AHRMM12 Takeaways

Here it is, a month later after the AHRMM conference, and I am waking up to “hello Gorgeous” and hoping you are doing the same. I am thinking back to what I took home from the conference.

1. Spending time with friends from years ago and making new friends at the networking sessions. Establishing new bridges and pathways of communication. Nice to see the faces behind the ListServ!
2. Gratitude for the new faces emerging to take on leadership positions in the facilities within the AHRMM infrastructure of committees and the Board; it is this energy that will sustain us in our local roles and as a national presence.
3. The conference presentations, that for a mere $100, I can share with my coworkers and employees so that they can better understand their roles in our healthcare industry.
4. The knowledge that the physician medical community truly views supply chain professionals as an ever important component to patient outcomes.
5. Better understanding of supply chain’s role as healthcare reform evolves.
6. A San Antonio boat ride with wonderful friends and colleagues.

Thank you All.
Kathi J Pressley

Day 2

Good morning. I woke up this morning, looked at the mirror and said "Hi handsome." Sure felt good. Did you do the same? Today started on a positive note thanks to Dale's tips, and I plan to carry that positive energy all day long. I am looking forward to another great day of educational tracks. I had a chance to walk the exhibit hall this morning and take in all of the information available at our disposal. As always it is an invaluable  experience learning about new products, technologies, and services. I hope you had a chance to visit the exhibits booths. If not, head on over quickly before they close.

Norberto Molina, CMRP

Day One Educational Tracks

Interesting. Out of the three educational tracks that I attended today, there seems to be one underlying theme in common. Our industry is significantly transforming. We need to not only keep up with the change, but also help define the change. In my 23 years in healthcare, I have never seen such an urgency  as we are seeing today in our healthcare institutions. The change from Volume to Value based care will impact us all. As with any change, this opens up countless opportunities for supply chain professionals to show our value to the C-suite executives and be instrumental to the success of our organizations. I truly believe that we are very well positioned to make that change happen and take healthcare to a new level that will enhance the patient experience. After all, that is why I joined healthcare. To make a difference in our patients lives.

Norberto Molina, CMRP

How Are You Feeling Today?

If you attended the opening keynote address this morning, you will definitely know the answer to this question.

My answer from now on will be, if I was any better I would be triplets.

Dale Thomas was awesome. Her message was inspiring as well as informative. It was definitely a great start to the conference.

Now that I am energized let me get going to my first learning lab.

(Looking at mirror) "You look wonderful."

Norberto Molina, CMRP

I Had a Blast at the Welcome Reception!

I had the opportunity to catch up with some old friends and of course, made some new ones. It was a wonderful opportunity to network and meet some wonderful people. I also had the privilege to meet a first time attendee and share with her my past experiences at the conferences. In this busy and hectic environment that we all live in, it is very rewarding to be able to mentor and guide our new members with our insights and experiences.

We also had a live band this year. It actually gave the reception a nice and different touch. Kudos to our organizers for keeping it fresh year after year.

Norberto Molina, CMRP

Greetings from 30000 Feet

Today started as an early travel day. Up at 4 am and hope to be in San Antonio by noon. The flights so far have been uneventful (which is a good thing). Tonight I plan on catching up with a few colleagues during the Welcome Reception. As you may have figured out, I am very excited to be attending the conference and to take full advantage of all of the offerings available. This year I also noticed the inclusion of the conference app, which so far has been extremely helpful. I will write some more about it tomorrow when I put it through its paces.
 
See you at San Antonio!

Norberto Molina, CMRP

Only a Few Days Left to AHRMM12!

Greetings from New York. I am definitely excited to be attending the 50th AHRMM Conference in San Antonio, Texas. I am extremely proud to be a member of AHRMM. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this conference. This clearly demonstrates the commitment that this organization has for its members. I was totally bummed out that I could not attend the 49th conference last year. Specially after such a successful 48th in Denver. I am convinced that the knowledge that I obtained at the Denver conference and previously in Tampa, were instrumental to my transition from being a hospital based manager to the consulting role that I now hold. This is one of the reasons why I make it a point to attend the AHRMM Conference year after year. The educational tracks cover every conceivable subject that is relevant to today’s hospital supply chain. After examining the offerings for this year’s educational tracks, it looks like we are headed to another outstanding conference. I am sure that I will not be disappointed.

I am also looking forward to connect with some of my previous directors as well as some great people that I have met during my attendance to the conference over the last few years. Networking with other professionals in our field is exciting as well as insightful as we share stories and experiences from our daily endeavors. Due to all of our busy schedules, it is nearly impossible to be able to interact with all of the talented people in our profession. The AHRMM Conference allows us to do just that.

This year I will be traveling with one of my colleagues who is a first time attendee to the AHRMM Conference. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt and has lead several successful Perioperative and supply chain reorganizations. He was impressed at the number of offerings that this year’s AHRMM Conference has related to Lean and Six Sigma. I am looking forward to provide you with his insights on the conference as well.

I can’t wait to see you at AHRMM12.

