The Healthcare Hub

Countering the rise of workplace violence in healthcare

The role of visitor management beyond the pandemic

For many people, the phrase “unprecedented times” is washed out and watered down. But for over-worked, understaffed healthcare facilities, the term’s meaning grows deeper by the day.

Covid-19 might be the newest unforeseen threat to hit healthcare workers, but it's just the latest stressor for medical facilities already challenged with potentially hostile work environments.

GHX Named Winner of the 2022 Workday Partner Innovation Awards in the Healthcare Industry

• Pete Nelson, General Manager, Global Alliances

GHX announced it was named a winner of the 2022 Workday Partner Innovation Awards in the Healthcare Industry.  

Automate or Delegate? Digitizing Your Strategy for Supply Chain Data Management

Removing inaccuracies and inefficiencies from data can help healthcare proactively address inevitable disruptions, pivot faster and build stronger supplier relationships. The result is a more resilient supply chain that helps to drive better patient outcomes and cost savings. But with constant changes and multiple data sources, keeping item data clean is arduous.

Fortunately, supply chain teams can now turn to new capabilities in their cloud ERPs to synchronize data cleansing, correct errors, and fill gaps. This includes all item data (e.g., item masters, P.O. history and contract data) that multiple teams depend on.

During a recent webinar, GHX’s Pete Nelson and Keith Lohkamp, Senior Director, Healthcare Industry Strategy at Workday, discussed how and why automation has evolved to accelerate the transformation to cloud-based, digital supply chain management. They were joined by Prisma Health Director of Supply Chain Information Systems Leslie Thomas, who described the bold steps that her organization took to integrate a cloud-based data management solution and service that keeps their supply chain data current and synchronized.

Trends for 2022 and Beyond for Medical Device Company-to-Hospital Supply Chains

• Denise Odenkirk, Vice President, Supplier Sales

Following nearly two years of disruption from a global pandemic, natural disasters, and even an unprecedented shipping canal blockage, trends that emerged out of necessity are now more likely the expected way of doing business.

In this post, Denise Odenkirk, Vice President of Supplier Sales for GHX lends her perspective on the driving forces behind the trends and the value to the industry.

*Republished in part with permission from BONEZONE, www.BONEZONEpub.com.

Why Evidence Matters to Your Clinically Integrated Supply Chain

• Erinn Zacharias, PhD, Executive Director, Research & Insights. Lumere, a GHX Company

Just as Sherlock Holmes relied on physical evidence to solve mysteries, modern-day supply chain leaders must use clinical evidence in the value analysis process to help make cost-effective, patient-focused product decisions.  

As hospital leaders seek to reduce clinical spend while improving clinical outcomes and financial resiliency during the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, reliable evidence has never been more important. Supply chain professionals are feeling pressure to more rapidly gather and interpret clinical data and insights for frontline care teams – often without formal training in interpreting scientific literature.

Resiliency: How Can Health Systems Better Manage the Supply Chain?

The critical PPE shortages that overwhelmed so many hospitals in the early days of the COVID pandemic raised broader issues about supply chain resiliency. Health systems continue to deal with the impacts of shortages and cost overruns and the need to balance a return to “business as normal” with the recognition that COVID-19 rewrote the rules for what “normal” even means.

Now, as health systems look to recoup lost revenue through elective surgeries, a new variation of the resiliency question is being asked: How can the industry better manage the supply chain to both improve patient care and control costs? Healthcare leaders addressed this question from multiple angles during a recent GHX webinar

Standardization and Measurement: Keys to the Next Phase of Healthcare Compliance

We are in a new era of healthcare compliance. The landscape has changed. As health systems emerge from the worst days of the pandemic, it's imperative that providers reengage their staff to continue the ongoing process of compliance.

The relaxed HIPAA restrictions and compliance regulation waivers that were designed to help hospitals provide care without the red tape are unlikely to last forever. Regulations may become even more stringent as a result of the pandemic, which will increase the need for compliance and safety just as 9/11 did for travel and airport security.

Why Optimizing the Supply Chain Matters Most to Nurses

• Lori Martin, RN, MBA, Senior Clinical Specialist

Healthcare labor costs are getting way out of hand. Clinical labor costs increased 8% from 2019 through August 2021, which equates to $17 million for a 500-bed hospital annually, according to research reported by Becker’s. The cost burden is even higher for hospitals that are asking staff to work a significant amount of overtime, or that are turning to agency staff to help fill clinical gaps. These factors add about 50% or more to a regular employee’s hourly rate, according to the research.

Finally, a Kanban System That Works for Nurses

• Whitney St. Pierre, Executive Director, Product Marketing

A senior nursing director speaks on Syft’s “Smart” Kanban system

In a recent interview with a senior nursing director at a 10-hospital health system, I had the opportunity to hear first-hand how their clinicians are using and benefitting from the Syft Synergy 2-bin Kanban inventory management system. The Syft Kanban solution has been adopted by 8 of the 10 hospitals and medical centers that make up this East Coast-based network. Here’s what the Senior Nursing Director who leads the Critical Care/Emergency Department/Trauma Services at one of the locations shared about Syft’s “really smart Kanban design” and how it has driven user adoption at the point of use.

GHX Acquires Explorer Surgical to Accelerate Value-Based Healthcare Delivery

At GHX, we believe the democratization of data and knowledge is fundamental to value-based healthcare delivery, helping to reduce variability, improve clinical and financial outcomes and break down the walls of healthcare inequity. To accelerate value-based healthcare adoption among U.S. health systems and hospitals, the industry needs more efficient and effective ways to share impactful information on a broader scale.