Architects of a next-generation healthcare supply chain
Championing leading supply chain practices at UCSF Health With robotics, automation, new processes and more, UCSF Health is setting new standards for healthcare with its innovative supply chain.
UCSF
Health is at the forefront of healthcare
“I found myself doing the same set of rote and rudimentary tasks every
innovation but, behind the scenes, the
day,” he notes. “I began to realize
group’s Medical Center supply chain team
that with the help of our Materials
are keeping the cogs turning so it can
Management Information Systems
focus on delivering the state-of-the-art
Team (MMIS Team) we could
care it is known for.
automate a lot of the procurement
UCSF Medical Center was recently named among the nation’s premier
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technology could be.
activity I was encountering.” Automation has become a
medical institutions for the 17th consecu-
prevalent trend in the supply chain
tive year, standing as the fifth best hospital
field and it hasn’t gone amiss at
in the country and the top-ranked hospital
UCSF Health. In 2009, Limbert and
in California, according to U.S. News &
his team partnered with Global
World Report’s 2017-2018 Best Hospitals
Healthcare Exchange (GHX) to
survey.
develop tools that allowed his team
In the back-end, its supply chain team is
to onboard vendors who would then
responsible for a comprehensive set of
receive their purchase orders (POs)
services that continually strengthen the
in a highly-automated and accurate
scope of its patient care. The organisation
fashion.
provides access to a broad range of
“A requester at the hospital could
medical-surgical products, and consist-
scan an order or put through a
ently seeks to reduce supply chain waste
request and that would queue up a
and expenses but, above all else, it is
requisition that would be turned into
committed to delivering quality customer
a purchase order automatically
service, which enables premium care.
without any buyer intervention,”
When he began as a buyer in procurement almost 16 years ago, Jake Limbert, now Director of Supply Chain Operations,
explains Limbert. “We call it ‘no touch POs.’ “We were able to do that on a fairly
did many menial and repetitive tasks –
large scale. We have about 600
that’s when he realized how transformative
POs that go out every day and so
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FACT
There are 600,000 pieces of product onsite at all times
w w w. u c s f m i s s i o n b a y h o s p i t a l s . o r g
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“ IF WE CAN EMPOWER OUR CLINICIANS TO PROVIDE BETTER CARE THEN WE CAN ALSO GROW WITH THEM IN A WAY THAT’S MEANINGFUL” — Jake Limbert , Director of Supply Chain Operations
the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay opened, aiming to set new standards for healthcare in the 21st century. The 289-bed complex features three separate hospitals, specialized in serving children, women and cancer patients. With such a mammoth operation, Limbert and his team wanted to focus on automation and streamlining operations where possible. With the latest wave of innovation, it seems robotics are redrawing the healthcare landscape. Keen to tap into this emerging trend, UCSF
we were really able to take our PO activity and just
Health teamed up with Aethon to
turn it into an automated process. At that point,
use its autonomous mobile TUG
we could also hard code shipping and logistical
robots. These new-generation
standards with all of our vendors so they knew
robots allow UCSF Health to
that UCSF had an exact and predictable
distribute items easily and reallo-
timeframe to deal with.”
cate their workforce so team
Building on this partnership, GHX then built Registration Center, otherwise known as ‘RegCenter’ which allowed UCSF Health to
members can focus on value-adding tasks rather than repetitive jobs. “This was revelatory as it allowed
onboard its own vendors. As a result of its efforts,
us to reallocate our full-time
UCSF was later recognized by GHX in 2011 with
equivalent (FTE) resources,” said
their first every Industry Impact Award.
