While still under the umbrella of inventory, white goods (gauze and bandaging material), consumables, and hospital supplies are slightly different to manage than pharmaceuticals and medications. The biggest difference is that these items aren’t sold to patients or clients; they are used to deliver patient care, making them harder to track.
While forecasting the demand for these items and planning purchases, it’s best to use the purchase history to quantify what low means and how much should be purchased at a time. Most white goods and consumables have a consistent and predictable demand, and as a result, reorder levels and flags can be established similarly for these items, such as pharmaceuticals and medications. Examples of how these can be used include:
Reorder Tags:
A low-tech, easy-to-implement flag alerting when an item runs low. Let’s say that for 3ml syringes; after reviewing your purchase history and calculating reorder points, you want to order four boxes when you have two left on the shelf. The reorder tag would be rubber-banded or attached to the second to last box. Then, when a team member opens that second-to-last box, they take the tag and put it in a “to be ordered” bin. Now, the inventory manager can round up all the tags from the bin and know what’s running low.
Additionally, these tags can be marked with the reorder quantity to make reordering easier. These work well with virtually any item! They can be used for gauze, pens, toilet paper, vaccines, in-house laboratory clips, etc.
TIP: For liquids or injectables (or tubs of Panacur granules), a line can be drawn in Sharpie on the bottle where the “low” level is. Once the bottle's contents reach that level, the reorder tag can be pulled off and put in the “to be ordered” bin.
Shelf Labels:
Setting up shelf labels that include the minimum and maximum levels or other reorder points on the label can help keep the low threshold easily in mind. These labels can be particularly helpful in larger storage areas or pharmacy shelves. Shelf labels provide a quick visual reference, making it easier for anyone to see when items need to be reordered. This method can drastically reduce the time and effort spent on inventory checks and improve overall efficiency. By clearly indicating the reorder points, everyone on the team understands the stock status at a glance, thus facilitating a smoother inventory management process.
Color Indicator Bins:
Color indicator bins for hospital supplies can also be helpful. These bins have two sections: one blue and one orange. They serve as a visual flag that an item is running low and needs to be reordered. For example, both sections of one bin would be filled with an item. Team members would only grab from the blue section. When the blue section is empty, the item needs to be ordered, and the product is pulled from the orange section.
Putting into Practice:
Start with the top 10 or 20 hospital supplies. Review the purchase history to identify how much is purchased in each timeframe to help establish reorder levels. Next, consider what type of reorder flag would work best for these items. Different flags work better for some practices, so it can be helpful to experiment to find what works best for your unique practice.
