They may not be as advanced as the androids from Star Wars, but robots are roaming the corridors in about 450 hospitals today. Their job is mainly as logistics support, transporting materials throughout the labyrinthine layouts of healthcare facilities across the country.

"People look at it as exotic and 'out there,' but it is here today and real," said Aldo Zini, president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based Aethon, which produces the TUG robots. "There are about 450 robots out there bringing real value. Collectively they make 50,000 deliveries a week."

The robots are leading a technological revolution in healthcare supply chain and logistics management. In production about 10 years already, the robots have started to catch on in the healthcare sector over the past two or three years, Zini said.

The concept started when Zini and associates saw manual logistics in hospitals as wasteful, time-consuming activities that desperately needed automation upgrade. Advancements in robotic technology gave the idea a platform to become reality, he said.

"There have been improvements in supply chain logistics from the manufacturers to distribution centers to hospitals, but there hasn't been any real innovation inside the hospitals," Zini said. "People are pushing carts all over the place the same as they were 50 years ago."

Especially problematic is the process of having people handling the dirty jobs of transporting hazardous medical waste and soiled laundry, which is where the robots serve a definite purpose, he said.

"There are certain jobs that you don't want people to do, such as pushing 500-lb. laundry carts down a hallway," Zini said. "Robotics has evolved to the point where they can do this safely and effectively, with lower injury rates and faster turnaround times."

The TUG name comes from the robots' function of pushing carts the same way tugboats push ships. They can navigate even the most complicated floor plans and interface with elevators to travel throughout the facility. In transporting medical waste, Zini said a disposal container could conceivably go from pick-up to the loading dock and into a recycling bin or waiting vehicle without being touched by human hands.

The robots also handle medication management, transporting prescribed drugs from the pharmacy to patient floors, where nurses deliver them to patients. They also handle meal transport in the same fashion.

A common misperception about deploying the robots is that a healthcare facility needs to be new and have advanced IT infrastructure. But it is just that – a misperception, says Tony Melanson, vice president of marketing.

"We are deploying these systems in existing hospitals – no new infrastructure is needed," he said. "The only infrastructure needed is wireless capability."

In looking at future uses for robots, Zini said the company is working with customers "to identify other opportunities where it would be beneficial."

'Perpetual' inventory'

Now that it has been spun off from San Francisco-based McKesson, Pittsburgh-based Aesynt is focusing on pharmacy and medication management tools to optimize those supply chain processes.

"The foundation for doing anything more sophisticated going forward is having the tools for perpetual inventory management," said Neil DiBernardo, director of professional services. "Contrasting that to supply chain in the traditional sense, pharmacy has a lot more line items and minor differences between those line items."

Perpetual inventory – not just for the pharmacy, but also for the entire health system – has real benefits, such as accountability and cost control, DiBernardo said.

"The software and technology creates the perpetual inventory environment, focusing on inventory turns, which on average is 10 times a year," he said. "We can ramp that up a bit, from 10 times to 16 times a year."

Aesynt's Insyte Medication Logistics system takes a holistic view of supply chain operations and targets inefficient practices such as the purchase of excess safety stock. Pharmaceuticals and their limited shelf life are vulnerable to expiration, but the system is able to segment and signal those that need to be used first.

"Clinicians and pharmacists excel at therapeutic efficacy, but inventory management is not their primary competency," DiBernardo said. "Our solution looks at past usage and uses that to increase turns in a logical, more systematic way."

'Strategic sourcing'

As hospitals face pressure to do more with less, supply chain managers are not exempt. They, too, are being asked to streamline operations and become more efficient, says David Kaczmarek, senior director for Chicago-based Huron Healthcare.

Yet instead of growing smaller, materials management is actually growing larger – especially in the purchasing end, he says.

"It used to be where you relied heavily on GPOs, now the bigger organizations are saying they can do more on their own with strategic sourcing," Kaczmarek said. "We are seeing some growth in strategic sourcing and seeing productivity gains in purchasing."

Information technology is playing a heavier role in supply chain management now, as supply chain directors and staff are being asked to display more skill sets than ever before.

"It used to be you just had to be a good negotiator – but it only begins there now," he said. "Materials managers need to be strong presenters and communicators, think strategically and analytically. They've always had data, but now they are employing data specialists to mine it."