What’s
your app-titude?
Smart phone, tablet PC apps
slowly nudging supply chain’s head in the cloud
by Rick Dana Barlow
Apparently,
there’s an app for just about everything. Send in the clouds.
Whether you’re trying to equip your smart
phone or tablet PC, you’ll find many options to fill your megabytes and
gigabits of memory, a virtual toy store of
silly-to-sublime-to-uniquely-useful little programs.
In fact, Healthcare Purchasing News
is inundated with media callouts and press releases touting this new mobile
app or that one and why it’s the best product since [fill in the blank.]
Certainly in healthcare, smart phones and
tablet PCs represent the latest efficiency craze for clinicians to handle
such tasks as scheduling, medical records, orders and prescriptions,
diagnostic imaging (but not for actual diagnoses, mind you) and even patient
vital signs, among others.
On the administrative side, C-suite
financial and operations executives rely on their smart devices for quick
and as-detailed-as-possible views on how the business of healthcare is
running, using diagram- and digit-filled dashboards and databases,
electronic scheduling programs, satellite GPS (global positioning system)
and reporting tools.
Within the healthcare supply chain,
however, the use of function-specific apps remains spotty, particularly if
the supply chain professional cannot link his or her smart phone or tablet
PC to the facility’s materials management information system (MMIS) or
supply chain enterprise-resource planning (ERP) module.
As a result, HPN tapped a number of supply
chain professionals to gauge the breadth and depth of available supply
chain-specific mobile apps, as well as how they’re used to augment current
information technology tools and improve processes.
What are the key trends? You have to dig a
bit deeper into supply chain’s component functions for relevant apps as
supply chain leaders tend to rely more on general business apps to manage
their own workflow. But experts largely agree that there’s plenty of
opportunity and promise to expand the scope of those must-have electronic
digital assistants.
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Corey Ackerman |
Happtique Inc., a subsidiary of
GNYHA
Ventures Inc., the business arm of the Greater New York Hospital
Association, offers a healthcare-centric mobile application store geared
highly for providers.
Happtique President Corey Ackerman
acknowledged that provider interest in mobile apps may be booming, but
supply chain has yet to catch the wave.
"From our review of the market there are
very few healthcare supply chain apps, and also few supply chain apps in
general," Ackerman told HPN. "We would like to see this change and expect it
will in the future. Unfortunately, during the past year and in the immediate
future, the focus of providers is understandably on [electronic health
record] solutions, and hospitals are struggling to get those implemented."
Beyond
cool, trendy
That said, some contend that smart phone
and tablet PC apps, by and large, can be useful tools for managing supply
chain operations – more substantial than merely looking "cool" or "trendy"
because you’re sporting the latest tech toy to text contacts and update your
social network.
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Niklaus Fincher |
"From a sales perspective, don’t
underestimate the ‘cool’ factor," scolded Niklaus Fincher, vice president,
VHA Inc., which offers members mobile supply benchmarking applications under
the LYNX brand. "Even two years after its introduction, I still get lots of
questions when I fire up my iPad about how it works and what I use it for.
People just seem to want to play with the cool toy."
Fincher, whose team sells the VHA LYNX
apps, marvels at customer reactions he sees at first sight. "My LYNX sales
team uses our LYNX supply benchmarking applications to better understand
member spend and proactively identify opportunities for cost reduction," he
indicated, further noting that the market-centric app goes beyond GPO
pricing. "When we pull up information that provides this level of
market-centric info on our phones or tablets, our members or potential
subscribers immediately begin to realize the impact [that] having this tool
to carry with them anywhere, anytime could have on their organization."
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Vance Moore |
Vance Moore, senior vice president,
operations, Sisters of Mercy Health System, remains an avid iPad user who
keeps his smart device routinely in tow. While he said he is not aware of
any specific apps that really help supply chain leaders he admits the mobile
platform can offer "tremendous benefit" if apps supported core functions.
"Smart phones could replace
[radiofrequency] scanners and dynamic dispatching tools," Moore
posited. "Every smart phone has a camera and with apps like RedLaser, they
can scan products or locations and provide real-time transaction-level
information that could be processed and optimized to direct or dispatch
supply chain personnel to the next most efficient task. This
transaction-level detail could also be used to track the productivity of the
workforce and to establish work standards that will help in assuring the
maximum utilization of all human and physical assets. This takes place every
day in most professional warehouse management systems using RF-directed pick
commands – we could enable highly productive and proven tools using a new
input device that everyone carries."
