KLAS: Providers seek more integration with pharma automation
Hospitals working to enhance patient care, while improving their bottom lines are finding medication inventory management to be an important part of the process. A report by healthcare research firm KLAS, addressed the question of what role pharmacy automation plays in managing medication inventories and which vendors' automation systems are helping.
"Improving drug inventory management processes can have a significant impact by reducing inventory on hand and losses from expired medications," wrote Coray Tate, the report’s author.
Most providers surveyed were using their central pharmacy automation software as their primary tool for inventory management. Overall, providers indicated there was room for improvement. However, Tate stated, "Using automation software was significantly better than manual tracking, and some reported dramatic financial savings after moving from a manual process."
In addition, many multi-site organizations are looking to leverage their automation software further by centrally managing their inventory on an enterprise basis. However, enterprise inventory management is complex and meeting needs across multiple facilities is not without its challenges. That said, providers doing enterprise inventory management report it strengthens their buying power and allows them to further consolidate inventory and reduce waste.
While asking more from their central pharmacy automation, providers are also seeking to automate dispensing cabinets and to hold and dispense more medications. The majority of providers surveyed were dispensing at least 75 percent of medications through cabinets.
Providers reported that formulary database integration, tracking medication expiration dates and lot numbers and reporting where key areas need improvement were important to the process. "What it comes down to is this," noted Tate, "hospitals need tools to improve their medication inventory management process to help reduce costs. Automation needs to be a big part of the answer, and vendors need to deliver improved solutions to a larger portion of their customer base. Automation may not be able to solve all problems, but it can be a big part of the solution and needs to do better."
In the report, integration was the feature enhancement most requested by providers. CareFusion, Cerner, McKesson and Omnicell provide options to enhance integration, but vendors are going to have to work outside of automation to be impactful, the Orem, Utah-based KLAS stated. Sixty percent of providers use central pharmacy automation software as their primary inventory management tool, although few reported a process that did not include some type of human intervention. McKesson and PHACTS were rated most effective for medication inventory management.
Most multi-site organizations currently manage medication inventory on a localized (per hospital) basis. However, none of those using an enterprise approach would go back to localized inventory management, while 25 percent of those using a localized approach plan to move to enterprise inventory management.
Twenty percent of those surveyed said they are looking to increase dispensing further, and none of the respondents reporting plan to decrease dispensing. CareFusion and Omnicell customers were most likely to use their cabinets to dispense higher volumes, KLAS stated.
KLAS stated that providers need better reporting tools to analyze data for improved efficiency. No one vendor was stellar, but McKesson, Omnicell and PHACTS scored above average for the central pharmacy. ABTG and Cerner scored above average for cabinets.
"Improving drug inventory management processes can have a significant impact by reducing inventory on hand and losses from expired medications," wrote Coray Tate, the report’s author.
Most providers surveyed were using their central pharmacy automation software as their primary tool for inventory management. Overall, providers indicated there was room for improvement. However, Tate stated, "Using automation software was significantly better than manual tracking, and some reported dramatic financial savings after moving from a manual process."
In addition, many multi-site organizations are looking to leverage their automation software further by centrally managing their inventory on an enterprise basis. However, enterprise inventory management is complex and meeting needs across multiple facilities is not without its challenges. That said, providers doing enterprise inventory management report it strengthens their buying power and allows them to further consolidate inventory and reduce waste.
While asking more from their central pharmacy automation, providers are also seeking to automate dispensing cabinets and to hold and dispense more medications. The majority of providers surveyed were dispensing at least 75 percent of medications through cabinets.
Providers reported that formulary database integration, tracking medication expiration dates and lot numbers and reporting where key areas need improvement were important to the process. "What it comes down to is this," noted Tate, "hospitals need tools to improve their medication inventory management process to help reduce costs. Automation needs to be a big part of the answer, and vendors need to deliver improved solutions to a larger portion of their customer base. Automation may not be able to solve all problems, but it can be a big part of the solution and needs to do better."
In the report, integration was the feature enhancement most requested by providers. CareFusion, Cerner, McKesson and Omnicell provide options to enhance integration, but vendors are going to have to work outside of automation to be impactful, the Orem, Utah-based KLAS stated. Sixty percent of providers use central pharmacy automation software as their primary inventory management tool, although few reported a process that did not include some type of human intervention. McKesson and PHACTS were rated most effective for medication inventory management.
Most multi-site organizations currently manage medication inventory on a localized (per hospital) basis. However, none of those using an enterprise approach would go back to localized inventory management, while 25 percent of those using a localized approach plan to move to enterprise inventory management.
Twenty percent of those surveyed said they are looking to increase dispensing further, and none of the respondents reporting plan to decrease dispensing. CareFusion and Omnicell customers were most likely to use their cabinets to dispense higher volumes, KLAS stated.
KLAS stated that providers need better reporting tools to analyze data for improved efficiency. No one vendor was stellar, but McKesson, Omnicell and PHACTS scored above average for the central pharmacy. ABTG and Cerner scored above average for cabinets.