Steps to Improve Supply Utilization With Clinicians

By Jeffrey F. Solarek, CMRP, FAHRMM

Consulting Director, Vizient Supply Chain Services

As a physician, nurse or clinician, your top priority is to provide the best care possible for your patients — and one way to ensure that happens is through the efficient use of medical supplies. By taking actions that are within your control, you can help your hospital with supply costs, waste reduction, and bolstering human and environmental health.

Utilization and education

The first step is to evaluate your current practices. Analyze the supplies used, how they are used and the frequency of usage. This will help you identify areas where supplies can be used more effectively. You'll also want to make sure that your clinical quality value analysis team's product analysis always includes utilization. Opportunity for improvement in utilization can exist due to under, over or improper use of a hospital's goods, equipment or services. Physicians also should track, monitor and analyze their usage of medical supplies, monitoring the consumption and waste of items that were unused.

It's also important that clinicians are trained and educated on how to reduce their usage of medical supplies without compromising the quality of care. This can be done through workshops, seminars and training sessions that focus on the importance of resource conservation, changed perception of medicine and cost-effective measures, and the impact of their choices on the environment. One action you can take is to standardize the supplies — for example, gloves, gowns and other personal protective equipment — used for a specific procedure rather than using different supplies based on individual preference. Standardization can help reduce waste and make inventory management easier.

Storage and handling

Proper storage and handling of supplies is also key to avoid waste. Ensure that supplies are stored according to their requirements, such as temperature or humidity control, to prevent them from becoming unusable. Regular audits for expired dates are also crucial to ensure supplies maintain their efficacy. Additionally, using a smaller size of a medical supply can reduce waste, like using a smaller dressing on a wound. Avoid overordering supplies to reduce waste and ensure they do not expire and become unusable.

Reuse, repurpose and reduce

Physicians should consider alternatives to traditional medical supplies when possible. For instance, reusable patient gowns, towels and devices can be utilized instead of disposable ones where it makes sense from a value analysis and infection control perspective. Some alternatives can potentially provide greater environmental value, financial savings and prevent wastage of resources. Materials that are still in good working condition should be kept for future use. Also, providers can request that suppliers reduce excessive packaging.

Efficient supply use can save on supply costs, which can be passed on to patients in the form of reduced medical bills —not to mention that reduced waste has a positive impact on the environment, as fewer resources are used to manufacture and dispose of supplies, leading to a more sustainable future.

Furthermore, effective supply chain management can also help hospitals respond better to emergencies and unexpected events. Having a well-managed inventory ensures the hospital is adequately stocked during a natural disaster or a pandemic.