Creating Consistency Through Standardization

Standardizing the way Johns Hopkins pur­chases supplies and provides services not only reduces costs but also improves patient safety. A new partnership with a manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies, and with a laun­dry service, shows how standardization benefits hospitals, staff members and patients alike.

Nobilant recently finalized a contract with national supplier Medline to become the sole distributor of medical and surgical supplies for all six Johns Hopkins Health System hos­pitals and affiliated physicians offices. “If a cli­nician normally works at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, we don’t want them to see products they are unfamiliar with if they work a shift  at Sibley Memorial Hospital,” says Mi­chelle Azotea, manager of strategic ac­counts and operational development for Nobilant. With each hospital using the same products, clinicians can feel con­fident that fall management footwear used in Johns Hopkins Bayview Medi­cal Center is the same at every other member hospital, providing a consistent and safe environment for patients.

Since Johns Hopkins orders directly from the supplier, it has better insight over inventory, which prevents shortages and back orders on items such as exam gloves, gauze and cohesive bandages. Medline also provides forecasting for back-ordered supplies, which gives Johns Hopkins time to find replacement items.

Streamlining the way Johns Hopkins cleans linens is another example of stan­dardization. Johns Hopkins and partner Up to Date Laundry arranged to have the linens across member hospitals in Maryland and Washington, D.C., ser­viced at a new processing facility in East Baltimore. Before, items such as bed­sheets had varying specifications for dif­ferent member hospitals, and sometimes they became mixed up during sorting and were sent to the wrong location. Value analysis teams decided on a com­mon ground among three major linen specifications—thread count, size and color—making the laundering process more efficient by eliminating sorting.

The deals with Medline and Up to Date Laundry also help Johns Hopkins continue its commitment to hire from the local community. The business plans to create about 160 new jobs, with two-thirds of them being filled by local residents. Medline intends to employ Baltimore City residents to help process and deliver the high volume of orders at its distribution center.

Kenneth Grant, vice president of general services for The Johns Hopkins Hospital and supply chain management for The Johns Hopkins Health System, says, “We use the word ‘value-driven’ quite frequently, but we love to take any opportunity to let our value drive the hiring of local residents.”