Knowledge Center

Learn how Baptist Health forged its traditional AP cost center into a cost savings driver.

In this case study, learn how Kaleida Health drove system-wide clinical-supply integration using three key strategies to build a clinically integrated supply chain.

Explore opportunities for improving the procure-to-pay cycle to generate better outcomes for both health care organizations and their supplier partners.

Healthcare expenses continue to rise and yet hospitals are realizing consistently shrinking margins. Healthcare supply costs are typically the second largest expense to a hospital and must be managed in a manner that ensures providers have access to quality products but also with an emphasis on cost awareness and expense reduction strategies. Healthcare supply chains must leverage their data in order to make better business decisions to reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies through the use of business analytics.

2018 AHRMM CQO Summit: Each year at the annual AHRMM Cost, Quality and Outcomes (CQO) Summit, participants throughout the health care field come together to share their knowledge, leading practices and ideas on supply chain’s role in delivering higher quality care at a more affordable cost. The CQO Summit discussions, in turn, inform the next year’s CQO report, which guides the development of the agenda for that year’s Summit.

In 2014, AHRMM hosted the first Cost, Quality, and Outcomes (CQO) Summit to bring healthcare thought leaders together to discuss particular supply chain issues and concerns. The results of those conversations were used to develop the first task force and to shape the agenda for the second CQO Summit, held in 2015. This white paper was written as a recap of the AHRMM17 CQO Summit, held in July 2017 in Washington, D.C.

This case study provides a review of Grady Health System’s transformation from traditional Value Analysis Joint Product Review Team structure to Value Based Selection Committees which promote shared governance including system wide physicians and executives focusing on full integration of cost, quality, outcomes analysis to ensure selection of products offering the greatest overall value for cost reduction and improvement of outcomes.

Increasing federal regulation compliance costs and declining reimbursements have compressed hospital profitability. This is leading hospitals to turn to Supply Chain to reduce direct costs for supplies, devices, drugs, and purchased services. Traditionally Supply Chain has aggressively pursued these cost reductions through price reduction tactics. These techniques, however, are yielding diminishing savings returns.

The Purpose of this white paper is to prepare Supply Chain professionals to better understand how to support navigating some of the risks and opportunities inherent in participating in the 340B Drug Discount Program.

Incorporating the targets for transformation set by the leader of our organization including unjustified variation, fragmentation of care-giving, perverse payment incentives, and the patient as a passive receipt of care, Supply Chain has developed a strategic model and plan that transforms our thinking from a focus on “chains” to a focus on “flow” and from “Supply Chain Services” to “Care Support Services.”

This paper provides a case-study on what Banner has done to implement and continuously improve this initiative. Three key components to successful supply utilization savings are reviewed.

Increasingly, the hospital and health care delivery system executives are viewing the supply chain as a strategic asset that can be leveraged to meet operational, clinical, and financial performance imperatives. This has not always been the case. For years, the supply chain was seen as little more than a necessary but ancillary function – to buy and deliver products as needed – with the primary supply chain improvement strategy focused on buying those products at the lowest price possible.

Dale L. Locklair, FAHRMM, CMRP Vice President of Procurement and Construction McLeod Health Florence, SC

This is an on-going operational excellence initiative and our results have certainly validated our approach and produced an immediate beneficial impact. The methodology we have implemented truly drives improvements and bottom-line results. We are very proud that the Executive Leadership at our organization has promoted the use of Purchasing’s approach in assessing and managing other areas of the organization.

On August 8, 2011, the Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management hosted an Executive Thought Leader Event, sponsored by VHA. Held during the AHRMM11 Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, 26 seasoned healthcare supply chain executives discussed a broad range of strategic issues and challenges confronting supply chain executives today.

The surgical instrument management software (SIM) implementation began in October of 2003 and a Lean initiative to redesign processes began in October 2005. Implementation of all the initial recommendations was not complete until June of 2006.

This paper will present health care procurement strategies of four countries - the United States, Botswana, the United Kingdom, and China - as a means to evaluate volume aggregation under different health care delivery models.  

The white paper written as a result of the AHRMM Executive Thought Leader Summit held during the AHRMM14 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida.  

The paper presents healthcare supply chain tools and strategies for navigating the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes (CQO) Movement, and explores new initiatives designed to advance the supply chain from a transactional program to a strategic contributor to organizational success.