Embracing the Enemy

When most of us think about the relationship between medical device manufacturers and healthcare providers, we think about one party wanting to sell more and the other wanting to buy or pay less. This traditional relationship has landed us in the situation that we’re in today – with practices such as vendor credentialing and physicians offices hanging signs on doors telling device reps to “stay out.”

But in today’s economic climate, where manufacturers and healthcare providers are equally feeling the pinch, a new relationship is emerging – one of collaboration. It comes down to the fact that they need one another – manufacturers need someone to sell to and providers need products to purchase so instead of butting heads, let’s find some common ground and see how we can help each other remain financially viable.

Back in June, Karen Conway from GHX wrote an interesting blog post on collaborative efforts between providers and manufacturers to cuts costs and improve efficiency in the supply chain.  It can be found here. I’m currently working with GHX on a white paper around collaboration in the healthcare supply chain – stay tuned.

Hold the Ice Cream

Most of us know of someone who has undergone a tonsillectomy and experienced the long, painful recovery. Although the procedure isn’t performed as frequently as it was 50 years ago, when tonsil removal was a right of passage for most American children, more than 500,000 tonsillectomies are current performed each year in the U.S.

Medical device manufacturers have tried over the years to develop new technology to reduce pain and complications following tonsillectomies.  One of my clients, Starion Instruments, has been very successful in this area.  Starion’s ENTceps, which features the company’s Tissue Welding technology, has been proven time and time again to enhance patient recovery. The most recent study involving ENTceps, conducted on adult tonsillectomy patients, can be found here.

PodCamp Boston 6

A good friend and colleague, Mark Wile of WorthWile Communications, recommended that I attend PodCamp Boston 6, which bills itself as an “UnConference” for social media enthusiasts.  I visited the event website and this year’s theme is around providing attendees with real-world learnings that they can apply to themselves and their businesses. With healthcare organizations and medical device manufacturers increasingly using social media to reach and engage their intended audiences, I have taken Mark’s advice and decided to attend the event. Will be curious to see if their are any healthcare-specific presentations.

Here is a link to the event site: http://podcampboston.org/

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Supply Chain Transformation Yields Results

I recently worked with my client, GHX, on a case study to document how New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) used technology and automation to transform its supply chain from a financial liability to a strategic asset that allowed it to cut costs and improve operational performance, achieving a $14M/annual savings goal. With supply chain representing the second largest area of expense for most hospitals (behind labor), many healthcare providers are turning to supply chain improvements to improve efficiency, cut costs and achieve long-term sustainability.  The project was named as one of Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s 2011 100 Great Supply Chain Projects. To view the HHC case study, click here.