August 26, 2026- Healthcare supply chain leaders are facing a balancing act unlike any in recent memory. They must navigate global uncertainty, adopt emerging technologies and drive innovation, all while ensuring caregivers have the products they need to deliver patient care every day.
For Eric Swaim, Senior Vice President of Strategic Sourcing at HealthTrust, that challenge is both the responsibility and the opportunity.
Swaim oversees HealthTrust’s extensive Medical-Surgical contract portfolio, including categories such as surgery, nursing, laboratory, distribution, respiratory, anesthesia and advanced wound care. He also leads Sourcing & Clinical Operations, which encompasses sourcing information strategy, sourcing financial operations, HealthTrust’s global sourcing office in Shanghai, China, and customer advisory boards.
Working closely with HealthTrust members and clinical stakeholders, Swaim’s team develops sourcing and contracting strategies designed to improve operational performance, strengthen resiliency and support patient care across the continuum.
“HealthTrust serves 25% of U.S. hospitals, so our responsibility is not just building contracts,” Swaim said. “It is helping healthcare organizations operate more effectively in an increasingly complex environment.”
One initiative that has Swaim particularly energized is the organization’s effort to combine artificial intelligence with global market intelligence. By integrating AI-enabled analytics with insights from HealthTrust’s Shanghai sourcing office, the organization is gaining a more comprehensive view of supply markets around the world.
The goal is to bring together proprietary data, predictive analytics and global sourcing intelligence to identify market shifts before they affect providers. The system monitors thousands of indicators, including commodity trends, tariff exposure and sourcing risk signals that can influence supply availability and pricing.
“It gives our sourcing teams better intelligence earlier,” Swaim said, “which will make us a better sourcing organization for our customers.”
While technology is transforming supply chain operations, Swaim believes great teams are still defined by their ability to think strategically and collaborate effectively.
“A good supply chain team executes well. A great supply chain team anticipates, adapts and influences,” he said.
According to Swaim, the best teams understand that supply chain decisions extend far beyond contracts and sourcing events. They recognize how those decisions affect clinicians, operations and ultimately patients. Great teams challenge assumptions, rely on data and build strong partnerships with stakeholders across the organization.
In today’s healthcare environment, Swaim believes success depends on three core elements: operational discipline, stakeholder trust and the ability to connect strategy with execution.
“The teams that stand out are the ones that don’t just ask, ‘What can we save?'” he said. “They ask, ‘How do we create a better, more reliable system of care?'”
That same philosophy shapes his approach to innovation. Rather than pursuing change for its own sake, Swaim focuses on practical improvements that strengthen operations without disrupting them.
“In healthcare, innovation only works if it improves the day-to-day reality for caregivers and operators,” he said.
His team uses pilot programs, stakeholder alignment, clear success metrics and structured change management processes before scaling new initiatives. By embedding innovation into sourcing strategy, supplier performance, resiliency planning and operational effectiveness, HealthTrust aims to make continuous improvement part of everyday work rather than a separate initiative.
Continue Reading in the latest issue of The Journal of Healthcare Contracting.