the device of the sales representative and “in-charge” operating room nurse. The use of the Treo as the mobile phone of choice allowed users to consolidate all the equipment (phone, pager, and PDA) on their “BatBelt” into one device. Later the Treo’s camera would allow another phase of revolution with an unprecedented method of capturing x-rays for the purpose of implant templating along with the immediate viewing availability of pre-operation and post-operation x-ray images to surgical staff and sales representatives. The inclusion of the Socket SDIO and Bluetooth scanners allowed sales representatives an efficient method of scanning surgical usage items and tracking inventory.

Benefits: The speed and accuracy of the WebOps software has propelled Crosslink to the highest grossing distributor of Stryker. Without this development the company could not have withstood the growth and maintained a superior level of support for the sales, surgeons and ultimately the patients. Crosslink has sustained 20 percent growth a year over the past 4 years yet has not had to add a high number of employees to handle the extra volume. Instead, the software is now bearing the load. With the ability for all parties involved to prepare more in advance, the overhead costs have drastically reduced in shipping and in overstock. These savings are passed on to the hospital and in turn, to the patient receiving the implants. Because of Crosslink’s impressive success, WebOps is now being sought and leased to other Stryker distributors and the response and results have been overwhelming.

Importance: The biggest challenge that Crosslink was facing, along with the whole orthopedic industry, was how to provide maximum support for the surgeons, patients and sales representatives but to do so without incurring much heavier costs. The goal of WebOps was to create a format that would allow all the separate departments to work off the same database simultaneously and in real time. With this format, the result would be an ultimately paperless system that was more efficient.

Originality: No other branch or agency within Stryker or other known industry affiliates utilizes this level of technological software for sales and support except for the distributors that have recently subscribed to WebOps.

Success:

"The WebOps software has changed the way that we do business. Products can be ordered well in advance of surgery, billing can be done quicker, and sales forecasts can be tracked more closely. All these and much more make WebOps an absolute must in the fast paced world we live in today!"
- Shawn Everhart-Crosslink Sales Representative

"WebOps has proved to be a huge asset to our company. It's helped us keep pace with growth while reducing paperwork and the risk of mistakes. Before, we relied heavily on transcribing phone calls. Now the sales rep can choose exactly what they want from their Treos. We no longer have to spend time writing down surgery postings, and trying to keep them organized. It's all computerized, which eliminates lost postings and miscommunications. Web Ops also gives us a clear outlook of the upcoming week, which makes planning easier and more efficient. And finally, WebOps gives us the tools to grade our performance so we can see where we need improvement"
- Scott Blackstone- Crosslink Sales Support

"WebOps has been a very successful tool! From a case standpoint, once we enter a surgery (which has to be recorded somehow) everything else just falls together. We can add x-rays to the posting which is huge! We can let personnel know what is exactly needed for surgery. Once surgery has been done we can track the usage forever! This is huge! So many times we have to go back and check what was used on a patient 6 months, 1 year or 6 years before. This makes it easy. And once a surgery is posted we can find out what has been sent to the surgery through our hand held or PC and then follow the billing and recieving PO's process.This whole process helps out everyone from me the rep, to the warehouse, to the customer service who orders the replenishment. In the long run, it will prove to be an effective tool of the industry."
- Gene Dopson-Crosslink Sales Representative

“WebOps gives me the ability to see all of my reps cases in one view. As soon as the sales rep finishes the surgery, the usage is right there in real time I don’t have to go back and forth to a fax machine or shuffle through a stack of faxes. Also there is no more guess work trying to decipher tiny lot codes that are often hard to read on a fax copy. WebOps allows me to see which cases I’ve reordered, or not reordered, which ones I’ve billed/not billed and how many total cases my reps have scheduled so I can plan my day accordingly”
- Scott Goggans-Crosslink Customer Service Rep

Difficulty: The difficulty of the project was in developing a system which encompassed all necessary aspects of the business and was user-friendly for all levels of computer literacy of personnel.