Norberto Molina, CMRP

WOW! It's hard to believe that two weeks from today is Thanksgiving Day and then "Black Friday" - aka - the start of Christmas shopping season! Where has the year gone?

Less than two weeks ago, we had our big Halloween Costume Party and Contest here at Children's of Alabama - for employees and patients - it is always a big highlight of the year. 

This year was a bit challenging as our space was constricted due to the ongoing construction for our expansion facility. However, a great time was had by all - children and adults.

So much is going on here in my little world - StockStation will go online in December, physical inventory on November 30, and ongoing meetings about the supply needs for the expansion facility.

We are meeting with Blue Cottage, a consulting group, who is working with the hospital toward facilitating a proactive move team approach. It makes for a busy time here at our hospital - so much to do, but so little time it seems.

The Fall season is really showing itself in beautiful displays of autumn foilage. The colors are simply gorgeous and really show why the state of Alabama is known as "Alabama the Beautiful."

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't spend too much money on Black Friday shopping deals!

Nancy J. Webber, MPH, CMRP

BUSY time!

Wow! We are busy bees here at Childrens of Alabama! It seems like so much is happening so fast. First, construction of our Expansion Facility continues well, thanks to some good Alabama weather. Our expected opening date is August 2012. In our Central Distribution Department, we are finishing the setup of our Pyxis Stockstations in the storeroom. We are looking forward to finally having our storeroom on a perpetual system that will streamline ordering and help increase the efficiency of our storeroom. We began the next phase of the Par Optimization of our Pyxis supply stations - a project which lasts through the remainder of 2011.

It is hard to believe that Halloween is in just six days! Halloween is a fun time for staff, visitors, and patients here at Childrens of Alabama. Our annual Costume contest is always something we look forward to - department skits in past years have included such classics as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "The Monster Mash." This year should prove to be just as much fun. Check out our website at http://www.childrensal.org/ to follow our construction progress and to see photos from our pediatric world - as we know it! Everyone have a fun and safe Halloween!

Nancy J Webber, MPH, CMRP

Goodbye Summertime! Hello Fall!

The summertime officially ended its season early Friday morning, September 23rd, so we are throughly entrenched in the Autumn splendor of this fun season. Where I live, our weather is still warm but in other parts of the country, trees will begin turning the gorgeous colors of the season. Soon pumpkins will be purchased, carved, and set out on many front porches, to greet the trick-or-treaters of Halloween next month.

Here at Childrens of Alabama, our department is readying for the implementation of Stockstations to finally computerize our storeroom. With over 1,300 line items, we knew that a manual inventory system would not work, especially with the opening of the expansion facility next year. If that wasn't enough, we are also proceeding with a par optimization of our already installed Pyxis SupplyStations. Par Optimization is an inventory management service that analyzes your supply usage and current stock inventory. We found this to be very beneficial to us with one nursing area done in the Spring and plan to implement house-wide.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and is enjoying some of this beautiful weather where you live.

Nancy J.Webber, MPH, CMRP

It Has Been a Busy Couple of Weeks...

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day holiday and is enjoying the beginning of fall in your part of the country.

Labor Day weekend brought the rain and wins of Tropical Storm Lee through the Southeast - knocking down trees and power lines - in my state, over 200,000 people were without power after Lee came through, and by Friday, 98% of those had power restored.

After a nice cool snap, temperatures in the 90s are returning to my area this week but the promise of cooler temperatures is in the forecast.

Here at my employer, Childrens of Alabama, plans are being readied for the big move next August. I am very excited as this Thursday, I will be be touring the new facility - complete with hard hats and yellow construction vests.

I have been busy finishing up the keying of my inventory into our Pyxis Stockstations, which we hope to implement very soon. The canning of supplies in and out of the storeroom will be a big adjustment for staff members but the help that this perpetual inventory will provide will be worth it all.

Have a great week!

Nancy J Webber, MPH, CMRP

Back to the day to day....

As I write this, our East Coast friends are still feeling the effects of this past weekend Hurricane Irene. Living near the Gulf of Mexico, we have become accustomed to following the Weather Channel during each hurricane season - it never gets easier watching the devastation from these weather events. We can only lift those up in our thoughts and prayers.

Here, in my little corner of the world - aka Alabama - everyone is counting the days until college football kicks off this Saturday. Alabama is unique in that we don't have professional sports teams like most of the country - College football is akin to a way of life here - we live and breathe it 24/7.

We are a year away from the big move into our expansion facility here at my job at Childrens of Alabama. Planning meetings, move meetings and organization wide projects fill our days. In addition, I am in the midst of putting our storeroom on an automated inventory - reordering generated from bar coded supplies added and subtracted by department staff. It's a big undertaking but an exciting time for us all.

We may be on another Hurricane watch again soon - there is something brewing in the Atlantic again - sigh! Everyone have a great week and keep safe.

Nancy J Webber, MPH, CMRP

Goodbye AHRMM11 and Boston

It has been a week since my return to work after AHRMM 11 in Boston. Was I only off 5 days? Wow - >200 emails, full voice mail box and a desk full of work awaited me upon my return to my office. Was it worth it? Oh yes, definitely.

