Supply chain optimization at an academic medical center.
PURPOSE
A successful supply chain optimization project that leveraged technology, engineering principles, and a technician workflow redesign in the setting of a growing health system is described.


SUMMARY
With continued rises in medication costs, medication inventory management is increasingly important. Proper management of central pharmacy inventory and floor-stock inventory in automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) can be challenging. In an effort to improve control of inventory costs in the central pharmacy of a large academic medical center, the pharmacy department implemented a supply chain optimization project in collaboration with the medical center's inhouse team of experts on process improvement and industrial engineering. The project had 2 main components: (1) upgrading and reconfiguring carousel technology within an expanded central pharmacy footprint to generate accurate floor-stock inventory replenishment reports, which resulted in efficiencies within the medication-use system, and (2) implementing a technician workflow redesign and algorithm to right-size the ADC inventory, which decreased inventory stockouts (i.e., incidents of depletion of medication stock) and improved ADC user satisfaction.


CONCLUSION
Through a multifaceted approach to inventory management, the number of stockouts per month was decreased and ADC inventory was optimized, resulting in a one-time inventory cost savings of $220,500.
['Labuhn|Jonathan|J|', 'Almeter|Philip|P|', 'McLaughlin|Christopher|C|', 'Fields|Philip|P|', 'Turner|Benjamin|B|']
D000046:Academic Medical Centers D002495:Central Supply, Hospital D017046:Cost Savings D006801:Humans D007445:Inventories, Hospital D008508:Medication Errors D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital D057188:Workflow
pharmacy administration hospital inventory hospital pharmacy services pharmacy distribution pharmacy technology