Procurement planning in a hematology lab
Unlike pharmaceutical products, methods for selection and procurement of diagnostic analyzers in hematology labs have to be tailored to the end user. Hence, procedures may differ between the types and levels of labs. In particular, the desired testing throughput, staff competencies and training requirements, and site infrastructure will greatly impact the choice of analyzers in a particular health facility. In addition to national policies and guidelines, financial and regulatory factors may impact a lab’s capacity to select and manage particular types of diagnostic analyzers. Disease patterns that are national, regional, and seasonal may dictate the required scope of services and throughput in specific locales. At facility level, facility infrastructure including stability of utilities, cold chain and/or appropriate storage, human resources capacity, staff competencies, training, local service and technical support, test through-put, and quality-assurance measures will all contribute to product selection and, therefore, procurement of analyzers.
All organizations, whether governmental, non-governmental, or private, have limited resources that must be utilized in the most efficient means possible. The importance of advance planning must never be underestimated as it provides critical information management required to allocate resources that will enable the organization to reach its objectives. The procurement-planning process can be described in several stages ranging from a preliminary-needs assessment through key communication and decision-making stages to the actual development of a written plan. The final stages include the selection and quantification of products. Planning is an iterative process that requires continuous review and inputs from key stakeholders, good communication between parties, and flexibility in approach.
Minimum acceptable performance criteria must be agreed and include the following characteristics, as appropriate for the particular product category: clinical sensitivity, analytical sensitivity, clinical specificity, invalid rate/non-reportable results, inter-reader variability, if subjectively read, and bias for quantitative method. The operational aspects of diagnostics are equally as important as the performance characteristics, and thus both must be included within product specifications. Quantification is the process by which requirements for laboratory equipment, reagents, consumables, and durables are made. The quantification process requires significant preparation to ascertain the current scope and demand for products. A quantification process is dedicated to development.
Forecasting is a projection of the quantities of products required to meet demand for a future period of time. Forecasts are most often made for a 1–2 year period. The lack of available high-quality demand data contributes greatly to low-quality forecasts and resultant stock-outs and wastage of supplies. To conclude, procurement planning is very critical in a lab set-up and requires meticulous planning and implementation for the desired output.
