Accelerating Through e-Commerce

Leading Practice

The healthcare supply chain presents compelling opportunities for hospital executives to reduce costs and increase efficiencies within their organizations. To make supply chain management a long-term financial and operational success, hospital systems should implement programs that can create, measure, and track savings within their supply chain operations. To help drive down costs, Premier Health Partners in Dayton, Ohio, adopted supply chain management initiatives that bring new visibility into business practices.  Read Paper

Bridging the Gap between Clinical and Business Practice Requires Change

Fellow

Healthcare providers are especially aware of the need to implement key changes in the way healthcare is delivered to provide safer, more cost effective care. Despite this understanding there must be a delicate management of change to achieve building the bridge between clinical and business practices to successfully operate in today’s healthcare settings.  Read Paper

Capital Equipment Budget and Acquisition Strategy

Fellow

The purpose of this information is to help guide the Healthcare Material and Resource Management (MM) Professional to create a multi-disciplinary team effort in order to accurately plan and forecast realistic capital expense items or projects. In addition, the Materials Management Professional will be able to make cost effective decisions that factor in all of the many details that create the final acquisition decision. Read Paper

Clinical Supply Chain Management 

Leading Practice

The concept of establishing a clinical supply chain management program has become an industry standard for many hospitals resulting in significant supply chain cost and process improvements. This paper outlines an approach for the implementation of such a program. Read Paper

Documenting Cost Savings

Fellow

This paper presents a practical and effective system for presenting documented savings to hospital administration. It also discusses several specific errors that are often made in calculating savings as well as a more accepted way to determine the valid savings.  By combining the documentation system and avoiding questionable savings calculations, Materials Managers can have their savings accomplishments accepted and valued.  Read Paper

E-Commerce For All

Fellow

The purpose and objective of this paper is to document the impact of an E-commerce program on a hospital’s Materials Management Department. Factors to be discussed include: resources required, barriers and challenges to overcome, anticipated results, relationship to typical Materials Management objectives, costs of implementation, and the lessons learned from the overall initiative. Read Paper

Fine Tuning Par Levels

Fellow

Using Lock Haven Hospital par level cart system as a case study, this article will explore evaluating, implementing improvements, reduction of par level inventory, elimination of wasted time, educating all personnel involved as well as complying with corporate policy. Read Paper

Group Purchasing Organizations: Are they still viable? Or Are we fighting a War?

Fellow

What is war? According to the on-line Google dictionary it is: a concerted campaign to end something that is injurious. Wow! I think that is the definition of a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO). GPOs formed in an effort to reduce costs through volume. Wars were never won when only a few people supported them. If three people said they would help fight World War II, I think the outcome would probably have been somewhat different. Such is the way of the GPO.  Read Paper

Leveraging Technology to Power the Supply Chain

Leading Practice

As the healthcare industry evolves, large hospitals like the University of Maryland Medical System must also evolve or fall behind. To meet the needs of our customers, and the financial expectations of our system to manage supply costs, the role of the supply chain must be elevated from a back room function, to a more strategic element of a hospital’s growth. Read Paper

Loaner Tray Requisition Process

Leading Practice

HolyRosary Medical Center in Ontario, Oregon, utilizes digital technology, email, and electronic forms to request vendor loaner trays with the physician’s office, the Operating Room (OR), Central Sterile (CS), Purchasing, and Receiving. This practice facilitates communication between all parties and digitally documents what comes into the facility, which in turn reduces charges from the vendor for lost instruments, reduces phone calls, and allows for adequate staffing levels and error tracking in orders.  Read Paper

Materials Management Process Improvement in a Patient-Focused Environment

Fellow

Activities related to the purchase, distribution, management, and use of medical equipment and supplies account for a major percentage of hospital expense. During fiscal year 1996, Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Inc. (LRMC) spent 22.7% of total expense on supplies.  The challenge for LRMC is to reduce this percentage to 17% or less in an effort to offset increasing deductions from patient service revenues.  Read Paper

Medical/Surgical Central Supply Logistics’ LUM Stockless with Point of Use Closed Cabinets

Fellow

I have written this detailed paper as an example of a facility that has combined low unit of measure (LUM) and a full utilization of electronic data interchange (EDI) in a closed cabinet environment for the clinical end users. My role in this process has been to develop processes to monitor shrinkage, lost charges, as well as to utilize the closed cabinet process for both patient charging and reordering.  Read Paper