I think each year that AHRMM cannot top their conference but I am proven wrong each year. The 49th AHRMM Conference in Boston - this year featured an even broader schedule of Learning Labs and outstanding General Session speakers. I purchased the books from the AHRMM bookstore written by two of our speakers this year-both look to be fantastics reads.

Tomorrow awaits another busy day at Children's of Alabama. Have a great week everyone.

Nancy J Webber, MPH, CMRP

Thank you to all the attendees and vendors for making AHRMM11 so successful. I heard compliments from the vendors on the class act of a vendor fair, glowing comments on the scheduling of the sessions, conversations regarding the socials -  especially the food and finally really favorable reactions to the speakers, especially Joe Tye and Jamie Orlikoff. I look forward to seeing you next year; please don't hesitate to contact AHRMM and let them know what you thought - perhaps some great ideas for next year. Oh yes, and please fill out the conference session evaluations.

Kathi J Pressley

Final Blog Entry for AHRMM11

My last Learning Lab before heading to the airport for my trip back to the sunny South was very good.

"How Irrational?!The Illogical Reasons Behind the Choices we Make" with speaker Timothy Glennon.

Humans are all bundles of habits. Most thoughts are negative - replacing a negative with a positive thought can wipe away all traces in your memory within 48-72 hours. We do what we think about. To change the nature of thought change first what YOU do.

Timothy explained we have two parts of our brain - rational and emotional. We don't look at things separately but as a whole. The notion of "decoy" is important for making decisions. When we are infants we learn that warmth means safety and comfort - this feeling remains even to adulthood. Our first choices can impact our future choices.

We don't like to delay gratification - we are wired for immediate gratification. We compare what we have to others; once we own something, we think it is worth more money than it really is. This is called the Endowment Effect. The speaker ended this learning lab by reminding attendees that your emotional brain has a lot to do with decisions you make each day of your life.

Thanks to AHRMM for allowing me to Blog during this conference. I have enjoyed it a lot and look forward to next year in San Antonio!!!!

Nancy J Webber, MPH, CMRP

Travel Day

As I type this I am waiting out a long layover for a connecting flight. I doubt that I am the only AHRMM member presently doing so, with the conference ending, I am sure that many of us are hurrying back home to catch up on the work that most certainly did not stop piling up while we were out of the office this week. I want to thank all of the AHRMM volunteers, staff, and presenters. It is obvious that there is a great amount of work that you all do to make this happen, and I am very appreciative of those efforts.

I met a lot of great people in Boston this year, and am looking forward to meeting more next year in San Antonio. I hope to see you there.

Jon Reiners, CMRP

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

This morning proved to be another great experience in Boston. My first session was enlightening, learning about those aspects that make the healthcare supply chain unique, as well as similarities from other industries. Following this learning experience, I was able to reconnect with several colleagues at the vendor fair and made new acquaintances as well, which should prove even more valuable than the iPad that I didn’t win.

After lunch, I readied myself for an informative but dry general session; after all, how could a session entitled Health Reform: Drivers and Implications be interesting? The answer to this question is Jamie Orlikoff. He is not only a talented presenter with a mastery of his subject matter, but he was also entertaining and quite funny, even though his message may be construed as “bad news” (As I type, I am putting a quarter in the pickle jar.)

The healthcare supply chain is about to undergo trial by fire. Those supply chain executives who are ready for the challenge will have both the attention and support of the C-Suite at an unprecedented level as the industry is forced to evaluate costs and utilization. I am reminded of an old saying: “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” Supply chain has been asking for more administrative attention. Now that we have it, the question becomes, what we are going to do with it? Here’s hoping that we all rise to the challenge.

Jon Reiners, CMRP

AHRMM11 - Day 3

Wow, already Day 3 of my last AHRMM meeting as a Board member. It has been so wonderful to meet the many faces behind the voices of committee members; by the way, it has been my pleasure working with you all, and I hope you have benefited from the experience as much as I. Thank you for you time and commitment.

Joe Tye was the perfect speaker to begin AHRMM after Bill Stitt's welcome. Joe's presentation complemented Bill's comments regarding what roles we play by reminding us of our history and the value each one of us can bring to each social, educational, and professional forum.

The sessions I have attended have been well presented and representative of the calibre of professionals amongst. Remember, you too, have a story and we would love to see a submission for next year.

Off to my first session this am; will try to check in shortly.

Kathi J Pressley

Having a Great Time in Boston

With the first day of AHRMM completed, I have to say that Boston is a great town for this conference. The eclectic mix of people, sights, and architecture permeate this city in a way that, strangely, seems to reflect the varied backgrounds, occupations, and home bases of the attendees.

My personal highlight of the day yesterday was hearing Joe Tye talk about designing a cultural blueprint for your department. He is a truly gifted speaker, with a topic that is both salient and timely, and after hearing him speak, I have set a personal goal to spend at least one hour every week planning the invisible architecture of my department, and I would like to challenge all of my AHRMM colleagues to do the same.

That’s all for now; I am looking forward to day two.

Jon Reiners, CMRP