Inventory Shrinkage and Unauthorized Use of Surgical Supplies

$100,000 - $250,000 annually in missed supply charges on outpatient cases; rework costs for retroactive charge entry; regulatory risk of improper billing practices • $100,000 - $300,000 annually from ED shrinkage and unbilled supply usage; revenue recognition delays; vendor disputes • $100,000 - $300,000 annually in unaccounted shrinkage buried in supply budget variances; misallocated budget preventing investment in clinical areas; cash flow impact

AR team initiates manual charge audit post-case; identify missing supply charges from shrinkage analysis; manual charge entry; attempt to collect from patient after discharge (difficult for outpatient) • Charge capture and clinic staff maintain side spreadsheets and handwritten logs of implants used in ambulatory and procedure‑room cases, then manually key charges into the billing system after the fact, often based on memory or surgeon notes if product stickers or UDI labels were not retained. • Charge capture staff reconcile OR pick lists, preference cards, and EHR case records against periodic inventory counts and vendor consignment reports using manual cross‑checks, paper logs from the OR desk, and ad hoc Excel trackers to explain large variances before closing a case or month‑end.