The summer of 2022 was anything but lazy and hazy for UISS. Mike Bevivino, who was with IHA/UISS for over seven years retired as of September 30, 2022. Mike was a seasoned supply chain expert who applied his knowledge and expertise with the UISS membership through his account management support and the deployment of enabling data and contract management technology. He became an extension of the UISS members’ teams and helped augment their work. Mike was well respected and will be missed by all.
Francine Freise replaced Mike and will be working with the members to support their supply chain needs and help UISS members with their financial recovery and margin improvement plans. Francine comes to UISS with a wealth of supply chain experience ranging from the provider side at Temple University to her consulting and GPO roles uniquely positioning her to assist the IHA members with their financial improvement and cost reduction goals. We are thrilled to have Francine join the UISS team and look forward to supporting her and the work she will be doing with the members to create strategic supply chain plans and support the advancement of a clinically integrated supply chain.
New UISS Board
We’re excited to announce that UISS has restructured and implemented a new board with members who will bring diverse expertise and insight to our work, We have worked diligently to ensure the UISS board and leadership represent a variety of experts from hospitals, health systems, skilled nursing facilities, and the healthcare industry.”
UISS chose Eric Campbell, Chief Financial Officer for the Oswego Health system, as its board chair. He has served as the CFO at Oswego Health since 2016, where he’s responsible for the oversight of financial reporting, regulatory reporting, financial analysis, budget, materials management, revenue cycle, health information management and compliance.
“I am delighted to welcome such a strong group of board members, and I look forward to serving with each of them in the coming year,” said Gary J. Fitzgerald, President and CEO Iroquois Healthcare Alliance and United Iroquois Shared Services. “I’m also very pleased that Eric Campbell will lead UISS in his new role as board chair. Eric has demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing the UISS mission, and we’re looking forward to his leadership.”
The new board members began their two-year terms with UISS effective September 21, 2022 and can serve a maximum of two terms. The new board members are:
- Gary Fitzgerald, CEO & President, IHA & UISS
- Maxine Briggs, Vice President of Finance & Chief Financial Officer, Samaritan Medical Center
- Eric Campbell, Chief Financial Officer, Oswego Medical Center
- Frank Commisso, Director of Fiscal Operations, Shaker Place Rehabilitation and Nursing Home
- Dewey Rowlands, Chief Financial Officer, Rome Health
- John Strong, Chief Consulting Officer, Access Strategy
UISS Contract Updates for 2023
Energy Management Contract Renewal
With the 2023 forecast increase in energy costs in upstate New York, UISS diligently worked on renewing its energy management agreement with Zenith Energy and have added several new programs and value add services to assist the IHA members with managing their energy costs including; procurement consulting and sourcing, operations audit, energy efficiency programs. Zenith energy understand the upstate New York market and is partnered with many of the IHA members.
Managing energy can be complex for healthcare providers. Energy management includes the planning and operation of energy consuming equipment as well as the supply of energy units, whether it is from procurement contracts, on-site generation, or both. Click here for the full article to learn more about reducing costs and risk with energy.
Workforce Management and HR
Based on a recent member survey conducted by IHA, contingency labor costs were reported as one of the biggest financial concerns for the members for 2022 and beyond. To help address the issue, IHA recently implemented a member only, value add contingency staffing agency, Upstate Works, to help mitigate staffing agency costs as a short-term strategy while members holistically address the changing workforce environment and evolve to a new normal to drive longer term efficiencies.
IHA collaborated with BRG, one of the largest performance improvement consulting firms nationally to help stand up and deliver IHA’s Upstate Works Staffing Agency with partner HWL. UISS has now expanded its relationship with BRG to contract for solutions and services to help support the IHA members with their operational/organizational needs and to develop a mid to long term strategic plan. With that in mind, we posed a question to BRG on what they are seeing across the landscape to improve operation and financial strength and to share a few examples.
Click here to see BRG’s Industry Insights.
For more information on BRG services, click here for the UISS-BRG contract fact sheet.
Purchased Services Update
With hospitals and supply chain teams asked to do more with less, leveraging aggregate purchasing power and contracts with firm, fixed pricing can help keep inflation at bay and reduce risk. Alongside the power of national GPO contracts, hospitals and health systems partnering with Conductiv® have saved as much as 31 percent (weighted average) across categories during the pandemic through a combination of GPO/local services-specific contracts.
Conductiv has analyzed more than $566 billion in healthcare services spend. And are enabling a healthy, competitive services market – creating new opportunities for smaller, diverse suppliers and helping hospitals invest locally across many different categories of their business.
Historically, purchased services benchmarks have been hard to come by. With a comprehensive technology platform, providers are now equipped with analytics, benchmarks and powerful insights to source competitive contracts and easily measure purchased services usage and spend. Additionally, this technology allows for providers to automate RFPs, to compare prices, and to manage savings targets – a strong means to counter inflation.
UISS-Condcutiv Purchased Services Program currently has over sixteen discrete purchased services initiatives underway with its members to help reduce cost and improve operational performance and efficiencies contract services.
A few examples of active initiatives are:
- 340B split billing technology
- Security services
- Telecom audit
- Print management audit
- A/P audit
- Outsource EVS
All IHA members, regardless of their primary GPO are eligible to participate in the above UISS contracts and programs.
For further information or to get started accessing these programs to drive savings and value for your organization, contact Donna Gammarato at dgammarato@iroquois.org.