Decisions made in an ASC's supply chain influence performance metrics across the surgical center, from patient care to finances.
"You can't provide safe patient care without an efficient supply chain," Marvella Thomas, senior consultant of clinical operations of ASC national accounts at Cardinal Health, said during a panel discussion at Becker's ASC 23rd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs in Chicago Oct. 27.
Below are five best practices to improve supply chain operations, according to conference panelists.
1. Update preference cards religiously. Stephanie Martin, RN, senior director of operations at Regent Surgical Health, stressed the importance of maintaining preference card accuracy to drive efficient materials management. Properly updated physician preference cards afford ASC administrators increased visibility into purchasing, spend and utilization habits, helping managers identify opportunities for SKU standardization and process improvement. "It's a grueling process that must be done on a regular basis if you want to get any insight from your data," Ms. Martin said.
2. Have a dedicated materials manager on staff. Individuals with backgrounds in inventory, purchasing processes and logistics make for valuable administrators in ASC facilities. Nurses and clinicians employed by ASCs that don't have materials management often take on supply chain tasks out of necessity. Their lack of formal training in product management, however, can lead to process inefficiencies, which ultimately hurts the ASC's bottom line. "It is so important supplies are managed on a detailed basis by someone with experience in supply chain operations," Ms. Martin said.
3. Embrace technology. IT systems and technology can make fundamental supply chain processes, like case costing and preference card upkeep, significantly more manageable. But the ASC industry as a whole has been slow to adopt IT products. "Some centers still use paper preference cards! You can't get actionable data from that," Ms. Thomas said. Still, Ms. Thomas said technology also presents its own set of challenges. ASCs often lack the resources and personnel to fully and effectively implement vendor products, meaning ASCs are not getting their money's worth from the investment. Moreover, expensive technology layered over broken or inefficient manual processes won't produce optimum results. "No IT system is perfect. Technology is only as good as the people operating it," said Ms. Thomas.
4. Foster staff buy-in. Getting all levels of staff to support new initiatives is key to ensuring meaningful, long-lasting process change. Ms. Thomas recommends ASC administrators describe the need for process change in terms of what motivates workers individually. For example, employees who are ambitious and eager for recognition should be appointed leaders of change initiatives.
5. Walk your supply chain. "If you can't see it, you can't fix it," Ms. Thomas said. Materials managers who physically and consistently check storage locations and walk the supply chain improve their opportunity to identify and address issues before they escalate.