Author: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy

Managing purchasing during and after COVID-19

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: August 18, 2020
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: coronavirus, COVID-19, inventory management, purchasing, Supply chain, Vendor Management

The pandemic has had a widespread impact on supply chain operations throughout the healthcare industry. For example, in April 2020, the GPO Premier surveyed its members and reported “active cases of COVID-19 create surge demand of 17X the typical burn rate for N95 respirators, 8.6X for face shields, 6X for swabs, 5X for isolation gowns, […]

Managing ED Overcrowding: Q&A With Sharp HealthCare’s Janet Hanley

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: January 30, 2020
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: ED overcrowding, hospital bed management, hospital bed placement, Patient Flow, patient throughput

In the United States, ED overcrowding is a major concern in most hospitals. Recent media reports highlight the perils and challenges of busy EDs, including “A Doctor’s Diary: The Overnight Shift in the E.R.” in last month’s New York Times. That article noted, “Americans visit the E.R. more than 140 million times a year – […]

Are You Compliant With Medicare Reporting for Medical Device Credits?

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: October 17, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: cardiacdevices, devicewarranty, medicareregulations, medicarereporting

In recent years, medical device credit payments have been closely examined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as many hospitals have been found non-compliant with reporting requirements. For instance, the Office of Inspector General released a report in 2018 highlighting more than 200 health systems in the United States that did not fulfill […]

3 Steps to Better Supply Spend Management for Stroke Centers

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: September 18, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Benchmarking, Bundling, Cost Containment, Metrics, Spend Management, Stroke Centers, Supply chain, Vendor Management

Stroke centers incur significant supply spend due to expensive stroke device investments and by providing 24/7 neurosurgical coverage. Effective management of supply spend enables stroke centers to drive innovation, provide quality care, and increase profits. To achieve effective management, hospitals can facilitate collaboration between stroke leadership, supply chain teams, and physicians to choose the best […]

Top 5 Tips for Implementing a Patient Flow Management Solution

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: August 13, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: environmental services, Patient Flow, Patient Logistics, Saas, Turnaround Times

Patient flow management solutions allow hospitals to effectively manage real-time patient transfers and bed logistics to improve care quality. The patient flow management solutions market is categorized into hardware, software, and services. U.S. healthcare providers prefer software solutions as they offer better integration capabilities with computers and mobile phones. Patient flow management products enable users […]

Setting Expectations for Courier Services Providers

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: April 4, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Courier Services, Freight, Outsourcing, Performance Benchmarks, Purchased Services

Recent mergers and acquisitions have resulted in a complex process of integrating individual care sites into an organization’s central network system. With an emphasis to reduce overhead and operating costs, hospitals should focus on centralizing their freight spend to generate cost savings. Organizations are generally aware of inbound and outbound shipment costs related to courier […]

The Quest for Price Parity: How to Align Hospital and Non-Hospital Location’s Cost Containment Strategies

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: February 19, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Cost Containment, Mergers & Acquisitions, Non-Acutes, Price Parity, System Expansion

Alternate care sites—clinics, urgent care, physician practices, home health, and long-term care—increasingly represent key access points for patients. A recent survey, conducted by the Health Industry Distributors Association, found that 71% of health systems plan to increase their community footprint by acquiring non-hospital facilities. Despite the potential financial benefits of system expansion, providers continue to […]

Key Considerations When Choosing and Installing an Infant Security System

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: November 23, 2018
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Abduction Prevention, Departmental collaboration, Infant Security, RFID

Define Your Requirements Before shopping for systems, hospitals should review their existing infrastructure— including security systems, human resources, hardware and software support, technology devices, storage facilities, and IT services—to support a smooth integration of infant protection solution. Hospitals can form an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, safety representatives, nursing leadership, and educators to outline the facility’s […]