SMI announced the Virtual Relationship Management (VRM) eBook, which explores challenges and provides solutions for conducting business-to-business commerce while building productive relationship between trading partners virtually. It is available for downloaded free of charge.
As part of SMI’s mission, a team of members, all supply chain thought leaders from integrated healthcare providers, suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors, recognized that the shift to a work-from-home (WFH) model due to COVID-19 was greatly impacting their employees and colleagues. During this time of uncertainty both providers and suppliers had to adapt to new ways of conducting business to protect employees, patients, and staff from potential exposure to COVID-19. The team created this eBook that has implications, pros, cons, challenges, best practices, and tips for navigating virtual relationships for providers and industry partners.
Long-time member and past SMI board chair Jim Francis, Division Chair & Chief Supply Chain Officer at Mayo Clinic was the project consultant for this initiative. Francis said, “Doing what we do best, SMI brought together providers and industry partners to create this eBook to help our organizations and the industry understand how to conduct business virtually that promotes collaboration and the ability to foster stronger, more productive and transparent relationships as part of the new/next normal.”
The SMI Virtual Relationship Management eBook can be downloaded, at no charge, on the SMI website. SMI members have created numerous tools and resources which are available, free of charge to the industry on the SMI website to help create a more resilient healthcare supply chain.
