Transformational Strategies and Proven Results: The GHX Healthcare Supply Chain Summit 2012 Session Line-up

LOUISVILLE, Colo., March 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 12th year as the industry's largest event for healthcare supply chain leaders, GHX announced its breakout session line-up for the 2012 GHX Healthcare Supply Chain Summit taking place May 7-9, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. At this year's event, leaders and representatives from both the buy and sell sides of the healthcare supply chain will come together to share current results and their strategies for change as they work to improve the business practices within healthcare, both for themselves and their trading partners.

The Summit is the only forum in healthcare today that brings together participants from across the entire healthcare supply chain - provider, supplier, distributor and GPO organizations – to address the issues facing the healthcare industry within a collaborative environment for change. This year's educational tracks will uncover new strategies for cost savings within the healthcare supply chain, demonstrate the benefits that can be derived from process and data standardization, define the critical need for master data management, reveal the keys to becoming a vendor or customer of choice, and explore the role of the supply chain in driving financial performance, among other topics.

2012 GHX Healthcare Supply Chain Summit Educational Tracks

Implantable Devices: The Next Critical Frontier in Supply Chain Collaboration. Manual processes and lack of visibility into the implantable device supply chain costs the healthcare industry more than $5 billion in waste annually. Sessions reveal how providers and suppliers can rein in costs and lost revenues by working collaboratively to extend visibility and control over implantable devices. Track sessions include:

• Are You Leaving Dollars on the Operating Table?
• Better Serve Your Customers AND Increase Efficiency: It Doesn't Have to Be a Tradeoff
• Practical Steps to Manage More of Your Hospital's Surgical Supply Spend
• Driving Visibility Beyond the OR Doors
• Believe: Why the Impossible Is Possible

Driving Financial Performance Through Your Supply Chain (co-sponsored with Healthcare Financial Management Association). The supply chain has a significant impact on an organization's bottom line and providers and suppliers can leverage this strategic asset to improve their financial performance. Sessions will feature healthcare finance experts and CFOs on how to increase cash flow, reduce waste and gain hard dollar savings through supply chain automation. Track sessions include:

• Got Cash? Collaborative Strategies for Finance, Supply Chain & Clinical Departments
• Visibility Equals Cost Control: The New Paradigm for Finance and Supply Chain
• Going Green Gets You Green

Real Stories of Supply Chain Transformation: Making Change Stick. Sometimes change can seem overwhelming but even small steps in improving supply chain processes can lead to significant savings. Sessions will provide real-world examples of supplier and provider organizations that have transformed their supply chains to achieve sustainable results.

• Cutting Accounts Payable Inefficiencies
• You Charged Me What? Avoid the Sticker Shock
• Avoid Data Decay – The Importance of Regular Maintenance

Big Data: The Next Frontier for Innovation. The volume of data bombarding the healthcare industry is exploding and there is an increasing need to master this data to meet both internal and external demands – from financial planning to regulatory reporting. Sessions will help attendees navigate the waters of master data management, differentiate 'big data' from 'master data', create a successful and sustainable master data discipline and showcase examples of healthcare trading partners that have leveraged data to optimize processes and enhance patient safety.

• Master Data: How to Collaboratively Drive Costs Out of Healthcare
• Standardizing the Customer Master to Gain Efficiencies
• Product Master: A Single Source of Truth

Become the Vendor of Choice, Not Price. When healthcare providers want to cut their supply costs, they typically focus on trimming product price. But an increasing number of providers are looking beyond price to how their suppliers can deliver savings through greater accuracy and efficiency in the purchasing process. Sessions will reveal what providers really want from their business partners and hear how suppliers are gaining a competitive advantage by driving operational excellence and customer satisfaction.

• Don't Be a Casualty of a Price War
• Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Avoiding Standards Implementation Won't Make It Go Away
• Leader Not Laggard: Find Out What You've Been Missing!

Standardizing for Higher Quality, Greater Savings. Many healthcare organizations are implementing new strategies to standardize their business processes while increasing quality and reducing costs. Providers in this track will discuss strategies for long-term success by applying business standards and successful supply chain practices.

• All Together Now: Consolidating for Supply Chain Success
• From Project Savings to Sustainable Success: A LEAN Sigma Journey
• Standards in Healthcare: The Gartner Perspective

Best Practices in Key GHX Provider Solutions: GHX provider members will share best practices for leveraging GHX solutions to streamline processes and cut costs within the healthcare supply chain.

• Best Practices: GHX Procurement Suite
• Best Practices: GHX Registration Center, My Exchange
• Best Practices: GHX Provider Intelligence

The GHX Healthcare Supply Chain Summit brings together more than 600 healthcare leaders and representatives to network and collaborate on successful supply chain strategies. Summit educational sessions offer participants new ideas and tangible tactics that they can implement in their organizations to maximize efficiencies and strengthen performance. To view the complete agenda for the Summit or to register, visit www.ghx.com/supplychainsummit.

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