A drawer of aids nobody can account for
The stock check comes round. There are demonstration aids from three manufacturers, some a generation old. There are loaners, some out with patients, some in a van. There are aids ordered for patients who have not yet been fitted, and a few that came back in trial. The stock list says one thing, the drawers say another.
Hearing aids are small and valuable, and each one is individually identified. That makes them easy to track in principle and surprisingly hard in practice.
Why units go missing on paper
- Units change state often: ordered, received, demo, loaner, on trial, fitted, returned, sent back to the supplier.
- The state change is recorded in different places, or only in someone's head.
- Units move between rooms, branches and vans without being booked out.
- Demo stock from manufacturers may be on different terms from purchased stock.
- Supplier invoices are not matched to received serial numbers.
What drifting stock costs
Loaners that never come back. Demo units kept long after they are useful, when the supplier would have swapped them. Aids paid for but not fitted or returned in time. Supplier invoices paid for units that never arrived. And a stock check that takes a day and still does not agree.
| Unit state | Common gap | What we record |
|---|---|---|
| Received | Not matched to order or invoice | Serial, supplier, order, invoice |
| Demo | Terms and age unknown | Supplier terms, date received |
| Loaner | Who has it | Patient and expected return |
| On trial | Deadline unknown | Trial and supplier return dates |
| Fitted | Serial not on patient record | Patient, fitting date, warranty start |
| Returned to supplier | Credit not chased | Return date, tracking, credit expected |
How we build serial-level stock tracking
- Every unit is recorded by serial number when it arrives, matched to the order and later to the supplier invoice.
- Each unit has one status and one location at any time. Changing it takes a scan of the box barcode, or a tap on a tablet.
- Fittings, trials and repairs update the unit automatically where your practice system or Noah shares the serial numbers, or through a short form where it does not.
- Loaners are booked out to a patient with an expected return date, and overdue loaners are listed.
- Demo units show their age and supplier terms, so the team can ask for swaps when useful.
- A stock count per branch or van is done by scanning, and the differences are shown straight away.
- Supplier invoices are matched against received units, and anything invoiced but not received is flagged before payment.
The same record feeds the trial return tracker and the repairs log, so a unit's history is in one place.
Manufacturers change models and ranges regularly, and clinics tend to accumulate older demo and loaner stock as a result. The register makes that visible by model generation, so the team can plan swaps with suppliers, retire loaners that no longer match what patients wear, and avoid ordering a new unit when a suitable one is already sitting in another branch.
Access is set by role. Dispensers book units in and out, the practice manager approves write-offs, and the owner sees the whole picture across sites.
What changes day to day
Anyone can see where a unit is and what state it is in. Loaners come back. Stock checks take less time and agree. Supplier invoices are checked against what actually arrived. The practice manager can see the value of stock held, by branch and by state, without a spreadsheet.
Is your stock drifting?
- Your stock check never quite agrees with the list.
- You are not sure how many loaners are out or with whom.
- Demo aids stay in drawers long after they are useful.
- Supplier invoices are paid without matching serial numbers.
- Units move between branches or vans without being booked out.