Ackerman agreed. "In addition to being able
to use mobile apps to link into the MMIS and ERP systems, we believe it
would be helpful for mobile users to be able to use apps to compare products
side by side from a price, clinical, and outcomes perspective," he noted.
"We also expect to see more and more healthcare distributors and suppliers
offer applications for their customers."
Moore admitted that they are not able to
link to the MMIS or ERP, but can "sync" with their office suite of products,
such as e-mail, contacts and calendar. "The exception to this is Concur for
expense report management," he said. "Concur has built an app to make life
easier using smart devices. Other healthcare solution providers need to
adopt this consumer-centric approach. I see most internal systems as being
very closed – not much time being spent on the interface – most time spent
on developing more functionality."
Further, Moore isn’t aware of suppliers
offering any apps to support their products or services. "The one exception
would be FedEx and UPS," he added. "We use their tracking system when
necessary but it is usually not needed due to the service confidence we have
with both firms."
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Jean Sargent |
At Los Angeles-based Keck Medical Center of
USC, however, Jean Sargent, CMRP, CRCST, FAHRMM, director, supply chain,
said she uses smart devices for access to the ERP, vendor product inquiries
and links to various Web sites.
"This is a recent development that has
improved operational efficiencies by allowing administrators to login to the
ERP to perform activities such as approval of requisitions in between
meetings," she said. "In the past the administrators would be approving the
requisitions late at night."
Sargent touted the clinical benefits of
supply chain-driven mobile apps. "I believe having the ability to scan a
product and get information from a manufacturer’s Web site immediately will
have a significant impact for clinicians as they will have the ability to
acquire pertinent product information quickly," she said. "This change will
significantly improve patient safety."
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Mary
Starr |
Mary Starr, assistant vice president,
AdvantageTrust, HealthTrust Purchasing Group, Schaumburg, IL, foresees
several ways apps might be appropriate and useful in supply chain. "If I’m
away from my desk but need some specifications on a product, an app to look
at a product catalog would be very helpful," she said. "I think an app for
some ordering processes might be appropriate, as well as a dashboard app
that when tied in to your MMIS can enable you to pull out measurement data
that could be monitored from wherever a person that needs to see it is."
But for now, Starr remains content with
business apps, such as Concur for travel and Amex. "I would say the biggest
impact on my work life with the smartphone, is travel," she admitted. "I can
check in to my flight, change seats, check flight status on the airline app.
I have a GPS on the phone and I can use Concur mobile to take pictures of my
receipts and file those on the road, something that would have had to wait
until I got back to the office. It really has made my work during travel as
productive as being in the office."
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John Mateka |
Down at Greenville (SC) Health System,
Executive Director of Supply Chain Operations John Mateka, FAHRMM, confessed
that smart phone and tablet PC use within his organization remains limited,
but he believes the tech offers opportunities and options. He noted that
their biomedical engineering team uses mobile apps to download repair
schematics for equipment service, for example, and the doctors use tablets
for online patient information when they conduct rounds.
"We were using the phones for our couriers
for GPS but moved away from them for a customized tracking device," Mateka
said. But supply chain could use mobile apps to connect clinicians to their
products more quickly. "I can see the day when we interface to a tablet for
RFID whereby nurses and clinicians can pull up an item and request its
location, or select an item from a picture menu and request the item from
central distribution," he added. "I can also see where we could provide a
picture menu screen of various supplies typical to a particular diagnosis,
and the nurse can simply click on what specific supplies she will need for
the patient – that list sent to central distribution that picks and
assembles the supplies to be delivered to the patient room."
Micro MMIS?
Moore highlighted elements of his mobile
app wish list that would prove useful to supply chain leaders, managers and
other professionals. In fact, he said he foresees apps that link to MMIS and
ERP systems to provide higher-level service information.
"If a nurse goes to a supply location and
finds it empty, she could scan the locator and the device could tell her the
closest location within the hospital where the product could be selected,"
he said, theoretically designing his own app. "It could also tell the nurse
what a viable alternative to the product is – if a clinical cross map were
determined – and could possibly suggest an alternative. At that point, the
device could ask if she would like the product delivered or will she
retrieve the product herself. This could trigger data indicating how much
time nurses spend searching for supplies. It could also automatically
trigger a stock-out notification dispatching a replenishment order to the
unit. If the nurse decides to go to the alternative location and select the
product, the app could record the transaction and automatically make the
financial and operational transaction indicating a different department
sourced the product."
