Glossary

An admission, discharge, and transfer system (ADT) is used to track patients from the time they are checked in to check-out. This system is also used to store personal patient information like names, medical numbers, and their age.

The Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) is an organization established in 1949 to build a community of operating room nurses with the purpose of defining standards to keep healthcare professionals and surgery patients safe.

The American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) changed its name in 2018 to the Association For Supply Chain Management (ASCM). The Association for Supply Chain Management is the largest non-profit international organization for supply chain professionals and companies built on a foundation of APICS certifications and training tools. 

Bill Only typically refers to those products that are delivered the day of or the day prior to a procedure. These are typically implants such as those used in orthopedic procedures. The hospital doesn’t record these items in their inventory like they do most products. However, the hospital has to generate a purchase requisition and pay the vendor. Thus the term bill only. 

Cloud-based healthcare inventory management is the monitoring and maintenance of a hospital’s inventory using online inventory management software. These cloud-based applications streamline the inventory management process by providing real-time updates that reduce common mistakes associated with traditional methods of measuring stock levels in hospitals. The main benefits of cloud-based inventory management are: • The customer doesn’t have to invest in servers and other technology hardware • Maintenance is handled by the software provider • The customer is always on the most up-to-date version, which is pushed out automatically • Security is often less of a concern in cloud-based software • It's easily scalable, meaning more users/departments can be easily added

Customer-owned inventory management is the practice of a supply chain management company controlling warehousing, pick, pack, ship, and delivery of inventory that is owned by the customer whether sourced through non-traditional suppliers or traditionally distributed. The customer-owned inventory is stored and managed in distribution centers and replenished directly to the dock, stocking location, or point-of-care.

Digital Tissue Management tracks the chain of custody for bone and tissue samples using a computer solution, removing the need to keep written logbooks. The solution digitizes the information required by scanning the bar code of the samples and uses advanced workflow automation to track the samples through the chain of custody process. The solution is typically cloud-based, meaning there is no software for a hospital to install on their servers. Owens & Minor QSight is one such solution for digital tissue management.

Distribution centers are storage buildings, such as warehouses, and transportation centers that play an integral role in supply chains. Product fulfillment, storage, and distribution to and from manufacturing facilities and end-users are the primary functions of distribution centers. Distribution centers can be either owned by the manufacturer or by the end-user and are often regionally based.

A diverse supplier is a business that is at least 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a traditionally underrepresented or underserved group. This includes small, women-, minority- LGBTQ-, owners with disabilities, and veteran-owned businesses.

Electronic medical records (EMR) are digital medical charts that contain medical information and notes collected by health professionals to diagnose and treat patients.

Emergency preparedness is the creation and implementation of proactively established action plans and pre-determined, situation-specific orders such as hurricane orders and emergency product storage needs that can be activated in the event of an emergency.

End-to-end inventory management integrates all aspects of a healthcare supply chain process from the manufacturer to delivery to the end-user. Information from each component in the supply chain is assimilated into actionable data through a shared system that allows for real-time visibility into forecasting, procurement, tracking, and inventory levels.

Endo-mechanical supply chain management is the organization of endo-mechanical devices used during surgeries in the torso region of the body. These devices are mostly used to assist surgeons with laparoscopic surgeries in the abdomen.

An enterprise dashboard is typically a feature of a software solution that, for the purposes of a hospital, aggregates data from different departments or the same department from different hospitals and presents the data on a single screen. The data can be displayed in raw form but is often displayed visually in the form of a chart. Enterprise dashboards are often customizable, displaying data that the user chooses. There can also be a role-based enterprise dashboard, displaying information relevant to a given role within the hospital, such as Supply Chain Director. 

Enterprise visibility is a tracking system for healthcare organizations that provides real-time information about the location and status of patients, assets, and staff. This system increases coordination between patient needs and healthcare resources which leads to more efficient and comprehensive care.

Expanded Access is an Owens & Minor program that gives hospitals and health systems visibility into fragmented purchasing patterns and supplier activity that can be consolidated through Owens & Minor as part of their distribution services, resulting in streamlined processing and lower operational costs. Hospitals that purchase product directly from multiple vendors could be adding cost and complexity, including fragmented purchasing and additional freight and procurement expenses, to their supply chain. By aggregating fragmented, purchasing activity through Owens & Minor, hospitals can save time and money, allowing hospitals to focus more time on patient care. Hospitals provide Owens & Minor a purchasing history file, usually the most recent 3-6 months of purchasing data. The data is reviewed and analyzed to identify opportunities to bring products that are being purchased directly from the vendor through the Owens & Minor channel.

Freight forwarders serve as a middleman between shippers and healthcare facilities. They coordinate the transportation of products to their final destination.

