Hi, I was wondering if any managers out there have suggestions or things that they have tried in their unit to address the issue of increasing supply costs for their unit?

I am writing a mock proposal about cost saving strategies from material management perspective for a surgical unit. Other nurses and doctors have mentioned things like overuse/misuse of gauze or providing a refresher course for sterile technique for OR staff so materials aren't wasted. Would love to discuss anything that has worked for your unit or any cost draining areas you'd like to point out?

Thanks for your help!!

I don't manage a surgical unit, and I know costs in the OR are usually higher than other floors, but what I've done is centered on close work with materials mgmt. They send me a report of the top 100 supplies in my unit, and I look at both high volume and high cost items to make sure we need that exact product (or is there is a less expensive version that is the same quality), are we over-using a product for any reason, are we over-stocking any items, and are there products we can get through our main supplier at a cheaper cost than getting them from the company. Our main supplier buys for many hospitals, and volume purchases on their end sometimes means a better price to us than directly ordering a small volume right from the manufacturer. I look at this monthly and meet with materials every month.

We recently formed a buying co-op with a dozen or so other independent hospitals, saved *millions* for our facility overall, much like the previous poster mentioned. Dept specific, we have circulated a cost/reimbursement list as a motivator for bringing charges up & costs way down. We also looked at possible alternatives in our OB OR, and came up with changes in suture, etc, that were acceptable and still saved tons.

Another method that I should have mentioned is to involve the staff! They see potential ways to save money day to day, and I told my staff "No idea is too small." One place I worked gave people a coffee mug for every cost savings idea they submitted. Sounds cheesy, but people did submit ideas.