GHX Highlights Supply Chain Role in Reducing Costs and Improving Patient Care at the AHRMM12 Annual Conference

LOUISVILLE, Colo., Aug. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare supply chain experts from GHX and its customer organizations will showcase best practices for managing the fastest-growing operating expense for hospitals—supply chain costs—during the AHRMM12 Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas, Aug. 5 - 8. GHX will feature 15-minute theater-style presentations in GHX booth #401 and participate in two AHRMM-sponsored Learning Lab sessions on physician preference items (PPI) and trading partner collaboration.  

"GHX is helping improve efficiencies and reduce costs with solutions that not only increase automation in the supply chain, but also give our customers the tools to track performance for continual improvement," said Derek Smith, executive vice president, Marketing and Product Management, GHX. "We'll be showcasing these products at AHRMM, and will also be discussing results from pilots using our implantable device supply chain solution. About $5 billion is lost annually in this market segment because of inefficient manual processes and lost, wasted and expired products. We're working tirelessly to find ways to help our customers tackle this challenge."

On Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, GHX booth #401 will feature the following presentations:

• "Provider Intelligence: From Supply Chain Metrics to Bottom-Line Savings," with Scott Westerman, product manager, Provider Intelligence, GHX (Aug. 6, 1:45 p.m. and Aug. 7, 9:45 a.m.)
• "Managing Implantable Devices: What Are GHX and Early Adopters Doing?" with Suzanne Alexander-Vaughn, director, Product Management, GHX (Aug. 6, 2:30 p.m. and Aug. 7, 10:30 a.m.)
• "Supply Chain Optimization: Three Things You Need to Start Doing Today," with Thomas Griffin, product director, Business Solutions, GHX (Aug. 6, 3:15 p.m. and Aug. 7, 11:15 a.m.)

In two separate Learning Lab sessions, GHX customers and subject matter experts will present implantable device and PPI management practices, and best practices for trading partner collaboration to help lower costs and improve quality for all involved. These sessions include:

• "PPI: In Search of a Cure," with Dale Locklair, CMRP, vice president, Procurement & Construction, McLeod Health, and Martin Payne, vice president, Corporate Development, GHX (Aug. 6, 11:15 a.m., Learning Lab 2). This presentation will focus on overcoming current obstacles using the lessons learned from PPI pilot projects that demonstrate how spend control can be implemented in an environment that enables physician satisfaction and high-quality patient outcomes.
• "Driving Out Costs Through Collaboration," with Howard Mann, senior director, Materials Management, Saint Luke's Health System; Karen Conway, executive director, Industry Relations, GHX; and Scott McCallum, vice president, Global Corporate Sales, Boston Scientific Corporation (Aug. 8, 9:15 AM, Learning Lab 7). Speakers will provide examples of how best-in-class providers and suppliers are overcoming barriers to align supply chain objectives to reduce costs, improve customer service and deliver greater quality.

GHX enables better patient care and billions in savings for the healthcare community by helping to maximize automation, efficiency and accuracy of business processes. In May 2012, GHX customers crossed the $2 billion mark in documented savings, and the company is keeping this momentum moving forward with technology solutions and services for the medical-surgical supply chain and development of a solution to help manage the implantable device supply chain.

About GHX

Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX), a healthcare technology and services company, helps reduce the cost of doing business in healthcare by enabling better supply chain management. GHX makes it easier for hospitals, other healthcare providers and the suppliers that do business with them to drive cost and inefficiency out of their processes. Working with GHX, the healthcare organizations that make up the GHX Global Network are on track to save $5 billion by 2014—savings that can be invested in such things as hiring more nurses, providing care to uninsured children or developing new medical products. GHX is owned by organizations on both the buy and sell side of the healthcare supply chain, including some of the largest companies in the world. Find GHX on the Web, on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX.

SOURCE GHX