Yes, unitarization can reduce hospital costs.
There are materials that need to be converted into units and identified, such as scalpels and others that are already unitized, and it is only necessary to add an appropriate identification code.
If this material has a barcode, it may not be necessary to add another code. In some cases, it is necessary to include a more complete code, with batch number, expiration date and even a serial number for better traceability.
Why do we need a code? Because it is convenient to use this code to upload information directly to each patient's account. Therefore, identifying the product delivered has better justification with the health insurer.
Send the cost of these products to “General Expenses” is not the best management. Good management involves identifying the destination of each product and adding it to the patient's bill, so costs will be more accurate and billing will be correct.
Some products can be packaged in plastic bags and labeled with name and code. It is not the cheapest solution for bulky products, and another solution would be to stick labels on the products. But in addition to the cost of the labels, the cost of the identification process must be considered.
A Opuspac has a solution that makes up to 4.000 items per hour, with little effort and without labels. The Opus Ink prints directly on medical material, the cost of the ink is depreciable, as the ink cartridge lasts several months, the ink is alcohol-based, which does not require special care regarding toxicity and bad smells in the environment. Changing the machine setting (driving time) set-up) from one product to another is just 2 to 5 seconds.
Health insurers continue to pressurize with questions (disallowances) to avoid paying costs that are not duly justified by hospitals.
Therefore, keeping the materials with a serial code allows reliable control to include expenses in each patient's account and thus adequately justify each expense and thus, the hospital will be able to recover the amounts corresponding to the respective expenses.
