When running a healthcare organization, one of the largest expenses you may have to work with is the costs of your supply chain. Whenever the costs of your supply chain go up, it can mean less for other parts of your budget, such as patient care, which in turn can damage your organization. It’s a balancing act that can be no fun for anyone. That is why it is important to find a courier service that can manage your supply chain both efficiently while also providing you with the information you need to ensure that your supply chain decisions remain both fiscally and logistically sound. Did you know that if everyone in the industry were to optimize their supply chains, according to Healthcare Tech Outlook, $23 billion dollars could be saved? All of these vital savings can be made possible with some simple best practices…

Work with the Experts

It’s one thing to have experts in general delivery logistics and supply chains, but if you really want to make sure you get the most bang out of your buck, the best partner is a logistics expert that specializes in medical and healthcare logistics. Find a supply chain partner that has in-depth knowledge of the industry, that features the right tools and workforce that is directly geared towards your kind of organization. Better yet, make sure that supply chain partner also offers a higher degree of visibility into how their operations works towards yours. The more information, the better you can make sure that their work and results are working in your organization’s interest.

Here are some qualities that your supply chain partner should have if they are to be helping your organization:

• Transparency and visibility. They should be able to provide details on how their various parts of operation are affecting your organization’s supply and success. Is their performance working in line with your budget demands and operation outcomes?
• Your supply chain partner should offer a plan that’s value-based, or a means to adapt to ensure that the plan becomes value-based.
• Make sure they offer applicable solutions to both existing and potential delivery pain points. Is your supply chain partner prepared to address complications that may affect your supply and outcomes?
• Last, but certainly not least, your supply chain partner should exude the same professionalism that you expect from members of your own organization.

Using Analytics to Help with Optimizing Deliveries

With the help of data analytics, you can make sure that your resources are being put to work at greater efficiency. There are several metrics that should be considered in order to ensure maximum efficiency in your supply chain operations.

• Volume of Your Orders
  Have a way to see all of your deliveries in one place. By having a big-picture-view of your deliveries, you’ll be able to gain a greater sense of how well your spending is working towards your deliveries, and thus give you a way to further streamline your operations with that data.
• The Average of Your Order Distance
  How far do your deliveries have to travel? Are they within the range that fits your organization’s interests?
• Delivery Timetables
  How are your deliveries being timed? Does your health organization need a lot of deliveries STAT? Within a few hours? Or do you use a lot of all-day-deliveries? By having a whole view of your deliveries and their timetables, you’ll be better able to adjust your delivery strategy so that it fits both your budgetary and your operational needs. Finding a same-day delivery courier that can adjust accordingly will help both your budget as well as your operational results.
• The Ratings of Your Drivers
  Do you know what kinds of ratings your courier and their drivers are getting? Make sure you choose a supply chain partner that’s open to sharing their driver ratings with you. That way you’ll know that you have only the best drivers working with your logistical needs.

Knowledge is Power: Using Technology to Collaborate

As technology continues to advance and evolve, it is now possible to have a shared platform for suppliers, carriers, and customers to share their information in order to maintain the most efficient and best-possible supply chains and logistics. Choose a logistics partner that features a system that can provide the following:

• Real-time tracking of all of your deliveries.
• For ease-of-tracking: the ability to simultaneously view your deliveries across multiple locations.
• Information on individual drivers for your deliveries, such as contact information and driver photos. This can also provide extra security.

Having a supply chain STAT courier solution that has an organized system with these features not only means greater organization and an enhanced ability to see the bigger picture of your supply chain, but it also means having a courier that believes in greater transparency.

Find a Specialized Medical Courier with Reliable Couriers

With the medical couriers of Reliable Couriers, you’ll not only have drivers that are dedicated to your medical supply chain, but they are also OSHA and HIPAA protocol trained. Your packages will not only be delivered on time, every time, but they will also be properly handled to the letter. Call us or check out our website to see how Reliable Couriers can streamline your healthcare supply chain and ensure that you get your supplies STAT!