The Untold Story of Hospital Inventory Waste in the U.S.

Have you ever walked into a hospital supply room and wondered how well it's being managed? You'd be alarmed by the figures.

In the U.S., 8% of disposables expire unnoticed on hospital shelves each year. Digging deeper, around 17% of the supplies haven’t been touched in a year. What's even more concerning? Between 0.5% and 1% of these items have been recalled, meaning they are potentially hazardous and shouldn’t be anywhere near a patient, let alone inside them as an implant!

Hospitals in the U.S. witness staggering medical device surplus, scaling up to billions annually. This isn't a dent in hospital budgets; it's a large hole, especially when numerous hospitals are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Waste in the healthcare system isn’t just about disposables. It encompasses both financial resources and invaluable time. With the money saved from preventing this waste, imagine the possibilities: new technology, additional healthcare staff, and improved patient care. It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you realize that despite all this, many hospitals are oblivious to the magnitude of the issue they face.

The Gap in Current Inventory Management Systems

Despite advancements in inventory management systems—powerful digital tools that come with a hefty price tag—there's still a missing piece to the puzzle. These systems, in theory, should give a clear picture of what's stocked in supply rooms. Yet, they often overlook critical information like expiration dates and lot numbers.

Moreover, the ever-dynamic hospital environment means that what's physically present often doesn’t match the digital record. This discrepancy leads 83% of healthcare professionals to resort to manual counts—either monthly or quarterly. This isn’t just inefficient; it’s also error-prone. Think of the hours a clinician could spend with patients, now spent jotting down numbers.

Yet, despite these efforts, devices continue to expire or get recalled, and shelves get cluttered with excess supplies.

Evolving from Inventory Management to Inventory Control

Since 2017, all manufacturers are mandated by the FDA to use Unique Device Identifiers (UDIs)—standardized barcodes that encompass vital information such as expiration date, lot number and serial number. Today, over 5 million Class II and III medical devices have UDI barcodes.

With the right technology, these barcodes can be scanned, providing real-time data about expiration dates, lot numbers, and much more. The result? Inventory checks that took days can now be done in hours, offering a clearer, more accurate picture of a hospital’s stock.

Let's take a real-world example. Last month, SxanPro employed JUDI, our patented UDI-based mobile scanning system, in a large Colorado hospital system. After scanning 60,000 items across three hospitals, the findings were startling:

- 1,112 expired items

- 369 recalled items from 17 different recalls—23% of which were implantable.

- Hundreds of devices that are no longer in circulation

After examining these results with the hospital system:

- 369 recalled items were removed.

- Manufacturers credited $107,000 for the recalled products.

- Short-Dated devices worth $413,768  were relocated to other facilities with higher usage.

- Supplies amounting to $401,000, which were identified as no-move, were removed from the par-location.

The Road Ahead

Expired or recalled items have no place in a hospital, especially when the risk of them being used on a patient is real. Current systems, at best, record and monitor, but the true potential lies in inventory control, an area where UDI-based technology shines. The safety and financial implications for hospitals are undeniable, making this not just a good-to-have but a must-have.

It's time we transform the way we view and manage hospital inventories, ensuring that healthcare remains both safe and efficient for all.