Inventory management plays a vital role in the efficient work of healthcare organizations. While inventory management in business organizations primarily refers to the turnover of the products, in the healthcare system, inefficient organization of inventory can present a risk to the patients’ lives. The situation is worsened because it is impossible to estimate the number of necessary materials due to the unpredictable nature of patients’ needs. Thus, medical inventory involves a complex system of storage to ensure that the necessary items are available upon demand.
Firstly, the most common inventory items in healthcare organizations include gloves, masks, gowns, and syringes. Surgical kits and supplies include dressing materials, such as gauze pads, bandages, needles, and blades. Lastly, the healthcare organization inventory includes items of high value, such as equipment for patient transportation, anesthesia machines, and defibrillators. Thus, effectively storing the wide range of items used in a healthcare organization requires implementing a sophisticated inventory system.
Next, the ABC analysis approach to the inventory management system is based on the classification of inventory items in three categories based on their importance. The analysis presents one of the most effective tools available in the management of resources (Deressa et al., 2022). However, the system also considers the items’ consumption value and percentage in the total inventory. Thus, the gloves, masks, gowns, and syringes are classified in the C category with low monetary value. The items from the C category occupy a big proportion of the inventory because of their high flow and necessity for the organization’s functioning. More valuable items are also used frequently in healthcare organizations, but in smaller quantities, such as surgical supplies, including gauze pads, bandages, needles, and blades, are classified as B items. Lastly, more expensive items necessary for different health care services, which also present a smaller part of the overall inventory, such as medical devices and equipment, are classified as A items.
The classification into three types is necessary for effective management of the inventory items. Depending on whether the inventory items belong to a certain group, the items can be stored in different locations or conditions and involve different levels of consumption records. Considering the location of storage for items in the A category, it should be closer because these items are critically important for patients. Thus, I would place the storage closer to the reception area or in the middle, preserving an equal distance from all departments whether the equipment is used more often. Furthermore, the organization of items on the shelves would be based on a ranking system with more important and often used items placed at hand level to facilitate their rotation. At the same time, more rarely used equipment will be placed on other levels but still ensure easy accessibility.
Furthermore, the storage of items in the B category, including surgical supplies, is complicated by the nature of surgery procedures and surgeons’ preferences. According to Ahmadi et al. (2018), insufficient inventory management in operating rooms and surgeons’ preference cards with an irrational amount of resources result in significant financial losses for the healthcare organization. I would implement a strict tracking system in the core inventory for operating rooms to estimate the difference between resources reserved for the operation and resources utilized during the procedure. The data will help me to make predictions on the required amount of resources needed for the normal functioning of the operating rooms. Lastly, I would place the items from the C category and additional emergency stock of B items near the patient reception area, where items from category C are used more often.
References
Ahmadi, E., Masel, D. T., Metcalf, A. Y., & Schuller, K. (2018). Inventory management of surgical supplies and sterile instruments in hospitals: a literature review.Health Systems, 18(2), 1–18. Web.
Deressa, M. B., Beressa, T. B., & Jemal, A. (2022). Analysis of pharmaceuticals inventory management using ABC-VEN matrix analysis in selected health facilities of West Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice, 11, 47-59. Web.