Executive Vice President, Elevate Supply and Expense Management,
a subsidiary of Ovation Healthcare
August 2023- The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Josh Sandler leads Ovation Healthcare’s Supply and Expense Management business, Elevate. In the role, he leads a shared service function for 167 members with over 900 sites, bringing forward supply chain operations, strategic sourcing, workforce optimization, and other spend management offerings, such as employee benefits, capital lifecycle management, and centralized management capabilities in the purchased services space.
Any recent stories of successful projects you can share?
We recently finalized a preferred distribution agreement with a new medical-surgical distributor, which not only delivered significant financial value to the health systems and hospitals we support, but also enhanced operational efficiencies and supported product continuity.
What’s the biggest takeaway for you as a supply chain leader over the last few years of marketplace disruptions?
While there is always a need for structure and process, we still need to remain nimble. I believe our market is making efforts to become more proactive as it relates to managing supplies to ensure that we are more resilient. We’ve historically been a very reactive community. Therefore, being nimble allows you to pivot quickly to deal with the latest disruption or need that must be addressed.
What are the most important attributes of a successful supply chain team today?
Culture is one of, if not the most, important attribute of any successful team, and supply chain is no different. You can have the best strategy and process, but without a strong culture, you’ll never have sustained success. Trust and communication are also hugely important. Given all the different directions the team is pulled in, as leaders we and team members must trust that our teammates are doing what needs to be done to support our stakeholders, and we need to communicate to one another to ensure we all have awareness of what is occurring.
How do you measure the success of your team and its impact on the organization as a whole?
Our success is truly derived from the success of the health systems and hospitals we serve. Given the labor challenges in the market, our drive is to alleviate as much of the corporate, and often the onsite supply chain, burden from our members so they can focus on delivering care to the patients and communities they serve.
What are the keys to a successful provider/supplier relationship?
Communication/transparency. We need to ensure that there is a healthy flow of communication going in both directions, especially given the volatile marketplace. Effective communication and transparency are essential to align on demand planning, manage risk, and prevent any disruptions in patient care.
Culture. No different than above with a team, it’s difficult for a relationship to be successful if there isn’t an alignment of cultures. A poor cultural fit easily leads to miscommunication and misunderstandings and negatively impacts the success of the relationship.