Automated inventory systems have positively impacted the processes in many industries. They have helped many businesses in making their operations easier.
In the construction industry, employees have easier access to their tools and equipment, thanks to their inventory system. But what about the healthcare industry?
In the medical world, the accuracy of your inventory is just as important as patient care. But it looks like everybody’s only focusing on providing high-quality patient care. Inventory management can be a real challenge. In fact, for some medical institutions, inventory management can mean tracking medical supplies and equipment with pen and paper or using a spreadsheet. This type of inventory system will become unorganized and inaccurate over time.
Medical inventory systems encourage medical institutions to eliminate inefficient inventory management methods and take control of their inventory using an automated inventory system. This system, which can be in the form of an app, helps teams in tracking their medical inventory accurately while keeping tabs on critical information like medication expiration dates, stock levels, and equipment maintenance details. This means that managers and staff will know what supplies are available, what medication will expire soon, where the equipment is, and who is accountable for it.
Whether you’re a medical device and equipment supplier, a solo practitioner, or a part of a larger medical institution, automating the inventory process will allow you to eliminate the guessing part of the inventory management. If you allow the system to do the heavy lifting, then you don’t have to spend your time worrying about your inventory. You can spend that time to grow your practice and provide the best care to your patients.
Tracking materials and supplies in the healthcare industry is challenging, especially since inventory needs always fluctuate. Below are the challenges current medical inventory system has:
Because of all these challenges, what you have in your spreadsheet or your ledger may contain some inaccuracies. In the healthcare industry, accuracy is very important. How many pieces of equipment do you have available? You can’t just guess the answer based on the number you remembered. Information should be 100% complete and accurate. And this is why you need the help of a medical inventory system.
Replacing paper trails or spreadsheets using an inventory system can bring a huge increase in inventory accuracy. How’s this possible? That’s simple.
Without manually entering the information on paper or your spreadsheet, there’s less chance for human error. This applies to tracking stock levels, expiration dates, and equipment maintenance. And if you want to make sure you didn’t miss anything, then you’ll have to check the spreadsheet again, which wastes so much time. You could have spent that time doing other things instead of double-checking the information in your inventory.
Also, having a secure, cloud-based system that you can connect to a mobile app means that you can have access to your updated information any time, anywhere. When your equipment is checked out, or when your supplies are re-stocked, then all the users who have access to the system will be able to view the changes automatically. This means that doctors, nurses, and other administrators can avoid miscommunication or confusion when it comes to inventory updates.
Improving accuracy can also help both small and large private hospitals to improve security and compliance. Many health care professionals can access controlled substances, so the government needs to require hospitals, medical clinics, and pharmacies to report any uncontrolled substances that are misplaced or lost. If you don’t have an accurate and up-to-date inventory system, then medical institutions can be at risk to safety issues because of legal liabilities and theft, if the federal agency request for these records.
If you’re still tracking your inventory via spreadsheets, now is the time to upgrade to an automated inventory management system. Your goal should be to make sure your records are 100% accurate. But the question is, how do you find an effective inventory software? What features should it have to ensure the accuracy of your inventory?
Finding the best inventory software for your hospital is only easy if you know what you’re looking for. To help you, here are the features that you should be looking for when you decide to buy an inventory system:
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