How Surgeons Reduce Costs Through Healthcare Supply Chain Management

Sticking To A Tight Healthcare Budget

Most small hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) must stick to tight budgets. To that end, executives and leaders are continually looking for ways to reduce costs while still offering high-quality care. In healthcare, supply chain management has become a recent buzzword. For many institutions, the supply chain is an area that can generate savings without reducing effectiveness.

How do surgeons fit in?

Operating rooms (OR) are some of the most expensive parts of the hospital. Managing the supply chain well not only leads to cost savings, but better management can also reduce stress on surgeons and staff. Many nurses report that keeping track of inventory for the OR is among the most time-consuming and complicated tasks. Optimizing inventory management in surgery is one of the best places to start.

Reduce delays and cancellations

Not having the right supplies in the OR can have dire consequences. In one survey, up to 75% of surgeons and nurses could recall a time when a surgeon didn’t have the right equipment available during a procedure. Besides patient safety concerns, being improperly equipped can have severe financial repercussions. For example, hospitals or ASCs may have to reschedule or cancel surgeries due to not having the correct equipment on hand. The result is an empty OR and significant loss of revenue.

Optimize the system

As much as possible, automating inventory management can be a significant time-saver and stress-reducer. Automating vendor notifications and supply intake adds up to high cost of labor savings for clinicians and nurses. Additionally, optimizing these processes frees up more time for surgeons to focus on patient care.

Go digital

Many organizations still use manual Excel spreadsheets or other cumbersome methods for supply chain management. Not only do these manual processes take significantly more time, but there is also a much larger margin of error. Hospitals and ASCs can benefit from moving to a digital inventory system. Some digital solutions will also offer the ability to send automated messages to vendors when specific supplies are low. Rather than spending extra time tracking inventory, staff can instead perform simple audits, saving significant time and money.

The right place to start

In the face of rising healthcare costs, small organizations must find ways to optimize the budget. Streamlining supply chain management is the right place to start. Not only can the right supply chain management system lead to cost savings, but the right strategy can also increase patient safety and improve staff morale. Learn more about improving supply chain management today.