With the multitude of tasks required in supply chain management, defining processes that are efficient and cost effective is important to ensure that you act in the best interests of both your own organization and that of your customers. Since materials management and purchasing exist in all fields of business, best practices tend to be germane to all industries, but there are some that are more specific to given industries, including healthcare.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been a steady growth of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) across the country. The growth was predicated on the fact that many elective surgeries - and some less complicated procedures - cost less to perform in the ASC setting than in the acute-care setting. Well, COVID-19 escalated that growth.
As hospitals treated more and more COVID-19 cases, procedures and surgeries that could've been moved to ASCs were quickly moved. Now, with an influx of private equity money, the growth of ASCs is even more accelerated.
Working with a GPO allows hospitals to benefit from the buying power of combining hundreds of healthcare facilities. This is a well-known fact among buyers and purchasing managers as it relates to purchasing products from manufacturers.
However, knowledge of the role that a medical distributor can play in the procurement and delivery services provided through a GPO is far less common. A medical distributor can save you time and money by providing value added services focused on ordering efficiency and streamlining the delivery process.
Capital equipment can be thought of as costly equipment that can help generate income. What is most important is that the equipment should help the hospital deliver exceptional quality of patient care over an extended period of time.
It does not take much strength to do things,
but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do.
- Elbert Hubbard
When you’re about to begin planning a project to develop a primary care facility, you may divide that project into phases. One of those phases will likely be supplies and equipment provision/acquisition.
If you’re in charge of medical equipment procurement, you already know what the basic minimum equipment should include, so here’s a short – and by no means complete – basic list:
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Buying equipment is not easy. There needs to be extensive research, at times, to find the right product that meets the needs of the users, fits the space, and communicates with the healthcare facility’s EMR, if required. Once you find the right products, whether it is for replacement or a new construction project, you need a timely, comprehensive quote that includes total costs.
After the horror of dealing with coronavirus these past few years, hand hygiene has been magnified worldwide. Everyone learned how to wash their hands efficiently and to wash OFTEN.
Along with good hand hygiene, healthcare systems are looking to enhance their infection prevention programs. They realize good hand hygiene is not enough when it comes to airborne transmissible viruses. Healthcare facilities had already begun to add UV-C technology and other innovative ways to augment the fight against Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), but COVID-19 accelerated these efforts.
Your equipment planning will have a huge impact on the efficiency and efficacy of your medical examination rooms. You want to ensure you have everything you need at your fingertips to make seeing patients easier, and to also allow for quicker assessments in order to see as many patients as possible, while still providing optimal care.
COVID-19 has profoundly changed the point of care, challenging healthcare systems, practices, and providers to think differently about the healthcare experience and the delivery of care.
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