The supply chain represents about 25 percent of a healthcare facility’s operating budget, so supply chain optimization is an imperative, according to an article on the Healthcare Finance News website.

Some best practices that can help a facility build a supply chain focused on efficient processes and maximized outcomes are:

• Obtaining senior management commitment. Continual commitment from senior management helps keep projects moving and demonstrates their importance to the staff. 

• Building a project team that includes physicians and surgeons. Initiatives will affect stakeholders ranging from physicians, surgeons and nurses to materials managers, the CEO and CFO. 

• Building a foundation of data. Actionable data is the basic building block for an organization’s economic direction and provides the evidence needed to communicate the realities facing every stakeholder.

Tracking and measure results. Tracking outcomes and correlating this to standardization initiatives will ensure product use and selection is also a contributing factor to organizational quality.

Read the article.