Blog - Mobile Aspects

Leveraging Supply Chain Leadership to Build Organizational Advantages 2) Leveraging Technology

July 31, 2010Suneil Mandava Hospital Finance Hospital IT Supply Chain The Business of Surgery

One thing is abundantly clear after reviewing AHRMM’s recent roundtable comprised of healthcare supply chain thought leaders. Investment in new technologies will greatly improve efficiency within the healthcare supply chain empowering it to drive out waste and inefficiencies which plague many organizations today.

Simply saying new technologies will eliminate waste is simply a broad starting point. The real value is derived from these technologies being heavily specialized for the environment they will be deployed in. Taking a quick look at Table 1, we can see that 40% of a hospital’s supply chain expenses are derived from three departments – cardiology, radiology and surgery. This statistic shows the disproportionate value of the supplies that are used in these departments, often ranging from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands for an individual item.

We have previously spoken on the Value vs. Volume inventory management strategy being adopted throughout the industry. This approach plan really comes together once we have technologies to support these strategies. New systems within healthcare should now be able to do more than store or track items.

Here are three features that modern dynamic inventory management systems should include:

The ability to securely store a variety of supplies and devices.
Real time tracking of supply expiration dates, locations, product and lot numbers.
Automated and optimized re-ordering with direct communication to enterprise MMIS

In short, when looking to implement a new system it needs to protect the product, gather accurate data on the utilization of the product, and lastly be able convert the data into meaningful information to allow end users to create value. We highly encourage you to check out this white paper which details the benefits of a connected and automated supply chain. Additionally, here is a case study showing how New York Presbyterian was able to reduce on hand inventory by $230,000 upon implementation of Mobile Aspects iRISupply system.

What a Shoe Salesman (and a Cabinet Maker) Can Teach Us About Customer Service

July 28, 2010Suneil Mandava Hospital Management The Business of Surgery

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, wrote a terrific article in the August, 2010 Harvard Business Review. He recognized that he and his company have one product: customer service. They don’t make a widget, they just resell someone else’s widgets. But his company goes the extra mile in everything they do in customer service and have set the standard. They allow people to return shoes up to 365 days after receipt, they have no call trees, they truly believe that Customer Service is an extension of marketing and not a ‘cost they must pare’ to the Company.

At Mobile Aspects, since Day 1, we have had the same philosophy: Customer service is a differentiator and is 1.a in priority (right next to having an incredibly easy to use, reliable product). But every member of our team, top to bottom is incredibly focused on customer service. When you call our 800 number with a question, you dont get a call tree; you will reach one of our Client Service team in Pittsburgh. These aren’t just call center people, but in fact, great people who have serviced and worked with the product in the field and continue to do so today.

Customer service is not just about taking a call and filing it. It is about the relationship with the customer. Our customers know most of our employees by name, know their cell phone numbers and know their home phone numbers (as Tony Hsieh says, ‘the telephone is one of the best branding devices.’). They know us and our families and we know our customers by heart and their families. I can’t tell you how many times customers call us just to talk. We love to ‘just talk’!

Sometimes when you call, you will reach our CTO, our VP of Engineering, or many other people outside of core Customer Service. Yours truly, and also the CFO and all management go out into into the field weekly and discuss and talk with customers to get their feedback. No one, and I mean, NO ONE has a desk job at our company. Truly at Mobile Aspects, we believe customer service is EVERYONE’s responsibility, and you see that from the incredible dedication of our people. When an issue happens in the field, you will not see a team of people react faster and work harder to solve that customer’s problems.

It’s starts with the culture in the company set by our great employees. But it also continues into our HR practices. We look for only those people that have shown us strong evidence they will do whatever it takes for our customers, roll up their sleeves, and do anything we can to make them happy. Everyone in our company knows how important a happy customer is. We’re not perfect (we’re just human beings!), but we make up for any imperfections with passion.

Though we make a widget, we also understand every business is in the hospitality business. It makes the customer feel comfortable about the company and the product. Our customers know if they call us with an issue, we’ll jump to solve it. And if we can’t solve it remotely, we’ll be in a car or on a plane the next day to solve it in person. Customer service is not just for hotels, it’s also vital to the business of a Shoe Salesman and Cabinet Maker.

Leveraging Supply Chain Leadership to Build Organizational Advantages: 1) Data Standardization

July 27, 2010Bryan Christianson Big Data Hospital Finance Supply Chain The Business of Surgery

Although many may perceive healthcare to be delivered at a local level, healthcare is by nature a global sector. Specific to supply chain management, the requisition and delivery of goods is often crossing borders and inventories are being filled with any number of products from different manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors. Aside from the external complexities of coordinating the supply chain, this same complexity can be seen within a healthcare organization. All of these different products with different labels and characteristics are being delivered into hospitals and then distributed into different care settings. From oncology to pharmacy to perioperative care; the different care settings all have unique requirements and needs.

