HAVING MY SAY
possible. Through this work, the services we provide to our patients were never at risk of being suspended, he added. “Due to the longer than normal and extreme flu season, the one vendor
from whom we sourced our flu testing kits was not able to keep up with the demand,” Johnson indicated. “Because of this, inventories through- out our network were impacted to the degree of needing to monitor our inventories daily and send product from one hospital to another to meet the testing needs. In addition, our labs were forced to use sub- stitutes until that inventory ran out. Analytics were once again used to forecast where inventory was needed based on assumed consumption rates. Every morning, each hospital shared how much inventory was on hand, what was on order and how many tests they performed the prior day. This information was aggregated to represent the inventory health both at each hospital and at the network level. The data helped communicate where the risk was and provided a tool for leadership to gauge the statuses on a daily basis.” • Search for acceptable substitutes.
Tom Lindl, Director of Purchasing, ProHealth Care, said, “Everybody is impacted. The problem is exacerbated because many components of products are only produced in one factory, which means all manufac- turers are affected by the event.” Then there was always the concern that products from unknown suppliers may not pass the scrutiny of a rigorous Value Analysis review, he added.
• Activation of a focused communications plan with physicians and other key clinical stakeholders and an ongoing review of care delivery options.
The shortage of mini-bags forced many organizations to revert to doing
IV pushes, which meant an increased burden on staffing since the drugs had to be administered by nurses. Lindl recounted the difficulties involved when product shortages required them to look at alternative delivery methodologies, e.g. IV delivery not available, switch to oral delivery or IV pushes. Certain implants not available, switch to implants from another supplier. Every change in care delivery required an extensive and ongoing conversation with key stakeholder to ensure both buy-in and acceptance. Risks and challenges had to be mitigated, and once mitigated, often changed again immediately — the common theme being that outages of one product led to outages with the substitute products as well. As Lindl put it, “One shortage often led to another.” Jon Reiners, Director of Materials Management, Community Hospital in McCook, NE, pointed out that finding a substitute is not so simple when you factor in the Value Analysis, product acceptability challenges. “Not only to you have to find something quickly”, he said, “it has to pass the rigor of the Value Analysis process as well.” Cottage Health in Santa Barbara was affected in an entirely different manner. The IDN is located right in the bullseye of both the wildfires and the subsequent mudslides. Afshin Fatholahi, Vice President of Support Services, and his staff were not only forced to try to obtain items such as personal protective masks and other similar items for their patients, but also had to fight off the members of the community who were trying to gain access to those items for themselves. “At one point, we were afraid we were going to have to close the hospital,” he said. “The fires were that close.” Then, when the post-fire mudslides hit, Fatholahi and his staff had to execute emergency agree- ments with various transportation options just to be able to get people to work. The whole situation was a real-life re-enactment of the movie, “Planes , Trains and Automobiles” and merits recap of its own. But how did these events change the way healthcare organizations conducted business going forward? You’ll read about that in the third and final installment. HPN Fred W. Crans currently serves as Healthcare Consultant for Sedlak Supply Chain Consultants, and is a veteran industry observer and frequent HPN contributor with decades of experience as a hospital supply chain leader. Crans can be reached at
fcrans@jasedlak.com.
IAHCSMM’S ENDOSCOPE REPROCESSING MANUAL
IAHCSMM partnered with industry experts and leaders in endoscope reprocessing to develop the IAHCSMM Endoscope Reprocessing Manual. This 15-chapter manual will serve as a valuable education tool and resource for endoscope reprocessing managers, technicians and others who are seeking to enhance their endoscope reprocessing knowledge and practices. Some of the important topics addressed include:
• Regulations, Standards and Resources
• Point-of-Use Cleaning, Transport and Leak Testing
• Cleaning Processes for Flexible Endoscopes • Endoscope Inspection and Preparation
• High-Level Disinfection and Sterilization Processes for Flexible Endoscopes
• Endoscope Handling, Storage and Transport
Endoscope Reprocessing Manual: $80/Member, $90/Non-Member
Endoscope Reprocessing Workbook: $50/Member, $60/Non-Member
Endoscope Reprocessing Boxed Course: (Includes Manual and Workbook) $120/Member, $140/Non-Member
Visit
www.iahcsmm.org for more details on pricing, full contents and the accompanying workbook.
hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • August 2017 55
In Stock NOW!
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