Technology and Innovation |
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“ The UCHealth team has a very in-depth auto substitution list,” says Dixon.“ While some customers may only put one or two items on a list, they go about nine deep on some items.”
Medline data shows that customers who use the AutoSub solution have seen a 3 % improvement in unadjusted fill rates. The sheer size of UCHealth’ s system means they order roughly 190,000 product lines a month. At UCHealth alone, AutoSub has automatically filled more than 9,000 order lines year-to-date, preventing more than 1,200 lines per month from being backordered. This has ensured timely delivery of clinically approved substitute products, quietly maintaining service continuity for over 230 critical SKUs that would have otherwise caused disruption in patient care.
AutoSub is Medline’ s proprietary technology solution. Medline works with a health
“ The work we do ensures that when the clinician reaches into the bin, they have the product they need, and they give the patient and their family the best experience. Having that trust in the healthcare you’ re receiving is so important.”
— Melissa Rivera, UCHealth inventory manager
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system’ s IT team to make sure both sides’ ERP( enterprise resource planning) systems are communicating with one another by standardizing EDI( electronic data interchange) transactions, allowing for the automatic substitution of approved items. By proactively filling gaps in supply, AutoSub helps ensure uninterrupted patient care, even when primary products are unavailable.
“ I work with them in the Mpower Foundations tool, and we’ ll run all of our severe- or high-risk items, and I’ ll recommend an AutoSub if they don’ t already have it,” says Stephanie Selby, Medline’ s prime vendor analyst who works with UCHealth.“ I can also check the health of auto substitutions companywide and see what other customers are using. Then, they can take it to their value-analysis
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team to make sure it’ s a good fit for clinicians.”
Berg noted that having Auto- Sub saves time that would have been spent searching for a substitution. AutoSub helps clinicians, as well.“ Everybody knows from the little card that comes with it that this item is subbing for that item, and needs to go into this bin,” says Berg.“ So, it takes a lot of time off of the end user.”
Communication, not just data While the real-time visibility of data in Mpower Foundations allows Medline and UCHealth to make quick decisions together, that’ s only the beginning of the communication the platform allows. The portal also tracks task management, where Selby can highlight what items don’ t have a substitute, or any
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other flags for Berg, who can then take them to internal partners spread throughtout the UCHealth system.
“ If an item isn’ t on AutoSub yet, they send it out with options,” says Berg.“ And that allows me to see where it’ s used and in what facilities. Then I can share that information with the team, so I’ m not making a decision for a facility that I’ m not over.”
The combination of tech, talent and tenacity has ensured quality patient care without second guessing the availability of medical supplies.
“ The work we do ensures that when the clinician reaches into the bin, they have the product they need, and they give the patient and their family the best experience,” says Rivera.“ Having that trust in the healthcare you’ re receiving is so important.”
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