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focused specifically on five: alignment, tal- ent, relationships and communication, and strategies.
Alignment oford began the alignment discussion stressing the importance of being an equal partner with organizational leadership in the overall strategy. He stressed that the new supply chain leader must bridge the gap through the entire organization and understand the overall strategy, reinforce the impact of supply chain, and leverage that to gain the talent, optimization and the technology necessary. As an example, oford cited the investment his organiza- tion, Memorial Sloan ettering, made in demand planning. That investment, he said, has proven invaluable, “Paying dividends throughout the pandemic, providing the capability to pivot, leverage some of the insights gathered, and learn on the fly so that we could be more proactive.” Walsh shared a cautious note around the subject of alignment, stressing that supply chain shouldn’t be subservient to any of the agendas of the CFO, CMO or even the CEO. “Haven’t we just proven that supply chain is equal to the agenda of the CFO, equal to the agenda of the CMO and equal to the agenda of the CEO?” he said. “It’s time to actually elevate the supply chain agenda into the boardroom sitting next to those leaders. Otherwise, I fear that no matter where you align supply chain, you’ll always actually be serving somebody else’s agenda, and actually missing the bigger picture.”
Talent oford followed up with the need for investment in talent and the critical nature of having a talent strategy, especially with a national workforce that can work remotely. He emphasized building a strategy with leadership teams that are constantly learn- ing and adapting to trends in the larger healthcare, political and business environ- ments, so that they’re not stagnant. Of course, obtaining exceptional talent necessitates the ability and willingness to pay for it. “Today, every major university in the United States has an MBA supply chain program, or supply chain emphasis” said ohnson. “If we don’t pay what the supply chain MBAs are getting in other industries, we’ll never get them.” As part of talent, Walsh talked about
the concept of “leadership preparedness,” similar to, or part of, emergency prepared- ness. “We’ve got to have the right skill sets as leaders and we’ve got to have the right mindset to educate teams on the funda- mentals of sourcing,” Walsh emphasized. “They have to know how to do tactical
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sourcing, category management, and they have to know how to do procure to pay the right way.” Bagley added, “You need to upskill your
talent, including your own, to lead us to where we need to get to, which is a stable supply chain,” he declared. “So, when people in your community come to you for help, the products and equipment that are needed to deliver the best quality care, are there.”
Relationships When discussion turned to relationships, the panel stressed that another byproduct of the challenges of the past two years was redefining value when it came to relation- ships. “I think during the pandemic, one of the things that contributed to our success was the ability to call on key suppliers and understand capabilities, solutions, and where things stood, with transparency and honesty,” Bagley said. Rather than just beating each up over
price, providers, suppliers and GPOs need to strive for deeper, interconnected relation- ships that stress shared responsibility and accountability, with a focus on the end user and meeting the needs of caregivers and patients. Bagley suggested measuring sup- ply chain through the eyes of the customer. “How does it feel when you don’t have what you need, or you have to change what you’re used to?” he asked. Bagley continued, “I think we’ve learned
as well, that outsourcing our strategy to third parties that aren’t invested in our communities is not a pathway forward.” He cited several examples of partners in the community and suppliers who maintained transparency and a spirit of interconnected success, rather than a strictly lowest price, transactional approach.
Strategies & momentum Walsh defined strategies as encompassing people, processes, technology and gover- nance, across the three pillars of supply chain including sourcing, procure to pay and operations. He stressed the need for a roadmap, or short and long-term strategic plan, that will actually move the needle and improve those areas over time, being adaptive and proactive for changes and disruptions similar to what we have experienced. “Our sourcing strategies have to adapt.
We have learned sole source agreements are not the right answer in every situation. We’ve learned just in time inventory may not be the right answer in every situation,” he continued. “Our inventory strategies and rethinking just in time, low unit of measure to right size, what that should look like?”
June 2022 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
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As the discussion wound to a conclusion the panelists were emphatic in imploring the audience to capitalize on the game changing opportunity. “I hope that we can leverage this to build the supply chain future that we need,” said Bagley. “My challenge to you. Get invested in your local community, and your local healthcare. And if you’re a supply leader, redefine what success looks like and focus on enabling our clinicians to be at the top of their game.” Walsh concluded by saying this same imperative applies to those on the supplier and GPO side as well. “You have to sell into providers in a very different way than you’ve sold into providers previously,” he said. “You have to be informed about your supply chain, and what you’re capable of doing in a very transparent way.” He stressed that means internally, working closely with supply and operations teams, to have a standard operating procedure (SOP) process that maybe didn’t exist previously. “The days of going around supply chain
and going to clinicians to get their approval are long gone,” he stated. “Right now, sup- ply chain is in the middle of every one of those conversations. I always say ignore supply chain to your peril. ”
Honoring a legend The panel ended with a special surprise for ohnson, as he was presented with the Chuck auer Award. Usually presented at the Fall ID meet- ing, the committee made an exception, to honor an “extraor- dinary” member of the healthcare sup- ply chain commu- nity. The award was named after auer, former publisher and editor of Modern Healthcare, who was a foundational builder of the ID Summit, was known by many for his optimistic spirit and strong values, as well as selfless care for others. He lived by a strong commitment to excellence in work and life, strong ethical values and an unwavering patriotism and pride in the United States of America. In accepting the award, a humbled ohn-
Brent Johnson
son took one final opportunity to elevate the supply chain profession and reinforce the panel’s message. “I’m honored. But it’s not about me, it’s about you,” he said. “It’s about everybody that is trying to improve supply chain in the healthcare industry. It is our time. It’s the right time. Do something with it. Don’t just sit and do the same old stuff. Make a difference and do something with this change and opportunity.”HPN
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