How JST Hospital Realized Intelligent Orthopedic Medical Supplies Management

Founded in 1956, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital (JST Hospital) is a large-scaled top-level hospital in Beijing with 2,900 medical staff and 2,000 beds. In 2014, the annual number of operations reached more than 40,000 cases. Its performance in medical care, teaching and researching led to it becoming the Fourth Medical College of Peking University.

Some departments of the hospital are ranked among the leading positions in China, in particular orthopedics and burn surgery. Special units based at the hospital include Beijing Bone and Arthropathy Research Center, Beijing Traumatology and Orthopedics Research Center, Beijing Hand Surgery Research Center, Beijing Burn Surgery Research Center and Post-Operative Total Joint Arthroplasty Evaluation Center.

Since its foundation, the hospital has won five state-level scientific awards. The physicians of JST Hospital have helped thousands of patients with orthopedic injuries so they can better enjoy life. In 2020, JST Hospital launched a project aiming to find intelligent orthopedic supplies solutions. Though JST Hospital has always offered cutting-edge medical services, its inventory management system for medical supplies was outdated and not scaling to match the system’s growth.

As orthopedic supplies were rich in variety and quantity, the accurate tracking and management of orthopedic supplies was critical to the hospital. The hospital’s staff kept experiencing lost or misplaced items within their warehouse. While automation had long been part of medical supplies management in this hospital, there were still problems with manual tasks that bring in potentials for error and inefficiency. Prior to implementing an inventory management solution, they were managing all surgical supplies manually which was time consuming and error prone due to miscalculations.

Committed to a system-wide overhaul, the hospital team knew their decision would have significant implications for years to come. Determined to find the best solution for both its aggressive growth pattern and cost-saving needs, the team ultimately selected NuboMed’s Intelligent Closed-loop Medical Supply Management System (ICMSMS) after a rigorous vetting process.

After being informed of the hospital’s challenge and vision, NuboMed worked relentlessly with the hospital staff to quickly configure and implement the solution across the network. The team appreciated NuboMed staff’s flexibility during early implementation. The solution was also fully operational ahead of schedule. “They were very patient, very helpful, very positive through the whole thing. We want minimal down time because patient visits weren’t going to be put on hold. And they just worked their way around any issues and got it done.”, said staff member.

With Intelligent Closed-loop Medical Supply Management System (ICMSMS), every process of medical supplies activities is tracked and scheduled more effectively, includes suppliers restocking, access supply for surgery, post surgery return and inventory count.

JST Hospital has also enjoyed the benefit of applying barcode scanning and RFID detection system on every one of the medical supply items. Using barcode scanning capabilities that come with an inventory system allows them to quickly and accurately perform tasks such as picking inventory and performing inventory count. By eliminating the manual process of tasks such as these, hospital saves time and money by speeding up the process and erasing errors.

Supported by the closed-loop software system, the data of medical supplies is integrated into the center platform. Displaying crucial data on the LED display platform helps staff to fully understand the inventory’s condition, assisting in decision-making and eliminating stock-outs.

The solution now serves as a backbone for all supply chain management in Warehouse Supply Center’s day-to-day operations, delivering key insights to the right people at the right time and freeing caregivers to focus on patients, not on tracking down supplies. After implementation, the hospital reported a 90% decrease in excess inventory as well as improved employee performance as a result of having a better tool to work with.

“Thanks to the cooperation with NuboMed, the management of orthopedic supplies in our hospital finally breaks through the bottlenecks, and the management level is now in an advanced and leading position in the domestic market.”