Limbert. “We also utilize the TUGS
Since then, Limbert and his team have
for our soiled linen pickup which
continued on an upward trajectory thanks to new
helped us reduce employee injuries
and improved technological innovations. In 2015,
because, given census and patient w w w. u c s f m i s s i o n b a y h o s p i t a l s . o r g
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volumes, these linen carts are becoming increasingly unwieldy. Thanks to robotics we’ve been able to keep our employees in an area where they’re most effective and appreciated. They’re able to further support clinicians.” Like many in the supply chain discipline, UCSF Health has worked to streamline and standardize its processes, so that the medical professionals can focus on what matters — patient care. Every patient’s healthcare needs are unique and highly personalized. Therefore, Limbert and his team worked closely with clinicians to establish their needs and maintain the unparalleled, innovative care 08
UCSF is known for. In doing so, the group has worked to strike a balance between streamlined, cost-effective supply chain processes whilst meeting the individualistic needs of the clinicians and patients alike. “If they’re able to interact with clinicians in a meaningful way then that allows us to again, gain their trust,” explains Limbert. “We just don’t want people stocking shelves, we want people to engage the clinician and figure out their needs UCSF Our Stories: Rite of Passage -- A Hospital Prom for Teen Patients
so we can make sure they are enabled to deliver the highest quality of care.” “There’s a certain level of
FACT
The UCSF Medical Center is the fifth best hospital in the county and the top-ranked hospital in California
expectation that our clinicians demand
synch with your needs?’ Almost like a
and I think we are able to provide that by
switchboard, we plug and slot them into
empowering our employees to resource
our order of business.
and make decisions on their own. We call
“Alternatively, they might say, ‘Well that’s
them our ‘supply chain ambassadors.’ We
not really going to work because our cases
want them to be resources for the
start at 7:00 a.m. so we need product
customers, not just inventory technicians.
replenished by 5:00am,’ for example. In
“The real product for us is patient care. Every patient has a different set of needs and a clinical path unique to them. “We are able to engage the end user, the
that case, we are able to scale it and tweak it for them. “That is a challenge, however, it’s also something that we relish. Every patient is
clinician, and say, ‘These are our schemat-
unique and they are our number one
ics and this is our framework. Does this
priority. I think we have to be mindful of w w w. u c s f m i s s i o n b a y h o s p i t a l s . o r g
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where we can standardize and where we can’t.” The opening of the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital at Mission Bay was not only a key milestone in the institutions’ history, but it also gave Limbert and his team a fresh slate to drive efficiencies and cost savings. In doing so, the team had two focuses: the first was the customer and the second was generating operational data. “First, we determined, having learned from previous successes and failures, what the customer
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“EVERY PATIENT IS UNIQUE AND THEY ARE OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY” — Jake Limbert , Director of Supply Chain Operations
expected from us and what they needed in order to deliver the quality care that our patients deserve,” explains Limbert. “We were able to listen and figure out what worked and didn’t in the previous care area and then adapt and create new workflows, meaningful periodic automatic replenishment (PAR) levels and service level agreements (SLAs). “Secondly, we built a very robust and intricate set of data,” he continues. “In order to achieve the previously established automation, we had to engage MMIS and our
vendors to ensure the efficiencies would be mirrored in another facility. “We devised new shipping
“It’s a good problem to have in that the healthcare environment in the Bay Area is very competitive but if
locations and schedules aligned
we can empower our clinicians to
with our new docks for optimal
provide better care then we can
transport up to the unit. For
also grow with them in a way that’s
example, right now a technician will
meaningful,” notes Limbert.
transmit an order and in less than 12
“Allowing our ambassadors and
minutes the vendor will have it. They
staff to feel ownership over the care
can pick it and then it will show up
that we’re providing is vital. If you
the next day at that room in fewer
can illuminate their piece within this
than 24 hours.”
dynamic jigsaw, it helps them feel
With 78mn products delivered
more engaged and proud to provide
annually at UCSF, its supply chain
a crucial piece in the patient care
operation is mammoth in scale.
continuum.”
Now, as the organization expands, Limbert says the biggest challenge is sustaining this growth. w w w. u c s f m i s s i o n b a y h o s p i t a l s . o r g
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1500 Owens St. San Francisco, CA 94158 T +31 20 240 1680 www.ucsfmissionbayhospitals.org