How to Manage Inventory for Clinics?

If you’ve recently been feeling stressed about your clinic’s inventory, the reasons could be the following:

 
• The amount of materials you have in your records differs from the actual quantities.
 
• Your team members struggle to find materials when they need them.
 
• You’re spending an excessive amount of money on inventory.

If you’re facing any of these challenges, it may be time to reconfigure your inventory management system.

By establishing the system outlined in this article, you can ensure that your clinic always has the necessary materials available when needed. Setting up the correct system may seem challenging at first, but within 3-4 weeks, you can establish a flawless system that you won’t need to look back on.

Why is Inventory Management Important for Clinics?

A proper inventory management system is essential for developing an efficient and productive clinic. With the right system in place, you’ll be able to answer the following questions and save thousands of pounds annually:

 
• How much of a product do I need?
 
• How much does the same product cost from two different suppliers?
 
• When should I place an order?
 
• Which of my units or branches consume the most stock?
 
• Which products are being consumed more than they should?

We establish a healthy inventory management function within the clinic in five steps:

 
• Identification of suppliers
 
• Product registration
 
• Product entry into the warehouse
 
• Regular product distribution and inventory checks
 
• Reporting

Product Registration

Whether using Excel or software, when registering a product, you need to define the following information:

This information includes:

 
• Name - The name of the product being added to the stock
 
• Barcode - The product’s barcode
 
• Unit Price - The price per unit
 
• Unit - The unit type (e.g., item, kg, litre)
 
• Critical Limit - The remaining quantity at which a warning should be issued

The most critical point: Preferably, this process should be done using a system that automatically scans barcodes via a mobile application. This will allow you to obtain accurate data and compare the prices offered by different suppliers for the same product more effectively.

Regular Inventory Checks and Distribution

A proper system requires regular inventory checks and distribution mechanisms. For example:

 
• Friday evening weekly checks of missing materials in the units
 
• Saturday morning weekly distribution of missing materials to the units
 
• Regular inventory checks every month / every 14 days / every week

When these processes are carried out regularly, the product journey becomes clear.

Reporting

We’ve established a regular system in our clinic. Now that all our products are registered, with inventory checks and entry/exit authorisations allocated separately, all that’s left is to monitor the processes, investigate any discrepancies, and use the data to make better purchasing decisions in the future.

In this article, we discussed the methods for establishing a proper inventory management system and the benefits it offers. If you have any questions, please contact us at partner@medicasimple.com or by phone at +90 212 281 69 64. We are always happy to assist you.