Healthcare Logistics and Transportation: Industry growth that delivers value

Since MedSpeed’s inception, we’ve believed in the important role healthcare logistics and transportation can play in the healthcare industry. A recent global report about the growth of the healthcare transportation services market studies that question.

According to the 151-page report for an analysis conducted by IndustryARC, healthcare transportation/logistics is a burgeoning business with significant projected growth. IndustryARC estimates that the global healthcare transportation services market will reach $93.2 billion in 2021. That reflects a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.17% from $73.48 billion in 2015.

in Blog / Healthcare Transportation / Intra-company Logistics / Physical Integration / Value 0 comments

MedSpeed’s CEO Wins Loyola University Chicago Supply & Value Chain Center’s Supply Chain Innovation Award

By Bonni Kaplan DeWoskin, Vice President of Marketing

We talk a lot about innovation in this space, so I’m excited to announce that our CEO, Jake Crampton has been selected as the winner of the Loyola University Chicago Supply & Value Chain Center’s Supply Chain Innovation Award. Jake accepted the award the award at Loyola’s 5th Annual Supply Chain and Sustainability Summit.

in Blog / Healthcare Innovation / Healthcare Transformation / Innovation 0 comments

First Things First: True health system integration requires big picture focus

One option to getting things done quickly is to just dive in. And in some cases, that is the best option. However, in a recent H&HN post, author Jeff Jones, urges healthcare organizations attempting to eliminate redundancies and create true integration to resist that instinct. Healthcare leaders who think that integration “is simply a series of operational assignments and a redrawing of the org chart” couldn’t be more wrong.

Jones argues that the process should focus on the purpose of integration and what is going to be measured.

in Blog / Clinical Integration / Cost and Quality / Integration / Integration Strategy / Systemness 0 comments

There Is No “I” in Team: The Value of We

As they say, “There is no ‘I’ in team.”

A recent post in H&HN entitled “Creating a Culture of ‘We’ Leads to Health Care Value,” addressed this very point. The author, Jack McNamara, points out that in healthcare today, there is an overarching strategic imperative to develop and embed a culture of value throughout the enterprise. And who does that include?

It should include everyone. The concept of the “mutuality of interests,” developed nearly 100 years ago by sociologist and theorist Mary Parker Follett, states that this mutuality is built not on the Golden Rule, but on the principal that when those working together share the same interests, the quality of work improves, and there is less waste.

in Blog / Deliver Better Care / Improving Patient Care / Quality 0 comments

ISO and Taking Better Care of Patients

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization, an independent organization with a membership of 163 national standards bodies that brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant international standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges. ISO-certification is something we pursued as an organization because of the value it brings to us and our clients. It means we meet quality and reliability standards that reduce costs by minimizing waste and errors AND increase productivity.

Recently, Sentara Healthcare—a 12-hospital system, based in Virginia and North Carolina—adopted quality-management principles across its system that are based on a specific standard ISO 9001—continual improvement. Hospitals & Health Networks notes that the system is one of the first to take a system-focused approach using the non-healthcare-originated ISO 9001 standards.

in Blog / Care Quality / Clinical Integration / ISO / Systemness 0 comments

Productivity + Risk Management = Success

“Many of the major shifts (in healthcare) over the past decade can be characterized as focusing on bulking up pieces of the healthcare puzzle and on squeezing out inefficiency, but in the coming decade we can expect the shifts to be more systemic—rearranging pieces, adding new players, and changing the very definitions of efficiency and quality,” writes Ron Adner, Ph.D., Professor of Strategy at Dartmouth College.

Efficiency, productivity and quality define success not just in healthcare, but across industries.

In fact, a recent working paper from the Congressional Budget Office found that the magnitude of the financial impact U.S. hospitals will face in the future depends on how much they can improve their productivity over time. The CBO paper concluded that if hospitals are unable to increase their productivity or otherwise reduce cost growth, the share of hospitals with negative profit margins will rise to 60% and their average profit margin will fall to -0.2%.

in Blog / Cost Management / Future of Healthcare / Productivity / Risk Management 0 comments

Hospitals Up the Ante with Hospitality-Style Customer Service

Customer service—long a leading indicator of success in the hospitality industry—is becoming increasingly important in healthcare, and with good reason. Competition for patient loyalty is serious business.

Increased referrals to family and friends can lead to more utilization of hospital services, and inherent in those word of mouth referrals are brand and reputation building opportunities for hospitals and health systems.

In fact, a Deloitte report found that hospitals with “excellent” ratings on CMS’ Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient satisfaction survey had a net profit margin of 4.7%, on average, compared with just 1.8% for hospitals with “low” ratings during the period from 2008-2014. Those “likes” can really add up.

in Blog / Customer Service / Patient Loyalty 0 comments

MedSpeed on the Inc. 5000

We just learned that MedSpeed made Inc. Magazine’s 2016 list of America’s 5,000 fastest-growing private companies, the qualification for which is based on revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.

In part, this has a lot to do with timing. Healthcare is moving from acute-care focused to non-acute care focused. Health systems are getting bigger with more points of care along the entirety of the care continuum. These larger systems are working very hard to capture the benefits of scale through greater systemness. This all points to an expanded need for – and available value creation from – intra-company logistics, the category that MedSpeed – and all of our team members – has made its life’s work.

in Blog / In the news 0 comments

The “Always-On” Supply Chain

The “2016 MHI Annual Industry Report,” developed in collaboration with Deloitte, looks at the key changes in supply chain. This year’s report covers a number of disruptive technologies affecting the supply chain and reflects the views of almost 900 supply chain leaders.

The key focus of the report is the concept of the “always-on” supply chain, which is described as “an integrated set of supply networks characterized by a continuous, high-velocity flow of information and analytics, creating predictive, actionable decisions that better serve the customer.” The report points out that the always-on supply chain has the potential to deliver significant economic and environmental rewards, which should encourage further innovation.

in Blog / Future of Healthcare / Healthcare Transformation / Systemness 0 comments

What Payment Model Should Replace Fee for Service?

We all know that the United States is in the process of radically changing how it pays for healthcare. And that’s because nearly all experts agree that the prevailing current payment method—fee for service—fuels waste, and does nothing to promote high-quality care.

In an effort to drive quality and reduce waste, there have been ongoing efforts by both the federal government and private insurers to reform payments, which have produced some success along the way.

What is the best approach to replace fee for service? The Harvard Business Review recently asked that question and presented the two leading economic models that are contending to replace fee for service.

in Blog / Bundled Payment / Capitated Payment / Fee for Service 0 comments