The health care industry has faced unfathomable tests and trials throughout the past two years, but through innovation and cooperation found solutions when presented with each new obstacle.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, dedicated professionals working within the health care supply chain served their communities behind the scenes, ensuring health systems received the necessary tools and equipment to save countless lives.
Often unrecognized by the masses, those working in the health care supply chain industry provide invaluable services to their communities. For two years, the Heartbeat of Healthcare Award has sought to recognize the dedicated supply chain professionals and groups that have been quietly improving patient cares, accelerating innovation, and building resilience across their communities. This annual award acknowledges two vital players in the health care industry: providers and suppliers.
The 2022 winners of the Heartbeat of Healthcare Award were announced on March 7 during the 2022 FAH Annual Conference and Exposition.
Congratulations to the providers’ winner, MultiCare Health System team and the suppliers’ winner, Kermit!
Nominators for MultiCare Health Systems noted the team’s ability to leverage the latest software tools and technology to create effective and transparent supply forecasting solutions. Combining artificial intelligence, cloud architecture, machine learning, and integrated process modeling, MultiCare Health Systems enabled stakeholders to make better-informed decisions. Using the planning tools they created, the team effectively identified and assuaged bottlenecks; they also worked with stakeholders to find innovative solutions to solve shortages.
“The need to innovate and provide data transparency and reliability across the supply chain, while freeing up staff bandwidth to make process improvements in real-time, has become the lifeblood of the company’s resiliency efforts,” remarked the team’s nominators.
The supplier-side winner, Kermit, was recognized for the ability to halt areas of overpayment by leveraging software and artificial intelligence to identify price creeps in paper bill sheets.
To achieve this, the company uses its system to audit and review bill sheets, comparing products, pricing, and procedure against established businesses and contract rules unique to the hospital. Bill sheet digitization enhances analytics on savings numbers, spend analytics, usage data, and case costs; this assists hands-on spend management and identification of correctable actions.
The winning company also believes in inclusion and collaboration. “Kermit sits at the intersection within the hospital workforce, interfacing directly with supply chain, finance, and surgeons as well as related period groups,” said Chaun Powell, when presenting Kermit their award.
Congratulations to all the Heartbeat of Healthcare nominees and award winners!
A special thanks goes out to the HoH committee members who help organize the awards and choose this year’s winners:
- Chaun Powell, Premier (Co-Chair)
- Joe Walsh, Supply Chain Sherpas (Co-Chair)
- Kerry Price, FAH (Co-Chair)
- Mike Schiller, AHA, AHRMM (Co-Chair)
- Nancy Anderson, SMI
- Christine Choi, FAH
- Joey Dickson, HealthTrust
- Chuck Fontana, Allergan
- Nelson Hendry, HCP
- Vicky Lyle, Professional Women in Healthcare
- Heather Mallinckrodt, Vizient
- Tom Mittelstadt, Beckman Coulter
- Ken Murawski, Healthcare Links
- Brent Petty, IDN Summit and Bluegrass Media
- Manpreet Sandhu, HIDA
- Kevin Stout, MedSC
- Jennifer Taylor, UHS
- W. Hays Waldrop, IHES
