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Surgical Supply Cost Reduction through
Surgeon Engagement & Preference Card Optimization
Overview
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7 Hospitals
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55 Operating Rooms
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$2.4B Operating Revenue (2023)
Objectives
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Reduce clinical variation
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Increase physician engagement
Results
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~$1.08m in estimated achieved savings
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1,285 cards optimized
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>20k fewer items picked annually
In 2024, Carilion Clinic and DOCSI partnered with a shared goal to strengthen physician engagement within supply chain initiatives across their health system. What began as a highly successful pilot focused on Carilion’s flagship facility, has since expanded into a full partnership at Roanoke Memorial and Community Hospitals (RMH & RCH), with further expansion to their regional facilities happening in the near future. This expansion will enable broader use of DOCSI’s data-driven insights, helping Carilion drive procedure standardization and surgical efficiency across its expanding network.
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Through this partnership, our team has been able to drastically enhance physician-led supply chain collaboration to include comprehensive, data-driven preference card reviews; empowering Carilion Clinic to achieve substantial new savings opportunities by seamlessly connecting surgeons to item utilization data, leading to reduced surgical waste, optimized inventory management, and improved cost efficiency across a myriad of high-volume service lines.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SURGERIES
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Key driver of financial sustainability
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Surgical preferences & supply utilization patterns contribute or detract from profitability
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Preference cards are often inaccurate
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Communication gaps exist between surgeons, supply chain, & clinical management
INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
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Labor expenses surged by over $42 billion, accounting for nearly 60% of hospital budgets
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Surgical supply costs continued to climb, averaging over $43 million annually per US hospital
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Reimbursement rates have stagnated, tightening already thin budgets
From 2021 to 2023
OPPORTUNITY
Carilion Clinic was looking for a scalable, digital strategy to strengthen physician alignment in supply chain initiatives and improve financial operations
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Digital, intuitive, scalable solution engaging surgeons in reproducible campaigns to reduce variation in surgical supply utilization.
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DOCSI's designed pillars of convenience, curation and actionability provided opportunity to approach complex relationships between surgeons and preference items in a highly efficient and productive manner.
RESULTS
"Our surgeons have really enjoyed the DOCSI solution, giving us visibility into item costs that historically were difficult to obtain, and allowing card changes to be requested easily through their user-friendly interface"
- Jacob Gillen, MD, FACS, MHCDS - Surgical Quality Officer
"Utilizing DOCSI has helped with collaboration between the physicians and surgical team bridging gaps that have in the past not been understood by the providers. It allows the physicians to directly take control of the fiscal responsibility directed towards patient care and allows the clinical team to have direct communication from the surgeon on items used during the case - Eric Davis - Nursing Unit Director
What's Next
Following our successful pilot and full rollout to Carilion's flagship hospitals, Roanoke Memorial and Roanoke's Community Hospital, we are excited to continue expanding to their regional locations to drive further​ physician alignment on supply chain initiatives.
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With their regional facilities having a high volume of Urology, Gynecology, Podiatry, and General procedures, we see a great opportunity to deliver significant operational and financial benefit in our continued partnership. Additionally, we are excited to assist in Carilion Clinic's initiative to analyze and streamline duplicative preference cards across their entire system.