October 2021 – Repertoire Magazine
Business continuity plans and supply chain resiliency have taken on even more importance in healthcare settings after the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the world. Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) are no exception.
As healthcare spending shifts to outpatient care in the U.S. and ASCs steadily grow, it’s essential for these sites to have a comprehensive business continuity approach and plan elements. A partnership with a medtech company like Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, services and solutions, can help ASCs respond to business interruptions and supply chain disruptions.
The smaller size of ASCs and just-in-time inventory models leave them particularly vulnerable to supply constraints, and their lower overhead doesn’t allow for investment in risk management, leaving them blind to what could impact them. That’s where Medtronic’s end-to-end value streams can provide benefits to ASCs.
“We have invested heavily in building our own supply chain resilience to best support our customers and the delivery of products to the patients that need them, when they need them,” said Joe Robinson, Medtronic Senior Director, Enterprise Risk & Continuity. “We prioritize patient procedures when products are on allocation, ensuring appropriate patient outcomes over larger volume customers.”
Medtronic can provide inventory management services to ASCs, allowing for closer integration of its supply chain with them and extending the scale and experience of its supply chain planners and its distributor partners to ASCs.
“Supply chain resilience is about having options and Medtronic-managed inventory has far more options than an individual ASC can create on its own,” Robinson added.
Medtronic has an enterprise-wide commitment, including a Business Continuity Management (BCM) program, that increases operational resilience. The company prioritizes business continuity planning for key internal and supplier locations that support major product families.
This includes on-site BCM managers and supply risk management teams that lead business continuity risk assessment and evaluation, identify inventory positions, and help implement other risk-mitigation solutions on an ongoing basis. Additionally, dual manufacturing for a select number of key products in separate facilities in different geographies with similar capabilities, and strengthening existing critical, hurricane-prone facilities and upgraded infrastructure to reduce vulnerabilities.
“We are all aware of global events disrupting supply chains, and at Medtronic we are investing in our own resilience to deliver on our Mission and ensure our customers’ future success,” Robinson said. “ASCs are significantly increasing patient access and driving down costs, but they can’t meet all patient expectations alone. They prosper when they have key partners like us.”
Medtronic has established response priorities, escalation periods, communication plans and alignment with regulatory agencies designed to minimize employee and business impact. Its site and corporate crisis management teams are trained to mobilize quickly to ensure health and safety, protect assets, limit environmental impact and effectively coordinate a crisis response.
Optimizing patient outcomes through medical staff education and training
But ultimately, it’s about optimizing patient outcomes. Medtronic provides education and training opportunities for medical staff at ASCs to meet those needs. It identifies critical products and services and locations that support them.
“That often leads to discussion around effective outcomes at various sites of service,” said Adam King, Medtronic Senior Director, Enterprise Accounts Specialty Channels. “Most of our physician key opinion leaders know of, or already perform, procedures in the ASC space and can provide insights for their peers. We are also sharing insights so that the physicians can make the most informed decision about the ‘right patient at the right place and time.’”
Medtronic has established specific approaches to ASCs through its Key Opinion Leader (KOL) advisory panels. They bring together both Medtronic product users and non-users for a complete understanding of the market.
“We use these panels to gain insights into trends and identify new opportunities,” King said. “For example, these panels have provided input that spurred the creation of the Customer Choice Directed Rebate program that helps facilitate capital equipment acquisitions essential for ASCs.”
Advisory panels have also provided Medtronic with insight to critical needs that vary from the acute care space to the ASC, such as financial payment flexibility and having one centralized resource center that spans the Medtronic portfolio. “With our unrivaled portfolio breath, we launched a comprehensive digital solution for physicians and administrators to make it easier to find what they need from us with just a few clicks,” King concluded.
Medtronic also has Therapy Awareness Programs (TAP) that help physicians understand their overall market for patient referrals through digital assets and educational videos. The company also provides reimbursement support for various procedures like coding basics for billing and support on prior authorization.
Medtronic’s training and education courses are designed to help individuals at all experience levels learn more about emerging technologies and innovative solutions. Its workshops are focused on raising therapy awareness and building skills of healthcare professionals to improve patient outcomes.
To learn more, go to: Medtronic.com/asc.