The rise of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) has been a bright spot in the healthcare industry for the past decade, offering a new way for the industry to provide cost-effective, high-quality care to patients. Driven by a rise in facilities, rebounding patient volumes and changes to payer policies, the ASC market is expected to grow to $59.3 billion by 2028.
Despite benefitting from lower overhead and higher reimbursement, ASCs operate on tight margins. The average ASC spends about $2.9 million annually on drugs and other medical supplies, according to VMG Health's 2022 "Multi-Specialty ASC Benchmarking Study." To help ensure long-term profitability, ASCs must focus on streamlining their supply chain management processes or risk decreased profitability for individual cases.
As ASCs adapt to growing patient volumes, building a clinically integrated enterprise through automation will be crucial for long-term success. ASCs can improve operational efficiency, leading to improved patient outcomes and greater satisfaction among patients and staff by automating back-end processes,
Centralize ordering Investing in a centralized purchasing platform can significantly reduce supply chain costs and ease administrative burdens for staff in the long run. Currently, most ASCs rely on manual processes, requiring staff to visit the websites of dozens of suppliers to place orders. This is time-consuming, especially for teams with limited bandwidth. Furthermore, since most ASCs lack full-time materials managers, nurses or techs often handle ordering, which can increase costs and divert attention from patient care.
A centralized ordering platform lets staff quickly locate, compare and purchase items with a simple click of a button. The platform should provide guidance on the most cost-effective and advantageous products available, improving contract compliance and streamlining the purchasing process. By implementing a centralized ordering solution, ASCs can save valuable time and resources while enabling them to access the necessary medical supplies for quality patient care.
Improving the ordering process doesn’t have to be a significant investment. Affordable materials management, practice management and inventory management systems offer lightweight enterprise resource planning (ERP) functionality. The ideal ordering platform should also provide real-time inventory updates to make staff aware of the availability of the items they need. Moreover, advanced features should recommend the most cost-effective products based on the center's needs and usage patterns.
