When hospitals struggled with significant clinical, pharmacy, and warehouse inventory management challenges during the pandemic, Syft ramped up its services like never before
5 Minute Read – At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Syft pledged to do everything we could to help our hospital partners. A key part of that initiative included sending our inventory services team into hospitals across the country—including in peak surge areas—to provide hospitals with the help and resources necessary to keep their supply chains running smoothly throughout the pandemic.
As a result, and despite the new and unprecedented challenges posed by 2020, Syft performed more hospital inventory counts last year than in any year previous.
“It was a record-breaking year for Syft from an inventory perspective, but what we’re most proud of is how our team stepped up to support hospitals, especially when many other supply chain management companies stopped providing on-site services,” says Todd Plesko, Syft’s CEO. “It was important for us to continue providing these critical services to our hospital partners and their staff members who were serving on the front lines.”
Here are some of Syft’s most noteworthy 2020 numbers:
815 counts The number of warehouse, pharmacy, and clinical inventory counts Syft provided hospitals in 2020. That translates to nearly 2.5 counts per day.
Most of those counts took place after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. on January 21, 2020, and many of the counts were tailored to helping hospitals meet emergent pandemic needs. Common requests included assessing the level of PPE and other critical supplies.
“Hospitals took on so much due to COVID-19, so we did everything we could to make the inventory management process easier for them. In 2021, we are continuing to work hand-in-hand with hospitals to address their traditional inventory management needs and their ongoing pandemic-related needs.”
9,395 instances The number of times Syft inventory team members stepped into hospitals to conduct inventory counts in 2020.
Top pandemic-specific benefits our inventory counters provided included:
- Conducting thorough and accurate clinical and pharmacy inventory counts and valuations at the building, department, and area levels, including expired and consigned items.
- Identifying items that needed to be replenished, pulled, and moved to other areas.
- Providing the necessary data to help supply chain and clinical leaders identify potential problems such as overstocking, over-ordering, and hoarding.
“During peak surge periods, many of our hospital partners were struggling to find the resources necessary to ensure proper inventory management, but they also recognized the negative trickle-down effects of not having an accurate count and an organized inventory. We’re glad they could offload these tasks to us so that their staff members could focus on other pressing needs.”
$7.6 million The total value of expired products Syft’s inventory management team identified in hospitals in 2020.
As hospitals rushed to care for COVID-19 patients in 2020, many inventory items expired but were not pulled or replaced, particularly in departments that were converted to caring for COVID-19 patients and in the OR where elective procedures were postponed.
“Expired products pose a safety risk for patients, and we come across them much too frequently during inventory counts, but even more so during the pandemic. We’re proud of our ability to help hospitals identify soon-to-be expired and expired products, since we know that has had a positive impact on patient safety.”
23% growth The increase in the number of inventory counts conducted by Syft over the past two years.
Demand for Syft’s inventory services team was skyrocketing even prior to the pandemic, as more hospitals recognized the need for a more accurate, streamlined inventory management approach—as well as for the efficiency improvements provided by the Syft team. This need was made even more apparent during the pandemic.
“The growth of Syft’s inventory management services division is indicative of the critical importance of healthcare supply chain management, especially during a pandemic or other supply chain disruption event, such as a natural disaster or labor strike.”
$15 Billion+ The total valuation of inventory counted by Syft in the last decade.
Syft currently serves 245 customers and 970 U.S. hospitals, including NYU Langone Health, MedStar Health, Cleveland Clinic, Cedars-Sinai Health System, Dignity Health, the University of California Health System, and others. Syft provides inventory services throughout hospitals, including hospital pharmacy inventory services, warehouse inventory services, and clinical inventory services. Syft is also a contracted supplier with many leading GPOs such as HealthTrust, Premier Inc., The Resource Group/Ascension, and Vizient, enabling a streamlined procurement process.