1. Elect a staff member to be in charge of inventory. Steve Smith, director of Surgery Center of Wisconsin Rapids, has charged one staff member with regularly monitoring prices on inventory to see if they have changed from week to week. In addition, the inventory control staff member frequently works with the surgery center’s GPO to see what better prices are available for equipment or supplies the facility needs.
“Our [inventory control] staff member and GPO representative stay in good contact with each other and look at costs of each of our supplies every month,” Mr. Smith says. “They look at what we’re paying right now for anything, like sterile gloves, and our GPO representative may be able to find sterile gloves that are similar to the ones we have but for less money.”
2. Keep par levels low. Keeping par levels, or the amount of inventory, at a minimum is critical to better management of supplies and costs, as ordering too much of one particular item could potentially lead to waste. Mr. Smith says the [inventory control] staff member orders supplies on a week-to-week basis, making sure there is only enough inventory to last the facility for that long. If patient volume spikes, Mr. Smith says working with the GPO allows the facility to have the flexibility of ordering supplies last minute.
“We have to keep our inventory or par levels at a minimum for most items, and that really helps keep costs down because we know we can contact our GPO because they have a warehouse full of supplies and can get us something the day after we order,” he says. “It helps us out by not having to store it on our shelves here.”
Janine Hathaway, administrator at Ashtabula (Ohio) Surgery Center, also says ordering supplies on a week-to-week basis is good practice but notes ordering enough supplies to comfortably get a facility through a week’s worth of cases is essential. “Our nurses are very good about watching stock and keeping track of what we need so that we’re not getting into trouble paying more just to get it in at the last minute,” she says. “So keeping inventory low is important but not too low.”
3. Customize pre-packages. Most GPOs allow surgery centers to customize pre-packages, which would include supplies needed for any one procedure. This allows the surgery center to cut back on wasted supplies and costs related to that.
“We just customized pre-package trays for knee arthroscopies,” Mr. Smith says. “In these pre-packages, there should be everything you would need in order to perform a knee scope. By going through the packs and customizing it, we’re able to lower cost by 10-15 percent without affecting patient safety or patient outcome. You always have to see if changing supply will affect either of those in any way.”
4. Be aggressive in seeking free trials. Jaime Wilber, who is the director of nursing at Ashtabula Surgery Center, encourages surgery centers to more actively pursue free trials of equipment and supplies before committing to a big purchase.
“We’re always open to hearing what new product a vendor may have, especially if it’s at a lower cost than one we’re already using,” Ms. Wilber says. “One time, we had a vendor come in with a new product for rotator cuff repair, and we asked to try them for free. After one of our orthopedic physicians tried them out, we agreed to purchase the implants from that vendor.”
In aggressively pursuing better deals with different vendors, Ms. Wilber says there may at times be an added incentive in the form of free accompanying equipment to go with the purchase.
“There’s equipment a physician needs to drill holes to put the shoulder cuff implant into place,” she says. “After we purchased the new implants for rotator cuff repair, they gave us the accompanying equipment for free.”
Learn more about Ashtabula Surgery Center.
Learn more about Surgery Center of Wisconsin Rapids.
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