Workflow automation tools bring efficiency to healthcare

Why are workflow automation tools so critical to the healthcare industry? After all, as long as anyone can remember, Excel spreadsheets have been the go-to for data management and automation. Excel is still used by 99.99% of businesses worldwide. It is used to organize information, perform calculations, and even do simple automation for some tasks. Yet, as data visibility and sharing become key for more and more companies across all industries, Excel’s lack of real-time collaboration, potential for errors and discrepancies, multiple versions, and inability to integrate with external systems pose a myriad of challenges that hinder efficiency and transparency.

Data-heavy Excel spreadsheets, while comfortable to many, are becoming increasingly inefficient in managing inventory and pricing. Workflow automation tools not only increase supply chain efficiency and drive more value for customers but also save time and cost as well as labor. According to a Gartner survey, 95% of supply chain professionals have already invested in or plan to invest in inventory management and workflow solutions in the coming years. But given the reality that 49% of supply chain professionals still report combing through data manually when it comes to making decisions, we still have a long way to go.

In the healthcare supply chain, inventory management suppliers often send reports to their customers—a task that has traditionally involved numerous Microsoft Excel spreadsheets running multiple macros, then uploading and emailing them to customers, who in turn, would have to download them for review before uploading and emailing them back for a discussion a few days later. For any given system, these raw reports can contain large quantities of data and information at risk of backorder that a vendor must prioritize, identify the action and then execute.

Workflow automation tools, such as Supply Chain Foundations—developed in-house at Medline—are designed to increase supply chain efficiency and, ultimately, drive more value for customers.

For Medline, the proactive backorder report (PBO)—which enables customers to identify, review and act on potential supply chain disruptions—is one of four interactive reports available as part of the larger workflow management tool. (See below.) For customers, it improves fill-rate performance and minimizes disruption to the clinical end user in an easier-to-use format. On the supplier side, it means more efficient information processing and streamlining of internal action steps required by customers.

A key feature of the tool is a cloud-based inventory and workflow management capability that simplifies the view for the customer, showing the top 20 items at risk and flagging those that are most critical. This tracker continuously refreshes, retaining any statuses or tasks from week to week. It also features a chat function, through which analysts and customers can communicate in real time. These messages are archived for a year. It also links to and consolidates the original Excel data into a high-level record for search, showing 25 records at a time. Sorts can be changed and filtered by risk level, specific items, warehouse locations and more.

As Spencer Togstad, senior prime vendor analyst (PVA) at Medline, who is leading design of the new platform, explains, “Everyone can work together in a single cloud space now.”

“More than anything, it’s an advance planning tool,” Brandt says. “It’s able to show customers that they have or could have a problem so that an action plan can be developed ahead of time to mitigate any risk.” For example, in looking at months of inventory on hand, an item Medline stocks for a customer could reach a warning threshold, meaning it’s at risk of going on backorder. Depending on how long an item is expected to be on backorder, a PVA will work with the customer to determine a viable substitute and by extension have it automatically designated for the Medline Autosub program.

A new online, interactive proactive backorder (PBO) report is the first of four reports. The full suite includes:

Analysts test and provide feedback on several iterations of a standard Excel macro that could then be reinterpreted for the web and made immediately available for customers. Once the prototype is rolled out, customers can test the tool as part of a pilot and provide feedback on their findings.

“The new tool improved communication with clear action expectations,” says a user from Stanford Medicine. “We liked the interface and are hoping for future reporting to be worked into this format. We found it straightforward, user friendly and enjoyed having it as an addition to our standard report.”

“It all comes down to doing everything with a purpose,” Brandt says. “From a staffing standpoint, our customers are very challenged. Dumping data on their desk doesn’t accomplish anything. We need to do our job of identifying what’s most important and impactful to their business and then offer up what we believe are their best options so they can act in a timelier fashion and make more informed decisions.”

Moving forward, the ongoing development and implementation of automated management tools require collaboration from both vendor and customer for more customization and accurate reporting. By leveraging these and other automated enterprise solutions, healthcare systems can achieve greater efficiency and resilience—leaving the uncertainty of siloed spreadsheets in the past.