Bob Taylor
Assistant vice president of supply chain, UAB Health System, Birmingham, Ala.
Flagship UAB University Hospital, plus five affiliated community hospitals; University Hospital has 1,250 beds and more than 50 outpatient clinics, with non-salary annual spend exceeding $600 million; $1.3 billion in net revenues.
Since joining UAB Health System, Bob Taylor’s responsibilities have evolved to include total supply chain oversight, including value analysis, purchasing, strategic sourcing, distribution and logistics, and supply chain analytics for supplies, linen and equipment. In addition, he is responsible for UAB’s Critical Care Transport.
The Journal of Healthcare Contracting: What has been the most challenging and rewarding project you have been involved in recently?
Taylor: Building an end-to-end strategic supply chain infrastructure has been very exciting. We began with a small, established base of distribution and limited value analysis functions. Today, we have a dedicated purchasing department, strategic sourcing, supply chain informatics and a value analysis program with nine standing active clinician-led teams. Our distribution and logistics function has expanded to include the outpatient enterprise and perioperative services, and we anticipate more to come. Not only have we connected all the supply chain functions into an integrated, high-functioning supply chain, we are now seen as a strategic element of our organization by both our clinicians and non-clinicians.
JHC: Please describe a project you look forward to implementing in the next year or two.
Taylor: We have begun to focus on improving our data quality and integration. Although our data quality and usage has been good, we need to make it great. To do so, we must apply significant rigor, focus and measurement in order to get fully organized around this initiative. It will require examination of current processes, application of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, and changes to our business processes to extract wasteful steps, while increasing accuracy and validity. Accurate data will allow us to benchmark our spend to identify savings through contract opportunities; categorize our spend to UNSPSC to better analyze spend and identify utilization opportunities and trends; enumerate our data to GS1 standards to improve order accuracy and safety; and remove wasteful rework in the ordering process through attainment of lights-out ordering. This will also enable us to connect spend and purchase data to clinical data; better understand the relationship between cost, quality and outcomes; and help drive better evidence-based decision making when selecting/utilizing supplies.
JHC: What is the most important quality you look for in a supplier partner?
Taylor: Integrity, mutual trust, alignment and respect must all be present. A supplier who can present opportunities that create value for both parties, and has risk for both parties, indicates a partnership.
JHC: What is the greatest change we can expect to see in healthcare contracting in the next five years?
Taylor: We can expect to see the inclusion of product performance guarantees in contracts with financial metrics, measures and risk. Healthcare reform has changed how hospitals are reimbursed, and this change will have to extend to everyone involved in patient care, including suppliers. Claims of better quality and improved outcomes will have to be substantiated with evidence, and outcomes will have to be measured and monitored across the care continuum. Products that truly provide incremental improvements in patient outcomes will thrive; products that only add cost will go away.