Margaret Steele joined Vizient in 2010, as a sourcing executive of purchased services after leaving a successful career at Beckett Media where she was named one of the youngest vice presidents, leading publishing and new media before serving as chief operating officer. At Vizient, Steele helped create and launch Vizient’s purchased services advisory offering by working with aggregation groups, regional offices as well as individual member hospitals to help create savings strategies in the products-and-services category.
As vice president of sourcing operations, Margaret directs Vizient’s strategy and implementation of national contract agreements for the medical, surgical and distribution sourcing team. She also has oversight of four Vizient member hospital councils, including clinical and supply, perioperative, respiratory and wound management. These councils offer guidance on areas of focus for contracting and supplier selection. Additionally, she serves as the executive sponsor for Vizient’s large IDN supply network (LISN), which focuses on sharing best practices and education for supply chain professionals and collaboration with suppliers to achieve overall performance improvement.
Repertoire: What is the most challenging/rewarding project you have worked on in the last 12-18 months?
Margaret Steele: No question, it’s been working collaboratively with the 70-plus person team at Vizient that has been focused on supporting Vizient member hospitals as they confront COVID-19. The last 12 weeks have been nonstop, and this group has been incredibly creative and bold in finding and presenting new solutions for our members that include valuable Vizient contract protections. This includes vetting countless suppliers promising available PPE products as well as expanding current supplier offerings, sourcing through alternative suppliers and/or providing support for expanding manufacturing lines. I’ve never been more proud to work with and be part of such an amazing team and this experience will definitely change how we approach sourcing as we look to do our part to create a more resilient health care supply chain.
Repertoire: What project or initiative are you looking forward to working on?
Steele: Vizient is so much more than a GPO. I’m excited about continuing to evolve our relationships with members and suppliers so that our conversations are much more strategic and not just focused on price. We want to work together to improve supply chain resiliency and better connect products to clinical outcomes. When we each bring our best forward, it’s amazing the types of innovative programs we can offer to Vizient members. Performance improvement requires data and analytics, deep expertise and innovative conversations moving us lightyears ahead of traditional supply chain. We are focused on supporting our members in their efforts to provide quality care for patients regardless of the type of facility, including when they are receiving care at home.
Repertoire: How are you better at practicing your profession than you were 5-10 years ago?
Steele: Ten years ago, I was just entering the healthcare industry. For the first seven years, I was focused on purchased services, working with member hospitals helping them identify, categorize and develop a savings plan for that array of products and services. I then moved to medical, surgical and distribution sourcing, which is quite a bit different than purchased services. After 10 years, I’ve gained a much better understanding of the needs and challenges our members face as well as considerations that are unique to suppliers. I have the opportunity to work with some of the smartest people I know. It’s incredibly humbling but certainly leads to a nonstop learning environment which I truly enjoy.
Repertoire: What lesson or lessons do you think supply chain leaders will take from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Steele: For years, healthcare providers have been laser-focused on savings. This focus has driven them, in many cases, to the lowest priced product in the market, which is often manufactured in other countries. With the pandemic, we’ve all experienced the consequences of this strategy. Everyone in healthcare now understands the importance of redundancy in manufacturing, stable manufacturing environments and access. This may mean a shift to more North American sites. We will all have to weigh the risk of potentially higher costs versus stability as we move forward.
Transparency into the supply chain is key to mitigating future shortages. Our industry must evolve to increase our ability to monitor raw materials, understand the manufacturing origin of the products, how they are transported, manage reserves and increase our collaboration with vetted suppliers. This will help ensure our member hospitals’ focus during emergency situations is not on finding products but on caring for patients.