Medical Waste Improve Safety and Save Money

Leading Practice

There can be many improper uses for medical waste containers (red cans) and disposing of medical waste in many areas of a hospital. In patient rooms, visitors can place soda cans, pizza boxes, and more into our red cans. Medical staffs should help dispose of improper items in the red cans. To do so, staff should be educated on proper waste disposal and some processes should be changed.   Read Paper

Not Just Buyers - Enhancing the Stature of the Procurement Function in Your Organization

Fellow

This paper will discuss the benefits of working to elevate the skill level of the purchasing professional in the healthcare setting so that they may contribute to the management of expenses and the overall supply chain as well as positively impact the financial bottom line. The paper will explain why this is a necessary aspect of today’s materials environment, tools that can be used to achieve those goals, implementation of this methodology, and the continued refinement and communication of the process. Read Paper

Purchasing Ethics

Leading Practice

No one subject draws more inquiry, criticism, or attention than the purchasing ethics aspect of the materials function. Ethical practices are important; what we say and do travels far and wide, yet we give short shrift to the subject and offer little or no training to our front line staff. This paper offers a dialogue regarding practical ethics for the Materials Resource professionals. Read Paper

Rejuvenating the Supply Cart System

Fellow

Using Lock Haven Hospital as a case study, this article explores evaluating, redesigning, and implementing a more efficient par level supply cart system to meet the customer’s needs. Due to the changing of software, old procedures for replenishing supply carts was no longer functioning as efficiently as with the prior software. Using continuous quality improvement, the par level system was flowcharted, evaluated for ease of use, and the Location Pick List was realigned to match the supply cart. Read Paper

Leading Practice

SAP: Is it the Network Centric Logistics Solution for the Army Medical Department?

Fellow

This study identifies whether DMLSS or SAP is better suited to act as the transformation agent to align the Army Medical Department with the Single Army Logistics Enterprise. This was accomplished through the use of supporting reference material based upon the concepts, studies, and the principles of Army Transformation, Focused Logistics, Force Health Protection, Enterprise Resource Planning, intermediate level CLVIII supply support requirements, current medical logistics information systems, requisition and data flow, and communications requirements.  Read Paper

Streamlining Operations Through Establishment of Work Standards

Fellow

Reducing the cost of patient care is an issue that is at the forefront of concerns for all hospitals. The manufacturing industry often decreases the cost of production by reducing personnel and purchasing new equipment and supplies. This solution is not always feasible for hospitals due to the need for hands-on patient care and the potential end result of decreased quality of care. Instead, hospitals must maximize the use of their resources more efficiently.  Read Paper

Surgery Case Study for Procedure Based Charges: Instrumentation Used and Consumable Supply Costs

Fellow

Our goal was to review the largest number of Operating Room (O.R.) procedure charges with ICD-9 codes to determine the bulk of O.R. Revenue. This information was compiled in an effort to begin the process for establishing procedure-based charges for the most common O.R. procedures.   Read Paper

Leading Practice

The greatest expense in hospitals resides in the surgical services area and related departments. In order to meet the demands of the institution, the right products must be available. If not, the consequences could be rescheduled or cancelled surgeries. Processes are outlined for hospital staff to ensure the right items are available when necessary, as well as establish consistent processes, reduce inventory levels, implement inventory control measures, and more. Read Paper

Use of Vendor Supplied Information Technology and Contract Negotiation to Reduce Value of Inventory

Leading Practice

Implant costs are a major portion of a surgical service budget. Through vendor supplied technology, input from clinicians, and contract negotiation, implant inventory value can be reduced. Carolinas Medical Center sought methods of inventory reduction without compromising patient care or clinician satisfaction in the Surgical Services Department. After investigating many venues, the authors looked into one of the more costly elements of their supply mix − orthopedic trauma implants.  Read Paper

Value Analysis Approach to Supply Chain Management

Leading Practice

Value Analysis brings into perspective how or why we purchase products and services. While Materials Managers have always understood value analysis, the “consumer” did not. Through the interdisciplinary teams, St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was able to gain understanding and have aligned goals for achievement of cost savings, while maintaining or increasing quality.  Read Paper