FAST FOREW
ARD
EDITORIAL
ARD
Publisher/Executive Editor Kristine Russell
krussell@hpnonline.com
Senior Editor Rick Dana Barlow
rickdanabarlow@hpnonline.com
Managing Editor Jeannie Akridge
Winners and losers
jakridge@hpnonline.com
(941) 927-9345, ext. 202
Contributing Editors Julie Williamson
jewilliamson@qwest.net
Healthcare reform is dead. Long live healthcare reform.
Susan Cantrell
With no disrespect to Western European royalty customs in-
susan_cantrell@bellsouth.net
tended, attribute the former to the meaningful and the latter to the
ADVERTISING SALES
peripheral.
East Coast Blake and Michelle Holton
(407) 971-6286
So what went wrong?
Midwest Donna Boatman-Riley
At association conferences and trade shows, such as AHRMM,
(815) 393-4624
IDN Summit, World Research Group’s World Congress, and others, plenty of deep and
West Coast James A. Russell
(941) 921-0391
thoughtful discussions and debates about the issues took place. Too bad none of that intelli-
gence made it to Washington, whether elected, appointed or merely hand-delivered by a
ADVERTISING & ART PRODUCTION
Ad Contracts Manager Tiffany Coffman - Beer
handsomely paid lobbyist.
(941) 927-9345, ext. 203
What Capitol Hill and The White House, as well as their teeming hordes of apparently
Graphic Design Tracy Arendt
clueless-to-real-life-among-mortals-at-the-base-of-Mount-Olympus advisers seemed to for-
Art Services Gail Kaiser
get or simply overlook is that with anything you’re going to have winners and losers.
MARKETING SERVICES
Even in the nonsensical political theater known as diplomacy where compromise is king
there are winners and losers because ultimately nobody gets what they truly want. Health-
care is no exception.
Poke your finger into a well-inflated balloon and you create a latex protuberance on the
opposite side. Poke too hard and … well, you know the consequences.
F
AST FOREW
Marketing Director Dick Page
MAILING LIST RENTALS
Kristine Russell
(941) 927-9345, ext. 201
CORPORATE
From an orthodox perspective, the supply chain works this way: The sellers want to sell as
President Kristine Russell
much product as possible at the highest price to generate the most amount of profit. The
Healthcare Purchasing News (ISSN: 1098-3716) is published monthly
by KSR Publishing Inc., 2477 Stickney Point Road, Suite 315B,
buyers want to buy as little product as possible at the lowest possible price (free is good, too!) Sarasota, FL 34231, Phone: (941) 927-9345, Fax: (941) 927-9588,
to protect the bottom line and look like heroes. Typically, they meet somewhere in the vast
www.hpnonline.com, Business hours: 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST.
middle where everyone cheers, clinks goblets and declares themselves the winners. Who said EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
basic economics couldn’t be a spectator sport?
Niklaus Fincher, vice president, purchased services sales & capital,
Everyone between the two factions in the negotiations realm either tries to satisfy one of the
VHA Inc., Irving, TX; Michael Rudomin, principal, HealthCare Solu-
tions Bureau LLC, Bolton, MA; Jean Sargent, director supply chain,
sides as best as possible or they merely get in the way. USC Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA; Ray Taurasi, eastern regional
Because people get hurt or sick, providers consistently need to buy products so they lose
director of clinical sales and services, Healthmark Industries; John
Mateka, FAHRMM, executive director of supply chain operations,
leverage there. But competition sans collusion can help keep sellers “ethical” and “honest” so
Greenville (SC) Health System; Irwin Baker, president, RPM Health-
they lose leverage there.
care Strategies, Glen Head, NY; Joe Colonna, vice president, supply
In healthcare, or health insurance, reform, the fundamentals are similar.
chain management, Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, GA; Robert Simpson,
CMRP, president and CEO, LeeSar Regional Service Center and Coop-
Obama, akin to the Clintons before him, wanted to insure the uninsured, restrain spiraling erative Services of Florida, Fort Myers, FL; Bryant Broder, ACSP/prod-
healthcare costs as well as insurer and product supplier profits and revenue, and increase
uct manager, Skytron; Melanie Miller, RN, manager central processing/
supply chain/materials management, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los
healthcare access and process efficiency. All at the same time. Had he been able to accomplish
Angeles, CA; Dee Donatelli, RN, BSN, MBA, vice president, supply
all of this concurrently, he would have been regarded as a domestic super-hero. But simple
chain services, VHA Inc.; Rose Seavey, RN, BS, MBA, CNOR, ACSP,
business logic turned out to be his green kryptonite. Why? All of these sides represent com-
Seavey Healthcare Consulting Inc.; Deborah Petretich Templeton,
R.PH, MHA, associate vice president, supply chain services, Geisinger Health
peting interests so one or more groups would have to win at another group’s expense. Shat- System, Danville, PA.
tering goblets.
1. Require resistant citizens to buy insurance they don’t want or can’t afford and you pad SUBSCRIPTION RATES
insurance company profits at the expense of those who fear severe income loss or federal
U.S.: $72.00 for one year (prepaid orders only)
parenting-enforced behavioral changes.
Canada: $88.00 Single copies: $7.00
Foreign: $120.00 Industry Guide: $49.95
2. Force insurance companies to cap or reduce their profits or pricing via outlawing rejections Special issues and back issues: $11.00 per copy, prepaid.
based on pre-existing conditions or allowing interstate enrollment and you run afoul of the
Certain individuals qualify for free subscriptions.
capitalistic free-enterprise economic system developed and managed by this democratic CHANGE OF ADDRESS
republic of ours. Of course, you might argue that the automotive manufacturer and bank-
Subscribers: For change of address, send your old and new addresses
ing/finance industry bailouts set the precedent. But you also force these payers to restrict
to Healthcare Purchasing News, 2477 Stickney Point Road, Suite 315B,
Sarasota, FL 34231. Fax: (941) 927-9588, E-mail: subscriptions@
reimbursement and ration coverage. Eliminate the insurance industry entirely or bestow hpnonline.com. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for correction. All other inquiries,
“not-for-profit” status on it only invites even more vitriolic pandemonium.
call Tiffany Coffman at (941) 927-9345, ext. 203.
3. Cap or tax the sales of product manufacturers only forces them to restrain research and
development and hike prices, which ultimately are passed onto the payers and citizens
directly.
4. Encourage ordinary citizens (either through education or punitive fees or taxes) to live
more healthy lives as a way to avoid using healthcare services theoretically prevents pro-
KSR Publishing, Inc.
Printed in U.S.A. Copyright 2010 by KSR Publishing, Inc. All rights re-
viders, payers and manufacturers from making money. Plus, Americans see this as teenag-
served. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
ers (or toddlers) being told by an exasperated dad and mom
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho-
to behave and obey.
tocopy, recording, or any information storage-and-retrieval system, with-
out permission in writing from the publisher. Healthcare Purchasing
So what’s the answer? Simple. Someone has to lose. Pick News is a registered trademark used herein under license.
one. Let it play out and then adjust the plans and processes
Office of publication: Periodicals Postage Paid at Sarasota, FL 34242
and at additional mailing offices.
from there. Pacifying everyone merely keeps us sucking our
Postmaster: Send address changes to: Healthcare Purchasing News,
pacifiers. Or thumbs. We know better and can do better.
P.O. Box 182, Osprey, FL 34229.
4 March 2010 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS www.hpnonline.com
1003-FastForeward.pmd 4 2/11/2010, 12:01 PM
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