top of page
.png)
Use Standardized Environmental criteria in RFP documents
PATIENT CARE AND TREATMENT PRODUCTS AND SUPPLIES
Segment Family Class
42
14
0
SDG Alignment
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
SDG Target
9.4
Target Description
By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities
Level of Effort
Level of Effort Scale
1
1 -Quick Wins: solution involves adding criteria for the good or service being purchased (ex: certifications), minimal internal process changes.
2 -Long Term Adoption: solution requires some changes to internal processes and/or more capital investment (ex: digital transformation to reduce paper use).
3 – Disruptive Opportunities: requires significant investment and changes to internal processes (ex: retrofitting building)
Category Assessment
Assessment
It is significant to understand your current purchasing processes regarding the current inefficiencies and life cycle. In order to be able to identify key players and other resources that are critical for drafting a purchasing policy..
• Identify if your current patient care products are recyclable or not.
• Identify if the product can be utilized as a multi-use product or device.
• Are the products manufactured following safety chemical guidelines?
• Evaluate environmental and safety training associated with product usage.
• Evaluate if your organization needs to establish or update your Facility-Wide Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Policy.
• Identify stakeholders and the end-user of all those that will be affected directly and indirectly by the policy.
• Evaluate your purchasing practices; are there standards in place to ensure product lifetime environmental tracking? Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) reporting?
• Compare your current procurement practices to a CQO (Cost, Quality, Outcomes) approach to procurement; CQO is a multidisciplinary perspective on analyzing return on investment (ROI) for products and supplies. It incorporates TCO analysis and assists with sustainability considerations with purchasing practices.
Opportunity Identification
Business:
Cost-saving through reduced operating and disposal costs, CQO procurement approaches could improve margins for product use, and encourages more cost-competitive services for patients without compromising service quality.
Sustainability:
RFI with environmental criteria encourages suppliers to include fewer resources during manufacture and follow safety guidelines and safe chemical policies; which leads to less waste in landfills, and reduced toxins released into the air, soil, and water (hazardous waste reduction), and overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the operating facility.
Strategy Build & Execution
• Identify the decisions makers and groups you need to develop a strategy with.
• If your organization choose to adopt an EPP policy; it is critical to consider your organization's needs in relation to your sustainability goals, find alignments internally and with suppliers.
• If your organization decides to adopt CQO purchasing practices; it is important to form a dedicated team to offer input in your procurement practices. These groups should involve teams like Procurement, Finance, Clinicians, OH&S, and Quality officers.
• Draft a list of questions to be implemented in your RFPs.
• Add values to your questions to emphasize the importance of certain items
Supplier Negotiation & Contract
• In your contracts: ensure EPP specifications specific to the product or supplies being procured. Include specific performance improvements and measures that are associated with tracking the TCO of individual products. Consider consolidating where possible.
• Work with suppliers to build guidelines and policies, which will ensure understanding when measuring total costs of using a particular product or contracted service, including operational impacts, satisfaction measures, and all impacts on quality and outcomes.
Supplier Performance & Management
• Perform annual Supplier Relationship Review.
• Maintain records of turnaround time, takeback program profit and loss reporting, purchasing and operational cost, the lifespan of equipment/software updates, and inventory variations.
• Perform an internal review after the program has been implemented to evaluate the operational impact of new equipment/software and environmental impact; compare to historical data.
Resource Links
bottom of page