First, let’s look at our Resources feature. A Resource in AMSHub, is anything you want to be able to assign a cost to and attach to a procedure. This could be anything from masks and gloves to meds or staff time. It’s designed to be generic enough to give you broad latitude in deciding what you want to include.

Using Resources is also designed to be very simple: provide a reference number (most of our facilities try and use a manufacturer reference or item number where applicable, but you can also make up any unique combination of letters and numbers), name, optional description, and cost. That’s all that’s required. AMSHub will add it to your Resource list, generate a unique internal identifier, and immediately allow you to use this new Resource by attaching it to a Procedure, just as you would any standard Inventory item.

To simplify the use of Resources even further, we created Resource Bundles. This allows you to add multiple Resources to a single named group and then easily attach that Bundle, and all it’s underlying Resources, to a Procedure. In a few clicks you can add dozens of Resources, and their associated costs, to a Procedure. That cost data will now be used in calculating not only the profitability of that specific procedure, but will ripple out into all of the expense, margin and profitability calculations throughout our Reporting and Analytics. Learn more about Resources and Resource Bundles.

Next, let’s look at the Fixed Cost setting that can be defined globally for each Procedure Type. This is another way to assign costs beyond standard inventory items you’ll scan into a completed procedure. Much like Resources, this value can derived from any number of expenses, from personnel to utilities and more. The cost is procedure type-specific, so think about the costs incurred consistently for every procedure of a specific type. Assign a cost to those globally and then each time that procedure type is used to identify a procedure, those associated costs will automatically be added and used throughout the site. Fixed costs are configured in Settings > Procedure Types.

Another option for enhanced case cost is our Personnel expense feature. Using this feature enables AMSHub to automatically calculate the cost of techs and nurses in a procedure down to the minute. Learn more about configuring this here. This is a great way to ensure you’re getting a procedure-specific cost as accurate as possible with no additional work needed.

Take some time to add Resources and calculate Fixed Costs for your Procedure Types. Start adding Resources to every Procedure. You’ll immediately see dramatically better and more accurate information about the costs your facility realizes as well as your profitability.

The main rule to remember, is that the goal is always to use the AMSHub Order > Deliver > Procedure workflow as much as possible. The scenarios where you receive product outside of the traditional workflow doesn’t mean you can’t still use the existing features to work with these items. Let’s assume the scenario where a rep brings in some items from trunk stock. You still need to add them into inventory so you can track them and to scan them out as part of a procedure. The items might go straight into a procedure and you’re working with nothing but empty packages or just a barcode. Remember, the goal is still to use the workflow and there’s a simple process to do this.

First, create an order that includes just these items in AMSHub. If you have automated ordering turned on, you’ll need to use the Delivery Options panel at the top of your order confirmation to turn off automated delivery of that order to the vendor to make sure we don’t send an order for the item you already have:

Submit the order, and now you’ve got an order in the system. You can provide the system-generated PO to the rep if they require one and you can use the Delivery screen to scan the items into inventory under the PO, regardless of whether the item has already been used or not. Last, you can enter the procedure data and scan the barcodes to remove the item from inventory. At this point, you’ve used the ideal inventory management concept to process these items, regardless of whether you received them from UPS, or a rep directly. Using the workflow as often as possible ensures data accuracy, consistent reporting and simplifies reconciling and processing invoices.

Let’s say we scan a box with an item number of 1234 (item numbers are 14 characters, so we are shortening this for simplicity). If AMS knows this item number, that means it has been defined in our system and associated to the actual item inside. Let’s say the items themselves have an item number of 9876. If we have a box number we always have a box quantity. In this example, let’s say we have a box quantity of five.

So scanning the box number of 1234 triggers the system to know we’re dealing with a box of items 9876 in a quantity of five. But what does this mean to you as you’re working in AMS? Let’s look at a few scenarios:

Scenario 1 – Creating an Order

When you generate an order AMS adds the items necessary to return your inventory to your defined par levels. Here’s where a bit of magic happens for items in boxes. Continuing to use the example item above, we know that item 9876 comes in boxes of five. Let’s say you set your high par level to 5 and your low par level to 3. If you have two items on hand, AMS will automatically add this item to your order and recommend an order of 1 box, or 5 items. But, you say, you only need 3 items to return to your high par level. Well, AMS knows this item only comes in boxes of five, so it automatically tells you you need one box and indicates that five items will be ordered because of the box quantity. Now might be a good time to change your par levels to increments of 5!

