Hello,
I have had the same system for about 2 decades and it has worked all of these years. It really works if you do not have access to a scanning system that relies on technology.
I created an Excel sheet that has all supplies that contain an expiration dates on the left vertical column and the top horizontal row has many boxes that state “exp date” across the top. This is located on the door of the closet inside of a plastic jacket so that the sheet can be removed and replaced easily. As staff add a product to the closet (let’s say 4x4 sterile gauze) , they check for that item on the list and if that expiration date is not listed, it is added at that time (no need to duplicate the exp date if it is already there). If the expiration year is a future year, ONLY the year is documented. For example, we are currently in 2022, so if the gauze will expire in 2/2024-only the year 2024 is recorded. We ONLY record the month AND year if it will expire this current year, so 2022.
If the item will expire in the next 3 months, that date is highlighted with a highlighter marker.
Since the closet is checked once per month, the person responsible will look for the highlighted dates (those that will expire in the next 3 months) and 1 month prior to expire, remove all of those and then place an “x” through that date (signifying there are no items in the closet with that expiration date for that item).
What it allows one to do is to look at the sheet and by looking for any highlighted dates, note those as items that will expire in the next 3 months and focus on managing those.
Another part of the processes is ensuring those items that expire later are in the back and those expiring sooner are front and center. This helps to reduce waste once the item expires. This also helps one to create par levels and manage their inventory. For example, if you are throwing out multiple items each month, you are overstocked and this is wasteful.
The key areas for success ms are:
1. The system does NOT work if the person adding to the closet does not check for the expiration date and add if it does not exist, when adding a new item. That is why I always limited it to 1-2 people responsible for this. And the other clinic staff knew that unauthorized people could NOT add.
2. Every 3 months, the responsible person will recreate a new sheet so that it will be cleaner every quarter. If you just keep using the same sheet over and over, highlights and cross outs can get messy. My staff love when it is time to redo the sheet!
3. Once we get to October of that current year, we then start to convert the expiration dates for the following year from year only to month and year. For example, in 10/2022, during the monthly check, the person will check all items that expire in 2023 and change to month and year (so 4/2023) on the sheet. But future years (2024 and on-will remain as just the year).
4. We have one dedicated person who does this (with a trained back up). That way, the main person knows that closet inside and out and by using the protocol, can manage inventory and expiration dates efficiently. This removes the tedious nature of going through everything monthly. That is time that can be spent elsewhere.
I can walk into my closet right now and within seconds, tell you everything that will expire in the next 3 months (as they will be highlighted and NOT crossed out).
I have shared this with many people who have issues with expiration management and they are shocked at how quickly they solve the problem.
Hope this helps
Nicole
Sent from my iPhone
Original Message:
Sent: 6/26/2022 4:41:00 PM
From: Rhonda Gutierrez
Subject: RE: Par Levels/Expiration Dates
Hello, Claudia,
I assign one staff member each month to go through all of the supplies, clinic medications, and sample meds to check for par levels and expiration dates. Staff also reports low par levels by recording low inventory on a whiteboard so it can be reordered. Checking expiration dates is really tedious, but they have all month to complete the task. I have them pull items that will be expiring that month and record what will be exiting the next month. It's not a perfect system but seems to work pretty well if everyone is on board.
I hope it this helpful,
Rhonda
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Original Message:
Sent: 6/24/2022 10:04:00 AM
From: Claudia Gardner-Benn
Subject: Par Levels/Expiration Dates
Hello,
Does anyone have an established and efficient system for maintaining par levels and tracking expiration dates on supplies? We currently have 2 supply closets at our student health center. The medical assistants periodically check. I would like to establish a system that relies a little less on someone's memory. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and regards,
Claudia
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Claudia Gardner-Benn, MSN, RN
Director of Nursing and Quality Management - Student Health on Haven
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York, NY
cg3371@cumc.columbia.edu
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