Healthcare Logistics Survey Findings to Be Released at AHRMM09

CHICAGO — The Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM) and the Center for Innovation in Healthcare Logistics (CIHL) at the University of Arkansas conducted an online survey of healthcare supply chain professionals to assess the current state of the healthcare supply chain from a cost and quality perspective in December 2008 and January 2009. The report findings will be released at the AHRMM09 Conference and Exhibition in July.

Starting in 2008, Heather Nachtmann and Edward Pohl, associate professors at the university and researchers from CIHL, partnered with AHRMM to conduct an industry-wide survey of healthcare supply chain professionals to evaluate the current state of the healthcare supply chain. The survey focuses on six areas of the supply chain; readiness and progress towards data standardization, collaboration among supply chain partners, implementation and benefits of strategic initiatives, supply chain-related expenditures, inventory and order management, and supply chain performance. The survey received 1,381 responses. Respondents represented all sectors of the supply chain — healthcare providers, manufacturers, group purchasing organizations, distributors, as well as other healthcare supply chain organizations.

Such an expansive survey has not been conducted in the healthcare supply chain since the mid-1990s, when AHRMM and four other healthcare-focused organizations partnered to conduct a survey which produced the Efficient Healthcare Consumer Response (EHCR) report. The EHCR has become the most oft-quoted report in the industry, but its data is nearly 15 years old. While not replicating the design of the EHCR, the Cost and Quality Survey covers many of the same key areas.

The initial findings of the Cost and Quality in Healthcare Logistics survey will be presented at AHRMM09 Conference and Exhibition in Tampa, Fla., on July 22. The report will be provided to all attendees at the conference and will also be available on the AHRMM and CIHL Web sites.

Source: The Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management