Medical practices are often faced with the difficult task of managing their stock levels. It can be tricky to ensure that you have enough medical supplies on hand, but not too many that they go to waste. Here are some top 5 tips to manage your inventory:
1. Keep track of how much medical supplies you have used over time.
This will help you predict future needs and avoid ordering too many items at once. Run a 12-month CPT analysis. Look at how many braces, wound care supplies, OTC products you dispensed each month and highlight the largest monthly number of each product.
2. Establish An Inventory Number For Each Product.
Look at your highest monthly volume for each product. This is your base number. If the product requires multiple sizes, you should double your base number. If the product requires multiple sizes, you should double your base number. For example, the practice billed out 15 cam walkers; therefore, you need to keep a total of 30 cam walkers in stock in various sizes (5 small, 5 medium, 10 large, 10 XL). Ask your MAs what sizes you use the most. If you use mostly large or XL keep a larger quantity of those. This will be your base inventory number.
All other products that do not require different sizes keep the largest monthly supply plus 25%. For example, if you dispensed four AMERX 30-day Collagen Powder Wound Care Kits, you would always keep 5 kits in stock. Five kits will now be your base inventory number.
3. Now you will label your shelves.
Since you have previously organized your inventory, you are now going to put labels on the shelves that hold the products. On those labels, you will also put your base inventory number.
4. Every 3 months compare your inventory levels.
Have an employee go through and compare the actual counts to the inventory number and reorder enough to match the required inventory number. For example, you have 2 small cam walkers, and your inventory count is supposed to be 5 you would order 3 more cam walkers. This makes inventory ordering easy and painless.
5. Order larger amounts of the product if the cost is better.
For example, AMERX does case lot discounts. If you need 2 more AMERX 30-day Collagen Powder Wound Care Kits, but it is cheaper to buy a case of 4 order the case of 4 and then you will not have to order any next month.
Conclusion
By using these top 5 tips to manage your inventory, you should have no problem organizing and setting up your medical supply inventory control system.
Holly Burkman, MBA
Holly is a recognized international speaker and author. Working with her husband to build a medical practice from the ground up, she has handled all aspects of the podiatry field from medical assisting to billing and practice management. Currently, she spends her time as a practice management consultant helping physicians learn how to run successful medical practices by implementing protocols. Holly holds numerous degrees and certificates that give her the credibility to help practices; however, it is the years of personal in-office experience that allow her to offer customized solutions that make practices profitable again.
