AHRMM11 - August 9

After a great day on Monday, the expectations for Tuesday were high. It did not disappoint.

Learning Lab 4.6

Healthcare Reform - What It Will Mean and Why It Will Be the Supply Chain Opportunity of a Lifetime. This was a panel discussion, which included the following: Michael Bohon, Scott Hawig, Randy Hayas, Michael L. Rudomin, and Eugene Schneller. This was an open panel discussion among the above discussing the implications of Healthcare Reform and how should the Supply Chain capitalize on it. All panelists agreed that physician involvement is a key for any changes that may be made due to new reform legislations. In Massachusetts, the state enacted a law requiring all state residents to have health insurance. This was an initial big tax impact on those without proven insurance. Several million new people were added to the system in Massachusetts which had made the issue of access to care so critical.

Based on a recent survey, 36% of all hospitals are not going to do any sort of ACOs, which are envisioned as a government prosperity situation that some hospitals don't like.

All Supply Chain managers need to make their records and all information available to your customers. This prospers good customer relations and is a win-win in the long haul.

General Session
Health Reform: Drivers and Implications
Speaker: Jamie Orlikoff
Beverly Slate, AHRMM President-Elect, introduced our speaker for the General Session.

There are two swords of Damocles hanging over hospitals - (1) Health Reform and (2) Federal Debt. Health Reform passed this time because it had to. The rate of healthcare costs is going up faster than inflation. Today 4.9% of the national economy is spent on our military. We spend three times more dollars to cover healthcare costs. Healthcare spending doesn't add value to the costs of our goods and services. Healthcare is the largest component of GDP and growing at a high rate. Cost reduction is the key! A reduction in costs creates the dollars to provide gain sharing. Value-efficiency-safety must center on patient care. Value not volume.

Learning Lab 5
Secrets of the Supply Chain (That Every Administrator Should Know).

Speakers, Michael Bohon and Michael Rudomin discussed the problem of frequent miscommunication between hospital departments and the importance of uncovering and properly addressing these strategic Supply Chain “secrets.” We need to discover new and minimally disruptive approaches to supply chain improvements that can produce positive results. Building trust takes time - it is built through actions and often starts with small projects. Deal with hard facts - if you blow it you might as well give up. Vendor consolidation saves the most money. GPO assessments are very expensive and 70% of the hospitals end up staying with same vendor.

Tuesday was a great day and the vendor exhibits were some of the best I have seen in recent years. AHRMM11 has been a wonderful learning experience for all.

Just one more day then I jet back to the sunny South - blog for final day to come later.

Nancy J Webber, MPH, CMRP