Anyone who has been to the hospital for a procedure, or has been given a prescription for medication, knows that drugs aren’t cheap. Recently, the cost for hospital inpatient drugs has increased an average of 23% each year. Not surprisingly, the prices of name-brand drugs have also seen a large increase.

These costly increases can make a dent in hospital budgets, and even cut out seemingly unrelated services, such as hiring additional staff. This can prevent some hospitals from performing at their best. How do we solve this? One solution is to make the best use of the pharmaceutical budget by implementing medical inventory management software into the hospital’s technology. This type of management can aid hospitals in managing drug shortages, empower purchasing decisions, and benefit the pharmacy through increased inventory turns.

Technology Gives Insight

The ability to see all drugs on hand is a phenomenal organizational and planning tool that is most useful in many situations, such as a sudden price increase. This is important, as medication generally claims 5-8% of hospital operating expenses. With exact knowledge of their stock of each drug, hospitals can then decide how to allocate or use drugs based on specific circumstances such as price, amount, and need. Hospitals are also able to account for the use of drugs and better determine how and what to purchase for greatest financial benefit. For example, expiration dates and locations throughout the facility will help prevent unused inventory and buying an unnecessary surplus.

Technology and Supply-Chain Strategies

With drugs being such an important part of patient visits to hospitals, from minor surgeries to life-saving trauma care, it’s vital that hospitals keep up an inventory while managing fluctuating and rising costs. This is where medical inventory management software and supply-chain strategies come into play. They allow pharmacies to make better decisions when distributing drugs throughout the health system, meaning that expired and wasted medication can better be avoided, and patients will have their needed medication at the proper time.

Additional benefits of medical inventory management software include:

• Capacity for re-order reminders to keep proper stock of medication
• Efficient tracking of all drugs, which increases accountability
• Better cost understanding for each patient’s procedures and needs

As hospitals seek an answer to making the best use of their budgets, in order to provide the most affordable and comprehensive services to their patients, medical inventory management software will give them the tools to do just that. Through this technology, pharmacies will be given data that will show them the ways money is being wasted, and how to better allocate the appropriate amount of medication to various locations.

The hospital setting is not the only place where inventory software can have a positive impact on business and customer service practices. Private medical practices and dental offices can receive the same great benefits from being able to track and manage their inventories. If there aren’t practices already put in place to continually review expiration dates, rotate inventory, and ensure necessary stock is maintained, inventory software can turn a tedious, perhaps forgotten chore into a resource that can greatly improve many aspects of your business.