Inventory management not only effects a business’s bottom
line, but in some settings it may impact the consumer’s health and wellness. Albeit,
I am not referring to the typical business that comes to mind when discussing inventory
management. I am referring to the business of selling blood to hospitals to be
used for transfusions.
Authors of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, a medical journal, recently came out in favor of
a new modernized blood management system. Their push was motivated by a
literature review which presented evidence that blood stored for longer amounts
of time may have negative impacts on the transfusion recipient. Until randomized
experiments that are currently under way have concluded, the scientists do not
have substantial proof to back up their claims of correlation.
In the meantime, the journal is encouraging blood businesses to review
their inventory management systems in order to reduce blood storage times. Most
blood management systems operate on a first-in, first-out principal, rather
than other inventory strategies (such as just in-time delivery) which
prioritize holding smaller amounts of inventory.
The hypothesized link between the age of the blood and a patient’s
health does not seem to be surprising news to the medical community. The
Alliance for Community Transfusion Services (ACTS), a group of Texas and
Oklahoma blood centers, are already in the process of implementing a new
software system called HemaControl to manage blood across the supply chain. Once
blood inventory information is entered into HemaControl, the software matches
it with demand plans based on specific demand needs, such as ABO blood type and
location. Changes in demand and inventory are used to change how much blood is
taken from donors, thereby building flexibility into the inventory process.
While new technologies like HemaControl will likely improve patient care,
it is unclear if the cost savings from inventory reduction will offset the cost
of implementing the new technology. Not to sound unsympathetic, but at a time of record high health care costs
in the U.S., this is an important trade-off to consider. Do you think HemaControl
will save money for the Alliance for Community Transfusion Services blood centers?
Sources:
The Society
of Thoracic Surgeons
HemaControl and the Alliance for Community Transfusion
Services
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