The impact of inventory on Nursing Home’ budgets makes efficient inventory management vital

A precise, easy-to-use inventory management system is a critical aspect of any nursing home, assisted living or other medical facility, as tracking the supply levels and use of even small items like masks, gloves, gauze and syringes is extremely important.  Whether it’s due to hoarding, theft, or simple inaccuracy, a faulty inventory tracking system can quickly derail a smooth operation and generate large waste, in both time and money.

Only recently has the industry begun grappling with the amount of waste it generates. Today, nursing home inventory costs vary from 25 to 32% of the total revenues. These include:

  • Ordering costs
  • Holding costs/ carrying costs
  • Expired items
  • Lost charges
  • Stock out costs
  • Specially purchased preferred items (slow and non-moving)
  • Non-returned credits from the wards
  • Mishandling of items in OR (Operating Room)
  • Consignment v/s owned inventory

To save costs and optimize inventory, nursing homes must:

  • Meet anticipated demand
  • Level process flows
  • Protect against stock outs
  • Take advantage of order cycles
  • Hedge against price increases & take advantage of quantity discounts

Many healthcare organizations have group-buying contracts with distributors and manufacturers allowing them to purchases goods at reduced prices. To make the most of these contracts, long-term healthcare facilities rely on effective inventory control systems .

When implementing a new inventory strategy, a healthcare organization must have a 360° view of all inventories in order to achieve:

  • 50% to 80% reduction of obsolete inventory
  • Optimum use of consignment stock
  • Complete inventory control (FEFO, planning)
  • Complete clarity of where a product is within the hospital
  • Fewer last-minute orders
  • Lower inventory levels.

A digital administrative process is also necessary to guarantee:

  • Faster product ordering process with fewer errors
  • Automatic ordering of replenishment products
  • Less time spent by supplier and hospital on product range and item management
  • Faster booking of incoming goods
  • More complete cost estimations with fewer errors (for reimbursement reasons)

inBeam Technologies offers a several solutions that support a wide variety of applications, including inventory management for Long-Term Healthcare industry. Specifically,  AdminiCare provides healthcare organizations with reliable and effective solutions that are easy to use, easy to integrate, handy and ergonomic.

Contact us for more info.