Bassett Healthcare Network Earns National Recognition for Supply Chain Savings

 

Cooperstown, NY - Bassett Healthcare Network was recently recognized by Vizient, Inc. for its demonstrated excellence in lowering supply chain costs. Bassett's designation as a "participation leader" in Vizient's national Impact Standardization Program reflects the organization's success in all 13 Impact programs offered by Vizient. 

Savings through Vizient's rebate programs total about $200,000 - a significant amount, but only a fraction of a whole. "We saved over six million dollars in 2021," says Joseph Ruffino III, Bassett's Supply Chain director. "That's 1.5 million more than the year before. My team is always looking for opportunities to reduce costs and this accomplishment is something we feel very good about."

Bassett's recent supply chain advancements go further than just a better bottom line. COVID-19 pushed the supply chain system to its limits, but the changes needed to meet those challenges have improved the whole system. 

Russell Grant, director of Infection Control and Prevention at Bassett, knows the pinch of low supply and high demand as well as anyone. "As the pandemic intensified in our region last fall, we quickly realized that the standard monthly meeting was not going to cut it," he remembers. "We needed a way of knowing which supplies were being utilized where. When there was a shortage, we needed a process that would get the best possible replacements as quickly as possible."

Ruffino enfolded Grant into a new Product Evaluation Team (PET) at Bassett that includes representatives from across the network, plus clinical leaders in Nursing and Infection Control. They meet virtually each week - and more often if an urgent situation arises. Meanwhile, Supply Chain has streamlined their request and replacement process. This has resulted in a responsive system that identifies problems, encourages robust dialogue, and delivers solutions. 

Although the new and improved PET was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the system has been such a success that it will continue even when the pandemic ends. 

"Ill give you an example of what this team can accomplish," says Grant. "A few months ago, a PET hospital representative recommended a different brand of Foley wipes - the disposable sanitary napkins used to clean patient catheters. Within days, our entities across the network were trying samples. Within weeks, everyone in the network had switched to this more cost effective product.

"It seems like a small change, but it has a big impact," Grant explains. "Better wipes are better at cleaning, reducing patient infections. They also make nurses doing Foley care happier. And it just so happens that these were a little cheaper in price - which can add up at the volumes we use network-wide."

"Lowering supply chain costs is crucially important - yet often underrecognized - as a way of improving patient care," says Jeff Joyner, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Bassett Healthcare Network. "Smarter purchasing and contracting isn't just about saving money. It frees up resources that can then be invested in caring for our patients and supporting our caregivers in other ways. It is the kind of improvement that makes other improvements possible. I am thankful for the hard work of all those in our Supply Chain service center who collaborated with Vizient on this achievement."

Vizient, Inc., based in Irving, Texas, helps not-for-profit health systems across the United States develop strategies to deliver quality services. Bassett Healthcare Network has been a member organization with Vizient since 2007.