There are many reasons we enjoy researching and writing our annual “Ten People to Watch in Healthcare Contracting.” It’s great to meet dynamic supply chain leaders and share their ideas with our readers. And it’s great to see the future, through their eyes. It’s with that last thought in mind that I note some of their thoughts about what lies ahead.
Bob Hornsby, system director, supply chain management, Riverside Health System, Newport News, Va.:
- Evaluation of products and services may now require the input of departments that may have been previously left out of the decision – the voices of Quality and Safety, Population Health Management, and Revenue Integrity will become much more influential in future value analysis decisions.
- We will continue to work with business partners that can help us maintain clean data, but also increase our automated processes. A consistent review of timely business metrics is required to make prudent business decisions for any organization. This can only be completed with reliable data.
- Developing a team of educated and innovative thinkers who are also great team players will be crucial.
- Supply chain managers will be required to stay current with the changing reimbursement policies and must feel comfortable working closely with other departments within the health system to obtain their insight.
- Continued partnership with GPOs and trusted suppliers will free up time for supply chain managers so they may develop advanced solutions for a changing healthcare.
Andy Motz, vice president, chief procurement officer, Sisters of Charity Health System, Cleveland, Ohio:
- Over the next five years, you will continue to see Supply Chain taking a more active role in budgeting and planning.
- Oftentimes, Supply Chain is brought in at the last minute to review service contracts for clinical engineering or new capital equipment purchases. Imagine the success hospitals could have in getting best pricing and quality contracts if Supply Chain were included from the beginning.
Bob Beyer, vice president, supply chain services, Hospital Sisters Health System, Springfield, Ill.:
- Provider consolidation and the employed clinician will continue to drive more aggressive and creative contracting.
- The days of clinician preference driving decisions with no economic balance are going away, and more and more we are economically aligned with the clinicians and working collaboratively on contract strategy and decisions.
Ed Hardin, system vice president, CHRISTUS Health:
- We’re going to see a level of objective rigor in how we evaluate vendor performance to the extent that vendor performance — through key performance indicators — becomes an everyday component of our terms and conditions.
Joe Meckley, vice president, enterprise supply chain, Geisinger Health, Danville, Pa.:
- The insurance market is going to be a much larger player in the contracting space moving forward.
- I see many organizations moving to more risk/share relationships with vendors, hopefully driving much more transparency and collaboration in the industry.
Kent Nance, director of contracting and supplier diversity, HCA East Florida Division:
- [We will] continue to manage our supply cost in an environment where we are seeing a lot of consolidation in our supplier community.
Melissa A. Amell, system director, supply chain operations, Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, Texas:
- As more and more hospitals become affiliated with or owned by larger systems, contracting will continue to move toward a centralized model.
- Centralized data and contract negotiations will finally allow smaller facilities — both acute and non-acute — the benefit of the same pricing and discount advantages of much larger facilities.
- For the larger IDNs, their influence and significant contract pull on a national scale, combined with the changing supplier landscape, will likely cause group purchasing organizations to have to re-think their business model to remain relevant.
Simrit Sandhu, executive director, department of supply chain management, Cleveland Clinic:
- [We will see] a more clinically engaged, formulary-based and evidence-driven approach for procuring healthcare products reflected in product standardization and utilization-management-based contracting practices.
- Global data standards will create transparency to supply chain waste, and our contracts will demonstrate our ability to hold both provider and supplier contractually accountable to helping lower supply/service costs.
- We will begin to truly understand and meaningfully impact “total cost of ownership” and create a more efficient supply chain for our patients.
Alan Edwards, vice president of supply chain solutions, Mary Washington Healthcare, Fredericksburg, Va.:
- Organizations will continue to look for ways to consolidate contracts, improve supplier accountability through stronger key performance indicators, and reduce costs.
- Technology spend [will] account for a larger portion of operating budgets, given the need for big data, ACOs, population health management, electronic health records and advances in patient care technology.
Christopher Fontana, director of strategic sourcing, Jefferson Health & Thomas Jefferson University (TJUH), Philadelphia, Pa.:
- Supply chain can no longer be just about price containment, contracting and purchase order efficiency. Cost is only one variable, and supply chain and contracting groups must recognize that the products we help choose have far-reaching effects that can impact revenue, patient satisfaction and the long-term health of our hospitals.
- We must be purveyors of the best products, services and technology that help our health systems grow through margin enhancement, patient reach, and the advancement of care.
- And, we must be seen by clinicians as partners in this endeavor.
