December 2024 – The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Vice President for Strategic Sourcing and Procurement to Payment at Henry Ford Health
Candice Pytlik is the Vice President for Strategic Sourcing and Procurement to Payment at Henry Ford Health. The Strategic Sourcing team is responsible for all clinical and non-clinical sourcing and contract management as well as new product introduction, supplier management and value analysis activities. The Procurement to Payment team is responsible for processing all purchase orders and initiating all supplier payments on behalf of Henry Ford Health.
What is a recent or current project you’ve been excited to work on?
Most recently we have been working on a joint venture which added eight acute hospitals to our health system. The joint venture with Ascension Health closed on October 1, 2024. The opportunity to be part of coming together with another organization and improving the healthcare we deliver in Michigan is a once in a lifetime career opportunity and I am so excited to be a part of this integration.
Tell us a little bit about your team. What’s unique about them and the way you go about your work? How do you measure your collective success beyond just cost savings?
At Henry Ford Health my team has a unique opportunity to collaborate with our clinicians on a frequent basis. I have never worked with a more engaged group of clinicians who want to provide feedback to the supply chain organization to ensure we are contracting for the highest quality products and suppliers. We have a number of ways of measuring our success beyond cost savings, we measure our supplier diversity and are we being inclusive in our sourcing events and providing opportunities to our diverse suppliers. We have a focus on contract compliance which demonstrates to our supplier partners that we are going to meet our commitments and do what we say we are going to do. We also measure some of the additional value adds our team brings during contract negotiation which could include cost avoidance, education and training, improved quality metrics, and clinician/patient satisfaction.
How do you try to anticipate challenges and prepare your team to navigate uncertainties?
I try to make sure myself and the team dedicates time to collaborate with each other, our suppliers and our customers to ensure we are aligned on potentials risks and changes in the complex healthcare ecosystem. When a challenge does present itself, I work to involve the team with the resolution so we are learning and enhancing our ability to respond to future challenges.
What industry level trends are you keeping an eye on as we head into the close of 2024 and beginning of 2025?
I see a continued focus on resiliency. Recent natural disasters have provided a reminder of how fragile the supply chain still is. Working with our suppliers to increase transparency and resiliency will continue to be a key initiative over the upcoming year, and I believe will influence our contract sourcing methodology in the future.
When it comes to diversity in the U.S. healthcare supply chain workforce, has the industry improved since you started your career? If so, in what ways? And, what work remains to be done?
I think there are several key initiatives we need to focus on to discuss diversity in the healthcare supply chain. We need to focus on diversity within the workforce, diversity within our leadership teams, and finally diversity within our supply base.
From a diversity in the workplace perspective, I believe companies are strategically trying to ensure they have representation within the workplace. I had the unique opportunity to be mentored by a female executive leader in the healthcare supply chain and I feel that is my call to action is to give back and mentor other diverse leaders.
Over the past few years, the new suppliers I have met are working to solve a unique healthcare problem or have strategically differentiated themselves against their competition. Companies need to continue to be intentional with including diverse suppliers on any opportunities and looking for creative contracting opportunities to help mentor and grow these businesses.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I have ever received is to always make yourself uncomfortable. Take on the special project, apply for the promotion. The best learning opportunities come from the moments of feeling uncomfortable.