Increase Your Hospital's Overall Efficiency with a Few Simple Tips

Written by Heather Legg

Buying Hospital Products on a Budget

Hospitals, like most businesses these days, are intent on watching their spending.

It's a tough time out there, and every business needs to be careful with purchasing and spending to prevent falling into the red. With that in mind, how can a hospital get what it needs without over spending?

1. Make sure you are running low or out of it -  Before buying something, check around to make sure the product isn't somewhere else in the hospital, stored and unused. A high number of products gets misplaced and forgotten in hospitals due to shift changes and different people being in charge of supplies. Have delegated people in charge of not only ordering, but also storing supplies, as well as keeping good inventory of what is in stock and what is needed.

2. Don't be afraid to change vendors - If the hospital has had a contract with a particular vendor for certain products, and that contract is coming to date, look around for competitive options. Just because a vendor has been used in the past, doesn't mean the hospital needs to stick with that one if someone else is offering a better price. Products add up and you want to purchase from the vendor offering the best price combined with customer service.

3. Is it something still used? Sometimes a better, cheaper product is introduced on the market that can replace an older product. Whoever is in charge of product purchasing should keep an eye out for new products that may be not only better, but also more cost efficient.

4. Efficient recycling - Even though recycling isn't actually a product, a lot of savings can be found in efficient recycling. Because of the high cost of medical waste recycling, it's important for hospital employees to know what things to recycle in medical waste and what to put in regular recycling. Substantial savings can be found here.

5. Buy energy efficient products - Hospitals go through high numbers of products like light bulbs. If energy efficient lighting can be purchased, huge cost savings can be found. Not only will the product have to be replaced less often, but the savings will carry over into utility savings as well.

Certain things are out of the question for hospitals to cut and save money on, but other products can be big money savers.

Make sure the staff in charge of purchasing is well versed and up to date on what the hospital needs, when it needs these things and the best vendor to buy from.

About the Author

Heather Legg is a writer who covers topics on frugal living, social media and Charles Phillips Oracle.