Operational Efficiency and Improved Margins Will Grow as Supply Chains Think Beyond Price

Supply chain improvements can drive greater operational efficiency, cut costs, and enable healthcare organizations to positively impact the quality of patient care. Learn more about real life examples of how these improvements are making an impact in the new Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) report.

In an effort to improve operations and reduce costs - not just for themselves but for each other – more and more healthcare providers and suppliers are embracing collaboration as a way to establish successful and sustainable business relationships.

This new report, The 2015 AHRMM Cost, Quality, and Outcomes (CQO) Report: Uncovering Applications of the CQO Movement throughout Healthcare, contains eight case studies from healthcare providers, suppliers, and other stakeholders across the healthcare continuum describing the applications of the CQO Movement through collaborative activities in the areas of operational efficiency, total cost to serve, and utilization and standardization.

Under the CQO approach, supply chain is no longer looking at cost in isolation, but is supporting the correlation between Cost (all costs associated with delivering patient care and supporting the care environment), Quality (patient-centered care aimed at achieving the best possible clinical outcomes), and Outcomes (financial reimbursement driven by outstanding clinical care at the appropriate costs), as opposed to viewing each independently.

In 2015, AHRMM convened the AHRMM Thought Leader Task Force, an exploratory group tasked with uncovering applications of the CQO Movement across the healthcare field. The goals and objectives of the Task Force were to identify, research, and report out on collaborative supply chain initiatives between providers and a variety of partners, including but not limited to manufacturers, distributors, group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and technology companies that involve better data standardization, sharing, analytics, and evidence-based decision making to improve CQO.

This report presents the eight top-rated initiatives selected by the task force and categorized into three major themes:

• Operational Efficiency
• Total Cost to Serve
• Utilization & Standardization

The report also contains the Task Force findings, including:

• A summary of each major theme and how work in these areas can improve CQO across the healthcare environment.
• Case studies detailing CQO collaborations among healthcare providers, suppliers, and other key stakeholders.
• Underlying factors that contributed to the success of the selected CQO initiatives, and how they are repeatable and scalable.
• Key measurements and/or metrics mutually agreed upon by the participating business partners that were used to measure the success and continue improvement of such initiatives.

Read the full report

The Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), a personal membership group of the American Hospital Association is the leading national association for executives in the healthcare supply chain profession. Founded in 1962, AHRMM prepares its more than 4,200 members to contribute to the field and advance in the profession through networking, education, recognition, and advocacy. AHRMM continues its commitment to keep members ahead of the learning curve by providing information and resources to assist them in their current positions and to prepare them for future challenges and opportunities.

AHRMM members have full access and receive reduced rates on the CQO resources, including leading practices, case studies, articles, and continuing education.

For more information about AHRMM and to become a member for a full access to the CQO resources, visit www.ahrmm.org