Taking The Supply Chain Pulse

Mark Van Sumeren, Managing Director at Health Industry Advisor, discusses the perfect storm facing healthcare: tariffs increasing costs, Medicare demands growing with the aging population, and critical workforce shortages.

• Tariffs on medical supplies and devices creating immediate cost pressures with no easy way to offset them
• By 2029, all baby boomers will qualify for Medicare, driving unprecedented demand for healthcare services
• 60% of healthcare revenue comes from Medicare and Medicaid, with reimbursement rates that don't cover costs
• Healthcare organizations showing a bifurcation - some maintaining slim margins while others operate at losses
• Cleveland Clinic's daily huddle system creates organizational alignment and rapid problem-solving
• Effective supplier collaboration requires transparency about financial needs tied to mission fulfillment
• Decision-making in healthcare remains glacially slow compared to other industries
• Organizations must "break the rules" rather than continuing strategies that haven't worked
• Rural communities face the greatest risk of losing healthcare access entirely

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 If you want to be a guest on the show, reach out to Fred directly at [email protected].

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Régine Villain, SVP of Supply Chain at Ochsner Health and 2023 AMR Award winner, discusses healthcare supply chain resilience and the engineering mindset that has shaped her leadership approach.

• Continuous supply disruptions require healthcare organizations to become "masters of resiliency" with dedicated teams focused on risk management
• Defining what's truly "critical" in healthcare supply chain goes beyond cost—it's about what causes delays in patient care
• Geographic challenges like hurricane season create predictable disruptions, but unexpected events require leveraging relationships and innovative thinking
• Industrial engineering background provides a methodical, process-focused framework for approaching supply chain challenges
• Bad processes can't be fixed with technology—sound foundations must come first before applying AI and other innovations
• Ochsner's recognition as a Gartner Top 25 healthcare supply chain reflects their commitment to continuous improvement
• Women leaders in healthcare supply chain bring holistic perspectives and deep connections with team members at all levels
• Successful careers in healthcare supply chain require genuine passion for service and understanding the impact on patient outcomes

For those considering a healthcare supply chain career: this field demands mission-driven commitment but offers the reward of knowing you're making a difference in patients' lives.

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Struggling with hospital logistics as patient populations grow but your infrastructure stays the same? You're not alone. In this eye-opening conversation with Albert Nkansah, Project Manager at St Onge Company, we dive deep into the challenges facing healthcare facilities and the surprising solutions that can transform operations without breaking the bank.

Albert pulls back the curtain on his current projects, revealing how he helps hospitals determine whether centralization makes sense and how to optimize existing spaces. His work spans everything from designing sterile processing departments to conducting comprehensive operational assessments – always with one guiding principle: "We're not telling you what we think, we're telling you what we know."

The conversation exposes a common dilemma across healthcare: facilities expand patient areas without corresponding growth in support infrastructure. "When they first built this hospital, they built it for 8 ORs. Now we have 16. However, the hallways are the same... the SPD is still the same size, the supply storeroom is still the same size." This mismatch creates cascading problems throughout hospital operations, from equipment storage violations to workflow bottlenecks.

Perhaps most exciting is Albert's perspective on technology integration. Contrary to common belief, even older facilities can implement modern automation solutions like follow-bots that reduce staff strain and AI-powered predictive analytics that help hospitals stay ahead of demand fluctuations. The key is understanding the return on investment and designing with future scalability in mind.

Whether you're planning a new facility, struggling with space constraints, or looking to modernize your operations, Albert's insights offer a roadmap for creating more efficient, resilient healthcare supply chains. Connect with Fred directly at [email protected] to discuss your own supply chain challenges or suggest topics for future episodes.

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What happens when military precision meets corporate efficiency in healthcare? In this eye-opening conversation, Chico Manning, Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Supply Chain at PIH Health and 2024 Bellwether League Future Famer Award recipient, takes us through his remarkable journey across three distinct supply chain environments.

Manning's foundation in logistics began with seven years as a Marine Corps officer handling what he calls "the three B's: beans, bullets, and band-aids." This military experience taught him the fundamental principles of getting exactly what's needed precisely where and when it's required—sometimes literally carried on the backs of those being supported.

His subsequent fifteen-year career at PepsiCo revealed the transformative power of Lean Six Sigma in a profit-driven environment. Manning shares the fascinating story of his most successful project, which made sales teams accountable for unsold product waste and saved the company hundreds of millions of dollars globally. What was once considered a "sacred cow" that couldn't be changed became a cornerstone of PepsiCo's improved forecasting approach.

The most revealing segment comes when Manning describes his shock upon entering healthcare in 2016. He discovered supply chains "generations behind" other industries, with basic concepts like demand forecasting virtually nonexistent. Instead of data-driven systems, he found manual processes where individuals physically walked through storage areas to determine what needed to be ordered—essentially guesswork rather than analytics.

