Dive Brief:
- Kaiser Permanente is making a major effort to streamline its supply chain, using new software which assigns each supply item a master number used throughout the Kaiser system. Healthcare staffers can then scan each item's master number as it is used.
- Not only does the centralized supply chain system assist with making items available to clinicians; it also helps the organization track usage. Each supply scan appears in the patient's EMR, and is also connected to related physicians.
- Kaiser, which has 38 hospitals, 9.5 million members, 17,000 physicians, and 40,000 nurses, is treading into new waters with the restructuring. Previously, healthcare workers were responsible for tracking down and ordering supplies, which took time away from caring for patients.
Dive Insight:
So far, Kaiser doesn't have much hard data on how its supply chain initiative is working out. The system has only piloted its supply chain plan in four hospitals to date. But Kaiser leaders must be pleased with how things are working out; while the provider has yet to report cost data for the experiment, it has already announced that it plants to roll its solution out throughout its California hospitals later this year.
That may be because Kaiser's ambitions for the supply chain project go beyond simply saving money on supplies. The data gathered by the software can help health leaders there show doctors which methods and procedures are more likely to produce good outcomes than others, which may get them to practice more efficiently. The software is also going to look at patterns of supply use in an effort to eliminate variations among physicians.