Question

Describe the role of sales and operations planning in health care. How does your current employer (dental office in united states) address sales and operations planning? What are some of the observable outcomes of their efforts?

Answer 1

The most important role of sales and operations planning is the greater flexibility of demand and supply, the inventory management becomes more efficient which ultimately results in overall low cost, better budget forecasting and ultimately a better product lifecycle management. Sales and operations planning helps the companies to develop and align the tactical plans developed in almost all the business areas. The sales and operations planning is important in the healthcare industry because of the increasing competitiveness in the industry and increasing bargaining power of the buyer. Also, the alignment of the sales and operations planning with the tactical plans will improve the efficiency of availing the services to the patients and then a more centralized approach will give a better feedback from the customers. The corporate level strategy has to be framed in accordance with the sales and operations planning to standardize the efforts of the sales personnel and also standardize the experience of customers.

The employer first trains the employee to understand the in and out of the operations. He trained the sales employees with a standard content so as to deliver the same experience to the customers (Patients) and a better brand image in front of them. He made the norms and policies which the employees need to follow and work on better customer experience as a whole. He takes the continuous feedback from the sales personnel and accordingly implements that understanding to make a more sustainable process for the patients.

Some of the outcomes were that the customers started giving better feedback and also, the coordination between the sales and operations personnel became better. The lead time of the patients to pass through the entire process starting from the registration to the pharmacy store decreased considerably.