Everyone understands just how crucial proper supply chain management is. In the healthcare industry, supply chain management is even more important than usual. Supplies need to be in stock for doctors to be able to save lives and you always have to have the right supplies in stock. The problem with this is that hospitals wind up overspending on their supply chains by large sums.
How Much Do Hospitals Overspend on Supply Chain Management?
Hospitals overspend on supply chain management by a lot of money. An average hospital will overspend by millions of dollars and the total amount that hospitals overspend per year is over 25 billion dollars. The reasons why hospitals overspend so much are varied as well. Part of it has to do with how crucial the supplies are and there are also issues with communication that need to be considered.
Many hospitals don’t have interoperability systems in place that allow them to talk to other departments or associated facilities. This can lead to miscommunication and more supplies will be ordered than are needed. Utilization issues account for a lot of the overspending that you’re seeing from hospitals. If hospitals can focus on utilizing the supplies that they have properly, then they can drive down costs without having to worry about running out of supplies before the next ordering cycle.
Standardization
Standardization is an idea that can help hospitals to save substantial sums of money each year. Many hospitals order various types of supplies from different manufacturers. This makes it tougher to get the best price since smaller numbers of supplies are being ordered from various sources. If a hospital can agree to order just one type of supply in a given category, then they could negotiate a much better price.
Better Data Analysis
Better data analysis could also make a difference when trying to improve supply chain management. Hospitals need to be able to analyze the data that they have to make better spending choices. It’s hard to recognize a problem when you aren’t sifting through the data to see where money is being spent. Many hospitals are looking into using advanced software and AI to help with these issues.