Using technology to automate supply chain management helps healthcare organizations — including ASCs — devote more time to patients and boost the bottom line, according to four supply chain experts from McKesson and Supplylogix.
Here are five benefits of automation.
1. Offers greater inventory management for ASCs.
Ophthalmology surgery centers benefit from automating their intraocular lens inventory management processes, according to McKesson's Technology Sales Director Jayme White. Combining web-based inventory management tools with barcode scanning technology provides numerous real-time insights, including size and brand of the IOL, when it expires, when it was used and the identity of the patient who received it. Automating IOL inventory management enables nurses or clinicians to spend more time on direct patient care.
2. Reduces medical supply inefficiencies for physician practices.
Ms. White encourages physician practices to automate medical supply assessment, procurement, receiving and order reconciliation to reduce any inefficiencies driving up expenses. Technology should also track and analyze spending to identify savings opportunities.
3. Creates better drug distribution efficiency for pharmacies.
Cash that's tied up in medications sitting on a shelf could otherwise "drop to the bottom line or be used for other purposes," said Brent Wunderlich, McKesson's senior director for strategic distribution operations.
Three technologies can help keep as little inventory onsite as possible: a "just-in-time" drug inventory management system; a pharmacy management system for tracking drug use and prices; and an online drug-ordering platform for making and tracking purchases.
4. Improves product standardization for health systems.
Using technologies to standardize products, supplies and equipment can improve efficiency; enhance financial performance; and boost clinical outcomes, according to Vice President of Materials Management John Pildis. Standardization reduces SKUs and vendors, leads to purchasing fewer supplies and decreases variability of clinical products.
5. Builds seamless drug supply for pharmacies.
Retail pharmacy chains can develop a perpetual inventory system by completing a baseline drug inventory count, learning how to use current inventory management tools and engaging in continuous drug inventory maintenance.
This type of system helps organizations "determine what they have too much of, what they have too little of, what they're likely to run out of, when they're going to run out, and how much they're investing in each drug," said Victor Vercammen, vice president of business strategy and industry relations at Supplylogix.