The Health Management Academy Study Profiles Health System Supply Chain Success

Alexandria, VA (Vocus) September 18, 2008

The Health Management Academy announced the results of an extensive research study profiling successful supply chain management practices in large health systems.    This study, sponsored by Broadlane, is one of the first to independently tie supply chain attributes and management practices to actual financial metrics from the largest healthcare institutions in the country. With healthcare costs skyrocketing, these benchmarking and best practices data form a guide for senior executive teams to achieve supply chain management success.

The study - "Profiling Success: Supply Chain Management Practices of the Largest Health Systems" - examined supply chain management in 60 of the largest health systems in the United States with an average annual net patient revenue of $2.7 billion and an average annual supply spend of $483 million. The study found:

•     A wide variation in supply chain performance
•     Leadership, management and organizational factors resulted in significant supply chain savings, ranging up to an estimated $130 million annually
•     Physician relationships can be improved via effective involvement in supply chain teams and improvement processes

The study examined more than 180 variables to determine the practices most common among the top 10 percent performing systems. The key differences were identified as corporate office direction, leadership, system-wide policies, physician engagement and measurement by product type. Notably, these operational factors were more important to supply chain performance in this study because a critical mass of purchasing power had already been reached.

"There are many factors that affect supply chain spend other than system size," said Gary Bisbee, Ph.D. chairman and chief executive officer, The Health Management Academy. "Our study found that the most important predictor of lower supply chain expense was the full engagement of the health systems' leadership. Corporate office direction, support and recognition by the board of directors and involvement by physicians were key factors in lowering supply expenses."

"Our goal was to evaluate and benchmark our tactics and strategies in order to confirm they were effective measures in reducing supply chain expense costs and improving supply chain operations," said David Ricker, president and chief executive officer. "Broadlane was pleased to learn the results of the study did indeed validate that our processes and service offerings were effective measures in supply chain improvement and were widely respected and practiced by these large healthcare facilities."

The white paper can be downloaded at no charge at:
https://broadlane.wufoo.com/forms/hma-2008-supply-chain-white-paper/

About Broadlane
Broadlane is the leading technology-oriented healthcare services company, reducing costs and creating operational efficiencies for thousands of acute care hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, physician practices and other healthcare providers in the United States. Its core services include supply chain management and clinical workforce management services.
Broadlane's comprehensive supply chain services include:

•     Unparalleled national and custom contracting for supplies, pharmaceuticals, equipment and purchased services
•     Innovative Procurement Services and purchase transaction management
•     Clinical Services for managing clinical preference items and operating room and cath lab spending
•     Comprehensive Materials Management Services - including outsourcing
•     Informatics - benchmarking, advanced analytics and reporting
•     Supply chain technology and e-commerce

Broadlane Workforce Management™ addresses nurses and allied healthcare practitioners and includes:

•     External shift and agency management services
•     Internal shift management, including electronic shift auctions
•     Regional nurse float pool management and internal agency management
•     E-commerce workforce exchange linking healthcare providers, clinical staff and agencies, enabling efficient shift management and fulfillment and reconciliation

The Preference Group™, a division of Broadlane, consults with healthcare facilities to help manage the cost of clinical items and processes. The Preference Group's specialized clinical programs include:

•     Medication Use Management (MUM)
•     Orthopedic Management Program
•     Cardiovascular Management Program
•     And many others

Broadlane's clients include leading providers such as Advocate Health Care, Ascension Health, Beaumont Hospitals, CHRISTUS Health, Continuum Health Partners, Kaiser Permanente, Kindred Healthcare, MedCath Corporation, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, Tenet Healthcare, The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, US Oncology and UMass Memorial Health Care.

The company is headquartered in Dallas with offices in Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, New York City and Oakland. For more information, visit http://www.broadlane.com.

About The Health Management Academy
The Academy provides an open environment for the senior executives of the country's largest health systems and corporations to exchange best practices and benchmarking information, focused on increasing the quality and efficiency of care.

The Academy implements its strategy with member-driven executive study groups, fellowship programs, benchmarking studies, workshops and publications. By virtue of the size and position of their healthcare systems and corporations, The Academy members have similar opportunities and challenges. They view The Academy as a knowledge source for identifying and monitoring tactical and emerging strategic issues. The Academy was formed in 1998, the same decade many of the largest health systems were created. The Academy's model of educational programming assesses the top priorities of its members, monitors the organization and development of large health system executive teams and facilitates structured interaction among its health system members. The Academy is an accredited CE provider and is independently owned and operated. Its members agree to adhere to The Academy's Code of Conduct and Principles of Participation.

###