by Christine Dean, SMI Communications Coordinator

With everyone in healthcare bracing for an uncertain and possibly dangerous curve up ahead, the Strategic Marketplace Initiative (SMI) recently brought together over 150 member thought leaders from healthcare organizations across the US and Canada including provider IDNs, manufacturers, distributors and IT/Service companies for their annual Spring Forum in Dallas. Executives from leading healthcare companies spent a power-packed two days exchanging ideas, addressing challenges and discussing the most important issues impacting the healthcare supply chain industry today.

Ian Morrison, PhD, author, consultant and futurist set the tone for this two-day event with a keynote presentation that encouraged the thought leaders to see and embrace the opportunities ahead. Morrison delved into the economy and healthcare reform, exploring hospitals and healthcare systems of the future. He explained the notion of second curve economics and what hospitals must do to be successful in this ever changing landscape. SMI members were uplifted by Morrison’s message that healthcare system leaders can make a difference and meet future expectations by improving performance and developing a new delivery system that positively impacts the quality of patient care. Morrison said, "The leaders in this room have the power to greatly impact the US healthcare system and the quality of care to patients."

Following the keynote and throughout the Forum, SMI Members also participated in small group interactions and discussions on various cutting edge topics facing the healthcare supply chain industry, including physician-owned distribution, operational excellence, healthcare reform and building strategic partnerships. With the release of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed rule on Unique Device Identifiers (UDI) , one of the most pressing topics discussed at the Forum was data standards adoption. Curtis Dudley, Vice President of Integrated Business Solutions, Mercy/ROi and Dennis Black, Director, e-Business, BD presented a case study entitled, "Perfect Order and Beyond- BD and Mercy/ROi Achieve Far-Reaching GS1 Standards Integration"1 as part of SMI’s Collaboration in Action series.

This case study outlined the collaboration between BD, a major device manufacturer and Mercy/ROi, a large integrated provider network, on using GLNs and GTINs to improve transactional efficiency. The presentation focused on the adoption of unique device identifiers and location standards by the two trading partners, which yielded a 30% reduction in days payable outstanding, and a 73% reduction in discrepancies in purchase orders, improved sourcing of products, fewer calls to customer service, fewer stock outages and better patient charge compliance. The BD and Mercy/ROi case study is available for download at the GS1 US website: (http://www.gs1us.org/industries/healthcare/tools-and-resources/case-studies).

As with past SMI Forums, SMI Members also joined or continued their work with SMI Initiative Teams focused on fostering industry-wide improvements on such topics as Technology Opportunities, Servicing the Alternate Care Marketplace, the Perfect Department Index, and GTIN Synchronization. These Teams of SMI Members will work over the coming months to develop tools that help industry leaders predict trends, assess needs, address challenges and incorporate best practices. Previous SMI Initiative Teams have created over 25 tools and solutions that address topics such as New Integrated Delivery Models/ACOs, Comparative Effectiveness Research, Vendor Managed Inventory and the Link Between Supply Chain and Revenue. These tools are available, at no charge, on the SMI website.

One of the most highly anticipated sessions at the Forum is the interactive polling session, where SMI Members provide real-time answers to strategic industry questions on the most pressing issues facing healthcare supply chain executives today. Responses from both providers and suppliers, recorded electronically and immediately posted, prompted further discussion, debate, and interaction among members. Question topics included data standards, healthcare reform, transparency and trading relationships and yielded very profound results.

One question in particular, "which of the following do you think are the two greatest obstacles to transparency the healthcare supply chain industry faces today?" resulted in over 50% of the respondents answering that both significant cultural change is required for transparency and a lack of trust exists in the healthcare supply chain. SMI plans to further explore the topic of transparency and will continue to conduct interactive polling sessions at future forums so that trends can be tracked and reported to members.

SMI welcomed a number of first time attendees to the Forum including Brian Forsythe, Vice President of Business Development from Suture Express who said, "This event provides a unique opportunity, unparalleled in the industry, for providers and suppliers to collaborate on the most pressing issues in healthcare today."

At the conclusion of this two-day event, many questions were answered, many relationships were created and many lessons were learned about what both providers and suppliers must do to be better prepared for the uncertainty that lies ahead. Although the issues of cost reduction, data standard utilization, and healthcare reform remain prevalent, it is apparent now more than ever, that collaboration is the key to unlocking a better, stronger and more efficient healthcare supply chain system.

For more information about SMI, visit: www.smisupplychain.com. 　

1. ©2012 Perfect Order and Beyond – BD and Mercy/ROi Achieve Far-Reaching GS1 Standards Integration by Becton Dickinson and Mercey/ROi