The conversation takes an especially relevant turn as Manning explains how his team has expanded Lean Six Sigma beyond supply chain to all aspects of PIH Health's operations, preparing the organization for healthcare's mounting financial pressures. With approximately 60% of patient revenue coming from potentially vulnerable Medicare and Medicaid sources, Manning's approach of "strengthening the dam before it breaks" offers a blueprint for healthcare organizations facing similar challenges.

What makes this episode particularly valuable is Manning's emphasis that these methodologies can be scaled to healthcare organizations of any size while maintaining quality standards and regulatory compliance. His passion for supply chain excellence shines through in his closing thought: "No matter what organization you're part of, if you're a supply chain professional, know you are as important as whatever they're selling or whatever service they're providing."

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"The most stirred up soup I've ever seen in healthcare." That's how host Fred Crans describes the current state of healthcare supply chains in this eye-opening conversation with industry veteran John Strong. As healthcare systems face unprecedented challenges from multiple directions, Strong offers practical wisdom on navigating the turbulence ahead.

Strong warns of three critical concerns reshaping healthcare's landscape. First, government reorganization threatens significant revenue disruption through potential Medicaid cuts, which could cost hospitals billions. With Medicare and Medicaid representing roughly 60% of hospital revenue and many facilities already operating at capacity, these cuts raise serious questions about care access for vulnerable populations. Strong advises caution rather than panic, especially regarding threatened tariffs that have prompted preemptive price increases from suppliers.

Supply shortages represent another mounting challenge. While new drug shortages have modestly decreased, basic medical-surgical supplies are increasingly harder to find, costing hospitals an average of $3.5 million annually in canceled procedures and delays. Strong highlights emerging domestic manufacturing initiatives like Ochsner's in New Orleans, suggesting that paying slightly more for reliable supply may ultimately prove less expensive than managing disruptions.

Most provocatively, Strong challenges healthcare's procurement status quo, arguing that hospitals continue paying 30-50% more than necessary for common goods by failing to create genuine competition. He shares how at Premier, implementing a sole-source contrast media contract delivered 40-48% savings despite internal skepticism. "Nothing gets a supplier's attention like making a product change," Strong observes, lamenting that too few organizations are willing to undertake the disruption required for meaningful evaluation.

Whether you're managing a hospital supply chain, developing healthcare policy, or supplying medical products, this conversation provides essential perspective on creating sustainable value amid healthcare's perfect storm. Subscribe now and join the conversation about transforming healthcare supply chains for resilience and value.

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What happens when you combine a background in medieval literature with supply chain expertise? A fascinating perspective that challenges how we think about business problems. In this captivating conversation, Bryan Jensen, Chairperson/EVP of St. Onge Company, shares his remarkable journey from English major to supply chain consultant and the valuable lessons learned along the way.

Bryan reveals how his unconventional career path created unique advantages, challenging the notion that technical fields require purely linear thinking. "I think that neither one is superior but perfectly complementary," he explains, describing how merging technical and humanities approaches creates superior solutions for clients.

The discussion explores how St. Onge evolved from a facility design specialist in the late '90s to a comprehensive supply chain consultancy today. Bryan provides fascinating insights into the retail industry's transformation, including why giants like Toys "R" Us and Sears struggled to adapt to changing market conditions. His firsthand experience working at  Toys "R" Us during its heyday provides a rare glimpse into retail logistics before the digital revolution.

What truly sets this conversation apart is Bryan's candid perspective on consulting ethics. Having once "loathed consultants" for charging premium rates while delivering minimal value, he built his career on reversing that equation. His commitment to objectivity stands in stark contrast to consultants who recommend solutions tied to their own products: "We can look at all options with equal aplomb, 100% objective, because we have no axe to grind."

Perhaps most powerful is Bryan's reflection on people as the ultimate business asset: "Our product is what's between their ears and what's in their hearts." This philosophy has helped St. Onge maintain remarkably low turnover in an industry known for burnout, sometimes achieving rates as low as 3-5% annually.

Whether you're in supply chain, consulting, or leadership, this conversation offers invaluable wisdom about combining technical expertise with humanity to create lasting business success. Ready to rethink your approach to problem-solving? This episode is your starting point.

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Amanda Chawla, Senior VP and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Stanford Health, shares insights on transforming healthcare supply operations from transactional processes to strategic networks. Recognized by Gartner for excellence, Stanford's approach focuses on people-centered leadership, organizational agility, and continuous reinvention to meet evolving healthcare challenges.

• Supply chain transformation requires examining organizational foundations across people, process, and technology
• Stanford's strategy involves insourcing operations, creating new departments, and developing technology roadmaps
• "Supply chain is not a chain" but a network of interdependent activities serving every department
• Successful leadership requires building trust and demonstrating value as a strategic partner to clinicians
• Financial viability challenges require healthcare organizations to focus on efficiency and value-based operations
• Organizations must choose between waiting for disruption or becoming disruptors through innovation
• Failure should be viewed as part of the innovation journey toward advancement

You can contact Fred at [email protected] with guest suggestions or topic ideas for future episodes.

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