Ambulatory surgery centers should be making every effort to save as many dollars as possible, and proper and efficient materials management will be one of the keys to achieving future prosperity. Still, mistakes occur rather frequently, and ASCs must be guarded against becoming victim one of those common pitfalls. Here are 5 common mistakes ASCs make and what ASCs should do to avoid making this.
1. Not setting aside the time or commitment. Compared to hospitals, ASCs are usually staffed by a much smaller group of physicians and staff members. Because of this, physicians and staff members generally wear many different hats, which can lead to materials management responsibilities falling by the wayside.
"Oftentimes, ASCs assign the materials management responsibilities to an OR tech who also has other responsibilities," says Ron Cousino, director of client relations at Experior Healthcare Systems, a healthcare IT solutions company. "If they need an OR tech on a case, [this person's] other responsibilities are put on hold."
There are a number of solutions to avoid this mistake, but it all comes down to maintaining a clear focus on the importance of materials management and, if possible, coordinating a team of personnel resources. "If you don't have a plan and the proper responsibilities assigned, ASCs are constantly chasing their tail," Mr. Cousino says.
2. Not working enough with vendors. Mr. Cousino says another mistake ASCs often make is not working with vendors more to collect the necessary information for efficient materials management. Mr. Cousino says although suppliers may sometimes provide ASCs with some type of tool to assist in the materials management process, it is typically pricing, packaging and purchase history. This may not correctly provide accurate utilization by the center based on their case volume.
If vendors are unable to help supply or track these important data sets, ASCs must be extra diligent in researching and tracking product utilization and inventory levels. Mr. Cousino says healthcare IT has also become very sophisticated in the area of materials management. Certain applications and systems can be set up to actually alert a healthcare facility if it is running too low on inventory for a specific product.
3. Misunderstanding proper scanning solutions. Many centers hold a common misconception about scanning solutions. Although such IT applications can dramatically help streamline materials management processes, ASCs often don't realize that many suppliers work with different sets of bar codes and scans. For example, even though an ASC may implement a scanning solution from a particular medical supply vendor, that solution typically operates on the vendor's unique set of bar codes. As a result, the supplies the ASC purchases from other vendors don't share the same bar coding system.
"ASCs often think barcode scans, such as multidimensional codes, will cover everything. To utilize an effective scanning solution the ASC must assign their own unique bar codes to all the items in their inventory," Mr. Cousino says.
4. Overlooking the need to forecast supply needs. Although forecasting supply needs may seem like a difficult feat, it doesn't have to be and should be done on an ongoing basis. ASCs often fail to forecast what product inventories are low, which can lead to patient safety risks because of low numbers of surgical supplies. Mr. Cousino says the first step toward forecasting inventories is to know your ASC's inventory patterns very intimately. The ASC software should provide the ability to forecast supply needs based on cases that are scheduled.
"Setting up inventory is based on historical data, such as product utilization," he says. "Once that is set up, ASCs can go forward with establishing re-order points so when inventories start getting low, there is a blip on the radar and they know to reorder new supplies."
Mr. Cousino says the health IT market today allows ASCs to automate this process so ASCs do not have use precious time and manpower to follow it so rigorously.
5. Disorganization in tracking ASC products. Certain ASC procedures require a combination of different surgical products. For example, in ophthalmology, an intraocular lens procedure requires one item — just the implant itself. On the other hand, some orthopedic procedures, such as knee replacements, require many items such as plates and screws that can come in a variety of types and sizes. Mr. Cousino says this can be a challenge for materials management due to its labor-intensive nature. Tracking products can also be difficult because not every item is supplied with its own serial number or bar code, which is important for ease of tracking. Radio frequency identification systems may provide the solution, although the cost of implementation and slow adoption by manufacturers don't make this a viable option in the near future," Mr. Cousino says.
In order to avoid the pitfall of losing items, ASCs must maintain a high level of organization and meticulously track and log products as they are bought and used. "[Health IT] has also allowed ASCs to associate a wide variety of surgical instruments and items to one specialty," he says. "For example, let's say a specialty at an ASC was retired. Current systems allow those facilities to go back and find all the products pertaining to that specialty with ease [to avoid completely wasting those unusable products."
