Healthcare is a demanding field. To serve your community, clinicians need proper supplies. While you meet the needs of doctors and nurses, you also need to manage the budget and combat rising inflation. Much like the role trust plays in the doctor/patient relationship, you need suppliers and distributors with transparent pricing and reliable stock. We hope you will consider Caresfield for your labels, disposable tourniquets and specimen collection products. Below we share some recent customer feedback:
We’ve heard customers refer to supply chain shortages as a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.
Finding Cost Savings
A small rural hospital in Texas had recently left their GPO. While they were purchasing patient ID products from their Electronic Health Record supplier, a Lab buyer connected our Key Account Manager Jared Gray with the Purchasing Department head. Soon after, Gray met with the purchasing team and Lab department head. They reviewed products the facility was currently using to see if Caresfield could provide cost savings. It turns out we could provide huge savings and our customer feedback was incredibly positive:
“It has been a pleasure to work with you and the Caresfield team. Caresfield support with looking for alternative sources at a lower cost has been extremely helpful. We have already seen a 70 percent savings in switching our label rolls and wristbands from our previous vendor to Caresfield. Hands down I recommend working with the Caresfield team and we look forward to the continued partnership. We hope that an agreement between Caresfield and HealthTrust is reached. We feel this will help our rural hospital by providing us quality supplies at a lower cost that we can offer to our patients.”
Kenneth P, data analyst at a regional hospital in Texas
Meanwhile, Jared cross referenced the products the hospital was currently using to find suitable, if not identical, replacements. He provided free samples to ensure the products were the right fit and to get buy-in from the end users. Now that Caresfield and the hospital are working together on labels and wristbands, Gray continues to look for areas where we can provide value and standardize products across departments.
For more information on how your company can find cost savings, check out our blog post: Caresfield Labels: Convert and Save Money
Working Through Backorders
In addition to helping find cost savings, our team can work through vendor backorders. For example, in February, we helped a medical center in Missouri. They placed an order for direct thermal Zebra wristbands and were in danger of running out of ID bands.
When the purchaser contacted Caresfield, our customer service team sprang into action. First, we checked in with the product management team and Zebra to inquire about the arrival date. We also offered to expedite shipping once we received the product and suggested blue ID bands as alternative option.
Because Zebra printers require Zebra cartridges, there was no simple substitution available. We’ve heard customers refer to supply chain shortages as a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. In situations like this, we encourage you to keep an open mind and be flexible about options like using a different color.
Related: How to Select a Healthcare Wristband to Fit Your Needs
In this instance, we worked with our customer to get Zebra to ship the product. It was a challenging situation, but in the end our customer had positive feedback:
“I want to take a moment to say that I very much appreciate the assistance we received from Caresfield over the past few days. It is not lost on me that we are all experiencing pressure from many directions at one time, and for your team to go above and beyond does not go unnoticed. Our management team has agreed to look into using the blue armbands as a future backup, but there has to be a sample process first. Thank you for the suggestion, and your out-of-the box thinking. You are greatly appreciated.”
– Jessica J., Bulk Stores Buyer, medical center in Missouri
Tips to Minimize Backorder Impact on Daily Operations
With current supply chain disruptions, many healthcare facilities are struggling to keep vital supplies stocked. Here are some helpful tips from our customer service team:
- Order in advance. Plan for longer lead times than usual.
- Reduce dependency on one particular big name products and investigate other options.
- Keep an open mind and be understanding. Suppliers are doing the best they can to ship product as quickly as they can.
We hope you found the customer feedback helpful! For more information, you can read our recent blog post Supply Chain Solutions from Caresfield or speak with our customer service team. You can either call our main line at 952-890-7100 or use the live chat feature on our website. Either option connects you with a real person!
