Editor’s note: Do you know what your IDN customers’ priorities are? Do you, your products and services meet their needs today? How about tomorrow? Last month, Repertoire offered readers a “crash course” in health system supply chain by presenting a few highlights from the 2019 “Ten People to Watch in Healthcare Contracting,” an annual feature in Repertoire’s sister publication, the Journal of Healthcare Contracting. Here are a few more.
aEditor’s note: Do you know what your IDN customers’ priorities are? Do you, your products and services meet their needs today? How about tomorrow? Last month, Repertoire offered readers a “crash course” in health system supply chain by presenting a few highlights from the 2019 “Ten People to Watch in Healthcare Contracting,” an annual feature in Repertoire’s sister publication, the Journal of Healthcare Contracting. Here are a few more.
Fred Keller
Position: Vice president, HCA Contracting, HealthTrust, Nashville, Tennessee
In the past two years: “Our collaboration with our cardiovascular service line has been an exceptional experience. Being included as a contributing leader to not only our cost and supply initiatives, but to a holistic business strategy including growth, service development, clinical performance and resource balance … I have learned so much and received such valuable insight.”
On the docket: “We are trying to help various teams within HCA be on the front end of learning about new products and how they may change the standard of care. We want to look at the pipeline so we know when these technologies are going to be commercially available, instead of learning about them eight months after the fact. We can structure better contracts when we learn about technologies ahead of time and gain an idea of how the government is likely to manage them from a reimbursement or indication perspective. All constituents – payers, providers, patients, physicians – benefit by being thoughtful instead of reactive, and by taking the time to understand where new technology really fits.”
Thoughts on the practice of supply chain management: “I listen more. I trust more. But I expect more. I have made every day more about thinking and solving and surrounding myself with people who are better than me. It has also been more about helping younger and newer leaders in this profession experience things in a controlled manner, so they can learn and gain confidence in the capabilities they will need in the future.”
Future challenge for the profession: “Our teams manage contracting as a byproduct of managing larger relationships with our constituents and suppliers. Contracting becomes a lot easier when you are engaged with the people making decisions about the service line and its future …. I would tell a young person to find time to have a dialogue with the people who are influencing a service line. It makes your task – contracting – easier, because it raises the value of your contracting expertise. You are seen as being more intimately invested – and influential — in what they’re doing.”
Herman Lovato
Position: Director of support services, Centura Health, Centennial, Colorado
In the past two years: “One of my biggest successes was establishing a support team and partnership with the outpatient provider network of facilities, which once exceeded 300 offices. Visibility to provider offices’ spend increased by 95%, allowing our team to put together sourcing and purchasing strategies across the enterprise. One of these strategies included pharmaceutical spend, which accounted for 70% of total spend. Partnering with Pharmacy to highlight the areas of opportunity justified hiring a dedicated pharmacist to establish a pharmaceutical and therapeutics committee dedicated to outpatient provider pharmacy opportunities. Our teams have partnered to provide valuable data analytics, visualization tools, and implement a number of highly impactful changes to our formulary.”
On the docket: “One of my goals over the next year is to … develop a successful strategy within nutritional services. I would like to support dieticians and nurses by developing lean processes, ensuring we get product to the patient floors, seeing that it’s well managed, making sure we have no issues with expiration dates. We can provide tools, and, they – as experts in the field – will determine how to use them.”
Thoughts on the practice of supply chain management: “There has been a significant change in the practice of supply chain over the years. The industry is not only more equipped to capture data, but has also improved the way we visualize it. Bridging the gaps between purchasing data and clinical data has strengthened relationships between clinical teams and has directly impacted supply chain’s ability to contribute to patient outcomes and quality care.”
Future challenge for the profession: “Every supply chain professional must prepare for the pressure between rising costs of goods and services, and finding creative solutions to deliver results. In some cases we can create the competition and negotiate competitive pricing, and in others the industry allows for price gouging. There are many variables that play into pricing, and there are challenges with getting a product to the market. However, it is ultimately the patients who suffer.”
Joel Prah
Position: Vice president, supply chain, Mercyhealth, Janesville, Wisconsin, and Rockford, Illinois
In the past two years: “It was imperative for me to take time early on in my new role at Mercyhealth to learn our operations, get to know my teams, and develop relationships with other leaders, and at the same time assess the supply chain organization and determine what our future strategy should be. We were in the middle of a spine implant initiative that had stalled during negotiations. It was rewarding for me to work with my new team, physicians, legal, and the supplier to get this contract ‘over the finish line.’”
On the docket: “Key projects will center around the integration of our two legacy supply chains. Mercy Health and Rockford Health came together in 2015, but we have been operating with two different ERP systems and two prime distributors. This year we will evaluate ERP systems, partnering with IT and Finance. After we make our decision, we will develop a strong implementation plan. I am also looking forward to selecting one med/surg distributor, freight management company and vendor credentialing supplier. Finally, we will be evaluating the opportunity to design and develop a centralized integrated service center for Mercyhealth.”
Thoughts on the practice of supply chain management: “I have always believed in understanding the ‘how and why’ of everything I am involved in, and typically ask a lot of questions. I continue to learn from everyone around me, including our CEO, vice presidents, physicians, peers and staff. I try to Observe, Listen, and Learn, and use past and present knowledge to guide decision-making.”
Future challenge for the profession: “I would recommend to the next generation of supply chain professionals that they spend time learning what our clinicians do on a daily basis. Get out there and spend time in the OR, cath lab, ED and other areas. [In addition], to be successful, supply chain professionals need to be skilled in many areas, such as finance, negotiations, problem solving, logistics, analytics, leadership, change management, performance improvement and other areas. We all need to be lifelong learners and to collaborate with the many roles within our health systems to drive our profession forward.”