Smarter Healthcare Storage Starts with AI

Ever found expired supplies stashed in a cabinet? Or had a supply vanish mid-shift? If you’re a healthcare manager, that frustration hits home. Balancing just enough stock—without overdoing it—while keeping costs in check is no easy task. You’re juggling patient care, staff needs, and tight budgets all at once. Artificial intelligence (AI) is stepping up to help, transforming inventory management, predicting needs, and boosting efficiency and safety. Here’s how AI creates smarter healthcare storage solutions, now and down the road.

Smarter Inventory Management

Manual supply management is time-consuming and invites mistakes. AI changes that. A WiFi platform tied to reliable and secure locking systems let you remotely manage carts and cabinets, track usage and send restock alerts. Inefficient inventory management—like over-ordering—wastes expired products. This inefficiency costs hospitals $600 billion to $1.9 trillion yearly, per the American Journal of Public Health. It’s a staggering hit to resources that could be applied elsewhere. 

AI uses real-time tracking to monitor stock levels, ordering supplies before they are needed without excess. Some systems scan carts and cabinets, flagging low stock or items nearing their expiration date. 

Mayo Clinic employs AI inventory solutions to manage ordering logistics, cutting costs and expired supplies by sourcing from vendors based on real-time costs, delivery times, and stock levels. AI helps facilities get supplies faster at a lower cost, while reducing ordering errors that can impact patient care. 

When it comes to smarter healthcare storage in inventory management, AI is transforming from manual, error-prone processes into streamlined, data-driven systems. By leveraging real-time tracking, automated restocking, and intelligent sourcing, healthcare facilities can significantly cut waste, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. AI-driven inventory solutions not only enhance operational performance but also helps ensure that critical supplies are always available—supporting better patient outcomes while protecting valuable healthcare resources.

Predicting Supply Needs 

No more running out of gloves during flu season or overstocking masks when it’s over. AI analyzes historical usage data, seasonal patterns, and patient census reports to predict supply needs, ordering just in time. A post-COVID report, Building Resilience into the Nation’s Medical Product Supply Chains, spells out the impact of healthcare supply shortages: poor patient outcomes, medication errors, staff burnout, and disease exposure. 

AI solutions like UC San Diego Health’s COMPOSER algorithm and Duke Health’s Sepsis Watch spot sepsis risks early, helping managers anticipate spikes in demand for critical supplies like antibiotics and IV fluids. The development of AI-based supply solutions can prevent our healthcare systems from being caught off-guard in the future. 

AI helps healthcare systems predict supply needs by analyzing trends, seasonal data, and patient volumes, enabling just-in-time ordering. Leading edge tools can anticipate surges in demand and helping prevent shortages that could compromise patient care and staff safety.

Boosting Efficiency and Compliance

The Great Resignation saw 20% of healthcare workers walk away during the pandemic, sparking a staffing crisis. Healthcare leaders are scrambling to boost job satisfaction, especially for nurses hit the hardest by burnout. One fix? Keep nurses at the bedside, not chasing supplies. Nurses spend an hour per shift searching for supplies and equipment; AI can help. A real-time location system lets them find supplies with a few clicks, easing their load. 

Keeping up with compliance requirements is another time-consuming task that can benefit from some AI assistance. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stresses proper endoscope cleaning to prevent infections, a task prone to human error. Modern AI tools log every step, reducing risks.

Researchers, per Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News, are crafting AI algorithms to standardize borescope inspections of endoscope channels and spot infection risks with more precision. 

Overall, AI is boosting efficiency and compliance across healthcare by streamlining routine tasks and reducing the risk of human error. Nurses have more time for patient care, and innovations ease staff workloads while enhancing safety and regulatory adherence.

Looking Ahead

AI’s future in advancing smarter healthcare storage is bright. Experts predict that AI systems will use real-time data to make purchasing decisions based on current stock, usage levels, and immediate needs, resulting in a true just-in-time inventory flow that saves money and eliminates expired products. 

At the patient level, AI algorithms based on patient data are being developed to predict changes in patient status, leading to the delivery of the right supplies to the right patient, at the right time. AI systems in operating rooms can reduce the risk of stock outs while accounting for surgical schedules and predicted emergency cases. 

Key takeaway:

AI is transforming all areas of healthcare, including operations such as supply flow and storage. AI cuts costs, predicts needs, and frees up staff to spend more time at the bedside. Embrace AI as a tool for better outcomes at a lower cost, today and tomorrow. 

Additional Article References:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11047988/#sec3-bioengineering-11-00337
• https://health.ucsd.edu/news/press-releases/2024-01-23-study-ai-surveillance-tool-successfully-helps-to-predict-sepsis-saves-lives/
• https://dihi.org/project/sepsiswatch/
• https://udspace.udel.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/a30487cb-780f-4a1b-8173-b1f0830cfe41/content#:~:text=Another%20exemplary%20case%20is%20Mayo,supplies%20and%20pharmaceuticals%20more%20accurately.
• https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/products-and-medical-procedures/reprocessing-reusable-medical-devices
• https://www.gastroendonews.com/Priority-Report-Endoscope-Reprocessing-and-Infection-Control/Article/12-23/Artificial-Intelligence-Aims-to-Standardize-Endoscopy-Inspection/72251