Jason Moulding’s journey into healthcare supply chain was shaped by his family’s background – his father, a military dentist, and his mother, a nurse. While attending college, he needed a job and chose a position in medical records at a nearby hospital. This initial step kept him in the field, eventually leading to a role in the operating room at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington.
His strong negotiation skills soon caught the attention of the director of materials management, earning him a new role in contract management, a pivotal shift that uncovered his passion for analytics. Moulding continued advancing through positions at Overlake, Providence Health & Services, and later MultiCare Health System, where he has spent nearly nine years.
Although he considered other industries after earning his MBA, he remained in healthcare supply chain, saying, “I felt that healthcare was my calling.”
On what he’s keeping an eye on as a supply chain leader
Moulding: Supply Chain post-COVID is so much more complex. The biggest challenge I would say is there is no single overriding challenge. Tariffs are obviously an issue for now, and then the downstream effects not just from a pricing perspective, but what is that going to do to the global supply chain? Will there be shifts in manufacturing? Shifts in manufacturing countries? Will manufacturers exit the market?
A supply chain leader of today needs to have visibility a lot further upstream than ever before. Risk and resiliency are at the forefront, and it has been that way since COVID. We haven’t let our foot off the gas. Each year brings increasing complexity, with more factors that supply chain professionals must stay fluent in and closely monitor.
The impacts of global supply disruptions are happening more often every year – whether through natural disasters, geopolitical events, shifts in manufacturing, etc. Having a macro lens and then discerning how disruptions or opportunities impact your organization will keep supply chain relevant and essential.
On the skills and intangibles needed from supply chain teams
Moulding: Analytics/insights is a crucial skill, and I really like the business background versus maybe the purely healthcare-focused one. Having accounting knowledge and a finance background is part of that new language or skill set for today’s supply chain landscape.
Beyond technical expertise, I value intellectual curiosity and a drive to be curious. Our CEO talks about three key components a leader or individual contributor needs to have: critical thinking, integrative thinking, and situational awareness. Integrative thinking involves connecting supply chain operations with clinical, financial, and operational stakeholders across both acute and non-acute sites. Situational awareness means understanding global trends and identifying what’s most relevant. Critical thinking, meanwhile, focuses on pinpointing priorities and addressing the most pressing challenges. These intangible qualities are always top of mind for me.
On being a go-to source for support and help
Moulding: Our Supply Chain vision statement is: Partnering to deliver the highest value to support the vision of MultiCare. One of the achievements I’m most proud of in support of this vision is the transformation of our analytics division within MHS.
Since assuming responsibility for the platform in 2022, we’ve made significant progress. Initially, each MHS division preferred to manage its own analytics. However, through collaboration and by embedding our experts within business units, we’ve built strong partnerships. Since then, we have successfully insourced majority of analytics under our platform. Today, stakeholders actively seek our support, recognizing the value we bring.
Our analytics platform has evolved into a powerful, trusted tool across the health system. As owners and managers of the enterprise data warehouse (EDW), we integrate disparate data sources – including Epic, Workday, and various clinical programs – into dynamic Power BI dashboards. These dashboards, coupled with our analysts, serve decision-makers at every level, from the boardroom to individual leaders running daily operations.
Our dashboards operate at multiple levels, offering a macro view of system-wide procedures while diving deep into encounter-level insights. We overlay cost data with reimbursement figures, payer mix, and essential quality metrics – readmission rates, surgical site infections, and more. This allows us to pinpoint key relationships: Does a particular intervention reduce length of stay? Does it accelerate patient transition to home?
With four to five years of data-driven decision-making behind us, we continue to refine our approach. The next phase is ensuring we engage the right stakeholders, helping them navigate trade-offs while integrating more clinical insights. The platform is a critical tool – one among many – that drive smarter healthcare strategies that ultimately improve the patient care to the communities we serve.