Procurement Manager, MUSC Health – Univ Medical Associates, Ambulatory Services
October 2023- The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
JHC: Where does non-acute, alternate site care fit into our nation’s healthcare continuum? Why are non-acute sites important?
Elizabeth Sanders: Non-acute care sites are important to our nation’s healthcare continuum because these sites provide a way for the patients out in the community to have a connection to the hospital. Many hospitals around the nation are trending to hospital affiliated non-acute care sites for many reasons. Hospitals can reach more patients in the suburban and rural areas and provide the same care in the clinic setting. Patients are able to get post-op care without traveling miles to a hospital for follow up. Patients can see specialists. Some clinics may even offer after-hours services so many patients can be seen in these after-hours clinics without having to travel to an ER when an ER service may not necessarily be needed. Patient reach in the community to provide additional access to hospital affiliated clinics, while keeping focus on quality, is why non-acute care sites are increasingly important across the nation.
JHC: How do you measure success in non-acute supply chain initiatives that may differ from acute care?
Sanders: In our non-acute care sites, we measure success in several ways. Most supply chain leaders will agree that one of the most important keys to measuring success is filling orders as effectively and efficiently as possible – without errors. Another key component is understanding the volume and total spend for each site. My team and I meet a couple times per week to discuss open orders, volumes, backorders, order issues and market trends, just to name a few, for our medical supplies for our non-acute care sites. Along with this meeting is also staying in constant communication with site staff to alert them of any potential backorders or other supply issues that could impact the site. Ultimately, it affects patient care.
Success for us also means partnering with a distributor that provides the exceptional customer service to maintain these important communication points to our clinics. Our partnering distributor provides reporting tools to us each week and also works directly with us and our GPO to monitor market price increases and provides research for the best contract prices for our supplies. This is extremely important for non-acute care clinics because clinics, most often, are not able to take advantage of acute care pricing on supplies nor do they have the buying power based on volume as do acute care facilities.
JHC: What is a recent project (or upcoming one) related to non-acute you are excited to work on?
Sanders: Recently, our healthcare system transitioned to a new ERP. Prior to October 2022, the three entities of our healthcare system used several ERPs that did not connect procurement data to accounting data – and even connect HR data. For a year leading up to October 2022, leaders across the system met to discuss design and testing for this new ERP that would connect accounting, procurement and human resources together into one. This was challenging because there were a few different legacy systems in which data was pulled both from our acute care and non-acute care facilities. The challenge was one worth implementing because since October 2022, this system has provided so many different tools, reports and resources to track spend, manage inventory, link accounting with procurement (which was a huge win), and many more features to be more efficient. The most important feature of the ERP system that was implemented at our facilities is the improvement of operational efficiency.
JHC: What skills are essential for supply chain leaders today?
Sanders: There are so many skills that a supply chain leader needs to possess. In today’s environment, they need to be able to make decisions quick, negotiate contracts with suppliers effectively, and manage spend, just to name a few. When one manages supplies that are essential to patient care, you have to be able to communicate well and adapt. I tell my team that if a product is on backorder, the most important thing you can do is communicate immediately to the clinician. The risk of no communication to the clinic is far greater than delivering the bad news now. This gives the clinician time to work with you on a substitute or the supply chain members can look to source elsewhere by adapting to the situation as quick as possible. Encouraging my team to communicate to clinicians develops meaningful relationships to best manage the needs of the clinic.
JHC: In your experience, what are some keys to a successful partnership between suppliers and providers?
Sanders: In my experience, one of the key components to a successful partnership is customer service support. Our current partnership with our primary distributor, we have key customer service support for all aspects of supply chain – we have a contact for contract pricing, we have a dedicated account manager just for our facility, we have dedicated accounting contacts and a dedicated internal customer service support person. Their support and daily reports we receive are vital to our supply chain efficiencies. Our new ERP system is able to accommodate Punchout functionality with our primary distributor. Clinics are able to see in real-time if an item is on backorder or prepare to receive an item with a longer lead time instead of next day. This enables clinics to be well planned at managing inventory and proves to be more cost effective in the long run.