When shopping for an inventory system, look for one that addresses the specific needs of your same-day surgery program, suggests Terri Gatton, RN, CNOR, administrator of the Zanesville (OH) Surgery Center. Otherwise, you invest too much time and money in a new system to try something that may not be designed for surgery, she adds.
"There are many practice management systems that have an inventory system, but they generally don’t work for same-day surgery because there are more variables and a higher volume of purchasing," says Scott Palmer, group vice president for SurgiSource, a product that includes inventory management produced by Birmingham, AL-based Source Medical Solutions. Palmer and Gatton suggest that you look for the following features to make sure you have a system that will save you time and costs:
• Item master.
Your item master should support multiple vendors, manufacturers, and locations, he says. The system also should be able to generate purchase orders as needed and even send them electronically if your vendor supports that capability, Palmer says.
Electronic purchase order transmission is a must, Gatton says. "This feature saves a lot of time and manpower," she explains.
• Preference cards and pick lists.
Preference cards need to be integrated into the system because they are the basis for the ordering advice, says Palmer. Preference cards cut down on staff time because only the exceptions must be entered, he adds.
Although some same-day surgery managers choose to create preference cards for the procedures performed most often, Gatton suggests cards for each physician and each procedure. "This keeps our ordering process accurate, and nurses don’t have to list as many exceptions," she adds.
• Reporting systems.
You should be able to get reports that show your current costs in relation to historical costs, as well as to industry standards, Palmer suggests. This helps you make informed decisions and to identify trends that need to be investigated, he adds.
• Physical count reconciliation.
You should plan on a quarterly manual count to verify your computerized inventory, Gatton says. Updating your computerized inventory to reflect actual, manual count should be a simple process, she suggests.
• Alerts when supplies are low.
Using par levels set by the same-day surgery program manager, a computerized inventory system should alert the materials manager that a certain item has dropped below a predetermined level, Palmer says.
Look for the these features to make sure you have an inventory system that will save you time and money.
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