From product acquisition to vendor management, supply chain management in healthcare settings is vast and open to unexpected challenges.
Direct Supply recently helped two healthcare organizations navigate planned and unexpected healthcare supply chain challenges to achieve supply chain resilience:
- Behavioral Health: Fast PO placement and equipment acquisition for Joint Commission Survey Accreditation
- Health System: PO consolidation, product breadth and vendor management services for streamlined ordering
Two Supply Chain Resilience Examples of Direct Supply Navigating Supply Chain Challenges
1. Behavioral Health Joint Commission Survey Accreditation
Achieving JCAHO compliance with products for continuous quality improvement.
A behavioral health facility recently put Direct Supply’s medical equipment acquisition team to the test when an unexpected Joint Commission survey identified that the hospital did not have the necessary crash carts to meet requirements. The facility would fail the inspection without proof of ordering the required crash carts within 24 hours.
Equipment Acquisition for Healthcare Accreditation Standards with Supply Chain Agility
Crash carts are not an easy, everyday purchase, and it was important to the customer that they did not just fulfill JCAHO requirements, but also purchased products that would best serve their clinical staff and patient population. An experienced Direct Supply Product Consultant was able to swiftfully identify products to meet JCAHO requirements and help the facility deliver continuous patient care quality improvement.
The behavioral health facility’s Plant Operations Director needed to act fast to order seven crash carts and seven suction machines that met their clinical demands, while preparing appropriate documentation to prove the purchase to JCAHO in a short amount of time.
Fast PO Placement and Real, Personalized Support
The facility’s Plant Operations Director contacted his partner Joe Schwane at Direct Supply who became a go-to resource. Joe quickly coordinated a call with the Plant Operations Director, as well as the facility’s Chief Nursing Officer, to get a PO placed ASAP. Even while moving quickly, Direct Supply was able to save the health system time and money, and provide the peace of mind of talking to a real person every step of the way.
The facility passed their Joint Commission Survey and Direct Supply is now their trusted supplier for product and equipment selection – both online and over the phone. Easy access to talk by phone can be particularly helpful in an emergency to mobilize and respond quickly. In emergency product selection situations, efficient and reliable vendor management are critical.
Request an account to discover products for JCAHO and continuous healthcare accreditation quality improvement.
2. Health System Purchase Order Consolidation
Leveraging vendor management services to create capacity and reduce healthcare costs
A health system hired an equipment planner to tackle the capital medical equipment acquisition process for their upcoming healthcare project. The equipment planner needed to manage dozens of POs on behalf of the health system, while staying on contract. Although the equipment planner is no stranger to these types of project demands, juggling multiple vendors is extremely time consuming – especially when scaled across various clients and healthcare projects.
Supply Chain Partnerships for Product Breadth
Establishing a trusted partnership with a healthcare supply chain partner can increase efficiency for everyday operations too, creating capacity for in-house resources. A powerful supply chain partner has access to a product breadth from multiple manufacturers.
Typically, vendor management in healthcare projects can bounce between dozens of different contacts to get products on-time. Additionally, some items can get missed and can often fall through the cracks in facility projects. In healthcare consolidated purchasing, this reveals an opportunity for streamlined vendor management services.
PO Consolidation and Vendor Management Services for Streamlined Ordering
Direct Supply worked directly with the equipment planner’s Procurement Specialist to consolidate their PO process enabling them to source more products from fewer vendors. This freed up the Procurement Specialist to work on other key aspects of the project and maximize the return on investment for the health system. Consolidated purchase orders and streamlined vendor management can open numerous doors for cost reduction and labor savings.
Request an account to eliminate stress and consolidate POs of equipment, appliances, products and more.
Solve Healthcare Supply Chain Challenges with Direct Supply
When it comes to both the planned and unexpected product acquisition challenges in healthcare, Direct Supply has in-house experts for every step of the way. These are just two of many examples of how our range of offerings has helped deliver supply chain resilience.
Thanks to nearly 40 years of developing tight industry relationships and healthcare expertise, our massive product and equipment selection is backed by supply chain resilience you can trust with:
- Dedicated account managers for product and equipment selection expertise and personalized support
- Healthcare project management experts for any phase of facility projects, from scoping, design, sourcing, warehousing, cleanup and white glove delivery.
- No minimum ordering thresholds to qualify for free shipping
- On-the-go purchasing experience through an ecommerce site or dedicated point of contact
Request an Account to Access 4,000 Suppliers in One
Access healthcare’s most resilient supply chain and discover our 1M+ products, all on contract. Request an account, call 844-545-7428 or contact us for personalized support.
