Ad Council

Active Supply Chain Management Can Cut Costs, Improve Service

Kurt Kuehn is SVP of worldwide sales & marketing for United Parcel Service (UPS) so it seems legitimate to take what he has to say about supply chain management with a grain of salt since his company provides such services. However, these two articles published in Healthcare Purchasing News and Materials Management in Health Care respectively contain a wealth of valuable information. First, supply costs (pharmaceuticals included) are second only to labor and amount to up to 30% of total spend, so hospitals that try to save mostly on big, expensive equipment are missing cost control opportunities. Second, up to 40% of hospital supply-related costs are dedicated to handling, moving and processing material and supplies as opposed to less than 10% in other industries such as consumer goods and manufacturing, because of a high volume of manual transactions and the prevalence of paper-based purchases. more...

December 31, 2005 Related topics: Finance, Supply chain/SCM, Supplies, IT & software, Cost savings

Medical Reprocessing Gains Momentum, Stirs Controversy

Earlier this month, the Washington Post published a series of articles on the reprocessing of single-use devices (SUDs), first covering savings and safety concerns and explaining the process, then the consequences of cuts, and industry ramifications (followed up by a Q&A with readers). Inflamed by the conclusions of these articles, the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors fired back a defensive but argumentative statement while Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA reacted by suggesting the FDA should increase the number of inspectors assigned to reprocessors. That may be necessary, but the AMDA is right to point out that brand new products are not flawless in the first place. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, also wrote to the FDA a few days later. more...

December 30, 2005 Related topics: Ethics & Scandals, Quality, Safety, Errors, Cost savings

Boston Hospitals Try to Learn from Hotels

The Boston Globe reports how some hospitals in Massachusetts are trying to improve customer service, reading a page...

Wireless Pressure Sensors Approved, Implanted, Funded

CardioMEMS, Inc. first used its Endosure wireless implants on two human patients at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in...

Can CPOE Actually Increase Mortality?

Pediatrics recently published a study by the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP) and the School of Medicine at...

NCR Gets Into Healthcare Self-Service with Galvanon Acquisition

NCR Corp, already a strong player in bank ATMs and other self-service devices in industries such as travel,...

Indiana About to Make Medical Error Reporting Compulsory

Following executive order 05-10 (pdf format) signed by Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. Governor of Indiana and now turned...

Endologix Announces Limited Voluntary Recall of Powerlink System Delivery Catheter

Endologix, Inc. announced today that it is voluntarily recalling selected Powerlink System delivery catheters marketed in the U.S...

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