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People— not just products As much as healthcare systems are talking about resiliency, they’ re also talking staffing shortages— not just nurses and other clinical staff but also the people they rely on to manage supplies and provide support services throughout the hospital. These healthcare systems are struggling to retain their top performers because they can’ t offer these employees the opportunity to grow and advance.
It’ s a different category and classification that’ s typically outside a healthcare system’ s core mission. As CSCs continue to evolve, however, Medline is looking
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to help address this challenge by creating a job classification for service center employees and hospital supply chain workers that offers them a career path as part of a larger organization.
The vision— creating a singular supply source Since 2018— before anyone heard of COVID-19— Medline has invested $ 2 billion in its infrastructure to bolster the resiliency of the healthcare supply chain, all in an effort and commitment to continuously empower providers with the resources needed to deliver optimal care.
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CSCs are one way to do just that, by allowing healthcare systems to improve:
• Efficiency. Healthcare systems are looking to reduce their reliance on labor. Support services like materials management, IT, environmental services and others all involve costs not just for labor but also valuable hospital square footage. A service center can house these kinds of services and aggregate their costs.
• Simplicity. A multitude of disparate suppliers and processes are involved to fill a
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supply order for any given med-surg unit. There can be distractions and, once again, too much labor is involved. The more a healthcare system can force supply chain operations through a single source, the more efficient the enduser supply chain becomes.
• Economics. Beyond dedicated warehouse space, CSCs process low-unit-measure deliveries to healthcare system facilities for regularly distributed items and manufacturer-direct items and provide in-house complementary services such as IT, clinical engineering, and equipment repair. Health systems typically can’ t justify these kinds of costs.
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In sum, healthcare system leaders increasingly are recognizing the value of relying on CSCs to protect their inventory from disruptions and supply variables they cannot easily control on their own. Think of it as the insurance policy you hope you’ ll never have to use. |
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References 1 Schneller, E.( 2016, November 15). Health Management Policy and Innovation. https:// hmpi. org / 2016 / 11 / 15 / consolidated-services-centers-can-improve-the-health-care-supply-chain / 2 Turner, C.( n. d.). Top 10 reasons why you need a healthcare consolidated service center. Tecsys. https:// www. supplychainbrain. com / ext / resources / 0-whitepapers / Tecsys / Top-10-Reasons-Why-You-Need-a- Healthcare-CSC-Tecsys-ebook-ibm. pdf |