Supply Management Moves Ahead
The Boston Globe looks at how hospitals can save money by better managing medical supplies, taking Lahey Clinic as an example. This 295-bed teaching hospital, which counts more than more than 480 physicians and 4,600 nurses, is hoping to save up to $17 million over five years by rolling out a computerized supply management system provided by Cardinal Health. Supplies are stored in secure cabinets while their use is tracked in relation to individual patients. This should streamline reorders, minimize waste, give more cost visibility by type of condition, as well as participate in heightening patient safety. Still, physicians and nurses can bypass the cabinets’ security system in case of emergency to get the consumable they need more quickly.
Last month Healthcare Purchasing News covered automated supply management systems extensively and looked at how they could be improved. This market segment started in 1989 with closed computer-equipped cabinets, and later expanded with the addition of open technologies using keypads, barcodes or wands. Open bins are also sometimes used in a closed room shut with a door that can be opened with a card swipe or code. Hospitals are looking for easy-to-use solutions with lower upfront or ongoing costs than the first-generation products. It is true that sophisticated and expensive closed cabinets left unhooked to the computer network and used as plain storage are not unheard of. Too much security can also ecome a hindrance that gets in the way and hurts rather than improves ROI and outcomes.
April 12, 2006 Related topics: Quality, Safety, Errors, Supply chain/SCM, Cost savings