The Five Whys

Eric Ries describes in his book, The Lean Startup, “The Five Whys” and it’s application on root cause analysis to improve problem solving. Consider that most healthcare practices are small businesses and try to operate on a lean model, then this book would provide some great guidance for you. I can often apply this to healthcare materials management during my first conversation with a practice.

What is your biggest challenge when getting supplies? The items I order are always on backorder. Why? The distributor doesn’t have enough supply when I need it. Why? They say I’m ordering more than my allocation. Why? Because my distributor did not know they should have increased our allocation. Why? Because the purchaser did not know they were supposed to tell the distributor we needed an increase. Why? They don’t have purchasing experience and they weren’t really trained properly.

I’ve spoken to many facilities that come across this problem and a majority of practices do not have the budget nor resources to hire an experienced purchaser. The Coronavirus has put a huge strain on supply chain because of demand but when customers order above their allocated amounts then it backs the supply chain up even more and takes longer to dig everyone out of the hole. The below tips don’t take into account variables like order size, shipment schedules, minimum order amounts, etc. Please contact STIM Healthcare if you need any help or have questions with materials management at your practice. Info@Stimhealthcare.com or contact me directly at wbraxton@stimhealthcare.com

Tips to reduce backorders

1. Plan – Keep an eye on your schedule and make sure you plan for peaks and dips in your patient volume.

2. Be Consistent – Allocations are set by distributors for the same reason you don’t order everything you need for the year at once: Costs, storage, and shelf life. If you use 10 boxes of syringes a month, don’t order 50 boxes every 4-5 months. Order 10 boxes a month or about 2-3 boxes a week.

3. Communicate – When you see dips or spikes coming in usage of certain items, contact your sales rep and let them know.

Please contact STIM Healthcare if you need any help or have questions with materials management at your practice. Info@Stimhealthcare.com or contact me directly at wbraxton@stimhealthcare.com

If you’re interested in listening to this book, use this referred Audible Link to The Lean Startup by Eric Ries: https://a.co/e0wpO19 (It's totally free and you won't need a credit card if it is your first time accepting an Audible book from a friend).

See Eric Ries explain “the five whys” in this video https://www.sloww.co/5-whys/

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