Learn more about Experior Healthcare Systems.
1. Not setting aside the time or commitment. Compared to hospitals, ASCs are usually staffed by a much smaller group of physicians and staff members. Because of this, physicians and staff members generally wear many different hats, which can lead to materials management responsibilities falling by the wayside.
"Oftentimes, ASCs assign the materials management responsibilities to an OR tech who also has other responsibilities," says Ron Cousino, director of client relations at Experior Healthcare Systems, a healthcare IT solutions company. "If they need an OR tech on a case, [this person's] other responsibilities are put on hold."
There are a number of solutions to avoid this mistake, but it all comes down to maintaining a clear focus on the importance of materials management and, if possible, coordinating a team of personnel resources. "If you don't have a plan and the proper responsibilities assigned, ASCs are constantly chasing their tail," Mr. Cousino says.
2. Not working enough with vendors. Mr. Cousino says another mistake ASCs often make is not working with vendors more to collect the necessary information for efficient materials management. Mr. Cousino says although suppliers may sometimes provide ASCs with some type of tool to assist in the materials management process, it is typically pricing, packaging and purchase history. This may not correctly provide accurate utilization by the center based on their case volume.
If vendors are unable to help supply or track these important data sets, ASCs must be extra diligent in researching and tracking product utilization and inventory levels. Mr. Cousino says healthcare IT has also become very sophisticated in the area of materials management. Certain applications and systems can be set up to actually alert a healthcare facility if it is running too low on inventory for a specific product.
3. Misunderstanding proper scanning solutions. Many centers hold a common misconception about scanning solutions. Although such IT applications can dramatically help streamline materials management processes, ASCs often don't realize that many suppliers work with different sets of bar codes and scans. For example, even though an ASC may implement a scanning solution from a particular medical supply vendor, that solution typically operates on the vendor's unique set of bar codes. As a result, the supplies the ASC purchases from other vendors don't share the same bar coding system.
"ASCs often think barcode scans, such as multidimensional codes, will cover everything. To utilize an effective scanning solution the ASC must assign their own unique bar codes to all the items in their inventory," Mr. Cousino says.
4. Overlooking the need to forecast supply needs. Although forecasting supply needs may seem like a difficult feat, it doesn't have to be and should be done on an ongoing basis. ASCs often fail to forecast what product inventories are low, which can lead to patient safety risks because of low numbers of surgical supplies. Mr. Cousino says the first step toward forecasting inventories is to know your ASC's inventory patterns very intimately. The ASC software should provide the ability to forecast supply needs based on cases that are scheduled.
"Setting up inventory is based on historical data, such as product utilization," he says. "Once that is set up, ASCs can go forward with establishing re-order points so when inventories start getting low, there is a blip on the radar and they know to reorder new supplies."
Mr. Cousino says the health IT market today allows ASCs to automate this process so ASCs do not have use precious time and manpower to follow it so rigorously.
5. Disorganization in tracking ASC products. Certain ASC procedures require a combination of different surgical products. For example, in ophthalmology, an intraocular lens procedure requires one item — just the implant itself. On the other hand, some orthopedic procedures, such as knee replacements, require many items such as plates and screws that can come in a variety of types and sizes. Mr. Cousino says this can be a challenge for materials management due to its labor-intensive nature. Tracking products can also be difficult because not every item is supplied with its own serial number or bar code, which is important for ease of tracking. Radio frequency identification systems may provide the solution, although the cost of implementation and slow adoption by manufacturers don't make this a viable option in the near future," Mr. Cousino says.
In order to avoid the pitfall of losing items, ASCs must maintain a high level of organization and meticulously track and log products as they are bought and used. "[Health IT] has also allowed ASCs to associate a wide variety of surgical instruments and items to one specialty," he says. "For example, let's say a specialty at an ASC was retired. Current systems allow those facilities to go back and find all the products pertaining to that specialty with ease [to avoid completely wasting those unusable products."
Learn more about Experior Healthcare Systems.