Healthcare Matters

IRVING, TX – Yesterday, Novation, the supply chain and contracting arm for VHA, UHC, Children’s Hospital Association, and Provista, hosted its first annual Innovative Technology Supplier Expo at its headquarters in Irving, Texas. Forty-eight suppliers participated, and more than sixty clinicians and hospital members chose to attend. To qualify as a participating supplier in the Expo, the supplier must either have a currently awarded Innovative Technology agreement with Novation or the supplier must have submitted a product into the Innovative Technology program for review by July 15, 2012.

Not unlike similar supplier showcases hosted by most all GPOs, Novation’s Innovative Technology Program establishes a forum for Novation to work with member-led councils and task forces to identify and review potentially innovative supplier technologies. Once these teams have evaluated the technology and determined that it provides an incremental clinical benefit over existing products, a contract for the innovative technology may be awarded outside of Novation’s competitive bid cycle. “So many exciting innovations are happening across the health care industry,” says Debbie Archer, director, procurement and innovative technology, Novation. “The Innovative Technology Supplier Expo provides an opportunity for suppliers of all sizes to showcase their innovative medical technology products and gather feedback from key clinicians” continues Archer. “Suppliers participating in the Expo have the opportunity to receive greater visibility as an innovator in medical technology, educate expo participants about their product, and enjoy substantive dialog with member clinical experts and Novation contracting staff.”

Although I think we have all suffered from trade-show fatigue (or cynicism), these GPO-hosted supplier showcases are vitally important. Anytime we overlook teed-up opportunities to investigate the “new blood” that is flowing into the industry’s supply chain, we cheat ourselves. Put another way, the fact that procurement professionals are continuously inundated with new opportunities is not a bad thing. I’ve heard it said that if “I entertained every supplier that knocked on my door, I’d never get anything done.” And while that is probably true, closing ranks and putting up unreasonable barriers that no new supplier without an inside track could ever hope to overcome, is precisely the wrong solution.

I’ve been on both sides of the conference table. The staff that manages supplier-qualifying processes should be held in high regard and be compensated in ways that reward them for finding the diamonds in the rough. And the individuals or teams who manage such vital responsibility should be regularly cycled to ensure that their minds and the doors they “keep” remain appropriately open. When procurement professionals develop attitudes that regard new opportunities as potential new headaches, you know it’s time for a change.

When they’re developed and managed as vitally important events –when they’re “done right”– GPO-led supplier showcases should be a tough ticket.

—Tom Finn