IDN Summit News and Notes

 

ORLANDO, Fla.—Almost a thousand healthcare leaders gathered in Orlando for three days of learning, sharing best practices and networking at the Spring IDN Summit and Expo, as the spotlight continued on healthcare supply chain efficiency.The Summit—which twice annually brings together senior healthcare executives and their group purchasing organization and supplier partners—had its largest turnout since 2005.

A highlight of the event was the ability for attendees to hear from a Thought Leadership Panel moderated by industry leader and former

Modern Healthcare publisher Chuck Lauer that included a high-level discussion on the state of today’s healthcare system and the trials leaders face in trying to improve their organizations. The panel of experienced and distinguished industry leaders included Alan Channing, president and CEO of Sinai Health System in Chicago; Steven Goldstein, vice president of University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center; Frank Perez, CEO of Kettering Health Network in Dayton, Ohio; and Allen Weiss, president and CEO of NCH Healthcare System, Naples, Fla. Panel members provided insight into their experience and offered opinion on addressing the most significant issues impacting the healthcare industry, particularly healthcare reform measures.

Attendees also gained the latest industry information and insight through educational tracks covering strategic management, financial operations, clinical integration, purchased services and market strategies.

Culminating a peer-review process that has taken place the last several months, health system attendees voted for the IDN Summit Supply Chain of Excellence Awards, the only independent program in its field and the only one where health system executives review and decide which of the nominated programs has the most value to the industry.

Four finalists had emerged from a round of online voting by health system executives over the past few months and were then considered for awards recognizing exceptional innovation, efficiency (ROI) and ease of replication, as well as overall national honors. The four award finalists were:

 Baptist Health South Florida, which re-engineered its process for introducing new surgical products for trial and/or use, cutting the time it took to get a new product into the hands of a physician from an average of 38 days to 12.

 CHRISTUS Health, Irving, Texas, which developed a comprehensive savings plan targeting 10 strategic categories, including costly physician preference items. The project exceeded its goal of $30 million in annual savings, with actual savings of $34.1 million in fiscal year 2010.

 Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston, which adopted a customized program to upgrade its infusion therapy equipment and provide equipment management and maintenance services across the entire 11-facility system, avoiding more than $20 million upfront capital outlays.

 UPMC, Pittsburgh, which adopted technology enabling it to wirelessly communicate between its electronic records system and workers in its centralized distribution center. The system translates electronic orders into voice commands that are received via a wearable computer with a headset and microphone, reducing errors and inefficiencies. It achieved an 8 percent reduction in average cost per pick, a 20 percent increase in productivity and reduced picking errors.

 

Each of the finalists made a detailed presentation to Summit attendees, before health systems voted for top systems in each category and an overall winner.

UPMC was named overall national winner and also picked up National Peer Awards for efficiency and innovation. Baptist South Florida won a National Peer Award for ease of replication of the program by other health systems.

“The efficiencies achieved by these organizations are the kind we need to see more of if we are to achieve our goal of a high-performing, patient-centered and cost-efficient healthcare system in the United States.” said John Kelly, CEO of IDN Summit and Expo.

Kelly added that the awards will continue to evolve. “We realize that we need to fine-tune our program so that we can meet our goal of recognizing more systems for their efforts to streamline the supply chain,” he said.

All of the winners receive recognition among their peers across the country as well as from their communities though articles in the trade press and local media.

The 2011 Fall IDN Summit and Expo is set for Sept. 13– 15 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix.