Why You Must Take Control of Your Supply Utilization Misalignments

Very few organizations are as hectic, complex, or as fast moving as a healthcare organization. This fact might not be a new observation to you, but have you considered all the ramifications of working in this kind of fast-paced environment?

Need to Do Everything Right the First Time, but…

What other job requires you to do everything right the first time, but with little time to do it? What other position is as multifaceted as a healthcare worker is? What other job requires absolute precision by many disciplines to ensure a successful outcome? We are all human, not superhuman. One new area that is escaping our sight is the hundreds of utilization misalignments totaling millions of dollars that are slipping through the cracks at any and all healthcare organizations.

Every Supply Chain Manager Wants to Be In Complete Control of Everything In Their Supply Chain….So Why Not Utilization Misalignments?

Well, you might be thinking to yourself that we must live with our utilization misalignments, since they are so hard to see with the naked eye – and how bad could they really be right? That would be the wrong answer, since utilization misalignments can and should be uncovered by measuring, managing, and controlling how your healthcare organization utilizes the products and services you are buying. This is why you must have utilization analytics and detailed benchmarks to make your utilization management job much easier.

There Has Never Been a Better Time to Go After Utilization Misalignments

Price savings are dwindling to single digits and standardization is 98% complete, yet your hospital, system, or IDN still needs double-digit savings from you just to keep afloat in this new healthcare environment we live and work in. Utilization savings can fill the gap with double-digit savings for many years to come, but you can’t just think that the savings will come to you without some changes in your supply chain strategies, tactics, and techniques. 

Three Steps to Gain Control Over Your Utilization Misalignments

First, as we have said, you will need to employ utilization analytics to identify these new kinds of savings. Next, you will need a value analysis team dedicated to rooting out these wasteful and inefficient practices. Lastly, you will need to generate the right data, with the right elements, with the right information to convince your department heads and managers to change their behavior. To do less would be an exercise in frustration.