By Randy Ware, President/CEO, WestCMR
Finalizing your 2016 goals? Have you considered the predictions in industry trends for next year?
PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ most recent survey summarizes the top ten trends shaping the health industry in 2016. While delivering exceptional patient care is always the top priority, reducing surgical supply waste each is also a pressing concern. Annually, procedural facilities face more than $5 billion[1] in waste related to high-cost medical devices. This observation directly relates to the last trend on PwC’s list – “The Medical Cost Mystery” – a mystery WestCMR consistently helps to alleviate each year.
Did you know that approximately fifteen percent of the funds spent on operating room surgical supplies are discarded simply because they are never used? Large quantities of high-end surgical supplies and implants go unopened, become obsolete, or expire and are then absorbed as an acceptable “loss.” How is this tolerable in our age of fiscal and environmental sustainability? More so, what can be done to lighten this waste?
WestCMR buys and sells overstock, which in turn enables facilities to access products in smaller quantities and at affordable prices. This partnership aids facilities in putting supplies back to use and, equally importantly, keeps them out of landfills. By being resourceful, excess can transform from being a burden on a facility to ultimately improving patient care.
We offer a logical best practice in the healthcare industry that is both fiscally responsible and puts a stop to sweeping waste under the rug as “the cost of doing business.”
Interested in managing your disposable surgical inventory? Contact one of our Regional Consultants to learn how WestCMR can help.
[1] PNC Healthcare; GHX quantitative research study (August 2011)