A
Note from Robert T. Yokl,
President and Chief Value Strategist
It is the dog-days of summer with soaring record-breaking
temperatures in most of the USA last week, when even a dog
couldn’t find a shady spot to rest its head. The good news
is that with temperatures moderating this week we can all
get back to our normal summer routines. Well, that’s my hope
anyway!
But before we do, I have a few ideas to get you thinking
about how to be “better than just good” in the coming
months. The first is an article on “Are you a Good or Great
Risk Manager”, since this is a new job you now have as a
supply chain professional. No longer is this just a term
that industrial materials managers use to describe part of
their job.
In my blog this week I talk about establishing “Lunch and
Learn with your Docs” sessions that can have a lasting
effect on your relationship with them. So when you need
their help in making a change at your hospital, they will be
ready and willing to listen to your proposition because you
have proven yourself a trustworthy colleague in their eyes.
Lastly, you might want to check out our
CliniTrack™ Value Analysis Management System,
since I can guarantee you that it will help you to generate
even more value analysis savings by employing technology to
do the heavy lifting for you. Why make your value analysis
job any harder than it already is now when automation is the
answer?
Are you a Good or Great Risk Manager
Two Trillion Dollars and Growing!
No I’m not talking about the U.S. deficit. This is the amount of
money spent annually on healthcare expenses in The United
States. The United States is the single largest healthcare
market in the world, accounting for 41% of the global total and
growing. And this is just the tip of the iceberg!
There are 41,216+ medical products and equipment manufacturers
worldwide. 90% of all nutritional supplements, face masks, exam
gloves, enzymes and amino acids we buy are manufactured
overseas.
70% of the world’s penicillin and two-thirds of aspirin are made
in china, $88 billion is spent on medical supplies and equipment
in the USA annually and 30% of our surgical and medical
instruments are imported.
So as you can see, we are in a global healthcare marketplace
that requires supply chain managers to think globally, not
locally, regionally or even nationally. A recent article in
Hospital and Health Networks warns that hospitals might be
exposed to shortage during future pandemics, disasters or
manufacturer supply chain disruptions that could be even worse
than H1N1 product scarcity in 2009.
That’s why value analysis is even more important than ever
before to identify NOW, not tomorrow, alternatives to the “must
have” products in your approved formulary. To this end, when I
was a supply chain manager, I had my buyer’s list alternatives
on our critical buys on their product profile cards (now
electronic) so we never had a stock out in our formulary, just a
change of a product.
Then again, if a product is a “sole source” you will need to
think about carrying a 90-day supply of this commodity in your
official inventory. There is no way to get around this
eventuality, in view of the fact that a disruption in your
supply chain will cost your hospital thousands of dollars in
lost revenues.
Supply
chain risk management used to be a term only applied to
industries that bought their raw materials worldwide, but now
this is also a reality with healthcare supply chain managers.
You will need to become a risk manager too, if you want to avoid
disruptions in your hospital, system or IDNs’ supply chain or
risk commodity shortages that can interrupt your hospital
operations or even put your patients at risk.
Warmest Regards,
Robert T. Yokl
Chief Value Strategist
Strategic Value Analysis® In Healthcare
Bobpres@strategicva.com
1-800-220-4274
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