SINGAPORE: Public healthcare group SingHealth said
it has managed to save some $200 million over the last decade by
streamlining its procurement practices.
SingHealth said cutting down the variety of surgical
implants is the key to lowering cost.
SingHealth's group chief procurement officer Tan
Jack Thian, said: "With the assistance of senior clinicians, we
managed to convince the orthopaedic surgeons to show them why we
can actually streamline 20 plus surgical implants down to about
five surgical implants.
"So by doing that, that helped us to cut down the number of
varieties that we have created. The bulk (of savings) can go out to
negotiate for better pricing. We can transfer the savings to the
patients through a lower implants cost as well."
Mr Tan said they also work closely with suppliers by giving them
advance notice.
"At the beginning of the work year, we inform the suppliers what
are the products we wish to purchase in this full year. Once we
call the tender, they are ready to respond with the best possible
price."
Apart from cost savings, having a smaller inventory also reduces
errors and confusion for hospital staff.
Mr Tan said: "For the warehousing people, they have less items to
manage so that will help us to reduce errors in picking, errors in
the distribution because it is now much more streamlined and there
are lesser items to manage."
SingHealth's Group Procurement Office was set up to consolidate
clinical purchases for its public healthcare institutions.
SingHealth's experiences were also shared with other healthcare
institutions at a recent congress.
Mr Tan said: "We thought that it is about time that we organise
some congress to share our expertise, our knowledge, our experience
with the rest and also for us to invite overseas experts to share
on making the entire supply chain more efficient.
"By doing that, we hope to achieve even greater savings and to help
the entire Singapore public healthcare scene manage the supply
chain cost."
- CNA/fa