Five Challenges in Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management is the most critical area of concern for hospitals. It is critical to the health and safety of patients and staff to have the right tools available to the right people at the right time. A recent survey published by Healthcare Finance News reported on the top five challenges of managing hospital supply chains:

1. Cost-savings goals: The first area to get budget cuts is the supply chain. While it is laudable to look at reducing waste and making use more efficient with better materials, make sure you are not cutting out the most crucial supplies by accident. The most reliable supply chain management software, Peoplesoft, delivers up-to-the-minute analytics on where to find the most savings.
2. Unjustified variation in care: Unwarranted variations in treatment protocol can add unneeded expense in the care of a patient. Common areas of variation include unneeded blood transfusions, over-utilization of blood products, blood that is brought to a patients room and never used. Another area of unjustified variation is in the overuse of antibiotics. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released research showing over-utilization in antibiotics – particularly, combinations of IV antibiotics – that add cost but don’t improve outcomes. And in some cases, increase risks of antibiotic resistance or other safety issues.”
3. Patient record integration: It is vital to be able to assess not only the course of a patients admission, treatment and recovery – but to also see what supplies were used and how effectively. This information can then be passed on to supply chain management to consolidate supply usage for the same patient or similar cases in the future.
4. Integrate supply chain management across the continuum of care: “As hospital consolidation continues and more physician practices and other facilities become part of larger health systems, creating consistency within the supply chain across the continuum of care will become increasingly influential to the bottom line.”
5. Drug shortages: The problem of drug shortages, especially in cardio-vascular medications, surgical drugs and IV fluids is extremely expensive for hospitals of every size. Drug shortages lead to spur-of-the-moment purchases, relying on more expensive vendors and astronomical shipping costs.

The same report concludes, “data can help identify areas where there may be opportunities for savings.” That is where our support services for PeopleSoft ERP Solutions come in to play. It is important to track the data and analytics that accurately reflect every area of potential cost-savings for your hospital. Contact us to start saving today!