Supply chain is the lifeblood of a healthcare organisation. As most departments depend heavily on supplies, materials management can ease or cramp a hospital’s operations. From a low cost needle to a high-end orthopaedic implant, micro steel instruments or pieces of linen, supplies are indispensable during a patient’s stay at the hospital. Quality care cannot be provided on time unless required material is available in adequate quantity. Materials management plays a crucial role in providing efficient healthcare by touching three vital aspects of medical supplies used in the hospital viz. availability, safety and affordability.

Timing: The most crucial aspect

The time factor is probably not as crucial in any other field as it is in healthcare delivery where delay of a few seconds can cost a life. Moreover, availability of a low cost catheter is as critical as a high value pace maker when it comes to medical care. Therefore, inventory managers have the huge responsibility of making thousands of diverse medical consumables available on time. The challenge is even greater as the number of expected patients are unpredictable; suppliers are unreliable and costs are rising. With recent developments in automation and information technology and emerging trends in the medical supplies industry, materials managers are now better equipped to handle time constraints.

An effective Materials Management Information System (MMIS) provides features such as re-order levels that can help in automatic replenishment of items. Once the orders are placed, delivery schedules can be closely monitored with the help of an on-line tracking system. Continuous follow-up instils a sense of discipline in vendors and makes them adhere to the timelines specified in the purchase order. Purchasing and receiving details can be used for allotting and updating vendor ratings. Regular defaulters can be dropped from the ‘approved vendors’ list thus improving the reliability quotient of suppliers.

Minimum levels can be set up to safeguard against stock outages. Access to online inventory helps in confirming the availability of an item for a scheduled procedure. Emergencies can be managed more effectively by moving excess supplies to areas where there is a spike in demand.

Innovative inventory supply models like consignment and rental contracts have eased the pressure of making critical supplies available on time. Life-saving products like defibrillators, drug eluting stents and heart valves are available at hospitals at zero investment. The responsibility for replenishing the stock lies on the vendor. In addition, the patient benefits from the latest technological innovations without the hospital having to carry the fear of obsolescence.

RFID technology, which is rapidly replacing barcoding, is another effective way of tracking expensive medical devices and improving availability. Use of Point-of-Service (POS) readers for capturing usage improves the accuracy of billing and clinical documentation. Access to real-time information helps in improving service levels, maintain optimal inventory and saving cost.

Patient safety - The first priority

The safety of patient is the top priority in healthcare, and materials managers play a crucial role in protecting his / her interest. The biggest responsibility of a materials manager is to ensure that the products purchased for clinical use are of good quality. It can be achieved by developing a ‘product evaluation’ system consisting of well-defined parameters to guarantee that only approved products enter a hospital’s stockroom.

Despite cost being an important criterion in assessing new products, safety and clinical efficacy concerns are prioritised. Physicians should be consulted to help determine if a new product is performing and producing desired clinical impact. Another effective way of determining the safety of a product is to check for CE mark or FDA approval. The vendor’s access needs to be restricted and back door sales discouraged to ensure that only properly reviewed products are brought into the facility.

Materials managers need to take initiative in organising hands-on training for caregivers to ensure safe use of complex and critical equipment like laparoscopic graspers, staplers and arterial filters. Absence of proper training can result in patient injury leading to serious medico-legal issues. Training programmess conducted by experts can be held either in-house or at specially designed state-of-the-art institutes equipped with ergonomically designed simulation labs and conference halls with telesurgery facilities. In many instances, clinical outcome improves with the use of advanced techniques and hence regular training should be encouraged.

Materials managers also need to ensure that stocked products are well within the expiry period. Any good MMIS can provide list of items expiring within a given date range. Items that cannot be utilised in their current location before the stipulated expiration date can either be moved to high consumption areas or returned to the supplier. Most of the vendors are willing to take the products back if informed a few months prior to the expiry date. Rotating short expiry products helps ensure patient’s safety.

Appropriate storage is another critical aspect that affects the efficacy of medical supplies and the quality of treatment. Medical supplies are temperature sensitive, so it is imperative to store them cautiously at all points of the distribution chain wherein, any slackness may lead to serious safety concerns. Sutures can break off resulting in post-surgical complications and  laboratory reagents can give misleading results for a critical diagnostic test, if not stored at proper temperature.

Another crucial patient safety aspect in which the materials manager plays an important role is in handling incidences of product recall. A small delay in responding to a recall alert can put a patient’s life at risk, besides creating a legal liability. The rate of product recall is growing rapidly as new technologies are emerging. An ICD can have a low voltage capacitor and an IABP balloon a defective tubing. Recall notices specify a unique lot number or a serial number of the affected product. With latest software developments it is now possible to track a specific lot number held anywhere in the stock. Such supplies or devices have to be removed immediately from inventory and quarantined to close out the alert. In cases where devices have to be retrofitted with corrective parts, the affected product can be supplied again after taking corrective action. Since most of the hospitals carry significant inventory of medical devices, an efficient recall management program is absolutely essential to protect patient’s interest.

Cost - An important variable

There is tremendous pressure on materials mangers to initiate serious cost cutting measures. While the cost of medical supplies has been spiraling up, greater number of patients are demanding high quality and reasonably priced healthcare services. Since cost of supplies forms a significant portion of healthcare expense, materials mangers should continuously strive to get better deals. Economical prices help ensure affordable medical care for vast majority. The healthcare organisation in turn reaps the benefit of better revenue realisation stemming from increased number of patients.

While the prices available to an organisation are influenced by the purchasing volumes, negotiation skills of the purchasing personnel also play an important role. Knowledge of competitive products, awareness of current market trends and capability to use the database for price/volume information helps tremendously in the bargaining process. Other sources for product related information, including regulatory issues are product fairs and conferences, internet articles and periodicals.

Collaborative relationships with clinicians and networking with other hospitals and vendors can help in keeping abreast with latest products and upcoming technological trends. Such close and continuous interaction also gives important cues about non-performing products. Instituting an efficient system for payables is effective in getting rebates and discounts, which can be passed on to the patient.

The medical supplies industry is flooded with innovative products and services. Materials managers should continuously scout for competitive alternative product / techniques that can give better outcome. While cost is an important criterion, quality of the product needs to be the primary concern to ensure that patient care is not compromised.

Conclusion

A good inventory management programme is always patient-centred. While inventory is concerned with monetary issues, hospitals are in the business of serving patients. Although technology has an important role to play, the emphasis should be on using it in a way that makes a difference to the quality of patient care. Automating inefficient processes may not yield any productive result. Processes should be reengineered to make them more patient-friendly. Cost-effectiveness, time consciousness and safety are key drivers of a patient-centered approach. Once this goal is clear, technology can support and drive the efforts towards realizing efficiencies and improving the quality of health care services.