46% reduction in expired supplies after building advanced software to proactively monitor drugs

Innowise has built an expiration date management solution (EDMS) to manage high-cost medical supplies and streamline evidence-based procurement.

Customer

Industry

Pharma, Healthcare

Region

Client since

2023

Our customer is a large clinical center with a network of hospitals that provides medical care, including 24/7 emergency help, cardiology, neurosurgery, rehabilitation, diagnostic and laboratory services, and more.

Detailed information about the client cannot be disclosed under the provisions of the NDA.

Challenge

The customer needed insightful expiration date management software to improve procurement efficiency

In the healthcare vertical, supply chain departments face numerous challenges impacting patient care. Medical supply expiry dates are among the most significant pain points, particularly in specialized departments, where the financial consequences of wastage are particularly severe. For instance, surgical implants, chemotherapy drugs, and other high-cost consumables have a high monetary value and stringent usage requirements — critical for patient treatment.

Although out-of-the-box solutions can track expiration dates, they lack proactive capabilities to ensure supplies are used up before they expire. As a result, the client wanted to develop an expiration date management software from scratch that could not only catalog but also manage high-cost medical supplies’ expiration dates, ultimately improving procurement efficiency.

Solution

Expiration date management software to proactively monitor medical supplies

Innowise built advanced software that includes web and mobile applications to monitor medical supplies swiftly and proactively prevent expiration.

Labeling system

We started with engineering a highly intuitive labeling system based on color-coded stickers indicating the expiration date on each medical supply. The stickers have a mark for the hospital staff to check off once the item is used and space for the nurse to initial, making it easier to track supplies nearing expiration. We integrated the color-coding system with both the EDMS mobile app and central hub, ensuring consistency across physical and digital inventory systems.

EDMS mobile application

We developed a feature-rich mobile application to ensure proactive data management in healthcare. Hospital personnel logs in with different access rights, guaranteeing that only authorized users access information about drugs and equipment. Our team implemented a schematic builder feature, allowing users to create a detailed and interactive map of hospital supply rooms, specifying where each item is stored. The builder generates a unique location barcode affixed near the item’s storage spot. This barcode links directly to the drug’s profile in the system, ensuring that when scanned, users can instantly access all relevant information about drugs, including expiration dates and exact locations. As a result, this functionality simplifies the retrieval process, reduces search time, and minimizes the risk of misplacing supplies.All the medical items are categorized by expiration terms (90, 60, or 30 days) or a custom time frame. Users can take photos of medical supplies and attach these images to the corresponding product profiles within the app. This functionality is handy for maintaining accurate records, as it provides a visual reference for each item, aiding in quick identification and verification. Users can perform detailed searches using parameters such as product name, category, location, or expiration date. The app’s search engine allows for sorting and filtering results to narrow down the items needed quickly. Hospital personnel can also favorite specific supplies, adding them to a prioritized list for easy retrieval, maintaining optimal inventory levels, and minimizing financial losses due to expired terms.

System notifications

With the expiration date management software, users can set up custom notifications for various scenarios, such as expiring supplies, favorited items, or requests from other users. For instance, hospital staff can get daily or weekly summaries about expiring items or alerts when high-priority drugs reach a specific date. This feature ensures supply chain managers are always aware of critical inventory updates, allowing them to take timely action to manage supplies effectively.

EDMS central hub

On top of that, Innowise designed a web application to provide client’s logistic area managers (LAMs) and supply chain managers (SCMs) with a high-level, comprehensive inventory view. The system gives hospital staff an organized view of all medical supplies cataloged, which can be sorted based on the expiration date, location, department, or product category. Additionally, notifications ensure that users are always informed about changes in the inventory, such as new items added or supplies nearing expiration. This comprehensive approach ensures that every item is accounted for and managed efficiently, minimizing the risk of stockouts or overstocking.

Batch scanning and augmented reality

Additionally, we implemented batch scanning, allowing users to scan multiple items simultaneously, which speeds up supply processes – especially when auditing large inventories or restocking.

Also, we added AR functionality to the EDMS to provide a visual overlay highlighting items that are about to expire. When using the app’s camera, hospital staff can visualize drugs and medical equipment, making it easy to identify which supplies need immediate attention.

Dashboards, KPI, & reports

EDMS central hub allows users to build customized dashboards that quickly overview critical inventory metrics, such as fiscal year, location, department, timeframes, and more. Managers can see key data points at a glance, helping them monitor inventory levels, track expiration dates, and evaluate supply chain performance. Also, they can view a selection of pre-generated KPIs, which provide insights into inventory turnover rates, expiration date adherence, and cost savings from reduced waste. Users can select from saved dashboards, KPIs, and uploaded files to include in their reports, ensuring that all relevant information is captured. These reports are tailored to specific needs, whether for internal reviews, audits, or compliance purposes, guaranteeing transparency and accountability in inventory management and better communication and collaboration within the organization.

Technologies

Frontend

Angular, TypeScript, Modular Architecture, TSLint

Backend

Python, Django

Database

PostgreSQL, Redis Cache

Cloud

AWS

Mobile

Flutter, Dart, CleanArchitecture, BLoC, Flutter Async, GetIt, Navigator 2.0, Dio, MultiPackages, Firebase, Linter

Selenium, Appium, JUnit, TestNG, Postman

CI/CD

BitBucket, Docker, Kubernetes

Process

Our team followed the Scrum framework with bi-weekly sprints, ensuring flexibility and continuous improvement throughout the project. During the discovery phase, our business analysts conducted workshops with key stakeholders to understand their pain points and expectations and create a proactive expiration supply chain management system with an extensive feature set.

Our specialists created intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for both the mobile app and the web central hub, including wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes to visualize the user experience.

We built the schematic builder, batch scanning, AR functionality, search capabilities, and system notifications throughout the development phase. Also, we integrated Scandit’s SDK for scanning functionality and ensured seamless interaction between mobile and web applications. Upon competition, our QA engineers performed comprehensive system testing to validate the EDMS against the defined requirements.

Ultimately, we deployed the mobile and web solutions in the client’s environment, ensuring all components were correctly configured. Above that, our project team provided comprehensive training sessions with user guides for hospital staff to maintain flawless performance without failures.

As of now, Innowise provides ongoing support and enhancements to ensure the EDMS remains effective and up-to-date.

Team

Product Owners

Technical Lead

Business Analyst

UI/UX Designers

Back-End Developers

Front-End Developers

Mobile Developer

AR Engineer/3D Designer

DevOps Engineer

QA Engineers

Results

500,000$ annual cost savings due to better inventory utilization and fewer emergency restockings

Implementing an advanced expiration date management solution has significantly improved the client’s inventory management and operational efficiency. The system’s ability to provide real-time monitoring of items nearing expiration has reduced the wastage of high-cost medical supplies. This proactive approach means that supplies are used efficiently, resulting in direct cost savings of approximately $500,000 yearly due to better inventory utilization and less emergency restocking.

In addition, our client’s staff has reported saving an average of 15 hours per week that was previously spent on manual inventory checks and item searches. This allows healthcare personnel to focus more on patient care and other critical tasks. Moreover, the intuitive user interface and detailed inventory profiles enhance the overall workflow, reducing errors and improving accountability.

The improved inventory management means critical supplies are always on hand when clinicians need them, preventing treatment delays. As a result, our client can devote more time and resources to direct patient care.

Project duration

March 2023 - Ongoing

46%

reduction in expired supplies

$500,000

cost savings annually

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