Scenario 2 – Processing a Delivery

So now, let’s look at what happens when the box of 9876 items that was ordered in Scenario 1 arrives. You pull box 1234 (which we know contains 5 items) out of the delivery box and scan it. AMS knows that box 1234 contains five 9876 items, so scanning that one barcode on the box will automatically add five 9876 items to your inventory. So with one scan you get all of your items added and you can move on to your next item!

So that all sounds good, but what happens when you scan a box and AMS says item not found? Unfortunately, many vendors don’t provide the information about box numbers and quantities. That’s where you come in! We are asking all AMS users to help us complete the data about items in boxes by emailing info@archermedicalsystems.com any time they scan a box that isn’t found. Just send us the box number, the item number for the item inside, and the quantity that come in a box. To make it even easier, you can create an email and in the body, just scan the box barcode, then the item barcode, and then type in the quantity and hit send! We’ll update the global database and next time you get a box and scan it, you’ll see everything working.

Boxes and items, items and boxes. There are a number of benefits to help you save time and ensure clean orders are submitted, thanks to this concept. And with your help to continue to match the data, we’ll always be taking full advantage.

It’s critical to find a way to standardize these non-standard scenarios, to ensure the life cycle of the item is represented in AMSHub. In a scenario where an item is provided free-of-charge by a rep you might think you can just put it on a shelf, or take it straight into a case. The problem arises when the procedure is being tracked in AMSHub and someone scans the barcodes of all the items used in the case. The new item won’t match because it was never entered into inventory and if the choice is made to again just skip the tracking, you’ve now compromised the data in relation to the procedure. Additionally, reporting is also compromised because excluding that item would skew reports that look at items used per case, number of items used per doctor and across the facility, etc.

This is just one example of how you can inadvertently undermine the integrity of data. The solution is to use the existing tools to get every item into inventory as your first step. One of the easy differentiators to consider in these scenarios, is if there is a cost associated to the item. If there is, than regardless of how the item was received, you can simply add it into inventory. It is unlikely this is something you placed an order for, so you won’t use the Delivery area. Instead, you’re simply going to use the Inventory tools to add another item instance to the general item details.

To manually add an item, go to Inventory and scan the barcode or find the item in the list. Select EDIT to access the item details for change. In the Items In Inventory area, click into the blank Lot Number field at the bottom of the list and scan the item’s barcode, or manually enter the lot number and expiration date. The last column of item data is the No$ field. This is a key tool for adding items that may have arrived in unique fashion. No$ means this is a no cost item. Clicking this box for your new item means this was an item provided without cost from the vendor and will use modified rules for this item throughout its life cycle. Select the checkbox as needed and click the SAVE button for your new item. You’ve now placed the item into inventory and regardless of how it was received, it will be tracked and appear as a standard item for the rest of its use within your facility.

Manually Add Item

Making sure all items are included in your inventory will ensure they can correctly be assigned to a procedure when used and will correctly be featured in all of the future reporting. Reinforce the importance of correctly tracking all items and your data will thank you for it!

When it comes to determining ways to improve the performance of your facility, start with our Physician Reports. Most every facility has at least one outlier: the physician that consumes more materials per procedure than the rest. Some facilities have more than one. Using Physician Reports you can assess how your physicians compare to one another in areas such as case volume and expense per case. Use this information to establish a baseline of performance to monitor over time. You can also use it to incentivize or penalize outliers for cost overages.

Another critical area to assess your operational efficiency is in regard to the particular procedures you do. Each time a completed procedure is entered into AMSHub it’s assigned a Procedure Type and that data can then be used to report against. Use the Spending Report to look at monthly, year-over-year data regarding number of procedures and associated cost of procedures. Consider procedure revenues and the potential to effectively drive more high revenue procedures to your facility through your outreach programs.

Take the time to review all of the data available in the AMSHub reporting suite to be sure you understand the various metrics being presented and consider how your facility can use that data to make better decisions about the work you’re doing to maximize revenues while still staying focused on what matters: patient outcomes.