Make availability a shared responsibility.
Connect requisitions, purchasing, stores and consumption across hospital departments.
Explore the story
Planned core Medrella workflows, to be built from scratch using Schedula as the foundation. Availability requires development and demonstrated acceptance.
What this workflow connects.
The scope below guides discovery and demonstration. The adopted version and local configuration determine availability.
- 01
Items, suppliers and purchasing approvals
- 02
Purchase orders, receipts and stock ledgers
- 03
Warehouse and department stock movement
- 04
Batch, expiry and replenishment review
- 05
Consumption and financial reconciliation
Stock decisions affect the care day
A hospital's supplies move through central stores, pharmacies, wards, theatres and supporting departments. A shortage in one place can create urgent purchasing even while stock exists elsewhere.
Medrella's operational roadmap includes purpose-built purchasing and inventory workflows to give these movements a coherent record, with scope and readiness demonstrated before rollout. The objective is to make the location, status and ownership of supplies understandable. Inventory value alone does not explain service readiness. The design needs to connect the people requesting items, the people approving expenditure and the teams responsible for receiving and using the goods.
Start with a catalogue people can trust
Duplicate items, inconsistent units and unclear descriptions create work at every later step. A product bought in packs may be issued individually; a similar name may refer to a different specification.
Item masters, units, stores and supplier records therefore need deliberate ownership. Batch and expiry requirements should follow the categories that need them, rather than being applied as meaningless fields to everything. During discovery, use real purchase orders and store records to identify the conventions already in use. A clean catalogue is an operational asset that needs maintenance after the software goes live.
Connect requests to approvals and receipt
A requisition should make the need clear enough for the responsible person to approve, fulfil from stock or procure. Purchasing then needs a traceable relationship to supplier commitments and receipt.
Partial deliveries, rejected goods and changes in quantity are normal exceptions. The system should show them explicitly and prevent a promised delivery from being mistaken for available inventory. Financial posting and invoice matching should follow the agreed receipt process. Each department should understand where a request stands and who can resolve the next issue without calling several people for the same update.
Keep movements and consumption distinct
Transferring an item to a ward is not necessarily the same as consuming it for a patient. The required level of detail varies by item and service, so implementation should be proportionate to operational needs.
High-value or traceable items may require a different workflow from routine supplies. Stock adjustments should have an attributable reason and approval where appropriate. Reorder settings need to reflect usage, lead time and service requirements. Planned AI insight may help surface unusual patterns, but reliable inventory starts with recorded physical events and a regular reconciliation practice.
Verify the physical and digital story together
For evaluation, follow a request through approval, partial receipt, store transfer and an adjustment.
Ask whether the digital record explains the physical position and whether finance can reconcile the same events. Review who can create items, change units and approve corrections. Define reporting measures with store owners, including unresolved requests and discrepancies. Purchasing and inventory remain planned product work; catalogue cleanup, opening balances, store configuration and local purchasing policies must be addressed alongside software development. The best pilot proves a small set of representative movements before expanding to every department and supply category.
Connected thinking.
What would more time
for care make possible?
Let's explore it together