Many organizations have looked towards technology to help create solutions to help solve supply chain complexities and realize improved efficiency and care coordination. While many advantages have been promised and delivered through the use of technology, continued constraints are present to due a key issue – a lack of standardization. We can understand why standardization was identified as an action initiative the supply chain leaders that participated in the AHRMM roundtable. Mobile Aspects shared our thoughts on the issue of standardization in a prior blog posting that can be found here.

The point being there needs to be standardization of data across multiple levels in the industry from device manufacturers and GPO’s all the way down to the individual departments and materials managers within a hospital. As this inter-connectivity between the supply chain in healthcare occurs it will become easier to improve the intra-connectivity between individual departments within an organization with supply chain becoming the nexus for communications and operational logistics.

Leveraging Supply Chain Leadership to Build Organizational Advantages

July 22, 2010Bryan Christianson Hospital Finance Supply Chain The Business of Surgery

Recently, The Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM) of the American Hospital Association (AHA) held a round table discussion comprised of Healthcare Supply Chain thought leaders. The Round table was convened as a means of engaging supply chain leaders in discussions that would generate concepts and ideas for advancing the industry in the face of today’s challenging environment. Two major themes emerged from the conference 1) The increased need and urgency for hospital organizations to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness, and 2) the need to drive out costs through supply chain management.

Working from these two themes, the panelists were able to identify the following action initiatives which were deemed most critical to resolving the issues of excess cost and operational inefficiency.

Data Standardization
Leveraging Technology
Value Analysis
Clinical Expertise
Knowledge about supplier practices

The next few posts in this blog will expand on these action initiatives and are aimed at helping today’s managers dealing with inventory and supply chain management be more effective. As a company founded on innovation, Mobile Aspect’s solutions were designed to create a simple, automated workflow for end users that eradicates the waste and inefficiencies created by manual workflows and poor data capture.

Assessing the Adoption of RFID Technology by Healthcare Providers

July 10, 2010Bryan Christianson Cath Lab Hospital IT Operating Rooms Radiology The Business of Surgery

Recently HIMSS released the results of a survey of healthcare professionals around the use of RFID technology within healthcare. In reviewing the highlights of the survey, some interesting observations emerge:

1. Application of RFID technology towards patient safety and quality is of higher need and priority. Nearly one-third of respondents believe that widespread use of RFID applications will benefit healthcare organizations in the area of patient safety. A slightly lower percentage (25%) believes that widespread use of RFID will be of value in the area of asset and equipment tracking. Further substantiation of the priority placed on patient care and safety was found when more than one-third of respondents indicated that the ability to impact patient safety and/or reduce medical errors is the most critical influencer for the use of RFID applications in healthcare organizations. Another 20 percent noted that the most critical influencer would be inventory management/asset control.

2.Current adoption of RFID technology doesn’t align with care giver priorities. Nearly 40 percent of respondents working for a healthcare organization reported that they use RFID in the area of asset/biomedical equipment tracking. Another quarter reported using RFID for inventory management. If the priority is patient safety/quality but the adoption to date is focused on asset tracking and inventory management, then rapid adoption will be at a lessened rate until there is alignment with key issues the organization is seeking to address (safety/quality).

3. Financial resources are still constraining adoption. The biggest barrier to implementing RFID technology in healthcare organizations is finding the budget for this technology. This was identified by nearly 40 percent of respondents. Another quarter of respondents noted that they need a better ROI analysis before they will make this type of investment. While the data suggests the biggest barrier may be identified as the budget, it seems a directly related constraint is that there is not enough alignment with the highest organizational priorities of patient quality/safety. If the technology can address priority issues, funding will be allocated and the investment justified.

Healthcare providers are showing interest in evaluating RFID enabled solutions, however its clear that accelerated adoption is contingent on addressing their most critical needs. Mobile Aspects has developed RFID enabled technologies that are aligned with the goals of improving care quality and safety, as well as operational needs around asset tracking and inventory management.

For instance, articles and reports are continually emerging around patient care infection risks due to flexible endoscopes that have been improperly cleaned and reprocessed. See an example here . Our endoscope tracking system (iRIScope) is leveraging RFID technology to automate the clinical processes and operational workflows associated with endoscope storage, utilization, and reprocessing. In turn, this process automation creates a more controlled, systemic approach in

Article: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/96944634.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUg7Kk8P3iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs

Seek Change: Inventory Management using RFID Technology

June 8, 2010Bryan Christianson Cath Lab Operating Rooms Radiology Supply Chain The Business of Surgery

There are many different strategies that can be used to improve inventory management in the hospital. This recent article appearing in Health Purchasing News provides some great tips on improving your current inventory management by using a more analytical and value based approach to cycle counting. By focusing on zero count items and using ABC/Pareto principles the seemingly overwhelming and time consuming task of keeping accurate inventory counts seems more achievable.

