Small team, exacting standards: Oak Harbor logistics ranks among DHA’s best
That attention to detail has helped the clinic’s logistics team earn the No. 1 ranking among 129 military treatment facilities for nine consecutive months. The team has also ranked first in its region for 10 consecutive months.
The rankings are determined through Defense Health Agency logistics management indicators, or LMIs, which measure performance across 12 elements of medical logistics. The indicators include outstanding supply requisitions, use of government e-commerce sources, purchase-card activity, inventory management, property accountability, biomedical equipment maintenance and responses to hazard alerts and product recalls.
For August, Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor received a score of 98.28%, placing fourth among the 129 facilities. Four facilities received scores of approximately 98%, with fractions of a percentage point separating them.
“Because we are a small MTF, one item can throw it off,” said Roberta Miller, supervisory inventory management specialist. “The fact that we are at 100% on these, versus some of the bigger ones where one item may not do anything, makes a difference.”
At a larger facility, a single late order or inventory discrepancy may represent only a fraction of its total workload. At Oak Harbor, one missed item among the approximately 30 products maintained in its central supply room can reduce the clinic’s performance by more than 3 percentage points.
Maintaining the clinic’s standing requires coordination among the warehouse, accountable property and biomedical equipment teams. It also demands daily attention to details that can become larger problems if left unresolved.
Jeremy Shoemaker, warehouse manager, reviews the clinic’s outstanding requisitions each day through the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support system. Each customer request generates a “due-out” for the requesting department and a corresponding “due-in” for the warehouse.
Shoemaker begins with the oldest orders and works forward, researching their status through government suppliers, contracted vendors and distribution systems. Orders generally have 30 days before their age begins affecting the clinic’s logistics metrics.
“If they’ve been ordered two or three days, I usually don’t put a lot of effort into trying to track those,” Shoemaker said. “I let the system work itself out. I’ll take the oldest ones, verify them and make sure they have a valid status.”
If an item is unavailable or backordered for several months, Shoemaker may cancel the requisition, return the committed funds for another use and notify the requesting department. Whenever possible, he also searches for an available substitute that meets the department’s clinical and operational requirements.
“I’ll try to go a step further and find a suitable substitute for what I just canceled,” Shoemaker said. “My knowledge of what they need may be different from theirs, but I try to find something readily available that may work.”
The team applies the same scrutiny to how supplies are purchased. Federal acquisition rules require the clinic to use established government sources and e-commerce contracts before seeking products on the open market or using a government purchase card.
When a department submits a request for an open-market purchase, Miller and Shoemaker search approved sources for an alternative that can meet the same need.
“It may not be the exact thing they want, but as long as it meets their bona fide need and the mission requirement, we recommend it to them,” Shoemaker said.
Inventory management presents another challenge. Oak Harbor’s central supply room carried approximately 129 products when the facility operated as a hospital. Today, it carries about 30.
The reduction reflects active management rather than diminished attention, Shoemaker said. The team reviews historical demand, issue frequency, reorder points and the amount of stock on hand. Products that are rarely used or unlikely to be consumed within 13 months can become dead stock, tying up money and storage space.
“If we’ve only ordered something four times in the last two years, I’ll go to the end user and ask if they still need it,” Shoemaker said. “If they have space to keep it in their local stock, I can remove it from the central supply room and they can order it directly when needed.”
The clinic’s success also depends on work performed outside the warehouse.
The accountable property officer must physically verify and inventory each piece of equipment within the required cycle. Biomedical equipment technicians must complete scheduled and unscheduled maintenance work orders on time. Miller said the logistics team monitors those areas and works with its partners to resolve problems before they affect performance.
The groups meet every Thursday to discuss open work orders, delayed parts and other barriers. If biomedical technicians need a component to return a device to service, the logistics staff can research the shipment, contact the supplier or seek another source.
“That’s where we really work as a team,” Shoemaker said. “We know what their issues are and what is slowing them down, and we do what we can to help them get the parts so they can meet their metric.”
The warehouse also reviews hazard alerts and recalls issued for medical products. Hundreds of notices may enter the system at once. Miller and Shoemaker compare each notice with the clinic’s catalog and two-year purchasing history, then contact departments that may possess an affected product or lot number.
Once the product is located — or the team confirms the clinic does not have it — the warehouse reports its findings and follows the manufacturer’s instructions for replacement, return or disposal.
Although the LMI score provides a visible measure of the team’s performance, Shoemaker said the work behind it has a more immediate purpose.
“It keeps our records clean, and it’s a check and balance,” Shoemaker said. “It’s just like your own checkbook. You don’t want to write a check and have it sit out there for a year, because that money is tied up and can’t be used somewhere else.”
The same principle applies to delayed medical supplies. An unavailable product can cause appointments or procedures to be postponed, creating a ripple effect for providers and patients.
“If you order something from Amazon and don’t get it for a month, you’re going to ask, ‘Where’s my stuff?’” Shoemaker said. “It’s the same thing I do with our orders. It’s not directly for me; it’s for patient care. I want to make sure our staff gets what they need on time.”
Shoemaker has tracked the clinic’s LMI performance for approximately three years. In the past, finishing first for three consecutive months was cause for celebration. Six months became the team’s benchmark for a year-leading performance. Reaching nine consecutive months at No. 1 exceeded those expectations.
“Nine in a row is pretty crazy,” Shoemaker said. “To have the same facilities remain in the top five is rare, so to be No. 1 nine times in a row is even more rare.”
Some factors will always remain beyond the team’s control. Equipment may be unavailable for months, repair parts may be delayed and a single outstanding order can separate first place from fourth.
That unpredictability makes the clinic’s sustained performance even more notable, particularly with a small staff and few dedicated backups. The warehouse cross-trains its Sailors, but permanent-change-of-station rotations mean newly trained personnel eventually depart and the process begins again.
Shoemaker also credits the clinic’s supply custodians for understanding the larger purpose behind decisions to cancel aging orders, recommend substitute products or adjust inventory levels. He shares the monthly rankings during supply-custodian training and has turned the results into a friendly, clinic-wide challenge.
“Our goal is to be No. 1, but our goal is also to do our jobs properly,” Shoemaker said. “We have metrics for 12 elements, and we want to meet them. Everybody supports that. If we keep communicating and working as a team, we should continue to be in the top five.”
For Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor’s logistics team, the rankings offer confirmation that its processes are working. More importantly, they demonstrate that supplies, equipment and funding are being managed so clinicians can focus on the mission.
“It all comes back to patient care,” Shoemaker said. “That’s what we’re here to do.”
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