A hospital supply chain is a network of activities involved in sourcing, acquiring, managing, and distributing medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Integrated solutions offer healthcare facilities and hospitals a comprehensive approach to solving problems within multiple components or systems.

Interoperability allows healthcare providers to safely access patient health information from different healthcare systems to make more informed medical decisions.

Inventory management is people, processes and technology integrated together to provide the right product in the right number of units at the right place at the right time at the right price.

Inventory management software helps hospitals manage their inventory of medical equipment and materials. This computer software automates tracking of inventory levels to reduce human errors, automatic reordering of products when it drops below a certain threshold, and improves the efficiency of inventory management.

Inventory visibility refers to the ability to see data or information on your inventory. At its most basic inventory visibility is about seeing inventory counts of individual products. But solutions like Owens & Minor’s QSight, provide deep visibility into a hospital’s inventory by providing data on such things as expiring and expired products when to order products, products on backorder and so much more.

Kanban is a two-bin inventory management solution to manage certain product types, such as consumables, in a hospital. It works by placing one bin in front of another on the supply rack. Clinicians remove the product from that front bin and when that is empty, the bin is removed, placed on the top of the rack and the back bin is now pulled forward. The placement of the empty bin on the top shelf is a visual signal to reorder the product. When the replenishment product comes in, that new bin is placed behind the existing bin. Kanban is offered as a QSight module.

Labor shortage occurs when employers are having a difficult time recruiting qualified applicants for open positions. During a labor shortage, there aren’t enough candidates to fill the open roles, and the few available candidates are hard to find.

The current meaning of LUM regarding supply chain management is "Logical Unit of Measure". Other commonly referenced terms are "Low Unit of Measure", “Just In Time” (JIT). The new definition better describes the emphasis on Just In Time methodologies to set inventory levels to the correct unit of measure for the specific need. The focus is to find the unit of measurement that provides the most efficient level to support patient care, not necessarily the lowest.  The main objective for LUM is to provide products in the most efficient amount or quantity from a distributor. The orders are picked, packed and delivered by the distributor to the stocking location, end-user department or point-of-care. This allows hospitals and medical centers to spend less time on managing inventory and focus resources on value-added tasks and greatly reduce inventory, saving money and valuable storage space.

A Material Management Information System is used to compile and integrate information about an organization's inventory throughout the purchasing, storage, delivery, and use of materials. The system tracks the movement, levels, and requirements of inventory items to coordinate all aspects in the process. Alerts when inventory levels reach specific benchmarks and comprehensive reports are components to MMIS. Advantages to MMIS include improved efficiency with inventory management and purchasing through streamlining processes. In healthcare this usually includes accounting, procurement, and reductions in material delivery time.

A medical supply distributor is a company that provides various healthcare facilities (including hospitals, clinics, etc.) with medical devices, supplies, and equipment needed to deliver patient care.

MedTech, short for medical technology, are medical devices that aid health professionals in diagnosing, treating, and managing the health of their patients. Some examples of MedTech include 3D printing, EKG machines, and robotic surgery.

Operating room efficiency is the amount of time, effort, and resources needed to perform a surgery in a timely manner. An efficient operating room relies on the proper allocation of staff and resources to seamlessly perform a successful surgical procedure.

Operating room utilization rate is the total amount of time needed to perform a surgery (which also encompasses patient prep, anesthesia induction, and emergence) plus total turnover time divided by the time available.

Distribution, warehousing and logistics services for manufacturers, including all operational needs such as customer service, order origination, invoicing and accounts receivable, remote inventory management and transportation management.

Pandemic preparedness is the creation and implementation of proactively established action plans and pre-determined, situation-specific orders and pandemic product storage needs such as strategic stockpiles of PPE that can be activated in the event of a pandemic.

Periodic Automatic Replenishment or PAR levels are the minimum and maximum levels quantities hospitals establish for products they hold in inventory. When a product gets close to the minimum level of a product the product should be re-ordered. Maximum PAR levels help prevent over-ordering of product. Many hospitals struggle with establishing PAR levels, often because of a lack of data. And that’s where a solution like QSight comes in. QSight has the data and can use the data to establish the right PAR levels.

Perioperative is that period of time before, during, and after a patient’s surgery. However, in many instances, it is referring to the time pre and post-surgery. 

A perioperative supply chain is all the supplies necessary throughout the full surgery timeline and how those supplies get the from manufacturer or distributor to the hospital and ultimately to the patient. This encompasses all of the supplies needed for each stage associated with surgeries; from pre-op to post-op, all the way to the patient being discharged from the hospital.

An end-to-end perpetual inventory management system is used to record stock levels and automatically log every purchase and sale of stock.

