COMPLETE LUXURY
• 3D printing • Augmented reality (AR) (e.g., for directions, instructions, locating, mapping, teaching, training, etc.)
• Blockchain • Drones (e.g., for aerial views of high shelves and transport to various buildings on campus)
• Robotics (including “co”botic arms, exoskeleton harnesses, etc.)
• Self-driving vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks, pallet carts/ tugs and jacks)
ON BLOCKCHAIN: “There are areas where this can make an impact, i.e., with [personal protective equipment] in response to COVID shortages and medical devices,” acknowledged Dave Salus, Market Manager, Healthcare Division, InterMetro Industries Corp. “This will become more widespread as use cases emerge.”
ON SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES: “While this one may be a luxury for 2023, it is the next evolution of AGVs,” Salus said. “As more care is performed in remote facilities, the cost of replenishment rises as well. Self-driving vehicles, cars for services like labs, to trucks for supplies, will become another tool to combat labor shortages and the resulting labor infl ation.”
NECESSITY LEANING
• Automated product dispensaries (e.g., closed cabinetry, open/weight-based cabinetry/carts) (heavily) • Cloud-based software for virtual ERP to virtual MMIS to virtual item masters to virtual physician/surgeon preference cards, etc. (heavily)
• Demand management/predictive analytics software for tracking deliveries to the dock and dispensing to the clinical areas (heavily)
• Wayfi nding (e.g., digital fl atscreens/interactive touchscreen or voice-activated signage and kiosks, etc.) (heavily)
ON AUTOMATED PRODUCT DISPENSARIES: “Delivering the correct product to patients requires automated product dispensing,” said Jessica Bernardo, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Label Print Solutions, Toshiba. “This process additionally involves bidirectional billing and patient data collection. Such technology grants healthcare organizations the insight to understand the costs of patient care in a multitude of circumstances.” InterMetro’s Salus points to effi ciency through data as well. “Eliminating waste is the best way to make staffi ng most effi cient,” he noted. “Automated storage can communicate
replenishment requirements, eliminating the need for a trip to see what’s needed, allowing staff to make just one trip to a designated storage area, creating the capacity for a supply tech to service more locations.” However, Zach Malingowski, Senior Director, Supply Chain Optimization, Medline Operations, remains somewhat split. “For controlled substances, automated product dispensaries are often necessary for compliance, control and
tracking access,” he said. “For [medical/surgical] supplies, closed cabinetry or weight-based bins can automate steps in the reordering process and provide visibility to inventory – but are still considered a luxury for many hospital storerooms and warehouses.”
ON CLOUD-BASED SOFTWARE SUPPLY CHAIN: “As providers standardize their supply chain procedures across acute care facilities, using the same operating system decreases the amount of system integration required and allows for easy cross-training and inventory sharing/visibility across all perpetual inventories,” Malingowski said.
ON DEMAND MANAGEMENT/PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS SOFTWARE: “Dynamic inventory level setting can allow a health system to adjust on-hand inventory ahead of a change event,” he added. “This – along with proof of delivery/ in-transit inventory tracking – is particularly important with high-value physician preference items (PPI) as supply chain challenges continue to impact supply availability.”
ON WAYFINDING: “With hospital consolidation, the remaining hospitals are getting bigger,” observed InterMetro’s Salus. “Wayfi nding is not only necessary for employees to fi nd their way. It will also be one of the small things that could enhance the patient’s and their visitor’s experience.”
hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • February 2023 11
LUXURY LEANING
SOURCING & LOGISTICS EVEN
• Artifi cial intelligence (AI) (heavily) • Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (including advanced dashboards, using “bots” to accomplish basic, mundane and routine tasks and automatic reorder points)
• Virtual reality (VR) (e.g., for demonstrations, designing, inservice training and education, etc.) (heavily)
• Wearable computing/sensors (e.g., wearable and wireless sensors, watches, wristbands, pins, neckware) (closer to even)
• Carousels (closer to even) • Internet of Things (IoT)/Machine-to-machine (M2M) interoperability (heavily)
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (including advanced dashboards, using “bots” to accomplish (closer to even)
ON CAROUSELS: “I have talked to customers about putting these systems in, as well as taking them out,” InterMetro’s Salus refl ected. “Like any major change, stakeholder buying and planning, planning, planning are needed to have carrousels fulfi ll their ROI.”
• Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) (including remote- control tugs and roving delivery carts)
ON AGVS: “With ongoing labor shortages, delivery is one area where automation can help,” said InterMetro’s Salus. “Fully automated vehicles provide higher effi ciency, where a higher portion of the investment can be recouped against labor costs. Non-automated tugs will have a place, too. While it won’t replace the laborer, it will provide better hiring fl exibility for staff to work a vehicle rather than physically push hundreds of pounds on a repetitive basis.”
COMPLETE NECESSITY
• Mobile devices/technology (e.g., multifunctional smartphones for operational tasks)
ON MOBILE DEVICES/
TECHNOLOGY: “Mobile devices deliver further insight into the whereabouts of supplies,” said Jessica Bernardo, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Label Print Solutions, Toshiba. “Deploying barcode technology within such devices best enables healthcare professionals to immediately pull the correct product. Such effi ciency better allows healthcare staff to fulfill their primary mission: Providing the best patient care possible.” Medline’s Malingowski
concurred. “Provider systems need to be
able to push work instructions to supply chain end users while they are working and end users need to have access to create re-orders, pick confi rmations, etc., live versus manual system confi rmations and documentation at a workstation/ computer terminal,” he said.
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