MHA Society for Supply Chain Management

MHA's Society for Supply Chain Management hosting workshop on GPO partnership

The GPO Partnerships:  Collaboration & Price Protections, scheduled for May 17,  has been postponed until October 6-7, 2011.  MHA realizes the timing of this program coincides with the flooding from the MS River and would better serve our members by rescheduling to a later date.

The Mississippi Hospital Association's Society for Supply Chain Management in Healthcare, an individual chapter of the American Hospital Association's Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), will host GPO Partnership: Collaborative Approach & MS MED-1: A Tour of MS State Medical Assistance Team at the Jackson International Airport in Jackson. AHRMM has approved the workshop for 3.0 hours of CEs.

A full agenda is available online here. Register for the meeting here. For more information, contact Judith Forshee at (800) 289-8884, (601) 368-3216 or jforshee@mhanet.org.

 

Katie Bryant passed her CMRP Certification!

Katie Bryant began her healthcare purchasing career at UMMC in September of 1997 as a Buyer for the Clinical Labs, Nursing, and various Research Departments. She was promoted to Purchasing Manager in 2004 with responsibilities over the Batson Children’s Hospital and Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants.

In 2009, Katie accepted the promotion to Associate Director of Purchasing over all UMMC purchasing functions which includes the University Hospital, Batson Children’s Hospital, Wiser Hospital for Women & Infants and the Wallace Conerly Critical Care Hospital along with various off site clinics. Katie’s purchasing world quickly expanded to include The School of Medicine, The School of Dentistry, The School of Nursing, The School of Pharmacy, The School of Health Related Professions and The School of Graduate Studies in Healthcare as well as the internationally renowned Guyton Scientific Research Center. Under Katie’s leadership, the UMMC Purchasing department issued just over 80,000 purchase orders in 2010.

In addition to her daily responsibilities, Katie played a significant role in the design and deployment of the new Lawson ERP system implementation. Katie is excited to be part of the Healthcare Supply Chain profession and is proud of her work at UMMC.

In her real life, Katie is a devoted mother and wife who enjoys spending time with her family (including the four legged members), biking, running, and playing!

IRS urged to prohibit device companies from passing excise tax to customers

The American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, the Catholic Health Association, and the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association on March 28 urged the Internal Revenue Service to prohibit device companies from passing on to customers the ACA's excise tax on medical devices. "In summary, the IRS should implement the device tax in a manner that recognizes the 'shared responsibility' commitment from a broad group of key health care stakeholders, including medical device companies, to enact long-needed national health reform through passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," the groups wrote.

The letter adds, "As the ACA appears to permit device companies to deduct the tax from their income for federal tax purposes, to allow device companies also to pass through the tax to their customers would permit a financial 'double-dip' that could leave device companies in a better financial position than before the ACA was enacted."

Company agrees to stop selling certain heart-lung bypass machines

Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corp. has signed a consent decree prohibiting it from distributing two heart-lung bypass systems and other cardiovascular devices to new customers, the Food and Drug Administration announced March 22. The decree also restricts sale of the systems to existing customers until the company complies with the FDA’s good manufacturing practice and medical device reporting requirements.

Because of concerns about possible shortages, FDA said the company can continue to provide service, replacement parts and loaner devices to existing customers that submit documentation of medical need. Customers should receive a notification guide from the company with instructions for completing and returning a certificate of medical necessity.

[ via AHA News Now ]

AHRMM launches 2011 health care supply chain survey

The American Hospital Association’s Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management is surveying hospital executives to learn their perceptions of the importance of supply chain management to their organizations, and related developments and trends. Instructions for accessing the online survey, conducted by Jamie C. Kowalski Consulting, were e-mailed March 17 to hospital CEOs, chief financial officers, chief operating officers and health care supply chain leaders.

Survey respondents will be eligible to receive an executive summary highlighting the survey results, which will be tabulated by Marquette University’s College of Business Center for Supply Chain Management and presented by Kowalski at the AHRMM annual conference in Boston. “In order to provide solid data for process improvements, AHRMM encourages all hospital executives and supply chain leaders to participate in this initiative,” said AHRMM Executive Director Debbie Sprindzunas.

