Practice Management News

Hospital Leaders, Providers Stress Over Supply Chain Management

Two out of three hospital leaders say missing supplies, manual processes, and other supply chain management issues frustrate clinical staff, a survey shows.

Supply chain management

Source: Thinkstock

By Jacqueline LaPointe

- Supply chain management tasks are taking clinicians more than twice the amount of time to do, creating stress for both supply chain managers and providers, the fourth annual Cardinal Health Hospital Supply Chain Survey reveals.

Twenty-five percent of individuals managing supply chains and 20 percent of clinicians say that supply chain management tasks “stress them out,” the survey fielded by SERMO shows. Two out of three supply chain decision makers and clinicians have also observed clinical staff frustration caused by supply chain management tasks.

Clinical staff frustration with supply chain management tasks stem from missing supplies, manual tasks, and utilization of supplies, the survey shows. Cardinal Health finds:

  • 74 percent of frontline providers report looking for supplies that should be at hand has the most negative impact on their workplace productivity, and 84 percent of supply chain managers say the same
  • 49 percent of frontline providers say they manually count and track supplies, and almost half (46 percent) state the manual process has a “very” or “somewhat” negative affect on their workforce productivity
  • 70 percent of supply chain managers and clinicians cite wasting and overutilization of supplies as a significant or somewhat significant problem

Supply chain management tasks are negatively impacting workplace productivity according to supply chain decision makers and clinicians. But missing supplies, manual processes, and overutilization is also a problem for patient care, warns Lori Walker, vice president of distribution services at Cardinal Health.

“The burden on clinicians of non-value-added supply chain tasks creates a host of other issues in healthcare organizations. Most critically, it pulls clinical focus away from patients and adds to existing stress on the staff when retention and satisfaction is already a concern,” she says in the press release. “Unfortunately, many doctors and nurses feel that solving these problems is outside of their span of control, which further affects job satisfaction.”

Clinicians and supply chain managers believe their supply distributors should take more responsibility for organizational success with supply chain management, the survey shows. Respondents are expecting their medical and surgical distributors to “play a bigger role” in ensuring their supply chain run smoothly, and 88 percent report that the capability is “very” or “somewhat” important.

The majority of respondents (85 percent) also prefer to work with a distributor that makes recommendations for their organizations that will advance patient-centered care.

Hospital supply chain leaders and clinicians are expecting more from distributors, but the companies are not living up to expectations, according to a recent UPS survey. One-third of hospitals are not satisfied with their primary supplier, reveals the UPS Healthcare Supply Chain Vital Signs survey released in March 2019.

“Hospitals want customer service and post-sales support. But in many cases, suppliers are more focused on selling new products, rather than offering support on prior products,” says Mark Quinlan, director of healthcare logistics strategy at UPS.

Hospital supply distributors should offer 24-hour customer service to better meet customer expectations, Quinlan advises.

“Too often, there is medical equipment with some type of malfunction, and it may take too long for the hospital to understand who to contact. In some cases, there may not be a 24-hour support line available to get the equipment back online and serving patients,” he states.

Training is another service distributors should provide. Thirty-eight percent of surveyed hospitals said that additional training from suppliers is their top desired form of support, and 23 percent would switch suppliers if their distributors failed to provide additional training.

To improve the hospital-distributor relationship, Quinlan also recommends that suppliers increase transparency to reduce product shortages, provide equipment maintenance and repair services, and help hospitals understand new medical device and supply requirements and regulations.

Hospitals should be asking their medical supply distributors to meet their expectations. Industry leaders and policymakers are pressuring hospitals to not only reduce costs, but also improve outcomes and efficiency. Supply chain management is an integral part of cutting costs and advancing care quality, meaning all stakeholders need to be on board to streamline and optimize supply chain processes for healthcare success.