Contract management is a challenging but critical component of cost control
Loopholes in supply contracts can wreak havoc with a supply budget, but attention to detail and proper terminology can help OR managers take charge instead of being charged unnecessary fees. “Not managing your agreement will cost you 12% to 25% of the spend or 100% of any savings achieved,” Girard…
Formula for successful cost control includes hard data plus surgeon champion
With decreasing Medicare reimbursements and increasing pressure to reduce costs, OR leaders everywhere are looking for creative solutions to balance their budgets. At Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) in Philadelphia, standardizing surgical mesh looked like a way to save a bundle, and indeed a $1.5 million savings over a 3-year…
Best practices and new technology on tap at 2014 OR Business Management Conference
The upcoming OR Business Management Conference provides a timely opportunity for OR business managers and surgical services directors to learn what they can do to optimize their hospitals’ resources—especially in the current climate of ever-tighter budgets and reimbursement concerns. The conference, which will be held February 11-13, 2014, at the…
ASC industry no longer the stepchild of group purchasing organizations
Group purchasing has long been a tradition for hospitals. Now ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are beginning to adopt the practice, and the reason is simple: Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are noticing their needs and recruiting them as members. “We are evolving services,” explains Randy Piper, vice president of nonacute contracting…
Successful vendor/OR partnership yields more than $1 million in savings
An innovative program at The University of Kansas Hospital (TUKH), Kansas City, for managing vendor partnerships has saved the hospital $1.9 million in just 8 months of operation. “We’ve found that pricing and inventory management requires key partnerships with suppliers,” says Brian Dolan, MHSA, CMRP, RHIA, CHDA, SSGB, director of…
ASCs seek efficiencies to offset decline in reimbursement
About 70% of respondents to a nationwide survey of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) say they are trying to cut costs in reaction to changes brought about by healthcare reform. That’s the major finding of a nationwide survey of 359 administrators, directors, and office managers in ASCs, cancer centers, home health…
A checkup for your OR's value analysis process
How healthy is your value analysis process? A strong program for evaluating products and new technology is essential to the cost-effective management of resources. Characteristics of a good value analysis program are offered by Barbara Strain, MA, past president of the Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals. She is director…
Tackling perioperative supply chain as a system
A systemwide focus on supply chain management is helping Sutter Health, a large, Sacramento, California-based health system, to improve its financial performance by adopting best practices and taking a contemporary approach to strategic sourcing, value analysis, and logistical support. The target: Trim $200 million from expenses by 2012, and they’re…
Strong capital purchasing process calls for partnership, transparency
Planning for capital purchasing requires skill. If the process isn’t effective, the OR director will end up with unhappy surgeons and staff. But done effectively, capital purchasing can build relationships among surgeons and hospital and OR leaders. “Capital planning is a challenge in today’s economy,” says Dana Crompton, MHA, vice…
For implants, balancing choice and cost control
Negotiating with orthopedic vendors can be frustrating as OR leaders strive to balance competing agendas among companies, surgeons, and the hospital. Kimberley Murray, MS, RN, CNOR, administrator for the orthopedic and spine service line at St. Joseph’s Hospital (SJH) in Syracuse, New York, reduced frustration by adopting a program that…
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