For more information, email ahrmm@aha.org.

AHA website provides roadmap for hospital sustainability programs

The American Hospital Association's American Society for Healthcare Engineering, Association for the Healthcare Environment, and American Society for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management on Dec. 10 launched the Sustainability Roadmap for Hospitals, a website providing information and tools that can help reduce the environmental footprint of health care facilities. The website complements the AHA's Executive Primer on Hospital Environmental Sustainability, launched in July.

While the Primer provides health care executives with information about sustainability issues relevant to hospitals, the Roadmap is focused towards hospital managers, staff and designers of health care facilities. Users are encouraged to contribute suggestions, sample documents and case studies to the website.

"Hospitals have long understood the special role they play as environmental stewards in their community," said AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. "Today's launch of the Roadmap website will be a useful tool and one more resource available to those striving to reduce their environmental footprint."

Susie Hedgepeth Awarded Distinguished Service Award

 

Susie Hedgepeth, Director of Materials Management at Delta Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Greenville, was recently awarded the Mississippi Hospital Association Society of Hospital Purchasing and Materials Management Distinguished Service Award. The award was given October 15th during the Mississippi Hospital Association Society for Supply Chain Management’s annual meeting held in Jackson, MS. 

This award is given out each year to recognize and honor a Purchasing or Materials Manager from a Mississippi Hospital Association member hospital who has made a significant contribution to health care logistics.

Hedgepeth received both her Bachelor of Business Administration, Accounting and Finance (1982), and her Master of Business Administration, Information Systems (1999) from Delta State University (DSU) in Cleveland, MS. At DSU, Hedgepeth was a member of Delta Mu Delta Honor Society.  Hedgepeth is a graduate of the VHA Supply Chain Academy and achieved certification as a Materials & Resource Professional from the American Hospital Association in 2009. 

She has been the Director of Materials Management at DRMC for the past six years.  Previously she served as Director of Accounting at The King’s Daughters Hospital in Greenville. 

She is a current member and former board member of Mississippi Hospital Association Society for Supply Chain Management. Hedgepeth is also a member of American Hospital Resources & Materials Management and VHA Gulf States Sourcing Collaborative. 

Hedgepeth and her husband Sammy live in Greenville, MS.  They have two grown children, Davis and SuAnne Hedgepeth.

 

Getting Supply Chain Right

Automation can help hospitals get the right product to the right person at the right time for the right price. Learn more here.

GAO, Senate Question Role Of Hospital Supplies Middlemen

Group Purchasing Organizations, "which effectively act as middlemen between hospitals, suppliers and vendors," received mixed reports from the Government Accountability Office and the Senate Finance Committee, CongressDaily reports.

Read more here.

MHA Society for Supply Chain Management Annual Meeting set for Oct. 14-15

 

The annual meeting of the MHA Society for Supply Chain Management is set for Oct. 14-15 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Jackson. The cost to attend is $100 for members, $160 for non-members and $50 for MHA CEOs/CFOs.

A full agenda with a registration form is attached below. You may also register online here. For more information, contact Judith Forshee at (800) 289-8884, (601) 368-3216 or jforshee@mhanet.org.

Download Flyer_annual_mtg

AHA, group purchasers ask Blumenthal to include supply-chain management in EHR standards

We're finding more and more that electronic health records, as defined by the standards for "meaningful use," are far less than comprehensive. Mental health providers, with the exception of psychiatrists, aren't eligible for federal subsidies. Dental records aren't required. And now, two organizations say federal officials should consider integrating two standards from the healthcare supply chain into EHRs and supply-chain management systems as an additional safeguard against medical errors.

Specifically, the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association and the American Hospital Association's Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management say that standards known as the Global Location Number to pinpoint the location of a product or service and the Global Trade Item Number, which identifies specific products and services, can help take harmful devices and supplies out of care settings in case of a recall.

Read more here.