Why digital inventory management matters for lab sustainability

• Smart inventory management is an overlooked opportunity to improve both sustainability and daily efficiency in the lab
• Digital transformation can simplify workflows while supporting broader regulatory and environmental goals
• Embedding sustainability into lab operations supports resilience, reduces waste, and helps teams focus on value-driven work

Sustainability is no longer an optional initiative; it’s a strategic necessity across every industry. Specifically in healthcare, where patient care intersects with resource-intensive operations, the case for systemic change is especially urgent.

Healthcare accounts for roughly 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with hospitals and laboratories driving a significant share due to energy use, supply chains, and clinical waste. At the same time, the sector is expected to meet rising demand for high-quality care, manage rising costs, and close equity gaps, all while reducing its environmental footprint.¹

To meet these intersecting challenges, the healthcare industry must reimagine its systems, workflows, and partnerships with sustainability at the center. Sustainability in healthcare means delivering better care not just for patients, but also for the planet. That requires operational innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and long-term thinking.

At this year's annual European Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EuroMedLab), Lisbeth Ejsing and Katrine Bay Steen from Regional Hospital Horsens shared how a digital shift in inventory management supported both operational efficiency and sustainability goals.

Sustainable healthcare isn’t just about reducing emissions. It requires rethinking how healthcare systems function day to day, with a focus on efficiency, transparency, and resilience. In the laboratory setting, this means addressing operational bottlenecks that lead to unnecessary waste or delays in patient care. 

When digital tools are applied thoughtfully, such as automating inventory tracking or streamlining procurement workflows, labs can save time, reduce overstocking and expiration, and improve visibility across supply chains. These shifts don't just support environmental goals, they also help to create a more agile, reliable, and equitable system of care.

Ejsing and Steen shared how their team transitioned from a manual, multi-person stock management process to a streamlined, digital approach to inventory management. They explained how implementing an automated system not only improved operational efficiency but also contributed to their department’s sustainability goals, reducing packaging, saving time, and avoiding unnecessary waste.

Prior to 2023, the laboratory at Regional Hospital Horsens, handling 6,500 tests per day and 200+ products, relied on manual biweekly stock counts, involving two to three staff members per cycle.²

“The most important reason we changed was time,” said Lisbeth Ejsing, Laboratory Technologist Manager. “We spent a lot of time ordering our products. Now it’s easy.”

Inventory discrepancies are common for laboratories. Regional Hospital Horsens is not alone in this issue, with discrepancies leading to occasional overordering and expired stock. With limited storage space and no digital visibility, staff often had to reorder or manually check lot numbers, consuming hours each week.

In March 2023, the lab implemented a digital cloud-based inventory management system to automate ordering, monitor usage in real time, and reduce reliance on manual tracking. The results were immediate:

• 84% reduction in inventory time, from 60 minutes to 10
• Monthly inventory checks shrank to 15 minutes
• 50% reduction in storage space for supplies
• Over 98% of Roche product orders transitioned to the platform
• User satisfaction scored 9.5/10

“Now we only manually do inventory when something unexpected happens,” said Ejsing. “Everything else is automatic.”

Like any implementation, the team faced an initial learning curve. “In the beginning, people sometimes forgot to scan items when using them,” Ejsing shared. “But now it’s working very well. Everything is based on PDA registration. If you don’t scan, the system doesn’t know, it was a shift in habit.”

By digitizing inventory, the lab improved expiry management, reduced urgent reorders, and cut packaging waste, delivering environmental benefits alongside workflow enhancements.

This transformation demonstrates how operational efficiency and sustainability can work in tandem, creating a ripple effect of impact across staff experience, budget efficiency, and care delivery.

The Horsens case aligns directly with a strategic approach to sustainability, which focuses on six key areas:³

1. Increasing access to healthcare innovation
2. Promoting health equity
3. Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace
4. Reducing our environmental impact
5. Embedding sustainability across product lifecycles
6. Protecting ecosystems and managing natural resources responsibly

By reducing overstock, improving delivery frequency, and minimizing expiry-related waste, the lab's digital inventory management system contributes to:

• Lower emissions from reduced transport and packaging
• Improved operational transparency
• Smarter resource use across the product lifecycle

These incremental gains are essential as labs, hospitals, and health systems transition to more sustainable business models.

The changes at Horsens also support the ISO 15189:2022 updates, which emphasize sustainability, risk management, and efficiency.⁴

“The updated ISO standard places greater emphasis on reducing operational risk through streamlined processes,” explained Steen. “Digital inventory gave us control over supply management and expiry tracking in a way we didn’t have before.”

Key areas of alignment with ISO 15189:2022 include:

• Risk-based thinking: Supports proactive supply planning, reducing the likelihood of stockouts and expiry-related risks
• Environmental responsibility: Reduces delivery frequency, packaging waste, and overstocking through smarter ordering
• Traceability and transparency: Enables full audit trails and product tracking through barcode-based scanning
• Operational efficiency: Minimizes manual work, accelerates workflows, and simplifies inventory review processes

Despite the progress, embedding sustainability into healthcare systems globally still faces macro challenges, such as:

• Climate change is increasing disease burdens and system pressure ⁵ 

• Biodiversity loss affecting drug discovery and food systems ⁶ 

• Geopolitical instability impacting supply chains and affordability ⁷

• Access inequality, especially in underserved regions ⁵

Digital solutions like inventory management are a critical part of the answer. They offer scalable, replicable models that reduce waste, improve equity, and build operational resilience without the need for massive infrastructure overhauls.

“Even small operational changes can have a huge impact,” said Steen. “It’s about building systems that last and evolve with us.”

Looking ahead, sustainability in healthcare will be shaped by collaboration, transparency, and investment. It’s not about a single technology or tool, but rather a unified shift toward smarter systems, better use of data, and shared responsibility.