Managing PAR inventories doesn’t have to be difficult

Published on: November 23, 2018

Managing your PAR Inventories just got easier
Healthcare spending costs are on the rise and so are solutions to curb and control these costs. Hospitals maintain an inventory of tens of thousands of supplies—from bandages and syringes to drugs, surgical instruments and medical devices. Supply chain costs consume as much as 40 percent of the total operating budget, the second-largest expense for hospitals after labor. (Hospitals & Health Network)

Point of Use Systems and PAR Inventories
In Healthcare, up to 80% of spending is attributed to physician preference items. Required for daily procedures and anticipated cases, these items are pulled from storage (the point-of-use) and stocked through pick lists. Storage replenished from inventory is called a PAR (Pick and Replenish, or Periodic Automatic Replenishment) location.

Traditional PAR locations are not completely automated, but as healthcare spending increases, the need to manage costly inventories – just-in-time, becomes imperative.

Reducing PAR Inventories through Automation
If PAR levels can be reduced, less inventory needs to be carried at the replenishment location (lowering carrying costs), resulting in fewer purchased quantities (lowering the overall cost of goods).

Managing PAR inventories similar to managing parts in a manufacturing environment brings PAR to the next level. Using hand-held devices to record and report on real-time usage allows for the immediate ordering of replacement items and same or next-day delivery – just-in-time, ensuring lean PAR Inventory practices and better bottom line results.

Binary Stream’s Healthcare Materials Management (HMM) is a consumption based supply chain management solution that extends the rich functionality of Dynamics GP to deliver control, simplify your deep and complex business requirements and connect your supply chain. Our solution has long-offered handheld functionality, but we are looking forward to the opportunities that open up with the release of Windows 8, its web client and its integration with Dynamics GP. Management of inventories is a key area for healthcare organizations to increase their operational efficiencies. Handhelds are well-suited to this type of requirement – could the future hold the same for tablets? Tablets are already positioned to deliver critical management reporting from within the enterprise…

What this could mean for healthcare organizations
PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers) states that implementing point-of-use technology, such as handhelds to calculate PAR and transmit to transactions automatically to your supply chain management software is one of the top ten best practices for Inventory management.  The ability to stay on top of your PAR Inventories just got easier and more affordable. Use dedicated handhelds for application-specific needs, introduce tablets for extreme ease-of-use and combine both solutions for the best all worlds – meeting your needs, lowering inventory and operating costs and keeping lean.

The power of a complete supply chain management solution tied with the robust financial solution of Dynamics GP, with front-end integration to a billing solution (such as Cerner or Allscripts) and healthcare can start managing those steep costs at a fraction of the cost.

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