Healthcare Matters

When I first read that Marquette’s Center of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is getting set to conduct a national poll of Healthcare CEOs, CFOs, COOs and CSCOs on their perceptions of the value of healthcare SCM, I thought it sounded more than a little bit academic. But I’m going to reserve judgement.

Ironically, it’s the academics who tell us that the best surveys don’t lead the witness. But having just been “polled” at a political fundraiser, I can also vouch for the effectiveness of other approaches. In this particular instance, the “survey” not only led this witness, but led him to his checkbook.

Let’s hope the Marquette Survey tells us something we don’t already know. Based on the following press announcement, it seems headed in a useful direction.

MILWAUKEE – The Center for Supply Chain Management in Marquette University’s College of Business Administration and the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management is conducting a 2012 National Healthcare Executive Survey on Supply Chain Management. The survey is intended to gauge hospital executives’ perceptions of the importance of supply chain management within their organizations, particularly related to economic conditions and changes in health care, as well as developing issues and trends in the field.

Survey results will provide valuable insight into the perceived importance and impact of supply chain management strategies and initiatives, and guide executives in the development of their own strategic plans and courses of action in order to optimize their organization’s supply chains. The online survey will be distributed to hospital chief executive officers, chief financial officers, chief operating officers, and healthcare supply chain leaders.

“As one of the top university centers for supply chain management in the nation, we’re uniquely positioned to help AHRMM with this important survey,” said Dr. Mark Cotteleer, associate professor of management in the College of Business Administration. “Further, it will give our students a hands-on, applied learning experience and expose them to the growing importance of supply chain management in health care.”

“Given the importance of the role of supply chain in health care, it is essential to examine the opportunity for growth and improvement within the field. The National Healthcare Executive Survey on Supply Chain offers such an opportunity,” said AHRMM President Bev Slate. “This is a tremendous opportunity for hospital executives and supply chain leaders to provide their opinions on how to make supply chain extraordinary.”

Results from the 2012 survey will be tabulated by Marquette’s Center for Supply Chain Management and presented by Kowalski Consulting at the AHRMM12 Annual Conference & Exhibition in San Antonio on Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. The survey report will allow the field to examine the similarities and differences between the views of healthcare executives and supply chain leaders, of the challenges economic conditions and changes present to healthcare providers, and how supply chain management can help providers deal with those challenges.

—Tom Finn