Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Healthcare Reform: GHX Healthcare Supply Chain Summit 2011

LOUISVILLE, Colo., March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The upcoming 2011 GHX Healthcare Supply Chain Summit is poised to address many of the most critical current challenges facing the healthcare industry: implications of healthcare reform on both suppliers and providers; balancing the cost of doing business with the requirement to deliver superior patient outcomes; collaboration to ensure a sustainable healthcare delivery system.

The Summit, taking place April 18-20, 2011, in Dallas, is the only forum in healthcare today that brings together participants from across the entire healthcare supply chain to address these and other important issues within a collaborative environment. Healthcare providers, manufacturers, distributors and group purchasing organizations convene to learn from one another, challenge each other and formulate new solutions to problems facing the industry.

"Each year, we build the Summit program based on what we see happening in the industry and what we hear directly from companies we work with," said Cheryl Flury, vice president, Corporate Communications, GHX. "For healthcare providers, there's currently a significant focus on ways to capture reimbursements, build next-generation supply chain teams and improve financial results. For suppliers, the focus is on leveraging data sources for better forecasting, increasing access to better business intelligence and collaborating with customers to reduce the cost to serve them, while still meeting all of their business needs."

This year's Summit features a slate of well-known speakers, including:

• Tom Daschle, former Democratic Senate majority leader, and Bill Frist, M.D., former Republican Senate majority leader, providing their unique perspective on healthcare reform and what changes will be required to achieve a sustainable solution. The presentation will be followed by a discussion led by Gartner, Inc. Industry Analyst Hussain Mooraj
• Cleveland Clinic's Bill Donato, executive director, Supply Chain Management, speaking at the general session about how Cleveland Clinic transformed its procure-to-pay processes
• Gartner's Mooraj joined by senior executives from the companies on the 2010 Gartner Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25 list discussing how changing supply chain strategies can drive improved business results

The Summit program is designed for three different audience levels—executives, directors and managers/end-users of supply chain solutions. Breakout sessions are grouped under three general themes:

• Strategic Supply Chain, Sustainable Success – addressing the alignment of supply chain strategy with a healthcare organization's overall strategies
• Business Intelligence for Intelligent Healthcare – focusing on ways to access new data sources and leverage them to support an organization's business performance
• Reconstructing Your Supply Chain – creating the path to savings healthcare organizations have not yet been able to realize by looking at real-world case studies from those who have

To view the complete agenda for the Summit or to register, visit www.ghx.com. Prior involvement with or participation in GHX is not necessary to attend.

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 deliver 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, 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 collaborate 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.

SOURCE GHX