Getting your master's degree in global sourcing
Market responsiveness and top level clinical customization complete the five step path to global sourcing integration for self-distributing hospitals and IDNs.
If you've made it all the way to step five on the path to a robust global sourcing program for your common, commoditized hospital products - congratulations! So far you have picked off your highest volume products, improved clinical utility in lock step with your clinical staff, unbundled yourself from distributor deals detrimental to your bottom line and increased your pool of opportunities including customized, branded products. You are also likely seeing 20-50% savings or greater on scores of items in the program representing millions of dollars saved every year. You will continue to see those savings year after year after year.
Now it's time to get your master's degree in global sourcing and wring out high value opportunities that were but a pipe dream before you launched your global sourcing program. The next level of opportunities afforded to you include improving the speed at which you can respond to shifts in the medical products industry, implementing top level clinical customization ideas, attacking higher levels of volume and more.
Market responsiveness and new products
In addition to their potential to limit hospital acquired infections, including the move to greener products, there is a growing interest in and demand for pulp-based products. Because you now have direct access to the world marketplace you can now source new items you, your clinicians and your patients demand, to your exact specifications, much more quickly in response to changing market demands.
Other examples include individual patient pill cutters which eliminate medication cross-contamination, custom color-coded specimen transport bags for lab and elimination of styrofoam food service products and extraneous packaging are all market shift opportunities global sourcing affords.
Next level customization
How would your clinicians enjoy surgical or procedure trays customized by department or type? Global sourcing has opened up another tier of value for you - products such as trays with multiple globally sourced components that fit the clinicians needs more closely and do not appear in distributors' standard offerings. Improvements in clinical utility and savings within the individual, globally sourced products themselves, along with the savings on markups from multiple item trays make the effort a value-based win made capable by your global sourcing and self-distribution program. A few examples from our partners' programs include customized lengths and widths of stockinette and Esmark bandages, as well as more detailed measurements on specific syringes.
Attack ALL of the volume
In another specific example, Banner Health's global sourcing program with ASP Global includes a non-sterile Esmark style bandage. A sterile version of the same product is also available from the factory. When you start looking at base categories, how many of those items wind up in a custom kit and on the shelf in the store room? You might be attacking the product, but only half of the volume. O.R. towels, bulb syringes, safety scalpels, lap sponges and drapes are all components of a kit that could be bought non-sterile then sterilized on your end.
Items going home with the patient
We addressed patient amenity kits in step 4, "Customization." But what about items that you send home with the patient? Blood pressure monitors, scales, pulse oximeters, pill cutters and others are prime candidates for inclusion in your global sourcing program if they aren't already there. Often part of "ongoing wellness" and marketing programs, these items can be customized and labeled with your hospital or IDNs brand. Piedmont Healthcare, is providing globally sourced scales for post-cardiac care patients with instructions to notify clinicians of weight gains beyond a specified range.
Do you have a home health arm?
If so, then you have two formularies and the home health formulary likely contains hundreds of products ripe for global sourcing just like your hospital's or IDN's. This same five step process for integrating global sourcing into your hospital or IDN self-distribution program applies to home health and hospice providing patient home delivery, improvements in utility, cost savings and productivity gains, particularly enabling nurses to spend more time on provision of care, not serving as pickup and delivery drivers.
About the author:
Lorne Tritt is Founder and CEO of ASP Global. With headquarters in Atlanta and operations in the Pacific Rim, ASP is a leader in global sourcing strategies and programs that enable IDNs, hospitals and large group practices to take advantage of lower costs and improved quality in hospital medical supplies available through direct sourcing, an efficient supply chain model and the global marketplace.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker's Hospital Review/Becker's Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.