Mr. Kirkpatrick, vice president of supply chain operations at Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint, and Mr. Keller, vice president of strategic sourcing at Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA, spoke at the Association of National Account Executives regional meeting in December. They both highlighted the growing need for transparency.
“There is a desperate need for transparency today, but there’s no incentive, on a number of fronts, for that transparency to be put on the table today,” Mr. Kirkpatrick said. “I had a guy explain it to me the other day that said, ‘Healthcare doesn’t have a Walmart.’ There’s no 500-pound gorilla that can say, ‘Here’s the way it’s going to be.'”
Having clarity is also vital when discussing what is possible with respect to a budget. Unlike other industries, “we have to buy the products” and cannot pass the extra costs on to another company, Mr. Kirkpatrick said.
At the end of the day, healthcare supply chain leaders need to save costs, they said.
“What we typically have budgeted for is 2% of supply expense as the saving target of the year,” Mr. Keller said. “Our target for 2023 was 3% to offset all of the inflationary increases that we’re seeing on the [group purchasing order] side. For 2024, our target is 4%.”
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