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Copyright © 2008

People, Places, Processes & Products that Influence the Supply Chain

INSIDE THE CURRENT ISSUE

April 2007

30th Anniversary

Connect with this month's featured Advertisers:

Trivial pursuits over 30 years - part 2

Last month Healthcare Purchasing News published the first round of a slate of trivia questions about the magazine’s history and industry contributions, as well as queries about the healthcare supply chain management industry as a whole. So how did you do? Did any bring back memories or raise your eyebrows?

Wait until you read this month’s last and final round. As part of HPN’s 30th anniversary celebration, we looked back at some of the key milestones and millstones that shaped the magazine and the industry it has chronicled for three decades.
 

HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS trivia

How many different publishing companies owned HPN?

Four. McKnight Medical Communications (Northfield, IL) launched the magazine in 1977. Medical Economics Co. (Montvale, NJ) acquired McKnight Medical in 1986. HPN was sold to Nelson Publishing Inc. (Nokomis, FL), in 2001. The current owner, KSR Publishing Inc. (Sarasota, FL), acquired the magazine in 2003.

Historically, what were the titles of all of the editor’s columns?

Commentary, 1977-1994; On The Record, 1995-1996; Afterwords, 1996-1999; Commentary, 2000-2001; From The Editor, 2001-2003; Fast Foreward, 2004-present

HPN once hosted a popular annual conference and trade show in the Spring. What was it called?

The HPN Expo.

What year was the last HPN Expo held and where?

The last one was held in 1986 at the Chicago Hilton & Towers.

What replaced the annual HPN Expo?

A series of three one-day seminars on hospital-vendor relationships that were held in Newark, Los Angeles and Chicago in June 1987.

In HPN’s 10th anniversary edition, what did the magazine feature on its cover?

A retrospective of five different magazine covers from the previous decade.

What were the top stories reported on the cover of HPN’s 20th anniversary edition?

The top story involved the formation of "APS," the national alliance that eventually became known as Premier Inc., which resulted from the mergers of American Healthcare Systems, Premier Health Alliance and SunHealth Alliance. AmHS and Premier actually agreed to merge four months earlier while SunHealth briefly flirted with merging with VHA Inc. The two stories explored the pending spinoff of Baxter International’s distribution unit, which became Allegiance Healthcare Corp., STERIS Corp.’s acquisition of AMSCO International and how distributors were faring amid dwindling margins and tightening cost-plus pricing arrangements.

HPN launched its annual "Materials Manager of the Year" in 1986 to recognize and profile key industry leaders, an exclusive feature that was published until 2000. During those 14 years, how many women earned the award?

Three.

Who was the first woman to be named "Materials Manager of the Year" by HPN and when did that happen?

Sara M. "Sally" Bird, deputy director, Directorate of Medical Materiel, Defense Personnel Support Center, Defense Logistics Agency, Philadelphia, earned the award in 1996. She also represented the first government official as the recipient.

Who was the first recipient of HPN’s "Materials Manager of the Year" award?

Lee Boergadine at Yale-New Haven (CT) Hospital

Who was the last recipient before HPN started recognizing the "Materials Management Department of the Year?"

Vicki Doss, regional director of materials management, Central California Division, Adventist Health, Bakersfield, CA, in 2000.

After recognizing the "CS Manager of the Year" for five years, HPN launched its annual "CS Department of the Year" in August 1993. Who was the first facility to earn the exclusive recognition?

South Georgia Medical Center, Valdosta, GA

Who was the first recipient of HPN’s "CS Manager of the Year?"

Lee Gianfrancesco, CS supervisor, Chope Community Hospital, San Mateo CA, in 1988

Which recipient of HPN’s annual "CS/SPD Department of the Year" had the smallest number of employees?

St. Marys Health Center, Jefferson City, MO, in 1998, with five.

Which "CS/SPD Department of the Year" recipient had the largest number of employees?

Actually, it was a tie. Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, IN, in 1997, and Cleveland (OH) Clinic in 2002, each reported 70.