While there are many different strategies that can be used to chip away at the waste created by excess inventory none of them seem to get to the root of the problem. That is the continued practice of manually counting items which perpetuates the time consuming use of human resources and inevitably leads to inaccurate, latent or obsolete information. Inaccurate data is a liability that leads to stock outs, excess inventory, expired devices and worst of all wasted time by employees trying to keep the data even remotely accurate.

Health care is often labeled as a laggard when it comes to innovation and already thin budgets are feeling the effect of waste more than ever in light of the current economy. Competing capital projects and limited resources hold some care providers back but often the biggest factor driving lack of adoption is a mindset – a feeling that keeping the status quo is the easiest and cheapest option.

RFID technologies have been receiving a lot of attention lately in the health care industry for its ability to take the guesswork out of inventory management by eliminating manual processes. Perioperative Services at NY Presbyterian Hospital saw exactly how valuable having timely and accurate inventory data could be after implementing Mobile Aspects iRISupply system. By analyzing utilization and inventory level data and combining that with purchasing patterns from their enterprise materials management system they were able to identify an immediate opportunity to reduce existing on hand inventory and adjust PAR levels. When it was all said and done the organization was able reduce on-hand inventory by $230,000.

Surely there are many health care organizations out there today who are on the front end of the innovation cycle. However, more of that attitude is dramatically needed if we are to continue to eliminate waste from health care. Whether it is using RFID technology to manage supplies or another application of technology, we look forward to more care providers making a commitment to seeing change happen.

Approaches to Drive Innovation

May 18, 2010Bryan Christianson Supply Chain The Business of Surgery

May 18, 2010

Innovation can come through a variety of approaches and strategies. At Mobile Aspects, we focus on developing solutions organically thorough collaboration with our customers. It is at the heart of our innovation-driven approach. That approach has lead to creative solutions for hospital inventory management, tissue tracking, and endoscope tracking. The solutions were derived through listening to and sharing ideas with our customers on what operational improvements were needed in their surgical procedural areas. In turn, concepts quickly moved from idea to solution — with all parties closely engaged in product life cycle development to refine and build upon initial solution delivery.

Recently an article about a Mobile Aspects partner, Bayer AG, was released on their approach to drive innovation within their organization. You can find that article here. Called ‘Triple-i’, it is a different approach from Mobile Aspects that focuses more on creating a corporate culture within the company that encourages the sharing of ideas. And just as importantly, a culture where those ideas are listened to and considered for further pursuit and potential commercialization. An equally effective approach at driving innovation with a common attribute in stressing the importance of innovation to create progress and drive growth.

Fixing the systemic challenges in healthcare delivery can be a daunting task. However, through a shared spirit of innovation between care providers, vendors, and others in the healthcare delivery system, amazing things are possible.

Create Accountability through Process Automation

April 26, 2010Bryan Christianson Hospital Management The Business of Surgery

A recent article that appeared in the New York Times was titled ‘When Heart Devices Fail, Who is to Blame?’. The central theme of the article focused on the struggles to establish accountability between various parties in the care delivery process when things go wrong. In this case, when faulty heart defibrillators are manufactured, distributed, and used, are medical device manufacturers or care providers at fault if patient care quality and safety is at risk.

While clearly a controversial issue, it does bring to light an important priority for care providers. Principally, the need to establish systems and processes that support care delivery, ensure optimal outcomes, and establish a foundation for promoting accountability in care delivery. The topic of accountability has been used frequently in the last year as healthcare reform has been proposed, debated, and ultimately passed. During that time the word may have taken on a negative connotation, however it shouldn’t as creating a system of accountability will lead to advances in care delivery.

For example, imagine being able to measure, analyze, and improve upon the decisions and activities that clinicians follow each day in delivering care. Not only will current performance be able to be evaluated, but also decision makers can be armed with information to identify opportunities for improvement. The first step in creating accountability is to realize there is an opportunity to improve. The second is identifying and implementing solutions that will help you measure, manage, and ultimately improve care delivery.

Identifying problems in care delivery workflows is one part of the relationship Mobile Aspects takes with our customers. Innovating to deliver easy-to-use process automation solutions that create smarter care delivery is the other part. We’ve had several customers see value in automating their processes for the receipt, storage, and utilization of implantable devices and supplies — including faulty heart defibrillators. These customers took a proactive stance in recognizing the need to improve. More importantly, they acted on their need to implement a solution that provides them with accountability in their ability to manage and track medical device inventory.

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