Healthcare Transportation has High Impact on Care Delivery, Yet Costs Unknown
MedSpeed's survey of supply chain leaders finds disconnect
between the impact of healthcare transportation and awareness of
how it is carried out.
Elmhurst, IL, October 30, 2012 - In a
recent survey of healthcare supply chain leaders conducted by MedSpeed, an HFMA peer-reviewed
healthcare transportation solutions provider, 75% of respondents
indicated that healthcare transportation has a medium or high
impact on care delivery. Yet, a full 83% of respondents said that
they do not know how much they are spending on healthcare
transportation. Based on the survey results, there appears to be a
disconnection between the importance of healthcare transportation
and leaders' understanding of what their organization is doing.
"Healthcare reform has put added pressure on healthcare leaders
to simultaneously improve efficiency and enhance patient care,"
said Jake Crampton, CEO of MedSpeed. "As a result, more and more of
these leaders are performing a checkup on every area of their
systems to ensure they are getting the greatest possible
value."
"You can't accurately assess a patient's temperature unless you
know what it ought to be," said Bonni Kaplan, vice president of
marketing for MedSpeed. "The same is true for transportation - how
can healthcare leaders diagnose their current transportation
operations if they don't have the data behind it to know what they
are actually doing?"
"MedSpeed is committed to gathering the necessary data to help
us all better understand and improve healthcare transportation
operations," continued Kaplan. "This survey is part of that
commitment."
MedSpeed surveyed attendees of the 2012 AHRMM Conference &
Exhibition (
Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials
Management), as well as others in the healthcare supply chain,
on the subject. None of the survey respondents indicated that their
transportation spend was "low," and those respondents who knew
actual costs, indicated that the spend was "high."
Of those surveyed, 42% indicated that they use a combination of
internal and external resources for transportation; 33% use an
internal department, while 25% employ a third party provider.
"This survey reflects what MedSpeed is seeing in the industry,"
Crampton continued. "Many organizations take a fragmented approach
to healthcare
transportation, utilizing a combination of resources within
their organization, general third party couriers and next day
service providers. This approach can lead to costs being buried in
many different departments; common and costly errors and
non-existent utilization guidelines. From what we are seeing, the
majority of health systems haven't yet developed healthcare
transportation as a strategic asset."
About MedSpeed
Every patient interaction, from a routine clinic visit to an
urgent blood transfusion, relies in some way on the same-day pickup
and delivery of a specimen, pharmaceutical, radiology film, blood
product, medical record or supply. MedSpeed is an ISO-certified,
technology-enhanced healthcare transportation solutions provider
that strengthens supply chain and overall business operations
through centralized transportation networks. MedSpeed has also been
granted the "Peer Reviewed by HFMA®" designation, a rigorous
eleven-step objective third party evaluation of products and
services conducted by the Healthcare Financial Management
Association (HFMA). For more than eleven years, MedSpeed's Lean Six
Sigma approach to transportation design and execution has
transformed transportation into globally-optimized, leverageable
logistical frameworks that consistently deliver operational quality, economic
value and strategic advantage.