das magazin / 28/09/2020

Spotlight on: New Strategies

Whether it’s on the ward, in out-patient departments, or in surgery: we deliver solutions.

The health services are now faced with an immense challenge: increasing financial pressure, complex quality management processes, increasing shortages of specialist staff, and a trend towards prioritisation of out-patient services. In the short and medium term, there are a vast range of different tasks to be covered in day-to-day clinical work, which require fast, but also sustainable solutions.

L&R OPTILINE, the L&R Group’s comprehensive solution for hospitals and out-patient care centres, has been providing support using an integrated approach for over 20 years, helping care providers to transform problem areas into new opportunities.

The solution always places the focus on the customer and their individual problems or challenges; an analysis is carried out, looking for answers to questions such as:

  • What objectives would the customer like to achieve?
  • What is the status quo?
  • Where can we see potential for optimisation?
  • In what areas does it seem sensible to economise on time and materials?
  • What type of project planning seems realistic?
  • Where are the “pain points”?

Players in the growing market of health services who are also looking to grow in the future have to prepare themselves properly today. Innovative care concepts and efficient use of resources play a decisive role in this process.

The L&R product portfolio makes use of individualised services for process and product optimisation for quality assurance and increased efficiency to support hospitals and out-patient care units to stay profitable and competitive, and to achieve growth.

Verena Eulberg, from National Key Account Management at L&R, knows what this boils down to:

“We are in a position to carry out a precise analysis of our customers’ needs, and to highlight areas where certain solutions can be implemented. Our experienced L&R OPTILINE Team helps to streamline product ranges, reduce the number of suppliers, standardise products and processes, and to optimise accounting. This brings the potential for savings, both in terms of revenue and on the process level. The individual components and services can be selected in a modular, flexible manner. Our team is available to our customers around the clock, from the initial analysis right through to implementation and long-term follow-up with consulting and controlling services. Today, around 500 customers across Europe are benefiting from the work we do.”

From the ward to the OR, negative pressure therapy to administration and outpatient care, L&R develops individual solutions and concepts which guarantee demonstrable added value. Analysis of consumption data, streamlining and standardisation of product ranges, process optimisation, product testing, defining standards, user training, e-business and logistics solutions: just an idea of the variety of different areas and processes which L&R specialists can propose solutions for as part of a close collaboration.

Claudia Arnold from Global Marketing at L&R:

“Our L&R OPTILINE customers value our intensive and long-term commitment, even continuing long after implementation. This type of strategic partnership can bring particular value for both sides, and for this reason, we are continually developing new service models allowing companies to tap into all their additional potential in terms of both quality and efficiency. Human resources also play a key overarching role in this process. New avenues for improved patient care can be opened up through process optimisation, which can be key factor for avoiding personnel shortages.”

L&R OPTILINE offers a strategic approach:

  1. Consumption data analysis
  2. Presentation of results with decision makers
  3. Evaluation phase with practical trial
  4. Feedback interviews
  5. Supporting implementation and training
  6. Long-term consulting and controlling

In addition to its key markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, today countries such as the Netherlands, Italy, France, Denmark, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are all benefiting from the work carried out by L&R OPTILINE.

The first L&R OPTILINE DACH Symposium took place in June 2019 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to focus on international networking, acting as an exclusive platform to offer the chance to highlight new opportunities and challenges as a collective.

Strategic Partnership

The Prospitalia Group is Germany’s leading purchasing service provider for medical facilities, acting as the process partner between industry and hospitals, hospital pharmacies and other care facilities. L&R and Prospitalia have been working together highly successfully for many years now.

Markus Wild, Prospitalia’s CEO, did away with a common assumption that when hospitals see increased profits, conversely, they also see reductions in quality. For him, the solution to this can be found in efficient processes and through making savings on unnecessary costs.

Markus Wild

Key questions to be asking:

  • How can I make the right products available at the right time within my business?
  • How do I go about storing them properly?
  • How can I modernise stock to ensure it is up-to-date?
  • How can I avoid the need to throw products away due to improper storage, storage for excessive periods, or due to products becoming so old that they need to be disposed of?

L&R OPTILINE has developed and implemented solutions for its customers to address exactly these types of issues. This can contribute a great deal to reducing logistics costs.

“The partnership with L&R has always been highly professional and solutions-oriented. An important aspect for us is that they can set up training courses to ensure products are utilised properly and that their staff are trained up to an excellent level,”

Markus Wild said.