When organizations brainstorm ways to increase their sales, they often overthink the solution; a grandiose strategy is rarely necessary. What is really required are the right processes and the right tools working together in harmony, complementing each other to the fullest. The truth is, what is often found at MedTech companies are processes that have grown, been diversified over the years and have been influenced by various decision-makers. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with these processes, it’s very important to look at these processes and especially check the tools that are used.
When it comes to loan set management, consignment, and field inventory, many MedTech companies admit that they still use slow and manual tools such as outlook calendars, spreadsheets, email, or even fax messages as their daily tools with which they carry out complex processes.
With all due respect to all customer service teams, sales reps and hospital staff that are fighting uphill battles each day through massive loads of manual processes – you are doing a fantastic job, but this is no way to work efficiently! Especially in the 21st century.
Of course, if you ask any MedTech company, they would totally agree that automization and digitization are key! But why are so many of them unable to overcome their massive admin load and unproductive manual processes?
It’s because before MedTech companies take the decision to replace out-dated tools and eliminate administrative hassle, they face many challenges. First, there are the obvious costs associated with integrating any new tool into any existing process, but moreover, it’s because MedTech companies often have very unique needs which makes it difficult to articulate and list off exactly what they would like the new tool to be able to do for them. Many MedTech companies have grown so quickly that it can be very challenging for them to summarize all those small complex processes and specialties they are facing when dealing with loan set, consignment and field inventories.
But with more than 20 years of experience, we at BIT Consulting know that it’s our job, not yours, to know what the tool needs to be able to do for you, because we know the needs that come up when dealing with loan set, consignment and field inventory very well. We understand how a tool should operate so that it pays off for your business and gets you the most optimal results. We’ve even made a list for you!
Check out these 8 tasks your new tool should be able to handle without breaking a sweat!
1. Case/ Procedure Scheduling
You should be able to create and manage bookings for your loan sets, equipment, or medical device easy, quickly, and on the go with a mobile solution that’s seamlessly integrated into your ERP system. Besides functionality, your tool needs to be user-friendly: an easy and simple navigation with intuitive steps lead to quicker bookings.
2. Loan Set Management
Your new tool should meet all those requirements that come up when dealing with loaned medical sets, as among others the planning and inspection of loan sets.
3. Finance Integration
It is mandatory that your tool is not a stand-alone software; all financial business areas located in your ERP system should fully and seamlessly be integrated into your loan, consignment and field inventory processes.
4. Asset Accounting
When dealing with loan sets, you have instruments and other equipment that can be written off over certain periods of time. Your tool needs to understand all specifics when it comes to asset classes, main and sub assets, deprecation duration and areas.
5. Loan Set, Consignment and Field Inventory Visibility
Your loan, consignment and field inventory processes don’t only need to be fully visible for your staff, you must also ensure full visibility of any process at any time given in order to maintain compliance with legal regulations coming from the FDA and MDR: This means full control of product relevant information such as shelf-life dates, serial, and batch numbers. All components need to be traceable anytime throughout the entire supply chain
6. Recording Consumption
When dealing with consigned products, your team and business partners require a mobile solution for recording consumed items on-site. This should ideally work with an integrated barcode functionality and the mobile solution must be well integrated into your ERP system.
7. Automatic Billing & Replenishment
You save so much invaluable admin time when the processes of billing and replenishment are automatically triggered once a consumption has been recorded by scanning the barcode with a mobile app. Make sure that your tool understands this process, otherwise you might end up wasting time in manual tasks again.
8.Full and Real Integration into your ERP system
How your tool is integrated into your ERP is often underestimated. In fact, the integration is a critical factor that requires careful attention. Since, the data that you are working with is only as good as the source where it’s coming from, and if you have multiple sources, you can imagine how reliable your data will be. But if you are only working with one source of data (or ‘one source of truth’), you can be assured that the data you’re working with is up-to-date and that you can rely on them at any time given. If you are interested in learning more about the integration, we’ve summarized best practices for integrating mobile apps into your SAP system: Why implementing a SaaS solution is not always the best choice.
Now you’re ready to deep dive into finding the perfect fit, right? Well, you don’t need to google for hours looking for the best tool to fit your existing processes – it’s sitting right under your nose!
Mymediset has been exclusively developed for mapping complex loan, consignment, and field inventory processes.
It has continuously been improved over the last two decades following new official regulations coming from the FDA and MDR, taking new features and processes in the healthcare world into account. In fact, There’s no time like the present to optimize your loan, consignment, and field inventory processes with the best tool for the job!
Take the next step and find out more in a tailor made demo! Get in touch to learn more.