Prior to the establishment of a provincial Supply Chain, each health authority had a different product catalogue.  A province-wide Preferred Product Catalogue was developed which maximizes the benefit of using standard medical products and devices while ensuring that the catalogue meets evolving clinical practice across the province.  The product catalogue also rationalizes the number and type of products used in patient care.

Consolidating health authority volumes into provincial product catalogues has reduced the purchase price for standard items and decreased the inventory kept on hand.

Standardization ensures that Supply Chain services are aligned and integrated with patient care while providing support to the clinical teams.  Carefully selecting the number and type of products in a category provides opportunities to

• Improve the overall effectiveness of current practice
• Reduce variance in the type of products and protocols
• Decrease the potential for adverse outcomes
• Increase the savings that can be redistributed to the health authorities for use in direct patient care