Physician preference cards are cards maintained by the hospital that list a physician’s preference for supplies and the procedure room environment by procedures. They detail things such as what sutures and implants the doctor prefers and often even detail the temperature of the room or the music they like to listen to during the procedure. Physician preference cards that are inaccurate or not kept up too late can lead to inefficiencies and needless activity, such as picking the wrong products for a case. 

Product standardization is the process of reviewing the suppliers and products being purchased, that have little or no variation, across the hospital or health system. This clinical and economic analysis consists of utilizing the hospital's purchasing data to identify opportunities to consolidate and standardize the number of suppliers and products being handled across facilities, contracts, UOMs, product classes, and categories. Potentially resulting in optimization of contracts to leverage better-tiered pricing, consolidation of deliveries, reduction of freight costs, optimization of forecasting, streamlined purchasing and logistics processes, as well as more predictable patient outcomes and increased staff efficiency.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. RFID is a wireless technology that uses radio waves to classify and track products. In healthcare, RFID technology can streamline inventory management by automating the tracking of inventory levels.

A stockpile audit is a physical count of all the items within a hospital or within a certain location of a hospital. It is used to get an accurate count of current stock and streamline planning for future hardships the hospital may face regarding inventory management. Here are a few of the many benefits a stockpile audit can provide: ● Creating an action plan for maintaining optimal inventory levels ● Identifying where stock adjustments are needed ● Removing outdated inventory ● Optimizing space for inventory

Diversity Suppliers must be certified by a recognized independent certification body such as B. A subsidiary of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). Regional Partner Organization (RPO) of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Or any federal, state, or local certification body or program. Some organizations have developed numerous methods, standards, formats, and approaches to certifying suppliers.

A systematic approach of assessing suppliers’ performance, strengths, weaknesses and capabilities to determine how best to segment and engage on different activities and initiatives. The focus is to develop a collaborative partnership that drives value, acceptable standards of quality, service and performance, reduces risk and delivers on our commitment to help customers lower total cost and while improving the health of the supply chain. 

A supplier network is a shared virtual platform that enables suppliers and buyers to collaborate and do business from anywhere in the world. It aids buyers in finding the right opportunities, speeds up sourcing cycles, and ensures timely product selection, delivery, and payment.

Supply chain consulting is when an agency/consultant analyzes how a supply chain functions, and offers recommendations that will improve its efficiency. Effective supply chain consulting includes identifying areas in need of improvement and helps companies streamline their logistics network.

A supply chain shortage is when the supplier does not have an adequate amount of products at the delivery location to fulfill all sales obligations due to the inability to transport the products to the delivery location for any reason, including the lost or unsuccessful shipment of products, depletion of the inventory, or quota.

The sustainability and effectiveness of supply chains are paramount to the success of any manufacturing and distribution business. The main components of healthy supply chains are the following: • Sourcing raw materials (inbound logistics) • Production/manufacturing • Warehousing/distribution • Outbound logistics/transportation • Reverse logistics

A surgical procedure kit is a kit that contains nearly everything needed for a procedure. Typically for procedures, the supplies needed for a procedure are individually and sterilized the day before or the day of a procedure. With a surgical procedure, nearly everything is right there and thus there is no pulling of supplies for a procedure. It saves time and increases efficiency. It can also decrease operating room turnover time, the time between procedures. 

Suture management refers to the management of inventories of suture and endo-mechanical products.  The primary objective is to ensure that proper levels are maintained and replenishment supplies are ordered and delivered when needed. Sutures and endo-mechanical products are typically stored in the operating room, the labor and delivery area, and the ER and are critical for all types of medical procedures. They come in various sizes, are made with different materials, and come with different needle types. If not properly managed, one of two things usually results. The first is not having the right sutures on hand when they are needed. The other is having far too much inventory on hand just to be “on the safe side.” A suture management program can help ensure neither happens.

Third Party Logistics (3PL) is the outsourcing of logistical services to third party healthcare businesses. These services include warehousing, inventory management, procurement, and fulfillment of medical devices, equipment, and supplies.

A UDI is a system with a unique code (numeric or alphanumeric) used to track and identify medical devices in the supply chain.

Ultra High Frequency (UHF) is used in the healthcare industry to automate inventory management. It is a type of RFID technology that is able to track multiple products at once.

UDI codes are an alpha-numeric code established by the Food and Drug Administration to adequately identify medical devices through their distribution and use. They were first used on medical devices but are now increasingly common on other products used in procedures. They are typically either manually entered into a computer or scanned by a solution like QSight that helps hospitals manage their inventory.

Wholesale medical supplies are products sold in bulk to medical supply distributors, hospitals, and other healthcare businesses. These wholesale medical products range from medical equipment (hospital beds, exam tables, etc), medical supplies (needles, bandages, etc), and personal protective equipment (face masks, gloves, gowns, etc).