Supply Chain

Across the United Sates, news of the rising cost of healthcare is spreading. The U.S. government reported that Americans spent $3.65 trillion on healthcare in 2018. This level of spending is by far the highest in the developed world, and there is an ongoing debate about why healthcare is so expensive and what can be done about it. In the 1980s, Congress took a look at Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) and found that GPOs can help reduce healthcare costs for both the government and private health-care sectors.

In 2020, supply chain costs are projected to surpass labor as the greatest expense for the average hospital. That’s why the supply chain continues to be a main focus of cost-reduction efforts. Moving forward, however, hospitals are making strategic and data-driven supply chain changes to bring about more effective care delivery. Gone are the days of relegating supply chain to a cost-reduction target. In fact, larger hospital systems have elevated the supply chain leader’s role to a C-level position, reflecting the sophistication required for an optimized supply chain.

Data-driven Supply...

When the Southwest Health System (SHS), in Cortez, Colorado, contacted Community Hospital Corporation (CHC) early in 2018, the hospital had violated various bond covenants associated with its $30 million expansion and renovation project. In fact, the organization had failed to meet the 80 days-cash-on-hand requirements for four consecutive quarters. This violation triggered technical default, which could have led to hospital bankruptcy
and closure.

Lenders concerned with the financial situation communicated with the board directly and required an outside consulting firm to evaluate the situation and develop a...

Supply costs are one of the fastest-growing cost centers for hospitals. These spiraling expenses tend to hit community-based hospitals hard because many don’t wield enough purchasing power to command preferred pricing. Other hospitals, though larger or part of a health system, face unique supply chain challenges and concerns despite their greater purchasing power.

Holding the line on supply chain costs is, or should be, a top priority for community hospitals of all sizes. By reducing supply costs and better managing the supply chain, a hospital can expand its savings margin...

Metaphors commonly used to describe community hospitals underscore their importance to the regions they serve. They’ve been called economic engines, cornerstones of the community, and, by Forbes, the “financial glue” that holds communities together. Community hospitals tend to be one of the top employers in town, so when one closes, there are more consequences than traveling farther for hospital care.

Still, community hospitals are closing at a dispiriting rate—87 shut down in 26 states from January 2010 to July 2018, according to the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program. Countless...

Serving hospitals of all sizes, CHC Supply Trust understands that larger hospitals and health systems, despite their purchasing power, face unique supply-chain challenges and concerns. Chief among those concerns is finding a GPO that’s as trustworthy and attentive as it is effective at delivering the best products and services at the best value. Bringing experience and expertise to larger hospitals from Texas on up to Minnesota, and from Georgia west to Oregon, CHC Supply Trust is the right strategic partner for these complex organizations, leveraging their size and spend to...

Following labor, supply costs are the second-highest expense for hospitals and also the fastest-growing cost center. Unfortunately, community-based hospitals tend to be hit hardest by spiraling expenses because they receive less favorable GPO pricing than their larger counterparts. This is where CHC Supply Trust, the supply chain services arm of Community Hospital Consulting, comes in. We offer four levels of supply chain management support, including GPO access to the same preferred pricing that large hospital systems are able to negotiate.

CHC Supply Trust partners with HealthTrust, the nation’s...