Customizability

How customizable is your product?
HISI can customize the final report to meet the client’s individual needs by populating the final report with the following information: client’s internal item # (i.e. MMIS #), item bin locator (i.e. 101A1), expired/damaged/consigned or specialty items within the section/area it was found in (i.e. Vanguard items). HISI offers a wide variety of reports that allow our clients to analyze their inventories in detail and target areas of special interest.

Inventory Valuation

How do you ascertain the customer’s acquisition price (whether it is through GPO contract, other contract, or list price)?
HISI sales staff discusses reports’ valuation with each client during the proposal or re-schedule phase. A formal price file request is attached to our service agreement. This document outlines the appropriate format and fields for price lists being submitted to HISI. Our Pricing Coordinator obtains price files and specific instructions (i.e. Item Master, 18-24 month Purchase History report, use of price stickers affixed to stock) and other relevant data directly from the customer or the wholesale company. The valuation process is then accomplished using the client’s acquisition prices first. If the hospital does not have a record of price paid for an item that was found in stock, HISI can utilize its database pricing. The customer’s final reports are coded in the Price Type field for ease of identification of pricing source (i.e. Client Contract 1, Contract 2, AWP, HISI database).

Customer Type/Class of Trade

What types of customers and/or class(es) of trade are the target markets for your products?
Healthcare Facilities. HISI primarily services Acute Care Hospitals including University, Academic, Cancer Treatment Centers, Surgery Centers, and Distribution Warehouses.

Service and Support

Please describe your Service and Support team organization.
HISI maintains corporate and regional service and support teams. The majority of our management level personnel have 10-15+ years with our organization. All field audit team members are full time employees. Because of our mix of accounts they are cross trained in order to be proficient in pharmacy and medical product knowledge. HISI does not utilize part time or sub-contracted staff. It is our belief that the hospital points of contact (i.e. Directors of Material Management, Pharmacy, Surgical Services, and Finance) appreciate the fact that they can request a specific sales representative and/or project supervisor & team. This allows continuity and a higher level of customer satisfaction.

Differentiating Factors

What attributes of your products and services make your offerings better than your competitors’?
HISI has a proven record of providing high quality services for the past 27 years. HISI will customize our service and reports to meet the client’s needs. Our auditors recognize manufacturer names and reorder numbers as opposed to distributor names and lot numbers. They can easily distinguish the difference between package sizes such as each, box, or case, and their correct usage. HISI will gladly work with the hospital and external auditors before, during and after the physical counts. HISI can also provide year to year comparison reports.

References

Can you provide references?
Yes, HISI is happy to provide references upon request. We also invite potential clients to visit our testimonials page.
Please click here to go to our testimonials page.

What is the standard report return?
Inventory return can range from 2 to 4 weeks depending on the scope of the project and the level of service selected. In some cases, for example HISI’s Pharmacy PDT inventory service preliminary reports are available on-site.

Our hospital does counts in-house. What is the benefit of using HISI?
By utilizing HISI resources healthcare facilities get the benefit of a knowledgeable third party count. By using an outside service hospitals free up employees allowing them to tend to patient care and day to day operation of the facility.

Is HISI SAS-70 certified?
Yes. HISI’s SAS-70 certification letters are available upon request.

Do you charge extra for weekends/evenings?
No. HISI understands that the optimum times to conduct inventory may not be 9 to 5. We work with our clients to meet all the logistical needs.

What do I need to do to prepare for the count?
HISI provides its clients with a list of tasks to help prepare for up-coming inventories.

Do you identify obsolete or consignment?
Yes. HISI can count obsolete and/or consignment items and segregate them for reporting.

How do you value the inventory?
HISI offers a variety of valuation methods ranging from utilizing client supplied pricing to our own proprietary database.

How are HISI employees trained?
HISI trains its employees in basic inventory principals such as counting left to right top to bottom. HISI familiarizes it’s staff with basic hospital procedures and HIPAA requirement. All staff are routinely audited/monitored to ensure accuracy of counts.

Does HISI use full-time or temp employees?
HISI only uses W-2 employees.

Does HISI accept credit card payments?
Yes. We accept Master Card, Visa and American Express. Contact your Sales Associate for details.