Elevating materials management for rural health care impact
Materials management is often seen as a purely operational responsibility — tracking supplies, negotiating with vendors, and maintaining inventory. In rural hospitals, however, those day‑to‑day decisions have deep financial and clinical implications. With tighter budgets, every supply chain choice directly affects patient care and overall hospital performance.
Visibility across materials, finance, and clinical operations is essential. Without it, rural facilities risk redundant depreciation, missed billing for chargeable supplies, or critical product shortages that disrupt care delivery.
Why it matters
Each supply chain decision resonates in multiple areas:
- Untracked assets may distort financial statements and budget forecasting.
- Delayed orders not only disrupt patient workflows — they may hit clinical billing and revenue.
- Overlooked chargeable items lead to lost reimbursement opportunities.
In rural settings where cost‑containment is paramount, these ripple effects aren’t theoretical — they are real, consequential, and measurable.
Eliminating siloes for stronger outcomes
In many rural hospitals, materials, finance, and clinical teams operate in isolation. Purchasing decisions are made without awareness of cost impact; finance lacks real‑time inventory insight; materials teams don’t see supply use in the OR. That disconnect creates inefficiencies and risk.
Integrated systems and regular cross‑departmental collaboration close the visibility gap. In smaller rural facilities where flexibility and agility matter most, this alignment becomes critical for financial health and care quality.
Shifting from operations to influence
Materials professionals should develop fluency in key areas:
- Understanding how capital acquisitions affect balance sheets and depreciation.
- Recognizing how chargeable supplies factor into patient billing.
- Tracking procurement delays and their downstream consequences.
- Partnering with finance on budget planning and forecasting.
- Supporting clinical teams with informed product availability decisions.
With this knowledge, materials leaders can frame their recommendations in terms of cost savings, improved cash flow, and enhanced clinical readiness — earning strategic influence in organizational decisions.
How integrated technology enables impact
Modern ERP systems bridge operational siloes. When procurement, inventory, general ledger, and asset tracking are connected, materials data is no longer buried — it becomes actionable insight:
- Which vendors were most costly over the last fiscal year?
- What chargeable supplies were consumed in the OR?
- Which assets remain on the books but are no longer in service?
Many hospitals still struggle with what happens after supplies leave central inventory. While ERP systems track what’s on the shelf, visibility often drops off once items are delivered to nursing units, the OR, or other clinical areas. Without that connection, it’s hard to know what’s being used, what’s going unused, or what’s missing altogether.
This disconnect doesn’t just affect clinical teams. It also puts the materials department in a reactive position. When central supply doesn’t have visibility into what’s been used or what’s still sitting on carts or shelves, teams often rely on phone calls, manual logs, or memory to keep inventory stocked. That creates risk for product outdating, missed reorders, and overstocking.
Addressing this challenge goes beyond communication and requires examining opportunities to extend the technology ecosystem to the point of care. For example, if the ERP systems can integrate with inventory management tools like automated supply cabinets, weight-based bins, or sensor-enabled PAR-level systems, this enables tracking supply movement in real time. When these systems feed data back into the ERP, materials teams gain a continuous view of what’s being used, what needs restocking, and where gaps are forming before they impact patient care.
Combining system integration with floor-level collaboration creates a closed feedback loop. Materials leaders can validate how supplies are stored and accessed, then use that insight to improve system accuracy and inform smarter replenishment. The result is reduced waste, stronger inventory control, and better alignment across supply, finance, and clinical operations.
Steps to elevate materials management
Materials managers looking to step into a more strategic role can begin by:
- Engaging colleagues in finance and clinical areas to understand their data needs and workflows.
- Building basic fluency in accounting and billing, including depreciation, debit/credit structures, and charge logic.
- Using ERP reporting tools to monitor usage trends, identify discrepancies, and highlight opportunities.
- Creating regular forums or updates to share materials insights and align on impacts and initiatives.
By involving frontline staff in conversations about inventory usability and pairing system data with real-world workflow feedback, materials leaders can uncover overlooked opportunities to reduce cost and improve care quality. A strategic materials manager doesn’t just track boxes; they ask how supply access impacts patient care and staff efficiency, and they use that insight to guide improvement.
The strategic bottom line
Rural hospitals operate on margins that allow little room for inefficiency. When materials management transitions from transactional supply ordering to strategic lifecycle oversight, it transforms hospital performance. Every small process improvement — from coordinating asset disposition to tracking billing codes — adds resilience to clinical and financial operations.
In rural health care, integrated thinking isn’t just helpful, it’s essential. Empowering the materials role through visibility, communication, and systems creates a foundation for greater stability and community impact.
NRHA adapted the above piece from Multiview Financial Software, a trusted NRHA partner, for publication within the Association’s Rural Health Voices blog.
 | About the author: Doug Van Houten is a strategic consultant at Multiview Financial Software and a former rural health care materials manager with hands‑on experience in hospital supply-chain and ERP modernization. He partners with rural health care leaders to align materials, financial, and clinical systems — driving data‑enabled decisions and stronger organizational outcomes. |