All Entries in the "Cost Management" Category
Hospital Inventory Management: Is One Indicator Enough?
We always look for more than one performance indicator in our value analysis analytics practice to ensure that we are seeing all sides of the equation. This is because if we employ three indicators we can triangulate this information into a more reliable decision making model. We find this technique particularly important when we are [...]
Organizing for Efficiency of Your Hospital’s Supply Chain Expense Management
We have a saying around our firm that goes something like this, “You must be organized to save, if you want to save big”. In fact, efficiently saving money needs to become a habit if you want to make good supply chain organizations even better. It means taming the “paperwork tiger”, systematizing what you are [...]
Holes to Plug in Healthcare Supply Expense Management
When we think of holes, we naturally think of leaks which can cause quite a bit of damage to our home or facility. It is the same with supply chain expense management holes that can cause irreparable harm to your healthcare organization’s bottom line. Here are four holes you need to plug to keep your [...]
Inside a Hospital Cost Manager’s Playbook
I have been a cost manager for over 25 years, working with healthcare organizations to reduce their labor and non-labor cost structure. And I have learned a few fundamentals over that time that I would like to share with you to improve your focus on the cost tactics that matter and don’t matter in your [...]
Institutionalizing Benchmarking to Improve Your Cost Management Performance
Hospital Supply Chain Benchmarking as an art and science hit its peak in the 80s when Robert C. Camp published his book “Benchmarking: The Search for Industry Best Practices That Lead To Superior Performance”. Camp explained in simple terms that benchmarking is the “process of consistently researching for new ideas for methods, practices, and processes, [...]
Pay-For-Performance: Supply Chain Case Study
As you may know from my recent articles, I’m a big proponent of Pay-For-Performance as it relates to the supply chain since, in my opinion, it’s really is a perfect fit. So much so, that I predict that it will be a best practice in just a few years. In fact, I’m seeing more and [...]
Hospital Supplier Pay-for-Performance Model
I’m hearing more discussions on Supplier Pay-for-Performance models, to help hospitals achieve defined, measurable cost effective patient care outcomes now that more hospitals are joining (or considering joining) Accountable Care Organizations. If you aren’t already aware of it, Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) are structured to provide their patients, at a fixed fee, their total episode [...]
Does Your Hospital’s Culture Matter in Cost Management?
Something that you might not realize if you have only worked at one, two or three hospitals, systems or IDNs in your supply chain career: All hospitals, systems or IDNs have a different culture or shared beliefs, values, customs, practices and social behavior that guide their actions. Having worked with more than 496 hospitals, [...]
Building your Hospital’s Supply Chain Infrastructure to Save Big in 2012
As you know, it takes a solid foundation to build a strong and lasting building or structure like the Taj Mahal in India, Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Chrysler building in New York. What you might not be aware of is that it takes the same unique architecture, perseverance and creativity when you are [...]
The Truth about Hospital Cost Containment Efforts
A recent survey by Health Leaders Media lays out a graphic picture of what healthcare leaders are thinking and doing to manage and control their labor and non-labor cost. What is particularly interesting about this survey is the way 250 healthcare leaders think about what their single biggest obstacle is to successful cost reduction, since [...]
