Most supply chain executives know the challenges of standardizing medical-surgical products and equipment within an acute-care hospital’s four walls. It’s not easy. Now try standardizing across those 15 physician practices your health system acquired last year. And the 10 additional ones acquired earlier this year. “Don’t panic,” says Jon Manitta, director of purchasing and project manager for George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, a practice with more than 700 physicians in Washington, D.C. “First and foremost, you have to be empathetic [with the practices]. If you try to attack supply chain with a mallet, you’re going to want to downsize to a scalpel.”Business Resources
Business Resources
Product Standardization
The chosen few: product standardization across many physician offices is a challenge, but no cause for panic
Contact UsMost supply chain executives know the challenges of standardizing medical-surgical products and equipment within an acute-care hospital’s four walls. It’s not easy. Now try standardizing across those 15 physician practices your health system acquired last year. And the 10 additional ones acquired earlier this year. “Don’t panic,” says Jon Manitta, director of purchasing and project manager for George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, a practice with more than 700 physicians in Washington, D.C. “First and foremost, you have to be empathetic [with the practices]. If you try to attack supply chain with a mallet, you’re going to want to downsize to a scalpel.”“The non-acute care environment is a different animal [from the hospital],” he continues. “People’s expectations are different. The latitude they have had is usually different. It’s a much more siloed environment. They often look at their practice groups as their own thing. They get very ingrained in how they do things. And they often attribute their success to the fact that they have that latitude. “Michael Cassaro, manager, Office of Strategic Sourcing for Atrius Health, Newton, Mass., says, “The majority of physicians are flexible when they understand the ramifications of their decisions on the organization’s bottom line. They just need to be engaged early and see the data.
“The difficulty lies in the size and breadth of the organization,” says Cassaro, whose practice is made up of 750 physicians representing more than 50 specialties in 29 locations in eastern Massachusetts. “Physicians with experience in small private practices may realize that every product they buy has an impact on their own pocket. That’s not always as easy to see in a large organization.”
Mass confusion
“…We’re finding that with every analysis, every category we go after, we can save anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000. You have so many categories that before you know it, you’re at $300,000.”
– Michael Cassaro, Atrius Health
Adding up to real money
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