With around 2,000 decedents in their care each year, French Funerals & Cremation needed a reliable, accurate way to keep up with items and bodies.

Passare's barcode tracking tool was the solution they needed to improve their processes.

Angie Good, the location manager at French Funerals & Cremation, oversaw the implementation of Passare barcode tracking at the care center. With Passare, Angie and her team have seen vast improvements in communication, organization, and service to families.

Read on to see Angie's complete review of Passare tracking and specific stories of how it has been helpful over the years.

What processes did your funeral home follow to maintain a chain of custody before Passare?

We implemented Passare's barcode tracking tool in 2019. Before that, we didn't have any tracking system in place.

Our process relied on communication to know where people were and when they were picked up. It was a guessing game to know where people actually were. Keeping up with the chain of custody for items and bodies was pretty chaotic before Passare.

What risks or challenges came with using that process?

Our main challenge was figuring out where someone was if we needed clarification. Our old process consisted of frantically calling and asking, "Where are they? Did they make it to the location they were supposed to?" This wasn't the most reliable method for locating decedents. Plus, it left our staff feeling stressed and disorganized.  

Another risk was misidentification. Before we had Passare tracking, we didn't put any form of identification on decedents at facilities or at homes, we'd wait until we got back to the care center. That alone was a huge risk, because there was a chance people could get mixed up.

And unfortunately, this risk became a reality for us at one point. There was a situation where we mixed up two people. That situation prompted us to look at our processes and see what we could do better.

How was your experience implementing barcode tracking?

Implementing Passare barcode tracking was seamless. The system is really easy to learn and use. The hardest part was implementing the new steps into our current process.

For example, when we first started tracking, we tried to be as accurate and thorough as possible. We assigned the decedents a barcode and scanned the QR code in front of the family at the residence.

We thought this would establish trust and confidence in our team. But since we couldn't clearly explain what we were doing, it just looked like we were on our cell phones. With all new processes, there are things to iron out, and we definitely had to work through that part of the process. 

Now, we explain the QR codes and bands and how they work to the family up front. And when families know the measures we take to care for their loved one, they feel more confident in us.

What improvements or successes have you seen using Passare's barcode tracking?

Since implementing barcode tracking, our communication process as a company has greatly improved. Our communication is much more focused and accurate, which results in less back and forth when clarifying details.

We no longer have to call around, ask where people are, or check in to see if someone has been on a first call yet.

Plus, when a family calls and asks for an update on their loved one, we can look up the location and details in Passare and answer the family while we're on the phone with them.

What other successes have you seen?

We've seen great success using Passare Dashboards at our care center to keep up with tracking information like new check-ins or transfers.

We set up Dashboards because we have coolers that can fit 80 people. As you can imagine, keeping up with who is where and who has moved can be hard. Now that we can see tracking information on Dashboards, we've cut down on many back-and-forth communications that happened when we were trying to locate someone.

How has barcode tracking helped you provide a higher level of service to families?

There are so many stories on the news about funeral homes mixing things up, but with tracking, our families can be confident in us and our service.

With tracking, we provide detailed information about where the decedent has been, where they are, and what is next. This level of transparency provides a lot of comfort for our families.

Were you ever in a situation where tracking proved extremely helpful?

Like many other funeral homes, 2020 and 2021 were extremely busy for us. We had to invest in extra coolers for more space, and there was a time during those two years when we picked up 10+ people a day.

We were decentralized then, so every one of our four locations had its own care center. If one location received a decedent and was too full to keep them there, they'd have to send the person to a different location.

Tracking helped us keep up with everyone's location. Without tracking during this time period, we wouldn't have known where anyone was. We would have had to look for each person whenever we had questions about their location, which would have taken up so much time.

Was it worth implementing a new process based on the results you've seen using tracking?

Absolutely! It's so apparent to us when Passare tracking isn't used correctly. Now, when an error happens, we notice it much quicker than before because our process is so fine-tuned with tracking.

I don't know how we ever lived without Passare tracking.

About French Funerals & Cremations:

French Funerals & Cremations is a funeral service provider with multiple locations in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area. They have a centralized care center, and all locations use the same transfer team. Their team comprises over 100 employees across all locations, and in 2023, they served around 2,000 families.

About Angie Good:

Angie Good has been working at French Funerals & Cremation for 9 years. She worked as a Care Center Manager until July of 2023 and was then promoted to Managing Director. As Managing Director, Angie oversees the centralized care center and the 24-hour transfer team. She also manages the directors, front office staff, and assistants at the University & Lomas location.

Large or small, barcode tracking is for you

Barcode tracking can help you maintain accuracy, give families peace of mind, and quickly identify and solve problems, regardless of the size of your operation. By using Passare's tracking tool, you can experience the same success as Angie and her team. And the best part? You get access to all of Passare's case management tools, too. So, book a demo today!

If you're a Passare user and want to know more about implementing this tool at your funeral home, contact our team here.