Recall management is a challenging area for healthcare organizations throughout the country as there is no set methodology, workflows, standardized tools, or training. Healthcare organizations are now developing their own recall management processes, workflows, and problem-solving tools. Luckily, a group of large health systems have gotten together to form the Recall Management Interest Group (RMIG) to help solve all the issues surrounding recall management and create best practices. This round table interview discussion today is with three Healthcare System Recall Management Leaders who are taking this challenging area to task and solving the challenges that have turned RMIG into a major positive force for advancing recall management in our industry.

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How do you know when to start, stop, or continue with a value analysis review? There should be valid reasons why you are going to perform a value analysis review, why you may stop it midstream, or why it must continue out to a final resolution. These are valid issues that VA/supply chain team members deal with every day. Today I am talking about the “Start, Stop, Continue” conundrum. If you get this dynamic right, you will do big things and get great results for your health system. If you get it wrong, you have just wasted a bunch of time with little or no results to show for it. The strategy here is to get it right more than you get it wrong.

Supply chain and value analysis seem like an endless world of projects, initiatives, conversions, problems, recalls, and new product request evaluations that just go on and on. Once you think you have everything taken care of, other problems or initiatives show up. One thing is for sure, there also comes a lot of uncertainty with all these initiatives, projects, and new product requests. You need to know with confidence how you are going to handle these situations strategically to meet your goals and objectives.

Pricing is tight. Sometimes we can find a few big savings opportunities but many times we are guarding against price increases in these inflationary times. Senior leadership is always looking to find new ways to reduce costs without having to face things like major layoffs or hiring freezes. Clinical supply utilization management (CSUM) is still a new element that has not yet been embraced by most health systems’ value analysis programs, but they should be considering it as a new way to save big beyond price.

In this special podcast we spoke with Jonathan Jarashow, CEO of OmniChannel Health, and discussed the unique needs and challenges of the healthcare supply chain. Jonathan and I delved into issues related to pricing, backorders, shortages, and how strategic value analysis and companies like OmniChannel Health can help to alleviate these challenges.

In this special podcast we interviewed hospital supply chain experts from Vuemed, the leading solutions firm in inventory management. Chris Anderson, Director of Technical Program Management, and Katherine McAlister, Customer Support Operations Manager, delve into the UDI system in the medical device supply chain and clinical management.

Everyone knows that value analysis is a big money saver from the standpoint of cost avoidance with new product requests as well as picking the right products from contract conversions. Not to mention, managing the supply resilience and recall issues that occur oh so often which hospitals cannot afford to throw major dollars at anymore. Value analysis allows you to manage all these issues and keep costs in check, but is that all value analysis can do? The answer to that question is no, value analysis can do so much more.

A Special Interview with Mark Copeland

Let’s face it, inflation, clinical labor shortages, and market conditions are doing a number on our health systems’ bottom lines and forcing organizations to find new and better ways to eke out costs while maintaining quality and outcomes. This is easier said than done. Group purchasing organizations and your own custom contracting are readjusting to the new normal, but inflation has taken away the majority of what I call “home run savings opportunities” that we once had. There are still some singles and doubles with savings that can add up, but they just aren’t what they used to be, nor can they alleviate the hit our health systems’ bottoms lines are taking. None of this is new to anyone in the healthcare industry, we all know what the market conditions are. The big question is, where are we going to get the next major level of savings to start hitting doubles, triples, and even home runs again in the savings department?

A new year will no doubt challenge many in our supply chain industry to up our game to new levels that we never thought possible. Let’s face it, there is a heck of a lot of change going on and higher demands from our Chief Financial Officers to optimize costs to mitigate the budgetary shortfalls that all health systems are seeing. All this on top of the new product requests, contract conversions, recall facilitation, and managing teams and projects. This year could be a daunting year if you don’t have some form of strategic plan with clear-cut goals and objectives.