MEDITECH's
Supply Chain Management Solution Adds up to Big Savings at
Saints Medical Center
(1/08/2008)
| After experiencing
decades of inefficient, paper-driven materials
management processes and accompanying dollar losses,
Saints Medical Center (Lowell, MA) has revamped its
supply chain management program and accomplished
exciting feats such as saving a million dollars last
year on supplies. How has the hospital been able to make such a dramatic transformation? Through their own initiative, and with the help of MEDITECH's Service team, the staff at Saints has been focusing on maximizing the use of MEDITECH's Supply Chain Management solution, which includes full Materials Management functionality, to better manage inventory and all supporting workflows. We recently visited with the key players at Saints, to learn how they have improved their understanding and utilization of MEDITECH's standard routines, electronic ordering, and reporting functionality. They explained how our technology has supported a series of successful process changes in the Materials Management, Purchasing, and clinical departments over the past year. Trading Decades-Old
Processes for New Success |
 |
Guley identified the main
challenge in meeting these goals as being the hospital had to
think more like a business. He adds, "We had to find a
perfect person with the right professional background to
direct our new supply chain management program. So we brought
in Steve Basiliere, an expert in supply management, who had
worked in the high-tech and pharmaceutical industries."
Eager to drive supply chain improvements, Basiliere
immediately recognized the hospital had some great technology
tools, but was not using them. "We had the ability to
manage inventory, analyze our supplies usage, and facilitate
the purchasing and receiving of supplies with the MEDITECH
system all along," he explains. "But due to
underlying circumstances we did not take full advantage of
these effective tools."
During his second month on the job, Basiliere brought in
MEDITECH to do an initial operational assessment at Saints,
on its use of the Materials Management functionality. The
Saints team was well prepared for the assessment with its own
five-page "wish list" document. The assessment
revealed the hospital was using only 30 percent of its
MEDITECH Materials Management capabilities, and it contained
tangible suggestions for improvement.
"MEDITECH's team was excellent, and they were able to
really explain: 'yes, the system does this, and here's why
and how,'" says Basiliere. "I would rate MEDITECH's
Service team a 10 out of 10."
 |
New
Expectations, New Staff Roles As it became clear through the assessment that major changes were coming to the hospital, the challenge became how to introduce new electronic processes to a staff which had been using paper processes for many years. However, Materials Management staff members at Saints in fact showed a keen interest in taking on the new challenges brought about by the supply chain program, according to Basiliere. "The staff really wanted this. Everyone is excited about the goals we are striving toward now," he says. Since the assessment, the Materials Management team members have actually undergone their own individual transformations, in both the way they perform their daily jobs, and in understanding how their roles contribute to the hospital's larger goals. One enthusiastic Purchasing staff member Linda Donovan, who has worked at Saints for the past 17 years, expresses the satisfaction she gets from continually learning new aspects of the MEDITECH technology, and then seeing the benefits first-hand. |
"Electronic
purchasing has become more accurate and much faster now, than
with our old system," she says. "It used to take me
approximately one-half hour to line the main inventory
purchase order and send through EDI; now, in addition to the
main inventory purchase order, I can also line and send both
the Laboratory and the OR inventory purchase orders through
EDI in the same amount of time."
Distribution Coordinator John Horton, who has worked at
Saints for 18 years, is also thrilled about the workflow
changes, adding they have eliminated extraneous 'keyboard
punching' and faxing to the various hospital departments.
"The process is now automatic with the electronic
recurring requisitions. Standard features like these improve
reporting and decision-making for staff," he says.
Despite some normal challenges and demands brought about by
transitioning to new software features and process changes,
the team's continued positive attitudes, patience, and
dedication transformed the once paper processes to their
electronic achievements today. Some of those challenges
included the difficult task of relying primarily on the
system.
"Trusting the system was probably one of our hardest
tasks in the beginning," explains Julie Robarge, a
supervisor of inventory and distribution who has worked at
Saints for 31 years. "After relying solely on pen and
paper for three decades, it was a difficult transition at
times." Now experts, Robarge and the staff have no
reservations about entering information into MEDITECH,
pulling up reports and daily routines, and trusting the data
in the system. The department is now always looking for ways
the MEDITECH system can improve workflows.
Tackling
High-Dollar Areas First
The positive changes brought about by the new supply chain
management program extend beyond the Materials Management
department. They are included throughout the hospital's
clinical departments, all of which are running MEDITECH's
integrated system. The Lab was a particularly important area
to tackle early on since it represents one of the most
expensive inventories in the hospital to maintain.
What helped the Lab, according to Basiliere, is utilization
of the requisition templates. "For Materials Management
personnel, this means we have better 'traceability' for all
products now," he says. "From a customer service
perspective, the paper requisition is no longer driving the
process. Instead, the Materials Management team is
proactively responding to the Lab's needs."
The Lab is also running a more accurate and 'lean' inventory,
due to the Materials Management functionality. "We are
about 40 percent of the way toward reaching our goal of
increasing the inventory turns in Lab one and a half times,
and I expect us to continue in this direction," states
Basiliere.
Furthermore, the annual, full physical inventory is no longer
needed. "This process used to take a week, but we've
really reduced the time this takes using MEDITECH's automated
cycle count," he adds.
Charting
the Future and Reflecting on Success
Looking ahead, Saints plans to continue its progress within
the Lab by adopting bar code scanning technology.
Additionally, the Materials Management team plans to tackle
the Operating Room and Radiology departments next, as these
are currently both very expensive inventories to maintain.
Another exciting change involves Saints' recent collaboration
with GHX, which serves as an electronic liaison between the
hospital and its many suppliers. Some of the areas GHX has
begun assisting Saints with include building the electronic
pricing catalogue and reducing phone and fax orders overall.
"With GHX, we have added 68 new suppliers in the past
year, and we believe we're getting the best prices from them,"
says Basiliere.
Though Saints looks forward to making continued improvements
to its supply chain, the hospital is quite pleased with the
results they have already seen in just the past year. "The
ROI is unbelievable," says Basiliere. "It's been
quite the accomplishment to see the transformation within our
organization. We could not have done it without the joint
efforts of our staff and MEDITECH."
Judy Casagrande, COO at Saints, strongly agrees. "We are
definitely seeing the value of the MEDITECH system in our
bottom line," she says. "We're quite proud of our
success, which we've achieved by continually staying abreast
of the technology available, working to get staff on board,
and maintaining a close partnership with MEDITECH."
For more information and photos documenting Saints' success with supply chain management, view the below slideshow:
About
Saints Medical Center
One of the top-rated hospitals in Massachusetts according to
The Joint Commission, Saints Medical Center (Lowell, MA) is
the largest provider of health care in the Greater Lowell
area serving more than 100,000 people each year. Saints
continues to adopt new medical technologies to best serve its
community. In 2007, Saints saved one million dollars on
supplies by maximizing its use of MEDITECH's Supply Chain
Management software.
MEDITECH
Medical
Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com