How optimizing your supply system can free up clinical staff time
Mike Oswald
2 min read
One thing I see most health care organizations struggle with is the amount of time that RNs, MAs, and techs are distracted from patient care because they must look for supplies, equipment, and meds. In fact, I have seen up to three hours of an RN’s shift consumed by these types of searches! This loss of valuable time exacerbates the ongoing issue in areas of the country that have RN shortages.
In order to reduce shortages and outages, your supply system should have a few key attributes. A robust system should not require any manual counting or visual checks in order to trigger a resupply. The trigger should happen automatically. The system should be simple—not reliant upon electronic inventory counts. And an efficient system should not require manual order entry. Most importantly your system should adjust naturally to normal variation in demand.
I was fortunate to be able to set up the entire internal logistics system at a Toyota plant guided by two Lean Senseis from Japan and an expert from one of the other US plants. They taught me the concepts of Kanban, a term describing “a signal to take action.”
Through this, we were able to generate orders for resupply based on consumption and not forecast. In this way, our inventory levels stayed within a predictable range, the system not allowing over-ordering! This is important in health care because inventory mismanagement can lead to expired meds and supplies. A good Kanban system typically reduces the amount of space needed to store supplies and serves as a visual way to monitor if shipments are arriving on time.
Ultimately, the biggest benefit is that clinic staff will have what they need when they need it. This gives them time back to do what they care about most: care for patients.
Mike Oswald
Director of Systems Improvement
Mike brings over 20 years of lean experience in operations, program management, and engineering positions to his current role as Director of Systems Improvement. As a lean leader, he is most driven by collaborating directly with end users. A certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, he blends theory with real world experience and has a strong interest in process improvement within healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics/materials management. Mike was part of the Toyota family for five years, holding an operational leadership role during production of the Tundra. He was the program manager for the launch of the current Mercury Marine large outboard product and was a Lean Master at Carolinas Healthcare system. He has a Behavioral Health First Aid certificate from Atrium Health.
