Healthcare Inventory Management

A lack of medical supplies, including healthcare equipment, diagnostic equipment, raw materials, and critical drugs, could result in costly outcomes – both financially and in terms of patient care. However, inventory control of such supplies is a complicated, time-consuming business, especially across multiple departments or locations.

Quick access to up-to-date information on medical supply inventory and product movement is vital. Healthcare supplies are widely varied and include items with expirations dates as well as controlled substances that require careful management. Having either too much or too little stock can be problematic.

Healthcare and Life Sciences industries have fallen far behind others when implementing inventory management software. Yet having a Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence (RPA + AI) system in place that keeps tabs on stock makes for better, more efficient ordering decisions.

What are the benefits of automating healthcare inventory management?

Healthcare needs are quickly evolving, but the technology used in managing, inventorying, and distributing medical supplies remains much the same. The focus is placed on patient care, yet health supplies order management is fundamental. Manual methods currently used are often tedious and prone to errors. The resultant gaps in the supply chain and stockouts can have severe consequences on patient care and your business. Let’s look at what an automated order management system can do:

Provide real-time data

Constant inventory visibility makes order management (incoming and outgoing) quicker and more efficient. You can quickly view to-the-minute information on precisely what you have and where it is. This ensures your staff, patients, or customers can access what is needed exactly where and when required.

Free up employees

With RPA handling medical supply admin tasks, healthcare workers can focus on higher-level ones such as patient care. A leading medical technology company applied Automation Anywhere’s digital workforce platform, which includes RPA software, to empower 65k employees to create better workflows.

Optimize supply chains

Having fast, accurate information about what is coming in and going out allows for AI-driven decision-making and intelligent inventory management. In addition, predictive analytics can quickly identify patterns and market trends that enable you to handle current needs and anticipate future ones quickly.

Boost productivity and order accuracy

Intelligent automation systems working around the clock to process incoming orders or supplies means you can save time and increase efficiency. Moreover, compared with manual spreadsheets, the system’s accuracy with consigning and tracking inventory information means you will have fewer issues with overstocking and stockouts.

Increase distribution rates and range

RPA bots can scan and read orders from across the globe, extracting relevant information, entering details into the system, and sending confirmation to the company or individual who placed the order. Not only can this decrease the time to fulfill orders, but more orders can be dispatched too.

Keep tabs on critical information

Having up-to-the-minute details on stock through barcode scanners lets you check which items you’re running low. It also makes it far easier for you to review perishables’ expiration dates and monitor the location and maintenance requirements of vital and expensive medical equipment.

Who benefits from automated medical supplies inventory management?

The advantages of a streamlined stock management system can be felt by more than simply those in charge of maintaining or dispatching supplies and medical devices. It has applied uses for various healthcare organizations, including but not limited to:

Hospitals and solo practitioners

Having bots track supplies going in and out takes the guesswork out of medical practice or hospital inventory management. As a result, healthcare providers can be assured that they’ll have the supplies and equipment needed to focus on providing the very best care to their patients.

EMS providers

The logistical hassle of managing supplies across multiple locations and vehicles, especially with issues of control and expiration dates, can be reduced with automation. EMS employees will always have accurate inventory counts, and supplies will be replenished automatically.

Medical supply distributors

With RPA solutions taking care of incoming orders and extracting relevant information, order turnaround is faster and more efficient. For example, intelligent RPA enabled one medical device corporation to increase its distribution across multiple countries by as much as ten times with 24/7 management and zero errors.

Medical equipment manufacturers

The ability to track inventory across the assembly line allows for better control. Automation also enhances equipment dispatch efficiency, which improves vendor-customer relationships. In addition, RPA bots can schedule device maintenance at the point of sale, further enhancing the retail experience.

Boston Scientific automates regional inventory management.

Customer Story

Bots download current inventory data from the company’s SAP system and import the data into a back-end data table. Then, they immediately update queries and notify Sales Support Staff of inventories. By using automation, Boston Scientific has increased its productivity and accuracy.

Read customer story

50+

Processes automated

$240K

Annual cost savings

Errors

How automated healthcare inventory management can help your organization?

Automation Anywhere’s RPA platform can be used to support many order management related tasks across different departments of healthcare organizations such as:

Stock control

Real-time, inventory tracking
Data on expiration dates and equipment maintenance needs
Integrated systems across multiple locations
Automatic procurement and reorder capabilities

Manufacturing

Details on inventory levels across the production chain
Automated communications with vendors and customers
Forecasting potential based on collated and historical information
Fully visible, traceable assembly lines for better control

Order dispatch

Purchase order information automatically read, and data extracted
Automated responses to sales agents and distributors
Greater volume capacity with higher accuracy levels
Parallel order processing through multiple systems

Patient/customer care

Decreased wait times for access to supplies and equipment
Less time spent on admin tasks better patient/customer focus
Improved accuracy with medical inventory management
Fewer vital stock shortages across locations

What to look for in a medical supplies order management system?

While you have a few options for supply chain management and inventory management systems, Automation Anywhere’s Cloud RPA Platform has the functionality needed for managing the highly complex needs of organizations in the healthcare industry.

Therefore, any inventory solution needs to be fast and accurate. RPA bots provide real-time data that any machine can access via mobile devices.

The single, integrated system is straightforward, has communication capabilities, a flexible, customizable design, and can fully automate crucial low to high-level order management tasks. Moreover, the platform is fully scalable to meet the specific needs of all healthcare facilities making it the perfect inventory management solution for you.

How to get started?

Harness the power of our Automation 360 software for your medical supply management and more. Request a live demo to see just how simple it is to automate those tedious, time-consuming admin tasks for the ultimate optimization of inventory supply chains.

Sign your employees up to Automation Anywhere University to learn new skills focused on AI-driven technology and get RPA trained and certified by the industry’s global RPA platform of choice.

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More automated inventory management resources.

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Video

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What is healthcare inventory management, and why do organizations need it?