DUBLIN, Ohio, May 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Clinicians report
spending more than twice the amount of time they would like to on
supply chain-related tasks, and as a result have less time with
patients and increased stress levels, according to the fourth
annual Cardinal Health Hospital Supply Chain Survey. Additionally,
25 percent of those managing supply chains – along with 20 percent
of clinicians – say that supply chain tasks "stress them out."
"The burden on clinicians of non value-added supply chain tasks
creates a host of other issues in health care organizations. Most
critically, it pulls clinical focus away from patients and adds to
existing stress on the staff when retention and satisfaction is
already a concern," said Lori
Walker, vice president of Distribution Services at Cardinal
Health. "Unfortunately, many doctors and nurses feel that solving
these problems is outside of their span of control, which further
affects job satisfaction."
Clinician frustration around supply chain issues is
common.
The survey, which included hospital supply chain
decision makers as well as clinicians, showed two out of three (67
percent) respondents have observed clinical staff frustration
caused by supply-related issues, including:
- Missing supplies – three quarters (74 percent) of frontline
providers say looking for supplies that should be at hand (but
aren't) has the most negative impact on their workplace
productivity, and even more department managers (84 percent) say
the same;
- Manual tasks – 49 percent of frontline providers report
manually counting and tracking supplies with nearly half (46
percent) of frontline providers saying this has a "very" or
"somewhat" negative impact on their workplace productivity;
- Utilization – 70 percent of respondents noted wasting and
overutilization of supplies as a significant or somewhat
significant problem within the organization, with a higher
percentage among department managers (81 percent).
Medical and surgical distributors can make a difference in
organizational success.
An overwhelming 94 percent of
those surveyed recognize supply chain management's strong
correlation to financial success, but expectations of medical and
surgical distributors are increasing. Respondents are looking to
their distributor to play a bigger role in ensuring the
organization's seamless operational performance, with 88 percent
saying this capability is "very" or "somewhat" important. This is
especially true among those closest to the supply chain process,
with 71 percent of supply chain personnel describing this as "very"
important.
Another important factor according to the majority of
respondents (85 percent) is that they prefer to work with a
distributor that makes recommendations for their organization that
puts patient care front and center.
"There are solutions for improving supply chain operations,
including automation, workflow simplification and storeroom
optimization," said Walker. "Cardinal Health offers a portfolio of
products and services that help to reduce waste, increase
efficiency and workflow, and, most importantly, unburdens
clinicians of supply chain tasks and gets them back to spending
time with their patients."
The Cardinal Health Hospital Supply Chain Survey, fielded by
SERMO, provides a comprehensive look at health care organization
supply chain perceptions from frontline clinicians and hospital
supply chain decision makers. For more information about this
survey or Cardinal Health's portfolio of products and services,
please visit cardinalhealth.com/supplychain.
About the Cardinal Health Hospital Supply Chain
Survey
The survey was fielded January 16-28,
2019, using an online methodology. Samples drawn from
SERMO's online panel of health care providers included 306
total respondents from various health care organizations working in
the following roles: "frontline" clinicians, including surgeons,
nurses and physicians (n=81); hospital administrators, including
hospital management, vice presidents, senior directors, "C-suite"
personnel, and equivalent titles (n=75); supply chain decision
makers, including vice presidents, supply chain managers, nurse
managers, operating room (OR) nurses and purchasing agents (n=75);
and procedural department management personnel, including chief
medical directors, catheter lab managers and OR/theater managers
(n=75).
About Cardinal Health
Cardinal Health, Inc. is a
global, integrated healthcare services and products company,
providing customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems,
pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and
physician offices worldwide. The company provides clinically proven
medical products, pharmaceuticals and cost-effective solutions that
enhance supply chain efficiency from hospital to home. To help
combat prescription drug abuse, the company and its education
partners created Generation Rx, a national drug education and
awareness program. Backed by nearly 100 years of experience, with
approximately 50,000 employees in nearly 46 countries, Cardinal
Health ranks #14 on the Fortune 500. For more
information, visit cardinalhealth.com, follow
@CardinalHealth on Twitter, @cardinalhealthwings on
Facebook and connect on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/
company/cardinal-health.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cardinal-health-fourth-annual-survey-finds-supply-chain-tasks-causing-stress-for-clinicians-and-impacting-patient-care-300845503.html
SOURCE Cardinal Health