Joint HHC/GHX Project Earns Honors in Supply & Demand Chain Executive's 2011 Executive 100

LOUISVILLE, Colo., May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and GHX were named to the Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100 for a joint project that helped transform HHC's supply chain into a strategic asset. This year's list, "100 Great Supply Chain Projects," highlights supply chain transformation projects that have produced exceptional business results for an enabler's client.

Three years ago, HHC faced a billion-dollar deficit and a 1.4 million patient population that was heavily reliant on the city hospital system. With an estimated $350 million annual spend for medical-surgical supplies, HHC's supply chain presented a key opportunity for savings to help close its budget gap. However, with a manual procure-to-pay process, the organization needed a more efficient and effective way to gain visibility into what it was spending and a stronger capability to use that visibility to better control spend to achieve its savings objectives.

"In this era of industry reform, healthcare trading partners have been compelled to view the business of healthcare in a completely different light," said GHX CEO Bruce Johnson. "Where the supply chain was once an obscure area of operations hidden from senior leadership, it is fast becoming a focal point for leading healthcare organizations, such as HHC. At GHX, we are working hand in hand with our clients to transform how they conduct business in this new environment, enabling them to cut costs, reduce waste and secure the long-term financial viability of their organizations."

HHC engaged GHX's Consulting Group, Business Solutions, to assess its supply chain, identify the break points and construct new processes, policies and procedures across its procure-to-pay footprint that would help enable the organization to maximize savings and reduce waste. HHC first automated its procure-to-pay process by employing e-commerce with nearly 400 trading partners through the GHX electronic trading exchange. It then leveraged the GHX Procurement Suite solution to build an item master, gain real-time access to contract pricing and help confirm that it was purchasing the right products at the right price. In doing so, HHC has cut costs, improved operational performance and is projected to achieve $14 million in annual savings.

"Working with GHX as our consulting, technology and business partner, we now conduct business in a fundamentally different way," said Joseph Quinones, vice president of Contracting and Supply Chain, HHC. "This project has helped HHC take a very significant step forward in helping to ensure that we can serve the residents of New York City both today and in the future."

About Supply & Demand Chain Executive

Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the executive's user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage. On the Web at www.SDCExec.com.

About GHX

Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) makes healthcare more efficient by delivering software and services that enable both healthcare providers and suppliers to increase efficiency, lower costs and provide better patient care. With the largest footprint in healthcare supply chain management, GHX connects more than 80 percent of licensed hospital beds at U.S. hospitals, as well as providers in Canada and Europe, with the suppliers from which they purchase the majority of their medical-surgical supplies. GHX is transforming today's linear healthcare supply chain into the industry's only Healthcare Supply Cloud(SM), providing 360-degree visibility into areas affecting both clinical and financial performance. Working with GHX, organizations can improve business processes, automate supply chain systems and work together in a collaborative environment to solve the tough challenges facing healthcare today. GHX is owned by members of the healthcare industry, including Abbott Exchange, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; B. Braun Medical Inc.; BD; Boston Scientific Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Covidien; C.R. Bard, Inc.; Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; GE Healthcare; HCA; Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; McKesson Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Owens & Minor; Premier, Inc.; Siemens; University HealthSystem Consortium; and VHA Inc.  For more information, visit www.ghx.com.

About HHC

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a $6.7 billion integrated health care delivery system with its own 400,000 member health plan, MetroPlus, and is the largest municipal health care organization in the country. HHC serves 1.3 million New Yorkers every year and more than 450,000 are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community based clinics. HHC Health and Home Care also provides in-home services for New Yorkers. HHC was the 2008 recipient of the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commissions John M. Eisenberg Award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality.   For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/hhc.

SOURCE GHX