Surgery Center of Fairbanks Receives Best Practice Award

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Surgery Center of Fairbanks Receives Best Practice Award

AUGUST 2019

Inventory Optimization Solutions (IOS) in Aliso Viejo, California, recognized The Surgery Center of Fairbanks (SCF) in Fairbanks, Alaska, with its 2019 Best Practice Award Q2, according to an SCF release. The honor recognized SCF’s capabilities in streamlining processes to optimize inventory and reduce cost, tackling such issues as management of physical counting, labelling and organization of storage areas and unit of measure. IOS selects and recognizes organizations that demonstrate supply chain excellence quarterly.

When Jamie Conant, RN, SCF's administrator, took the role, she and her colleagues identified areas where supply chain systems and processes could be improved. The goals were to address:

  • overstocked inventory;
  • inaccurate counts of on-hand supplies;
  • par levels in need of adjustment;
  • items without locations assigned;
  • inaccurate prices in our system;
  • large-scale inaccuracies in unit of measure; and
  • locations in the system to identify items on the shelves.

As a result of these improvements, SCF reduced inventory, improved price accuracy and the ability to negotiate pricing, manage on-hand inventory more efficiently and cost-effectively, maintain data as related to unit of measure, and conduct quarterly inventories to ensure accurate physical counts and par levels.

To ensure ongoing accuracy, Conant leads a daily five-minute huddle to ensure everyone works together to minimize stock on hand, while running a highly efficient center. “These things all help The Surgery Center of Fairbanks stay streamlined, accurate and driving toward cost reductions,” Conant said in the release. “Our team is proud to deliver care with the highest levels of efficiency and quality with full dedication to our patients.”

The SCF team also has successfully leveraged a materials management information system for improvements throughout the procurement process. “Now, it’s easy to find an item anywhere in our system, count and inventory it," Conant said. "In fact, our team reduced on-hand inventory by almost a quarter of a million dollars in the first quarter of 2019.”