A potential mobile app could address price
identification, according to Moore. "A user could scan the product and the
price, location and suggested alternatives with the same information could
be highlighted," he said. "This information could help clinical leaders make
sound financial decision without negatively impacting care."
Finally, an app could help locate "dynamic
assets," Moore noted. "Almost all transport systems track their assets using
real-time feedback on the asset’s current position," he added. "The system
could proactively route the assets based on real-time traffic conditions
thereby avoiding unnecessary delays."
Jumping the
gun
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John Freund |
John Freund, president and CEO,
Jump
Technologies Inc., acknowledges the value mobile apps offers the supply
chain.
"Smart phones and tablet PC apps are
tremendously useful for managing healthcare supply chain operations," Freund
asserted. "Smart phones are nearly ubiquitous and tablets – both iOS and
Android – are starting to outpace traditional PCs. It’s a mobile, always-on,
and more importantly, always connected and accountable world, and we are
seeing major shifts in adoption in the healthcare vertical, specifically
with the onset of new business productivity apps that betters inventory and
supply management, order processing, and proof of delivery.
"Look at a device as simple as an iPod
Touch," Freund continued. "It has all the power of an iPhone without the
expense of the phone. For $200 you can put a powerful computer in the hands
of a nurse or materials manager that has applications that help manage the
supply chain right at the point of use. A nurse may have an app for
recording patient vitals, drugs provided to the patient and any supplies
used in the room. All might be different apps yet all exist on a platform
that allows the facility to decide what apps are used. No longer does the
nurse or materials manager have to carry a bulky proprietary device with
them. They carry a device that can run more than 500,000 different
applications in their pocket just like they would their phone."
As a result, Jump Tech offers the free
JumpTrack proof-of-delivery (POD) and signature capture app for the iPhone,
iPad and iPod Touch, while the Android system smart phone uses a cloud-based
service that easily integrates with back-end systems, according to Freund.
In addition, the JumpCart inventory management system is designed to help
customers reduce their requisition-to-order costs and eliminate maverick
spending by cutting rush shipments, avoiding procedure delays that are
caused when the proper inventory is not available as well as reducing
carrying costs for lower on-hand inventory.
Further, Jump Tech serves as the conduit
between the smart device and the MMIS or ERP. "We manage the data between
the device and our cloud as well as the data between our cloud and the MMIS
or ERP system, allowing data to flow from the MMIS system to the phone and
back again," Freund said. "All our solutions work either on smart phones,
tablets or inexpensive bar code scanning technology costing less than $100."
VHA’s mobile apps support VHA PriceLYNX,
which is the supply benchmarking application, VHA PharmaLYNX, which is the
pharmacy benchmarking application, NovaPLUS, which is Novation’s
private-label program, Supplier Diversity, which is Novation’s database of
diverse suppliers, and Spend Essentials, which is an automated med/surg
contract maximization tool, according to Fincher.
Fincher credits the need for proximity as
the underlying reason why mobile apps make sense.
"As patient care moves to the bedside or
even non-traditional areas of delivery, such as non-acute settings, supply
chain questions and decisions will have to follow the care path," he noted.
"Mobile apps allow caregivers and their supply chain support resources to
access immediate/accurate information whenever and wherever it’s needed.
"There’s a significant amount of supply
chain related business activities, such as product evaluation or purchase
negotiations that occur outside of the typical office environment, such as
trade shows, dinners and/or site visits," Fincher continued. "Mobile apps
allow instant access to information which can significantly impact the
outcome of the activity."
Familiarity and ease-of-use also contribute
to pending growth.
"As the need for supply chain cost
management awareness continues its migration to all areas of a healthcare
organization, mobile apps provide low-cost, easily accessible tools for
caregivers to access information in formats and on equipment that they are
used to using, such as their iPhones and iPads," Fincher said. "This ease of
use is critical to their acceptance and participation in cost management
programs. Additionally, users inform us they feel empowered by having access
to information that ultimately impacts patient outcomes and satisfaction."
Moore urged smart device development to get
smarter. "My belief is we are sitting on a very flexible device, and very
few folks are enabling the industry to use," he said. "For the most part,
smart devices are toys or entertainment devices. I believe the next wave of
devices will be robust enough to supply the needs of consumers at both work
and play." 
