All Entries in the "Best Practices" Category
The Next Wave of Hospital Supply Chain Savings Opportunities
I can never say this too many times: If you are depending on price and standardization to keep your supply chain savings alive over the next few years, think again. These savings aren’t going to be available to you in abundance. However, I have listed below the next wave of hospital supply chain savings opportunities [...]
How Supply Chain Leaders Are Leveraging “Big Data”
Healthcare organizations generate a lot of “big data”, from ongoing operations, that is available to supply chain professionals to analyze if they have the right power tools, the right mindset, and the inclination to do so. You see, supply chain leaders have figured out that they can leverage their healthcare organization’s “big data” and turn [...]
How the “Control Tower” Approach Can Up Your Savings Game
There is a new concept in industrial supply chain management circles called “control tower” that mimics how an air traffic controller manages hundreds of planes at one time with their radar, radio communications, and their keen observations. Mike Landry, President of Barkawi Management Consultants, tells us that this “control tower” approach goes beyond incremental improvement [...]
Segmenting Your Supply Chain Expenses for Greater Efficiency and Performance
I often talk about how a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy is counterproductive in supply chain expense management, since there is no such thing as an ideal customer. All customers have different wants, needs, and desires to meet their job requirements, especially when it comes to the products, services and technologies they buy. That’s why we need to [...]
Reducing Waste and Inefficiency Is Everybody’s Job
Everyone in healthcare management is asking this question: Where are our next savings opportunities coming from, now that our revenues are shrinking, volume will be increasing, and quality is job one? This isn’t a new challenge, since other industries have faced this same test and have won this battle. They have done so by driving [...]
Healthcare Supply Chain Leaders Aren’t Lone Rangers
Tim Kehl, a work-life balance specialist, tells us that “Asking for help is a sign of strength in a leader, not weakness”. Kehl goes on further to say that “Behind every prominent leader is a host of unacknowledged supporters who advised, assisted and encouraged him or her along the way? While this might seem like [...]
Driving your Hospital’s Supply Chain from a Dashboard
Some time ago I came to the realization that a dashboard is vital to the success of any hospital, system or IDN’s supply chain department. This is because the healthcare supply chain has become too complex to manage on the back of an envelope, inflexible spreadsheets or disparative systems. To be in ultimate control of [...]
Supply Business Intelligence: A Hospital Supply Chain Imperative
Way back when the life of a supply chain professional was simple, uncomplicated and relatively easy, our biggest worry as supply chain managers was customer service. Now, that criterion for success is only one of dozens of supply chain operational areas we need to keep our eye on. The times are changing, and we must [...]
Ready, Fire, Aim: Is this is a Formula for Hospital Supply Chain Success?
Robert Skrob, a renowned business coach, tells us that too often “We introduce processes and ways of doing things (in our supply chain business) without thinking through the goals, processes, responsibilities and control. It may be important to you to follow the entrepreneurial wisdom, ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ and execute a new program immediately rather than [...]
What Your (Internal) Customers Don’t Know Will Hurt You Financially!
Sometime ago we came up with a mantra that goes like this “Supply chain expense management is everyone’s business, not just the supply chain business”. We formulated this phase because we believe that supply chain professionals can’t make positive change in their hospital’s formularies without the full cooperation of their customers. That’s why some [...]
