Standardization
Also known as: Product Standardization, Supply Standardization
The deliberate reduction of the number of different products used for the same purpose across an organization, in order to lower cost and complexity.
Standardization is one of the central objectives of healthcare supply chain. Fewer suppliers for the same function means better negotiated pricing, less inventory, simpler training, fewer errors, and less contract administration.
It is also the force a new vendor is usually working against. Adding a product frequently means displacing one, and displacement carries switching cost that the incumbent does not have to pay.
The standardization argument cuts both ways and vendors underuse the favorable direction. A product that consolidates three existing tools into one is making a standardization argument, which is a supply chain argument, not a clinical one, and it reaches a different and often more receptive audience.