by Dennis P. Orthman

SMI is a non-profit consortium of executives representing healthcare providers, medical products manufacturers, pharmaceutical and supply chain distribution companies and service businesses united to reengineer and advance the future of the healthcare supply chain. Through SMI, members participate in an open, non-competitive forum in a collaborative process designed to go beyond discussion to yield actions. SMI’s mission is to establish and promote the adoption of new standards of supply chain performance for delivering healthcare to patients and their communities. SMI tools and solutions are offered at no charge to the industry via their web site www.smisupplychain.com.

SMI’s Member Forums are not seminars or conferences, but rather are working sessions held each spring and fall where trading partners work on industry issues to develop solutions and promote adoption of the solutions. More than 120 thought leaders from across the country participated in the November Forum, including invited guests and active participants from the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management, the Department of Defense, Health Industry Distributors Association, Wal-Mart, University of Arkansas Council for Innovations in Healthcare Logistics, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Efficient Healthcare Delivery Research Group.

Dennis P. Orthman, project director, SMI

"The bottom line is we try to positively advance the healthcare supply chain, and we are making progress," said SMI Board Member Jim Natale of C.R. Bard Inc. One major highlight of this SMI Forum was the introduction of SMI’s New Product Introduction Management (NPIM) Tool, a new product request pipeline management tool designed to support the needs of healthcare product introduction management professionals. Designed and tested by the SMI Initiative Team, the NPIM Tool supports professionals at both integrated systems and individual hospitals in managing their new product request, analysis, review and decision making processes. Features within the New Product Introduction Management Tool include:

• An on-line new product request process and document

• Automatic uploading of requests into the tracking section of the tool

• User-driven management of the request pipeline

•Automatic email capabilities to notify stakeholders of status

• Management reporting package, with downloadable reports

• Complete record of the decision process from request to implementation

"Our team’s research into introduction processes revealed some real communication gaps and a lack of support tools for supply chain’s value analysis professionals and product introduction specialists," noted Bill Kennett, senior director of supply chain at Johns Hopkins Health System. Special previews of the NPIM Tool to industry professionals also showed high interest in improving communications about the product review process and the status of requests. Benefits expected from the use of the NPIM tool could include:

• Reduction in back-door selling

• Improved communication and process transparency

• Streamlined decision processes, enhancing clinician participation

The NPIM tool is specifically designed to support, not replace, an organization’s product review, decision and communication processes. Flexibility in the tool recognizes that each organization’s decision process differs based on specific policies, procedures, culture and historical practices. During the next three months, a number of SMI members will be installing and using the NPIM tool as part of their overall supply chain practice.

Thomas Hughes, executive director, SMI

The NPIM Tool features a standardized electronic request form that users make available to requesters. Request forms are submitted via email to product introduction coordinators who then import the request into the NPIM tracking section. The coordinator then uses e-mail features to simultaneously keep stakeholders up-to-date on the process. Colleen Cusick, R.N., clinical product specialist at Johns Hopkins was involved in the design and testing of the tool.

For the product introduction coordinator, use of the NPIM Tool offers a complete record of all actions taken in the review process from request to decision to implementation," Cusick said. "Users determine who will be emailed with updates when a request progresses through their decision process. Using the NPIM Tool, coordinators can record and store information about analysis, meetings, committee reviews, pilots and implementation actions, saving time and reducing the frustration of everyone involved. All stakeholders in the process, including supplier representatives are now easily kept in the loop."

The reporting package of the tool includes statistical reports with graphical features. The number of days it takes a request to move through the process is tracked as well. All reports can be downloaded into spreadsheets for data manipulation, helping to foster process improvement reviews and executive updates on pipeline management.

Other Forum attendees worked on the variety of other SMI Initiatives, including the Early Data Standards Adopters Initiative, launched at this Forum. Along with the support of the Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Coalition (HSCSC), this new SMI Initiative focused on documenting the data standards implementation process. Two workgroups were formed:

• The Global Location Number (GLN) Workgroup is concentrating on implementing the GLN as their organizational identifier. Team members were oriented to the recommended standard by Mary Pat Elwood, chair of the HSCSC Organizational Identifier Subcommittee and the creation of action plans was initiated.

• The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) Workgroup is focusing on implementing the GTIN as a universal product identifier. Team members were oriented to the GTIN and the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) by Dennis Black, chair of the HSCSC’s Data Synchronization Subcommittee.

Joe Dudas, director of accounting and supply chain informatics at Mayo Clinic and chair of the Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Coalition (HSCSC) told SMI Forum attendees that the time for action is now. "The creation of standards adoption plans can help healthcare finally achieve the same supply chain efficiencies as the other industries," he said.

During the Forum, other SMI members continued their work in teams on industry improvement initiatives, including:

• 810 Transaction Initiative: This collaborative team seeks to increase the utilization of EDI 810 transactions (electronic invoice) within the industry, with a goal to equal the level of EDI 850 transactions (purchase order). One possible outcome of this effort may include the development "calculator" templates to quantify value.

• Link Between Supply Chain and Revenue Initiative: This collaborative team continues to research the connection between a provider’s supply chain program and organizational revenue, identifying "links" and innovative practices that can help a supply chain program maximize its revenue potential.

Ed Robinson, OhioHealth

• Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI): This newly launched initiative is exploring the proper applications of vendor managed inventory programs. With many forms of vendor managed inventory programs in healthcare, defining VMI and researching the utilization and benefits of VMI in other industries will be the team’s initial focus.

"Our members continue to raise the bar for themselves and the industry," said Tom Hughes, SMI’s executive director. "We keep rolling up their sleeves and working together to meet those expectations."