1. Identify Your Needs
Starting at the beginning by identifying your needs and goals may seem like a no-brainer, but be advised that logistics networks have suffered from self-inflicted inefficiencies by overlooking this critical measure. It’s easy to continue with the same methods that have proven to be successful and determine that your needs have not changed. However, look at it this way: life changes, our industry changes, and your organization changes. It wouldn’t make much sense to expect your healthcare logistics needs to remain the same. A few questions to consider when evaluating your needs are:
- Is your network scalable?
- Are there opportunities to reduce risk?
- Can your network improve the patient/clinician experience?
- Can you reduce waste?
2. Align Stakeholders
Fragmentation is a healthy logistics network’s worst nightmare. Fragmentation usually occurs when all departments within your operation aren’t aligned, leading to multiple vendors, inefficient routing, and overall waste. The most successful networks encompass the needs of the entire organization, and buy-in from key stakeholders within departments utilizing the network is a must. This is the first step towards creating a streamlined network that prevents overlap and unnecessary costs. To get started, ask yourself, “do I know how the other departments in our healthcare organization move items?”
3. Select The Best Process
This is a callback to our first tip. Once your needs are identified, it’s time to determine how they can be met. Again what has proven successful in the past may not be applicable today, and solutions that are successful for other organizations may not be a good fit for yours. For example, a traditional RPF process might work for an organization with minimal logistics needs. However, a mid-size health system with a logistics network that covers a difficult geography and integrates materials for multiple departments will require a more involved network design process than an RFP can afford.
Aligning your organization with a trusted logistics partner to bring industry experience to the table when choosing this process can be a game changer for this step. Along with experience, a trusted logistics partner will also know what questions need to be asked to create an efficient logistics network, which brings us to our last tip.
4. Ask Yourself The Right Questions
To know where you’re headed, you have to understand where you’ve been. Asking the right questions is vital to creating or evaluating your current logistics network. What has worked for your network in the past, and conversely, what hasn’t worked? The previous question should be a given to ask, but more complex issues within your network will also need to be addressed. For example, what is your approach toward routing, governance, reporting, and technology? Partnering with an experienced logistics partner goes a long way for this step as well.
There we have it, four tips that will help when building your healthcare logistics network. If you found this article helpful, our professionals at MedSpeed can provide additional assistance on your journey to a sound healthcare logistics network. Contact us today.