Category: Supply Chain

How Can I Advance Our Value Analysis Committee?

By: Brittni Straseske
Date: April 17, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Clinical Buy In, Procurement, value analysis

Many hospitals and health systems have had long-standing value analysis committees in place for several years now. Traditionally, these committees often approved the purchase of new items based on price neutrality or savings. However, many value analysis committees are evolving past this model, finding it restrictive to introducing new technologies and ostracizing to clinicians. As […]

Setting Expectations for Courier Services Providers

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: April 4, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Courier Services, Freight, Outsourcing, Performance Benchmarks, Purchased Services

Recent mergers and acquisitions have resulted in a complex process of integrating individual care sites into an organization’s central network system. With an emphasis to reduce overhead and operating costs, hospitals should focus on centralizing their freight spend to generate cost savings. Organizations are generally aware of inbound and outbound shipment costs related to courier […]

Tips for Managing Relationships with Suppliers and Service Providers

By: Jake Jenkins
Date: March 27, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: compliance, Contracting, Purchased Services, Suppliers, training, Vendor credentialing, Vendor Management

Managing vendor relationships can be challenging for several reasons. The high volume of manufacturers and suppliers hospital supply chains deal with can be daunting. Distributors and purchasing organizations can help make it more manageable, but with thousands upon thousands of SKUs at any given hospital, they cannot cover all of it. On top of that, […]

Strong Vendor Communication for Effective Laundry Processes

By: Rachel Gerlach
Date: March 12, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: EVS, Linen Services, Vendor relations

Vendor relations can often be tenuous when expectations are not aligned. This can be potentially costly when dealing with linen and laundry services. In order to hold vendors accountable, while also maintaining strong relationships, organizations should start by considering their expectations and standards regarding an internal linen program. The University of Maryland Medical System’s leaders […]

The Quest for Price Parity: How to Align Hospital and Non-Hospital Location’s Cost Containment Strategies

By: Vakhulaa Parthasarathy
Date: February 19, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Cost Containment, Mergers & Acquisitions, Non-Acutes, Price Parity, System Expansion

Alternate care sites—clinics, urgent care, physician practices, home health, and long-term care—increasingly represent key access points for patients. A recent survey, conducted by the Health Industry Distributors Association, found that 71% of health systems plan to increase their community footprint by acquiring non-hospital facilities. Despite the potential financial benefits of system expansion, providers continue to […]

Linen Supply Strategies

By: Rachel Gerlach
Date: February 5, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: environmental services, Linen, Linen Efficiency

Measuring Linen Efficiency and Determining Ownership Linen and laundry services are often costly ancillary services within healthcare organizations. Disposable linens, distribution strategies, and internal versus third-party processing are all potential challenges for environmental service budgets. Hospitals and health systems looking to restructure laundry services can look into strategies for cost reduction. According to a 2015 […]

Insourcing or Outsourcing Interpreter Services, Which Option Is Best?

By: Brittni Straseske
Date: January 23, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Insourcing, Insourcing vs Outsourcing, Interpreter Services, Outsourcing

Q&A with HBI Principal Director Tina Williams. HBI Principal Director, Tina Williams, spent three years overseeing the interpreter services program for a 1,000-bed academic medical center. During that time, she gained significant insight into the pros and cons of outsourced and insourced interpreter service models, owing to the demand for services, the culture of the […]

What’s on the Horizon for Supply Chain Departments in 2019?

By: Brittni Straseske
Date: January 10, 2019
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: Capital Spend, Finance Integration, Product Standardization, revenue cycle integration, total cost of care, Utilization

As the supply chain has shifted from a transactional support role to more of a strategic, decision-making role, supply chain is interacting with other departments with greater frequency. Multidisciplinary collaboration at an organization creates opportunities to implement significant, impactful initiatives that bring meaningful improvements to the organization. This holistic approach to complicated questions is the […]

What Role Can Supply Chain Play in Environmental Services?

By: Brittni Straseske
Date: December 18, 2018
Category: Supply Chain
Filed under: environmental services, HAI, Healthcare-Associated Infection, UV Disinfection Robots

According to a 2016 HBI supply chain survey, environmental services falls under the supply chain umbrella at nearly half of all hospitals and health systems, with the practice being most common in organizations with 100 beds or fewer. As this is an ancillary service new to many supply chain departments, several questions have been floated […]