In its bimonthly "OR Purchasing News" section, HPN recognized OR departments successful at managing costs. Who was the first, second and last recipients of the short-lived annual "OR Department of the Year" award?

Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, CA, in 1994; and New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, in 1995; Mt. Diablo Medical Center, Concord, CA, in 1996

 

Healthcare supply chain management industry trivia

Which state was the first to implement DRG-based reimbursement ahead of the federal government’s national policy?

New Jersey in 1979

Who was the U.S. Senator who pushed for federal control over U.S. hospital purchasing in the form of cost controls as part of an overall Medicare/Medicaid reform movement that was sweeping through Congress in the late 1970s and early 1980s?

Sen. Herman Talmadge (D-GA) who wanted the General Accounting Office (GAO) to review hospital procurement practices nationwide.

By and large, why did Washington start pushing for federal caps on hospital expenses in 1979?

By then, the industry-driven "Voluntary Effort to Contain Costs" was fading in interest and effectiveness.

How did the American Hospital Association try to counter Talmadge’s proposed plan?

The AHA in 1978 suggested that the states – not the federal government – review and approve hospital budgets.

The federal government’s prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient care became effective when?

October 1983

Congress passed a law requiring HCFA to institute a PPS for hospital outpatient surgical procedures and subsequently all hospital outpatient procedures by when?

October 1989 and 1991, respectively

What was the original name of the Health Industry Distributors Association?

The American Surgical Trade Association

What were the names of the original associations representing the key participants in healthcare supply chain management?

The American Society of Hospital Purchasing and Materials Management (ASHPMM); The International Material Management Society (IMMS); The National Association of Hospital Purchasing Management (NAHPM); The International Association of Hospital Central Service Managers (IAHCSM); The American Society for Hospital Central Service Personnel (ASHCSP).

In January 1982, what continuing education event represented a significant first in the central service profession?

Members of ASHCSP and the Mid-Ohio chapter of IAHCSM convened a jointly sponsored seminar in Akron, OH.

What continuing education event represented a milestone among materials management and central service professionals in August 1983?

ASHCSP and ASHMM (which dropped "Purchasing" from its name eight months earlier) hold their first-ever combined meeting with the theme "Getting It Together" to underscore the importance of CS and MM working hand-in-hand.

What controversy in the late 1970s and early 1980s between hospital purchasing/materials managers and the growing tide of national GPOs reached a fever pitch?

Hospital purchasing/materials managers fretted that GPOs would threaten, if not eliminate their jobs.When did the Health Care Resource Management Society (HCRMS) dissolve and its members absorbed into the Association of Healthcare Resource & Materials Management?

July 2001

Who were the original four multi-state groups and shared services organizations that formed AmeriNet in May 1986?

Haricomp, Health Services Corporation of America, Hospital Shared Services of Western Pennsylvania and Intermountain Health Care.

The debate over reuse of single-use devices gained considerable notoriety can be traced back to which year and for what reason?

In 1974, the General Accounting Office surveyed 14 hospitals in Nevada and California that were reusing disposable catheters and guidewires in vascular diagnostic procedures. The GAO urged the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now known as the Department of Health and Human Services) to "take strong action against the practice," as reported in HPN. Within three years, the Food and Drug Administration publicly "expressed concerns" about the controversial practice.

The reuse controversy attracted the general public’s attention in what year and why?

Discover Magazine published an article titled, "A Hospital is No Place for a Sick Person to Be," in October 1985.

In what year did the Clinton Administration’s healthcare reform plan to contain costs make headlines?

Spearheaded by the First Lady, President Clinton’s campaign-promised healthcare reform plan, which focused on a modified managed care delivery model called "managed competition" in 1993. The effort, which ultimately failed to be enacted, ushered in a wave of consolidations among healthcare product manu-facturers, distributors, GPOs and hospitals.

What were two of the hottest cost-cutting strategies in 1995?

Risk-sharing and capitated supply agreements, which supplanted the long-standing buzz about just-in-time and stockless distribution agreements.

The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act went into effect in what year?

2000

It was reported in 2005 that more than 100,000 lives were lost each year due to what?

Hospital-acquired infections.