ECRI Institute Announces Winners of 2013 Healthcare Supply Chain Achievement Award

News provided by

Feb 11, 2013, 11:33 ET

Eight healthcare organizations are recognized for excellence in supply chain management—improving healthcare quality while reducing costs

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, is pleased to announce the winners of its second annual Healthcare Supply Chain Achievement Award. The prestigious award honors healthcare organizations that demonstrate excellence in overall spend management and in adopting best practice solutions in their supply chain processes.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110112/DC29081LOGO)

"As our nation grapples with an array of confounding healthcare issues, it is our great honor to announce the outstanding achievements of these organizations in achieving better supply chain value, and thus better healthcare, for all of us," states Anthony J. Montagnolo, executive vice president and chief operating officer, ECRI Institute. "We congratulate and thank them for their great work."

The recipients of this year's award are:

Catholic Health East -- Newtown Square, PA
Fletcher Allen Partners -- Burlington, VT
Health Care Authority for Baptist Health -- Montgomery, AL
Intermountain Healthcare -- Salt Lake City, UT
Mountain States Health Alliance -- Johnson City, TN
University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center -- San Francisco, CA
WellStar Health System -- Marietta, GA
Yankee Alliance, Inc. -- Andover, MA

"We applaud our eight winning organizations for their high level of dedication to improving healthcare quality and reducing costs in collaboration with ECRI Institute," states Jennifer Myers, ECRI Institute's vice president of SELECT health technology services. "The winning supply chain teams reflect best practices that will enhance their value and role in the overall strategy of their organizations, helping to reduce utilization and readmissions while achieving better outcomes."

The winning organizations were chosen out of nearly 2,500 hospitals and health systems who subscribe to ECRI Institute's PriceGuide™ and SELECTplus™ supply and capital procurement advisory services. The selected organizations were recognized for a high level of dedication to improving healthcare quality and reducing costs by leveraging the full range of their ECRI Institute membership services.

The evaluation process included a complete study and analysis of each organization's purchase order history, submitted on a routine basis. In addition, ECRI Institute looked at supply chain initiatives that included ongoing and consistent spend management and market analytics efforts for all medical devices, including capital medical equipment, supplies, physician preference items, service contracts, reagents, and others.

"We are honored to have collaborated with these award-winning hospitals and healthcare systems in achieving success in supply chain," says Tim Browne, Director of ECRI Institute's PriceGuide service. "All eight organizations have sophisticated programs in place which have fully embraced ECRI Institute's benchmarking and analytic tools in their day-to-day activities and realized significant ROI as a result."

Presentations to the Healthcare Supply Chain Achievement Award winners will take place in the coming months.

Visit the 2013 Healthcare Supply Chain Achievement Award Winners Circle to learn more about the eight award-winning healthcare organizations, as well as last year's award winners.

For more information about the award or about membership in ECRI Institute's SELECTplus or PriceGuide programs, contact ECRI Institute by telephone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5287; by e-mail at [email protected]; by fax at (610) 834-1275, or by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298, USA.

About ECRI Institute
ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for 45 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute).

SOURCE ECRI Institute