Improving Patient Outcomes Through Healthcare Logistics and Supply Chain Management

The primary goal of logistics and supply chain management is to plan, organize, and coordinate the transportation of commodities from point of origin to point of consumption as effectively as possible. Healthcare firms can cut costs while improving patient outcomes by analyzing and aligning supply chain goals with a patient-first approach. Our in-house logistics team delivers patients with the telehealth equipment they need when they need it using Patient Direct, an HRS care delivery solution.

Explained: Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Supply chains that are MHRA approved warehousing UK interconnected networks of businesses and stakeholders that interact with a product to get it from point of origin to point of consumption. The purpose of supply chain management is to connect these numerous networks efficiently and establish an end-to-end strategy that lowers costs and improves shipment time without sacrificing product quality or value for the consumer.

Logistics is an important part of supply chain management, with duties such as developing precise systems to plan and coordinate the complex movement of goods by ensuring timely, safe, and dependable delivery. A logistics department is at the heart of any well-run supply chain, devising new ways to simplify the flow of products and information from suppliers to consumers.

“The supply chain encompasses all parts of a product cycle from origin to end user, for example from farm to fork,” says logistician Peter Reed of the relationship between logistics and the supply chain. Logistics is a part of the supply chain that deals with efficient product movement, such as from the factory to the retail outlet.” 1

When individual business goals are united to build an end-to-end approach to providing goods, efficiently managed supply chains produce the highest value. Operating with the success of the entire supply chain in mind allows partners to collaborate more effectively, resulting in creative logistics solutions that help businesses thrive in a variety of ways.

The Advantages of Logistics Investing

Understanding your company’s supply chain and investing in better-organized logistics improves product value by lowering the cost and time spent moving products from one location to another. It’s critical for organizations looking to expand to have a logistical foundation in place that can ensure safe, fast, and dependable delivery of goods at a reasonable cost as operations develop.

Day-to-day logistics services vary by business, but they often include operations like order processing, warehousing, and, last but not least, shipment. Additionally, logisticians give data summaries to supply chain partners in an effort to improve the visibility of commodities as they move from point to point. To improve customer service, logistics partners should boost transparency by coordinating live tracking updates and establishing open lines of contact.

The stakes for delivering products “on time” differ depending on the sector. When the consumer is a patient and the product is a potentially life-saving gadget, supply chain managers cannot afford to be late with deliveries of vital medical devices. A well-run supply chain effectively conveys this to all stakeholders, ensuring that all products arrive on schedule and in good operating order, without incurring additional expenditures.

How to: Logistics in Healthcare

Healthcare logistics innovation enables the emergence of a new type of value-based supply chain, from delivering prescriptions to offering patients transportation to and from the doctor. The goals of the healthcare supply chain must be reexamined in order to meet a new patient-centered model of care delivery, while also adjusting to the specific demands of agencies. By employing a comprehensive approach to supply chain management that centers both patients and professionals, this will help enhance patient outcomes while also reinforcing long-term supply chain goals between partners.

Waste management, storage and inventory management, device maintenance and cleanliness, and shipping are all major difficulties in healthcare logistics. When you’re dealing with a lack of efficient storage space, rising labor costs, and tedious manual operations that professionals must perform, it might be difficult to come up with alternate alternatives.

According to a 2019 Cardinal Health poll, 42% of respondents believe supply chain labor takes too much time away from patient care, and 45% of front-line doctors believe manual supply chain duties have a “very” or “very” detrimental influence on patient care.

2 We can design logistics services to prevent clinician fatigue while allowing caregivers to spend more time directly connecting with patients by reimagining the supply chain to make it work for them.

Health Recovery Solutions is committed to creating long-term solutions, and investing in our own in-house logistics team was the first step toward designing a more efficient telehealth supply chain. Patient Direct, our telemedicine home delivery solution, helps agencies save money while enhancing service quality, making telehealth more accessible to organizations who don’t have the resources or personnel to engage in inventory management or device cleanliness.

Patient Direct: A Convenient Telehealth Solution

Our in-house logistics staff works with your organization at the Patient Direct warehouse to ensure that patients get the telehealth equipment they need when they need it. HRS telehealth units are controlled at a centralized shipping facility off-site, where orders are processed and quality-checked before being shipped directly to patients.

Our patient-centered logistics program addresses issues like inventory management, device maintenance and cleanliness, and shipping that healthcare institutions face. Patient Direct orders and returns are simple to place on www.shiphrs.com, and all orders are completed the same day, resulting in faster care delivery and less downtime. Kits are cleaned, tested, and distributed to new patients with real-time tracking information. The HRS logistics team tracks and manages the return of a patient’s equipment once they’ve been discharged, resulting in a speedy inventory turnaround time. With inventory tracking, we supply shipping labels and organize house pickups to swiftly and effectively return products from all across the country.

We’ve been able to build solutions to boost efficiency, save costs, and promote positive patient outcomes by identifying inefficiencies in the healthcare supply chain. Patient Direct enhances space efficiency while reducing labor expenses by managing kit inventory and sanitizing devices, allowing physicians to focus more resources on patient care. The future of expanding telehealth access looks bright with the usage of a patient-first, end-to-end supply chain solution like Patient Direct!